mjeff87

74 (-ish?) Ford Maverick. I either bought it for like $50 and a six pack of Schmidt's or someone gave it to me, I don't remember which. Redid the carpeting in it when my grandmother ripped out her ancient green shag carpeting in the dining room and bought new stuff. Driver side bucket seat was trashed, I replaced it with a milk crate and a pillow. Not bolted to anything. Fun times... I eventually killed it (the transmission) trying to offroad it up on the mountain. Turns out pouring beer into a very overheated transmission doesn't work so well. It worked up until it didn't.

I ran 235/75/15's (on steel wagon wheels to boot) on mine when it was still a 2WD-2.5L, although mine had a 5 speed and 4.10's. It ran fine. Couldn't tell any difference between them and the stock 205's.

Isn't that one of the braces under the steering wheel/behind the lower dash that holds the steering column? I know I've seen that thing (or something very close to it) before, that's where my mind is taking me.

I used an HO auto engine harness when I swapped a 4.0/AX15 into my then 2.5/AX5 87 MJ way back in the day. I just disconnected the subharness that runs into the cab but had to jumper the NSS switch wiring for it to fire. I don't remember which pins they were though. edit: found an old post of mine about the wiring... "jump (or splice) the B and C pins on the NSS connector on the engine side harness (black wire and black/white tracer wire)"

I would replace the clutch while you're in there. Also, if you're putting a new internal slave/throwout in it, ditch those cheezy little "U" clips that hold the lines into it and replace them with appropriately sized cotter pins. I've had those little clips fall out before...nothing says frustration like having to pull a transmission again to replace a .02c piece of hardware. Also, spend a minute with some emery cloth and clean up the tip of the input shaft where it rides in the pilot bearing (and install a new pilot bearing, which should come with your new clutch kit)

First year KJ's (2002) had rear drum 8.25's. I know because I own one

Had them in my MJ. I didn't hate them, but I wasn't in love with them either. Yes, they do raise your sitting position up, which also does two things. It puts your head closer to the ceiling but even worse it reduces the space between the bottom of the steering wheel and the top of the driver seat. It makes it a challenge to slide your leg/thigh under the wheel when getting in/out. You can rock the seat the whole way down to help a bit with that, but you have to readjust it every time you get in. For reference, I'm only 5'8" (when I wake up in the morning anyway...), not a "big" guy at all. I did appreciate the higher sitting position though.

I'm still around. Bumper sticker and windshield decal went away with the MJ but I've still got magnets!

I sold my MJ years ago, because I built it up to more than I could (legally) do with it and it became a garage queen. At that point in my life, it was the right time. Fast forward about 10 years and I'm again itching to tinker on something again just for fun. I'm in a different spot now. I do have the KJ, which is my little creampuff but is wholly impractical to turn into any kind of half serious wheeling vehicle (and I don't want to hack on it anyway). Ill probably pick up a beat to hell and back XJ to work on. Wife doesn't care, which is a bonus. She knows I have to be wrenching on *something* to be happy.

Wow. I've been AWOL around here for a bit (life/work stuff getting in the way) and just saw this. RIP Pete. His renix knowledge was unparalleled, and like his obit states he would jump in and help *anyone* that needed it. Truly a loss to the community, not to mention his family and friends. I can see him and Don sitting together on a patio table out by a lake somewhere in heaven right now, drinking beers and having a "gentlemanly discussion". Lol.

Sumbitch, that works. Thanks y'all

Sumbitch...that works. Lol. Thanks y'all

My KJ (02) driver door seal has a little tear in it. It's still completely functional but it bugs the crap out of me looking at it. I grabbed a good condition one out of a junkyard KJ with intentions of swapping it in awhile back....it's still hanging in my garage lol. I'll get to it one day this spring. I think my 'yard charged me like $10 for it when I got it. If you want I can take a look for some the next time I'm down there.

Posting this, because for the time being (like, the last five minutes) I've been able to login to the site. After resetting my password twice now. For the last couple weeks I kept (keep?) getting password/login ID errors. Last reset I did worked for all of one day, and I'm trying it again. I keep getting "incorrect login and/or password" errors when logging in, and eventually lock myself out of the site. Is there an email I can reach out to publicly if I keep having issues? I can keep resetting my password, but that's a bit cumbersome. I'm thinking this might have something to do with that Xfinity breach a little while ago, maybe my passcode got swiped on here. Anyone else having issues? Thanks, Jeff

I put a set of XJ rocker buckets in my MJ (using my MJ floor brackets). It was one of the best mods I ever did to it. The only downside is the spacing between the bottom of the steering wheel and the front of the bucket seat. Getting in/out, I had to slide my right leg carefully under the steering wheel. When seated though, I had perfect position (with my legs on either side of the wheel).

Check the very rear of the manifold....the front and rear connectors are studs, not bolts. Odds are the rear one is snapped off. There's *just* enough room back there to get a right angle drill involved to remove the remains of the stud if it's snapped off flush (or down in the head).

<- ducks in to thread quickly.... Saw a post over on irate that HF has their 9500 Badlands winch on sale right now for $199. <- quickly runs away....

I've got a thread on this somewhere on here....couple years ago I went to change the plugs in the KJ. #6 plug was STUCK in the head. I fiddled with it for 2+ days, using all manner of snake oils, tools, and inventive curse words and eventually snapped it off in the head. About a month later, $700 in parts and machine shop charges and a new beater DD (my Focus) to get around in while I yanked the head off the 3.7L and worked on it, it was fixed. All for a $2 spark plug.

I've got one of those headband lights too, and can't say enough good things about it. Not just in the garage either. I had to put a new spigot on the kitchen sink awhile ago, that thing was the cat's meow when working under the sink.

Thanks @dasbulliwagen. Sorry for the late response, I had to spend the last several days out of town for work (at VA Beach.....it didn't suck, lol). I might tackle this project this weekend. I'm off all next week for vacation and holiday, wife and I are heading up to PA on Wednesday for a couple days. I do have to help a buddy put new hubs/bearings on his F250 as well. That should be fun.

Are you guys talking about the lower control arms or the uppers? The UCA's have the balljoints in them (welded) and aren't serviceable seperately. The lower ball joints press into the knuckle (from the top)not the CA. @gogmorgo...no worries, thanks. I might have to shelve this project for a couple weeks anyway. I was going to do them this weekend, but got roped into driving down to Tidewater to help a buddy work on his Taco, then I'm out of town most of next week for work.

I've used it a couple times before. It's pretty decent on ujoints. I tried using it to press out/in new UCA bushings (axle end) on a D30...without much success. I'm going to run up to NAPA today and see what they have. Their website doesn't show the TTX joints.

The dust boots on both of my KJ's LBJ's are ripped and I'm pretty sure there's just pixie dust inside them instead of grease at this point (the steering makes a lovely creaking sound when turning the wheels in both directions). Seems like a pretty straightforward job to me. Will my pot metal Harbor Freight ball joint tool kit be sturdy enough to pop the old BJ's out of the knuckle, or should I just go rent a decent one before I start? I do have a 20T press if not. Any other tips/tricks? I've already replaced both uppers via new UCA's about a year ago. edit: any particular brand (and part #) I should purchase to replace?

That's about what I'm finding around here Pete.....if I do find a unicorn silver one it's not worth grabbing. My cruise is working fine now though, once I actually plugged the actuator in....

Early model XJ/MJ hook brackets had the bumper bolting to them from the front. Later model XJ brackets bolted the bumper to them vertically, through the top of the bumper. That's probably why they say they don't fit an MJ. Like JYau says, it's no big deal, you just have to drill two holes in the top of the bumper.