Sir Sam

Thanks kinda high. You could check Craigslist and see if anyone is parting a ford or liberty. Also for those prices check out car-part.com

Messed up the last part of that update. Here is where it sits now: Before, with old springs, stock shackles, and SUA d35, and a heavy wildernest on it.

I agree with you, brake lights should be red, turn signals should be orange. Reverse lights should be white. However, if anything is going to gain traction its going to be an OEM replica because I think most people would prefer the OEM over something modded. 3d printing might offer a method to make reproductions. Makes you wonder where the original injection molds went........probably the scrap bin.

I think 05 is the last year the 4.10 was available, but I also see junkyards advertising the v6 gassers as having 4.10s, I think the only ones that actually got 4.10s were the 2.4L 4 cyls. At least around here the self serve junkyards have some many explorers you would have to be daft to pull a drum brake 8.8. Heck I even saw a guy pulling a drum brake 8.8 to install in a first gen explorer and went....why? The nice thing about fords is the door tag will have an axle code on it, that will tell you right away without getting under it what gears the axle has and if its a limited slip, I used to have them memorized, would walk through the junkyard looking for any with 4.10s and I would pull them to resell for Jeep guys wanting to swap. IIRC the eddi bauer editions were more likely to have the 4.10s, and most of the axles we pulled had LSDs in them too, which could be good or bad depending on if you prefer the LSD or not. Still if you want to go the 8.8 route from a pick n pull style yard lookup the door codes before you head out, it will make it much easier.

Finished installing the Chevy drop shackles. I got about an inch of lift out of them, I have one higher hole on the shackles I could use, but it won't give me much more lift. This was the set I picked up, I am pleased with the quality for the price. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0106NWAJY MJ shackle top(which is longer than an XJ shackle) The width is a little different. I used giant cresent wrench to bend open the frame side shackle box, put the shackle in, and then bolted it tight. If I were a more patient man I would have pulled the bushing out, shaved down the width of the metal sleeve, and then bushing to make it the correct size. Likewise the other end is a little large, I picked up a couple of fender washers to take up space and then bolted it tight, again the nut and bolt pulled it closed some. Installed in lower position: How it sits now: About 20" between flare bottom and wheel center. Height is OK. Might end up moving the shackle up once springs settle some.

You can also just buy gears for the D30 front, which is much easier than trying to find used gears or a whole D30 with the 4.10s. 4.10s are available for the KJ rear, some KJs even came with 4.10s, but I think it unlikely you will find one of those axles. The 8.8 is a very solid axle choice, and will cost about the same at a pick your own parts place. I'm partial the the KJ just because it jives with the Jeep a little better than the ford 8.8.

Hey Pete. Look at the DIY ecu tuning if you have not yet. I have been playing with it and have had good success.

I'll my own in there if anyone wants to check out what I do. I wish I had made more how to videos over the years when I was working on Jeeps more. But oh well, I guess I'll try and just make more how-tos going forward in the future. https://www.youtube.com/user/COrobotchicken

If your rear driveshaft is hooked up to the XJ axle then it has a 1310 ujoint at the yolk of the xj rear axle. If you get a kj axle just grab the flange from the KJ driveshaft and install it onto the ujoint of your existing driveshaft. Sorry this may may seem all a little overwhelming and no matter what you are going to spend a few hours getting that rear end sorted out.

If he wants to start over with newer XJ fuel injection I can advise. The 98/99 harness makes for a pretty clean standalone option.

After several days of trying to contact dirtbound I got a reply! So I guess I'll keep hitting refresh hoping to see product/price show up.:rolleyes: Really it's not like there is a big hurry, but I was ready to bust out my credit card days ago and get something ordered.

IIRC even if you get the flange for the 8.8 you still need a 1310 conversion ujoint to adapter to your XJ driveshaft. The KJ 8.25 also needs the flange from the driveshaft, but at least its a 1310 flange.

It's possible that security system is the problem. Maybe an ECU from an XJ without security would be a good test? I'm not sure how different the ECU pinouts are between the ZJ and XJ. This may not be helpful now, but if I were going through this exercise I would have gone with a 98-99 engine harness, ECU, and dizzy. The OBDII computer supports much more troubleshooting abilities. Some of these might still be available over the CCD bus if you had access to a DRBIII.

Scrap that pos. Grab a KJ 8.25, and swap it in like I did, or go with the ford 8.8 with disks. The 8.8 is a little narrower and will need spacers, and the park brake cables will be an issue on it. The 8.8 is a little stronger but the KJ 8.25 is a little better fit for the MJ. Both will require welding new perches on the axle. Here is the first part part of my video showing the axle swap:

*without welded spider gears. I.E. installing a different rear end that hasn't been hacked up inside.

Agreed. If you want to just replac the rear axle for one without welds go for an 8.8 or KJ disk 8.25. I'm swapping a disk 8.25 from an 05 KJ. The brake lines and cables are a perfect swap for the MJ. See this for more info:

LOL. I get why you say that. and LOL.

Pretty big assumption there Pete, will there even be a next trip?

Honestly its not that big of a deal, you just need to finish the rear axle swap, and install a front sway bar and then it will be safe to drive, sure you could improve some other things along the way, but with those two things taken care of you should be good to go.

Wimps.

Meh, you'd be right next to people towing 5th wheels and camper trailers if you drove through canyonlands and island in the sky. Here is some motivation for things to see in Moab, most of this video is accessible off the paved roads:

I started removing the seat brackets from the XJ donor metal. I made a how to video for removing the spot welds. This process applies to pretty much any spot weld cutting you are likely to ever do for automotive purposes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLpjFQDPA4s

Also consider if you drove through Colorado you would be very close to moab when you passed through Utah. Maybe consider taking i70 one way and i40 the other? moab is a good place to go through arches national park and some other things. I realize the weather can be intimidating but everyone who lives here deals with it fine.

Grand Canyon is well worthwhile, I agree, go see it. I have done a number of backpacking trips into the Canyon, truly a magical place.

A hitch is available for the dirtbound offroad, though it sticks down. I tried to reach out to dirtbound today and got the Voicemail of the sales team, instead sent an email inquiry about the pricing for the hitch. At this point its coming down the the JCR and Hanson I think, though I would still like to figure out the final price of the dirtbound. I do like the way the JCR wraps around the side, I like the protection that offers when backing up/turning around on the narrow trails in CO, it gives me a chance to put a corner of the jeep into a mountainside without bashing it up.: And I like that the Hanson has a larger top step for dealing with opening the Wildernest - though I could just put down the tailgate and step on that. Combined with some grip tape could make it pretty safe for standing on the bumper edge: