johnnyc

Like you said, labor overseas is cheap, so you're really not putting that much food on their tables. ;) By buying foreign made goods, you're supporting the dockworkers...who are American. You're supporting the truckers...who are American. Company XYZ, the importers of auto parts is located somewhere in the Midwest. You're supporting the company and their employees and families...who are American. These are the people whose tables you're putting food on. There's nothing wrong with preferring to buy products made in the USA. But that is sadly becoming the exception rather than the rule. Some people blame this on American unions. Others will blame the greed of American companies. But in many cases, with the way the economy is today, American companies often no choice but to outsource production, just to stay in business. In any case, there's no reason to be xenophobic.

Just a couple...

When I had my spare tire under there, I still put a couple of ratchet straps on it because I thought if the cable snapped, that would be trouble. I recently bought an MJ tire winch from the junkyard for $20. Not for me, but for a friend who was looking for one. This thing was in perfect condition. It didn't look like it had be unspooled in 20 years.

Do you honestly believe that China produces Jeep unit bearings on their own initiative? Products that are made in China are made to their customers' specifications. And these customers are American companies. The Chinese are perfectly capable of producing auto parts of the highest quality. They have sent men into outer space so I'm sure they can make a top-notch Jeep unit bearing. But their American customers give them a set price point, which is usually pretty low, in order to maximize profits. I used to work for an American athletic shoe company and we had factories in China and Korea. So I have seen this first hand. We would tell the factories to skimp and cut corners in order to reduce costs, usually against their objections. The factories wanted to produce the best product they could, but we would say no.

On a recent trail run, I overheard a TJ owner refer to my MJ as "some sort of Jeep pickup". He had never seen one before. But real Jeep guys know what an MJ is. I get a lot of comments out on the trail.

My current set of Chinese unit bearings has lasted longer than my last set of Timkens. And the mom-and-pop parts store where I bought them said if they ever go bad, bring them in for free replacements, no questions asked. And I have no problem if I do have to replace them once in a while. After you've done a few unit bearing changes, they get to be pretty fast and easy.

I'm pretty sure that Sam and I were both joking. At least, I think I was.

36 mm

I thought I was the only one who does that.

Yeah, you have to set the axle up under the truck with the weight on the axle. Rotate the pinion with a floor jack and tack weld the perches onto the tubes. Remove the axle and finish the welding. My first attempt at guesstimating was also off. Had to do it all over again...the right way.

Whoops, sorry about that. Totally forgot. I cut the fenders on my 96 XJ to clear my C4X4 bumper some years ago. It's really easy to get a nice clean cut. Then I just covered the cut edge with some door moulding. So don't let a little cutting stop you. ;)

Lopez was much funnier when he was just getting started in standup. I remember laughing as I listened to him on the Five O'clock Funnies on AM radio many years ago. But yeah, as soon as he starts rambling on about "La Raza", I turn the channel now.

Just gotta eyeball it. The red Sharpie lines are where the latch was when the door was closed.

I assume you're talking about the front bumper. I had one on my MJ for a while. It went on with no problems. Of course, it looks better if you have the late model flares as well.

Now it's four lookie-loos in Oregon got swept away, but all survived. And the one death was in Crescent City, CA.

Latest report is that five lookie-loos got swept away by the tsunami in Oregon and one died.

Picture taken from my XJ on Cliffhanger in Moab.

Bo, I didn't say that there were 19 MJs between us. ;) I said Rob's truck was 20 behind mine.

1J7FJ36S9NL159250 1992 Jeep Comanche Pioneer 4.0 / AW4 / NP231/ D30 / D44 / SWB Build date: 10/91 Current Location: Now in Orange in Southern California. Originally sold in Las Vegas and was there until I bought it in May 2008. Status: Daily driven

Looks like our MJs were made on the same day. I just noticed that our VINS are very close. The last six of yours is 159270 and mine is 159250. So mine was just 20 ahead of yours on the assembly line in October 1991. Just thought that was interesting. :wavey:

Again, the difference between the two is minimal - 0.13", just over 1/8". So the factory likely used the same u-bolts for the D35 and the D44.

They'll work fine. The difference between the two is only 1/8".

Believe me, making the 97+ door electronics work in an old MJ is not an easy proposition. You have to run about 20 wires from the driver's door to the passenger door. Here is the link to the writeup in JP Magazine when we attempted this. http://www.jpmagazine.com/techarticles/ ... index.html While we got the windows to work, we never did get the power door locks operational. I could unlock the doors, but not lock them. Trasborg later said that he figured that we needed to run a couple of relays. But we never did try that since he lives about 100 miles away in the boonies. So I just lived with it. But then, the windows started acting up too. I said screw it, went to the JY and found a 97+ 4-door with manual windows and grabbed the regulators and door panels. Went home, ripped out all that extra wiring, swapped the regulators and am now perfectly content with manual windows and locks.

Hey Rob, you're not gonna ask Dougster what the build date is? I thought that was your first question to all 92 MJ owners. ;) Dougster, what's the build date on the driver's door tag?

Not everything from the cab forward is the same. Floor pans, seat brackets, seat belts, and e-brake come to mind.