mjdoa

I guess it'll be wrinkle paint. Jeez,right back to the 70's. Front has that on it,might as well. I'm getting brackets fabbed,I'll get them Thurs or Fri,do the deed this weekend, I'll stick up some pictures then too. Thankyou $500mj.If I would bother to sirch, I would have found your build thread. I'm learning. :oops:

What jbhill said.Make sure everything's good in there. Keep in mind too,mj brakes suck from the get go. I replaced my axle with an xj axle,got bigger brakes in the deal,they still suck. New shoes,cyl's,park brake cables,they still suck. Park brake might as well not exist. Search around,most of the guys put discs on the rear. I think yj brakes fit.I will do mine one of these days,too.

Icebox,I'm not at work so going by memory. I work in Mopar parts,as does BLHTAZ. #35 and 40 are a seal and slinger. There is a bearing a little further in,not in either pic. It's on the outer part of the inner shaft. Your question I think is what supports the inner part of the outer shaft.The outer shaft has a bearing inside a hole in the end of the shaft.Small tit on the inner shaft rides in it. The other end is held up by the wheel bearing. So what holds the inner end of the outer shaft?Nothing,really. Believe it or not.Nothing between the wheel hub and the end of that shaft.What keeps the u-joint from wobbling around? Again,nothing.I freaked when I learned that. Suggestion?Dump it,get a non-disconnect axle.I did. Most everyone else has. I hope that's your answer and is understandable.Maybe one of the other guys can be a litle more eloquent.

$500,what did you paint those with,it looks great?

Thanks,I guess depends on how bad the steel place wants to rape me. edit:$50 for the pair.

x2

It'll buff out.

I really didn't mean to resurrect this thread, just wanted to make an example of Pete. :D But I guess now that it's done,give us some more pics,ya'll. :cheers:

Hey,Pete,I'm heading to the metal supply shop at lunch. Do you think it would be smart and or necessary to triangulate a couple smaller brackets out to the corners to stop any side to side movement? I will not be towing,but may winch with it if the need arises.

That thing is the shizzle!Hope he'll show up here.

Don't bother,I think I'm on a roll now. I have to find some plate to make brackets before I can go any further.Will search today. I'll post my efforts and you can critique them for me, :cheers: if it ever quits raining here. :roll: Next project,roll bar.

Thanks,that helps a lot. The sawzall solves all.Crude is good. I've got a 115v wire welder,I can fab the brackets and tack them and get them to a real welding shop. I will bolt them in a little better than stock,I plan to be able to use my winch front or rear,it's mounted to a plate that mounts in a hitch hole. Cables are run to the rear already. Tailgate is and has been off,don't plan to reuse it.( Anyone need one?) I took an old piece of aluminum diamond plate bed rail protector I scrounged from work,bolted it across the bed,and mounted the tag and lights to it. Trimming the 1/4's was a treat.Tell ya,cutting sheet metal gets addictive. After you take that first slice,you start looking for things to cut off.Doh! I'm trying to use my own plan,but I saw your thread and I really like how you did yours.Hope you don't mind me steali...borrowing a few of your ideas. I'll try to post a pic or 2 as I progress,in case anyone else wants to know what we're talking about,but it's raining tonight so I'll have to wait. I may move my spare carrier to the rear too,it's in the center of the bed now,and I see you've still got a usable bed. Would really like to find a roll bar too. Well, I see a trip to the metal supply place tomorrow on lunch. Thanks again,I'll bug you some more I'm sure. BTW,don't try swinging it around with a crane,I trust you. :D

Marvel Mystery Oil? You're dating yourself there,kid!

Well children,I need to dredge up an old thread so that I can get some specific help from a specific Pete M. Pete,I'm doing my rear bumper very much like yours. I like the way you did it,I want that exit angle too. I'm using a Tomken front bumper that I ordered months ago by accident. It's 2x6 tube,tow points and hitch tube. I trimmed my 1/4 panels about like yours,but I left about an inch of sheet metal under the tail lamps,so a little less trimmed off than you. All extra sheet metal and junk like tire winch is cut out or removed. Nothing below the bed floor bracing. I have my original brackets,plus a set from a step bumper I'm not gonna use any longer. I want to raise the bar,so to speak,like you did,about level with the bed floor and tuck it in tight to the rear end and under the lamps. Two questions for you. 1. In the 4th pic in your series,I see you cut down the old brackets to space the new ones around the shackles.How'd you cut them? They're welded to some channel. 2.How did you trim the 2 pieces of sheet metal under the bed so you could run your brackets straight out?I have an air cutter,don't see it fitting up in there,but haven't tried yet. 3.Ok,I lied,3 questions.Did you build or buy your new brackets? And do they run straight out to the bumper and weld to it just along the thin edge of the bracket?Or is there more bracing that I can't see? And what are they,look like maybe 1/4" plate? Finally,has everything held up well? If anyone wants pics,yell,but I'm doing basically what Pete did. Sorry for such a long winded post,you may have the floor. Thanks for your help. :cheers: Tracy.

I understand, I have the same problem if I have something sitting in my garage I need to install on my rig. You busted me. :clapping: Plus,I do some wheeling,it worries me looking under the front bumper and seeing the crank pulley,oil pan,etc., all exposed.

I have this one. http://www.gregsmithequipment.com/Atlas ... 10000n.htm Love it,service at Greg Smith Equipment is great. Read some bad reviews of this winch around the intardnet, bought it because of price,it's been used and abused,(by me) would absolutely buy another. My .02. :cheers:

Can I bump this to ask an unrelated question? I ordered discos last night from Motion Offroad (thanks MO). I have 4.5"lift,the lowering brackets for the sway bar tha came with the lift kit are stopping me from putting the factory engine skid plate back on. I want to use the discos to eliminate the brackets, raise the front of the bar so I can use said skid plate. Looking at CW's pictures,I don't think it's gonna happen. The front of the bar is still low. Any insight?

Thanks,MO,that'll work. I'm assuming front and rear axles would be the same operation. I'm gonna try using the spring compressor and not drop the axle all the way out. Only in the interest of saving time. This is a young guy(19)who is a great kid,I try to help him out as much as I can. He's working at Lowes and putting himself through college. I offered to do these spacers with him,not realizing what I was getting into.Doh.

Off the mj subject,sorry. One of the guys in my club is coming over Sat to have me help install 2"coil spacers,all 4 corners, '97 tj. Everything I read says it's a 4-6 hr ordeal. Anyone been there that can shed a little lite, or maybe some shortcuts? I do have a coil spring compressor. Thanks. :cheers:

Pete,pretty tank,what's in it? (Psssst,hide the bobbers,no fishing in aquariums)

Link?

Orca,I'm going to seem like a jerk here,so bear with me. So you know,I have had aquariums for 20 odd years. First,find a fish forum. http://www.cichlid-forum.com/ is an awesome forum, I've been a member for 3 or 4 years.Join it. Second,either get that turtle out of there or at least go get him a raft to bask on.He needs to be able to get put of the water.Your pet store sells basking platforms. Your choice of fish is gonna give you problems. I see 2 Lake Malawi cichlids. 1.The yellow with black markings.Metriaclima lombardoi.(Kenyi is it's common name. Will grow to about 6",is highly agressive. 2.The yellow one.Labidochromis caeruleus.(Electric yellow) About 4".mild mannered. The oscar is a South American cichlid.He'll get about 12" If the others don't kill themselves off,he'll eat them all. What are the others? The Africans like hard,alkaline water,the SA's like soft acid water. If you plan to continue,you need a bigger tank too. I don't mean to rain on your parade,just trying to get you going in the right direction. BTW,tank looks good.It's a fun hobby,have at it. As far as photographing fish.It is tough.Dark room. I usually use a bright light,shine in the side of the tank, no flash,it'll glare off the glass,no other lights on in the room. Aim on an angle to the glass,that'll help the glare issue. Camera needs to be set on a fast shutter speed,I try to keep it up to at least 1/250 sec.Or you'll get blur. Use as big an aperture as you can to start. Tripod is a must.Pull up a chair and have patience. Go over to Cichlidforum,those guys are great,they'll help you a lot.Also have a photo section with lots of tips. I'm tlud over there,but don't spend as much time as I should. We've gotten off onto other stuff lately.Have about a dozen corn and rat snakes,chameleons,Bearded dragons,plated lizards,uromastyx, half a dozen turtles,a leopard tortoise,house looks like a freakin zoo. :eek: So the fish are kinda taking a back seat. Btw,I have 4 tanks right now,2@ 55's,1@ 75,1@ 120. All African Lake Malawi mbunas. I'll try to throw up some pics as I get time. Good luck to you.

Sorry,Mopar has no vin id info,other than 4.0 5 spd.

Thanks,guys,for the explanations. That may be over my head,but I'll go check it out. I'm old and hard to tech new tricks. :roll: TAZ,if I wanna talk to you,I think I'll just use the phone before it goes obsolete.

Ok,school an old guy,what's a chatroom? I know my SO's 16 yr old daughter knows, I'm clueless.I'm still stuck in the old days using a phone.Doh!