mjeff87

Lifted the front of the MJ yesterday. If my mind wasn’t made up on going SOA or not before, it sure is now. I will be going spring over when I get my axle back from regearing. I used a set of V8 ZJ coils and a set of ACOS, along with the factory isolator, set the ACOS to about 1.5” and ended up with about 4”. Now the front is about 1” higher than the rear (it has settled about 1” since the new springs), which looks really stupid, but I can live with it for a couple weeks. Once I SOA, all I have to do is unload the springs and crank the ACOS down to match. I also used a new set of YJ brake lines, which took me FIVE different parts stores to find in stock. Added a set of Ranchos and called it good, for now. Jeff Lifted: Image Not Found Image Not Found ACOS: Image Not Found New (to me) shocks: Image Not Found

remember, to compare apples to apples, tire diameter changes require speedo gear changes. I've currently got the correct factory gear installed for 4.56's with the factory 205's. It ran almost true with 235's on it, but is now registering about 5 mph slower with 31"s on it. Not that it matters much to me, since I drive like a geezer according to my wife (who has several speeding tickets to my zero :D ). I just get in the slow lane and keep up with the majority of the traffic. There's enough vibrations/sounds/protests from my driveline that I know when I'm going 65, that I don't have to reference the speedo to know where I'm at LOL. I get there when I get there, eventually :chillin: Jeff

A steering wheel puller kit is less than $10 guys :D However, you can most times get the wheel off the shaft with a small hammer....tap the shaft quickly and lightly directly in the center, and it will impart vibrations that will walk the wheel up the splines on the shaft. The big problem with that method is being too ham-handed with the hammer, and you end up mushrooming the end of the shaft, or fubaring the threads. Jeff

Proud to claim I was a Life Scout (got in too late to make Eagle before I turned 18 :headpop: ) and also in OA. My scout experience was limited to the local western PA scout camp (Roaring Run) and was o.k., but the OA is where it got "extreme". Loved it beyond words. I've been thinking, I really ought to get back involved with the BSA somehow. Kinda of a pay-it-back sort of thing, I suppose. I'm getting old..... :chillin: Jeff edit: but I refuse to sell doughnuts outside the local WalMart as a fundraiser!

Not much that you can do without spending more $$ than it's worth to do (read: forced induction). Others have cammed them, enlarged the exhaust, bored the TB (if MPI, not TBI) but HP gains were minimal. There's a guy over on NAXJA that went spazoo on his (MudDawg is his screenname, IIRC) and has a screamer, but dropped alot of coin to do it. Keep it stock, and tuned, and gear it. My 2.5 TBI is anemic by most standards, and has almost 180K on it, with more blowby than a $10 porno rental....but 4.56's really woke it up. with 31's on it now, I can roll it on the interstate and not be so much of a target (tachs an even 2K rpm @ 65mph), and it's alot more peppy at low speeds too. THe poweband on the 2.5 is right around 2K, so if you can run it close to there, you'll really notice a difference. Jeff edit: I'm planning on adding an inertia ring when I swap trannies on mine, too. The biggest problem I have with mine is low rpm torque and engine stalling.

Not good that anyone was hit to begin with, but still glad it wasn't Pete!

Caught a little blurb in the local paper yesterday, off the wire. Byline is Cimarron, NM. Says lightning struck a mountaintop, injuring a group of Scouts as they were hiking. Nine Scouts and two adults, on Baldy Mountain, none were seriously injured but one was airlifted to a Santa Fe hospital for treatment. Hope that wasn't the group that Pete was with...... Jeff

Set of Lokar clevises for sale over on NAXJA, if you're interested: http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=926345 Jeff

Got a pic or two of that Nate? :D Might be just as easy for me to drill/tap right now, seeing as how it's stripped... Image Not Found

YJ aluminum wheels, picked them up for cheep. 31” BFG AT/KO’s, also for cheep. Factory 15X7, 5.25 BS....works for me for now. Jeff Image Not Found Image Not Found

The breather is threaded, fits thru the junction block, and into the tube. I just had to clean all the gunk off to figure it out. One little problem, the Dana axles have a seperate breather, and the blocks are held on by a 5/16" bolt. The Dodge axle breather is 1/2" fine thread....I'll have to drill and tap out the axletube to make it work. Jeff

glad I stirred your memory......but how do you get it off the axle???? I'm gonna run back down today. There's about 10 Dakotas in there, so I ought to figure it out, eventually.

yeah, it's caveat empator on my junkyard (well, they do give a 30 day retun/refund). There's no way to test anything there....you just gotta buy it and install it to see if it works. If yes, good....if not, take it back and either get yer money back or swap it for another one and try again. Jeff

Nice writeup Don :cheers: Probably not on my current mod list, but will bookmark. There's no shortage of Mercedes down here in the junkyards, so if anyone wants the parts, lemme know....I might could get 'em for ya. Jeff

So it was really hot this morning when I was at the junkyard, scavenging parts. I wanted to get a Dakota rear brakeline (longer) since I'm up 3+ inches in the back now, and the stock MJ line is acting as a limiting strap at the moment :oops: How in Hades does that junction block come off the Dakota axle??? The D44 has a bolt thru it which secures it, but the Dakotas don't have anything....how are they held to the axletube? I was too hot and tired to mess with it. Didn't want to try prying on it and screw something up, if there was a hidden fasterner, or it had a threaded stud underneath I didn't know about. Jeff

I snagged it out of the 'yard today....lemme know if you need it sooner than later. If not, I'll hang onto it and meet up with ya down the road. :cheers: Jeff

Younz from around da 'Burgh? That's my old stompin' grounds :D If you want, there's an MJ in the 'yard down here that I can pull the scissor-latch assembly out of for you (?) I've got to meet up with Nate in Steubenville sometime in the not-too-distant future....I could bring it along with me (or I can mail it up to ya if you need it sooner). Jeff

Went there a couple times when we lived up in PA. Decent park, excellent coasters, but the big problem is the lines. On a good day, waits are upwards of an hour......you end up spending all day waiting in lines, and only get four or five rides in total. Maybe it's changed since I was there, but to me it was too much money for not enough fun. If I ever went back, I'd definately plan on going off-peak/season. Jeff

IIRC that's an emissions timer. All it does is trigger the CEL to come on at a preset mileage (75,000 I think), as a reminder to change the 02 sensor...whether it needs it or not :roll: Jeff

Those latch rods are held into the latch with the same little doohickeys that the door latch and lock rods use....they're a little bushing that swivels around and locks the rod in so it doesn't pop out. Make sure it's "locked" onto the rod, or that it isn't broken. Jeff

I'm guessing internal slave, Tom? If yes, are you leaking fluid around the bottom of the bellhousing area (indicator of a blown slave/TO assembly)? If not, maybe try a good bleeding and see if that helps. You might have thrown a big bubble of air when you slipped the pedal, and it's trapped in the system between the MC and the slave. Also check the rear of the MC inside the cab....the pushrod is held in by a circlip holding a cheezy metal disc. It's possible you unseated it and it's sucking in air with each pedal push. Jeff

Heh.....if I get the new axle underneath, and find a YJ disco outer with a 297 UJ in it to swap into my '30, mebbe I'll bring the MJ along. I need a good shakedown run once it's ready :D

I’ve got some cool gearhead neighbors. We were all out together yesterday and I snapped some pics of their toys. Gary has a 68 Chevelle that he did a full frame-off resto on…with a big block with 13:1 compression. Yeah, it doesn’t run on pump gas :D (Couple pics of his engine in this older post when we pulled it to swap oil pumps and install a new pan http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=4360 ) Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found This is Greg’s latest vehicle. He also has a ’73 Duster, but it’s undergoing renovation currently (it’s stripped to a shell at the moment) Image Not Found Image Not Found Custom pedals that come up thru the floor vs. hanging down off the firewall: Image Not Found Image Not Found Mopar iron…..mmmmmmm! Every wire/hose/everything is hidden. Image Not Found Image Not Found

They're still sitting up in PA....we just need to figure out a meetup time. I'm heading up toward the end of August but not sure if I'm gonna have time to roadtrip... Jeff

Replacing everything soup-to-nuts on the D44, and can't find the old style tapered bearings with the seperate races that fit inside the tube. All the local places here have the superceeded, new one piece bearing with the race already pressed on the bearing cage. Everything looks the same dimensionally (ID/OD) and they come with the same size collar to press on the shaft, but the seal is a bit different. Can these newer style bearings be used in place of the older style without any problems? I bought a set, but don't want to press them on if they're not gonna work o.k. They ain't cheap, and I don't wanna screw them up and not be able to return them ;) TIA, Jeff