mjeff87

Yeah.....now all I have to do is paint everything :chillin:

I stopped once in West Point to do a visual, and the front pinion seemed hot but not too hot so I kept going. Got on the interstate and rode it up to the 106 exit, got off and pulled into a truckstop/gas station. Troopers gave me a few compliments, and even asked if I wanted them to call for help ;)

Spent Saturday down at Pat’s house springing over the MJ and drinking beer :D We bumped it up on his trailer and did the rear first. I opted to leave the e-brake cables and brake line connected and just remove the leaves…..I’m sick of bleeding brakes (see my other thread about the XJ booster install last weekend). Got the rear done in about a half hour: A shot of Pat’s better side LOL Image Not Found Image Not Found Then we moved on to the front. Pat’s knowledge and trailer straps made the job go pretty smooth. Kept the wheels on to replace the LCA’s (1” longer than stock), which centered the wheels in the wheelwells perfectly: Image Not Found Passenger side, with new LCA: Image Not Found Driver side, with stock LCA: Image Not Found I spun the ACOS down as far as they would adjust, (still have about a 1” rake which I wanted), and reseated the springs: Image Not Found Image Not Found Then we installed the RE adjustable trackbar and bracket, after the ride height was set: Image Not Found I had already installed longer front shocks which I “thought” would be long enough, but they weren’t. Pat dug thru his parts pile and found a set that would fit to get me home :cheers: Image Not Found Couple shots of Pat’s XJ museum. I purposely didn’t take a pic of Pong…..it doesn’t need to be seen in the shape it’s currently in (under construction):D Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found I still have lots of little bugs to work out, mainly in the front end. I NEED longer UCA’s……caster right now is about 10 degrees :oops: and I actually had to stop halfway home and pull the front driveshaft because of the funky pinion angle. Once I get the UCA’s in and caster/pinion angle back, I need a set of disco’s or at least extended sway bar links (my sway bar is verrrry unhappy with me right now). Also need front shocks, and have to figure out what to do for rear shocks. We tried reusing the MJ spring plates on top of the packs, but that puts the lower mount too close to the upper, about 14”. I put my stock shocks back on just to get home, but they bottomed out on just about every bump I hit. I took them back out and ran around yesterday with no shocks…..very interesting experience to say the least. I’ve got a local shop ordering me in a set of shorties (11”/17”, for an Exploder I think) today just to get around, but ultimately I’m going to have to get the lower mounts back on the tube and get some longer shocks. Also, the Dakota rear line is too short at full flex, so I either have to replace that with something longer or extend the hard line down off the frame some. And the YJ front lines are just barely long enough...I'm going to drop the hard lines a bit on the framerails or add some extensions. All things considered, I’m very happy with the results so far. Either 33” MT’s or 34X9.5’s are in the near future. Jeff

It's the centering ball in the front DS. Trust me......I almost blew mine up yesterday, and it was making the same squeak sound (plus some scary grinding noises :D) I stopped at a podunk gas station and pulled the front shaft out.......while two state troopers asked me what I was doing :chillin: Jeff

baby MJ growed up a bit....... :D I'll start a new thread tomorrow, but here's a pic of how it sits now. Pat............... :cheers: Jeff Image Not Found Image Not Found

or you can pull the CAD motor and shim the shift fork over with some flat washers, a hose clamp, or whatever else you can find that'll work. Here's mine with the washer method: Jeff Image Not Found

Can't speak to the front, but I just locked my rear. Yes, there is torque steer, but it's only something you have to get used to while on-road. It's predicatable, and aviodable once you get used to it (as in when upshifting, let the clutch engage fully before hitting the gas). I'd imagine it'd be less noticeable with an automatic. Jeff

I don't think it matters, all the contact switch does is close the circuit.

It's the center set of wires, pink and white. Jeff Image Not Found

you really have to press down hard on that cup.....there's a spring underneath it. Plus it's likely to be slippery from gear oil, and it's a tight space to work in. But it'll depress, eventually... Jeff

I bumped uglies with a ZJ on the interstate and caved my driver side door in a couple years ago. I used a kitchen plunger to pop it back out. Not perfect, but good enough :D Try that first and see what happens. Jeff

Since you said 4.0L, you're talking about either an AX15 or the BA 10/5.... The AX15 (and AX5) shifter is held in the shifter tower housing with a spring-loaded cup. Remove the rubber boot that's bolted to the tranny hump floorboard and press straight down on either side of the shifter where it enters the housing. While holding the cup down, rotate it CCW 90 degrees and it'll pop up...then pull the shifter out. Alternately, you can pull the 4 bolts that hold the housing to the tranny and pull it all out as mentioned above. Unfortunately, since yours is an 88, you probably have the Peugot, and it's different. You have to locate and remove the three bolts that hold the shifter housing to the tranny and remove it all as an assembly. Jeff

No mods, it is identical to the old part except for the bracket welded onto the front of it to hold the switch. BUT....it was an incredible pain in the ### working under the dash getting it in. Glad I did though.

Here's the one I had cut down 1-1/4" a couple weeks ago by a shop up here in Richmond that does heavy truck work.....$65 to shorten, plus $25 for new UJ's pressed in Image Not Found

47", but that's with a 231 not a 207....not sure if there's a difference (most likely not). It would probably be cheaper and better to shorten an MJ shaft vs. lengthening an XJ one.....to shorten, shops grind off the weld of the rear yoke and pull it out (it slips/presses into the shaft a couple inches), cut the shaft and then reinsert/reweld the yoke back on. Not sure you could extend the XJ shaft to the length required cheaply or as easily. HTH, Jeff

The black box is the brake light switch from a 96 XJ....I swapped in a dual diapraghm booster and master cylinder from it. I ended up also swapping in the entire clutch/brake pedal assembly, too (long story). The top of the clutch spring fits in a notch at the top of the bracket assembly. I can get a pic of it also if you need it. :cheers: Jeff

I don't like wrenching on greasy #&@*#(..... ;)

I got it...thanks guys! The splice I did on the ground wire from the left side taillights came undone :oops: Now I don't have to worry about po-po pulling me for something stupid like a plate light (I'm funny like that) Jeff

Thanks. Can you tell me where wire #72 goes (or comes from)? I'm trying to find out where I'm loosing power at. I've got taillights, just no plate light. Jeff

anybody have a wiring diagram that shows the license plate light circuit? Mine stopped working sometime last week (I think) and I can't figure out why. No power to the bulb (I'm only using one, relocated underneath the plate). It's frustrating me to no end..... Jeff

Yeah, he got it in and running, with some scary rack and pinion steering setup.....then Katrina came along and flooded him out. Literally.....ruined the whole project :cry: Jeff

What a mess the weekend was. On the way to the junkyard to get the XJ pedal assembly, I blew a brake line (I “tweaked” it when I installed the XJ prop valve). Got the pedal assy and new brake line and spent Saturday swapping them in. Got it done, and the prop valve was leaking :mad:, ended up swapping the MJ valve back in. Got it all in, bled and working, and the brake light switch was out of adjustment….had to bend the bracket just a tad to fix that. MUCH better braking now :D, but my forearms and hands are beat to snot. One thing I wasn’t counting on was the clutch pedal has a different engagement now (it rides higher under the dash now with the newer assembly), and I have to get used to that. I’m hoping that the difference in throw, about ¼”, isn’t too much for either the master cylinder or throwout assembly. Here’s the installed XJ pedal assembly, with the ’96 contact switch rigged up: Image Not Found Under the hood, I had to relocate the washer resivoir to the passenger side firewall. It just fits there: Relocated Image Not Found Overall bird’s-eye shot of the engine bay now: Image Not Found

I snapped a couple pics for you to over the weekend while I was messing around with my brakes. Here's an installed shot of each, for reference: e-brake spring: Image Not Found clutch spring: Image Not Found

A long time ago, I mentioned a local tire shop had built a Mercedes 320 into a mud bogger. I went back to get a pic but it was gone, and I haven't seen it since. Just found it again.....well, a pic of it anyway. It ran down at a local mud race back in April, and here's the website: http://www.mudslingn.com/muddinpics.htm It's the fourth pic down, in action, and there's a clean pic of it at the bottom of the page. Nifty... Jeff

among other things that leak on my MJ, there has developed a new leak from the side of the transfer case, right around the shift rod area. In fact, I believe it is leaking from the bushing on the shift rod that goes into the side of the case. I picked up a new bushing from the dealership (what an experience that was), and there's supposed to be an o-ring behind it that no dealership has in stock, but there's no way I can see to replace it and get to the o-ring without disassembling the case. I tried pulling one off a junkyard case one day without success. Anyone else's leaking from there, and know how to fix it? I'll get some pics tonight. TIA, Jeff