mjeff87

I nabbed a set of ZJ coils out of the yard this morning. Anyone know an estimate of how much lift they'll give on my (used to be 2WD) 87, 2.5L? I'm guessing maybe 1-1/1/2" :?: If so, I can use them and add a spacer for the 3" I'm looking for in the front. I compared them with a cheap caliper I have, and they're @ 1mm thicker than the ones I have on now. Anyone know the uncompressed length of 2WD XJ/MJ springs? TIA, Jeff

I don't have problems with the strips so much as I do the rubber isolator thingys on the bedside that they fit into when the gate closes. I swear I've gone thru about 3 sets of them (I pull extras off at the junkyard when I see them 'cause I know I'm gonna need them eventually). Inevitably, the tapered end gets caught by the strip and smooshed (technical term right there :D ) when the gate closes. Maybe some wire rope straps aren't a bad idear....thanks for sharing! Jeff

great score for $100 IMHO. You'll have fun with it I'm sure. The 2.5 TBI isn't as terrible as many make it out to be, just keep the rev's up :D Those axles more than likely are 3.73 with the auto, but verify either by the diff tag or #'s stamped on the ring gear to be certain....anything is possible. Those cinder blocks are scary to me though....please don't work under it like it is. Get some good jackstands, or at least crib it with some heavy lumber....anything but cinderblocks. Jeff

Worked like a charm...many thanks! Jeff

For as ominous as it looked, it wasn't that bad. Certainly not as wicked as it was when it rolled thru TN and parts westward. Got a little bit of hail where I was (dime sized) and a few trees/limbs got ripped off is all. The batt is still sitting....I'm installing it this weekend. I'm redoing the stock cables as well. There pretty much wasted :oops: Jeff

Thanks guys. I take no credit for the pic quality....I just pointed the thing and hit the button (didn't really have time to monkey around with any settings :lol: all things considered). There's more at: Jeff ps....no comments about my cats, if you see those pics there. They have a ummmm.....thyroid condition. Yeah, that's it....a thyroid condition.....

Not that it's of major importance, but I noticed that the time is an hour off on the site, since the clocks changed maybe (?) Looks like the forum software didn't update. Jeff

CW, good info but you can remove/install stock coils without a spring compressor if you want to. All I do is unscrew the bumpstop, disco the shocks, swaybar, and coil retainers. Leave the trackbar and CA's connected. Place a small bottle jack between the top of the axle tube and framerail on the side your working on and pump it up. It will extend and push the axle side down enough for the spring to literally fall out of place, as well as hold the axle down in position while you remove it, install the spacer, and reinstall. Just a little trick I learned....works like a charm and saves a bunch of headache :D HTH, Jeff

If I had it to do all over again, Id'a been a meteorologist :D We had a really strong cold front pass thru yesterday afternoon. I was able to snap off a couple real quick pics before I had to dive (almost literally!) back in the house. You guys out in the midwest are used to seeing this, but it's kinda unique to see such a strong gust-front over here on the east coast. For a reference point, I'm in the front yard, at about 6:30 last night (broad daylight). All the clear skies are east, dark is due west. The front was moving at an estimated 60 mph as it passed thru: Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found There's more on my photobucket account if anyone wants to see them. I didn't want to waste too much space here on the board. Jeff

Well, I just measured mine. I gotta stop hitting the pipe so much.... :oops: '87 shortbed, 2.5/AX5/231, D35 rear shaft is 47 1/2" from UJ center to UJ center (and it's the single tube one) The 2WD one I have is longer but I don't have it here to measure right now. It's the tube-in-tube type. I don't recall ever seeing a 2 pc shaft in any 4WD MJ I've come across in the 'yard, either. Maybe it a 2WD spec item only (??) Jeff

For you 2.5 guys out there who may want to install a factory skid.....I snapped some pics last night showing how the passenger side installs, incorporating the engine damper mount we have. Jeff Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found

Had to look at a map to see where Forest was LOL. There's 2 yards over here in the Richmond area that gets 2 doors in from time to time (the place where I got my XJ buckets). If you want to take a mini roadtrip some day I'll meet you and show you around. In fact, I'm meeting a guy from KY this weekend who wants to go there, if you're free. What color are you looking for? I can keep an eye out for a set for you if you can't make it over. Jeff

From memory I recall my 2.5/AX5 DS to be about that same measurement too....43.5" I can measure it tonight if you need to know. I do know that the 2WD one that was under it originally, which is sitting under my house now, is 48". HTH, Jeff

***mini thread hijack*** Can you give any more info on that? There's a ZJ at the 'yard now they're selling for $1000 but it has "bad trans" written on the back hatch window. The thing is in nice lookn shape, about 140K on it, and it's black-on-black. I was gonna talk turkey with them but am a little concerned about the trans issue. I figured I could just pull another trans from the 'yard for $100 and slap it in, but if all of 'em have issues I think I'll pass it up. I HATE auto trannies, anyways :D Jeff **now returning to your regularly scheduled thread**

Those 31's on stock wheels....they're gonna rub at full lock. I have some AT 235/75 :oops: recaps on now (on stock wheels) that the driverside only rubs at full lock on the LCA. I couldn't imagine what a 31 would do. Plenty of room in the rear, tho.... Jeff

holla for the beauty of the 2.5L......my alt's on TOP of the engine :D Trust me, I can change it out in about 20 minutes :oops: The only thing that skid got in the way of for me was the front tow hook brackets :slapshead: I shoulda put them on before I put the skid on. For me, something's better than nothing, too. It's proven it's worth at least once since I've had it on...it took the brunt of a large rock rather than the diff cover. Popped the piece of channel loose on one end I hit so hard, and I had to get it welded back up. Jeff

Those DS holes should be tapped, maybe they're just crudded up. I put an XJ (4.0) skid on my 2.5, and it was an "interesting" job. The DS bolted right up, but the passenger side was a nightmare getting the 3 holes lined up. There's a spacer thingy at the frame end that you have to sandwich between the skid mount and the framerail while using your third hand to bend the mount into position....I ended up using a long 12" tapered punch thru one of the holes to get everything lined up while I got the other 2 bolts started. Not alot of room to work down there, either. After 2 blood-drawing injuries and a six pack, I got it on :) I can get a pic of it if you want to see what I'm talking about (?) Jeff

Couldn't be, this time of the year they're all on I95 north, driving back up to New England from Florida....then they all migrate back south in the fall. Jeff

Wheel shimmy that occurs between 55-65 mph is a dead indicator of imbalance. Not to say that other things might not be wrong, but if it only happens at that speed, it points to balance. The tires could create the initial shimmy, and other failing components would increase the effect, causing the full-on deathwobble. Start with the balance, but definately go over everything else, including the TB (both ends) and the CA bushings. Whatever you do, don't just stick a new stabilizer on it and call it good. Fix the problem, don't band-aid the symptoms :) Jeff

Get the wheels rebalanced Jeff

note to self....try not to get CW cheesed off :) I'm only 5'8" (when I wake up in the morning), but my bench seat is so worn out I sink down about 4" in it anyways. I won't know how to act sitting at normal height behind the wheel. It'll be a whole new truck to me! Jeff

I'd look for a 2 door XJ as a donor because those buckets have a forward folding seatback (just like the MJ bench). 4 door ones, like the ones I got don't fold forward the whole way, which I'm hoping doesn't pose too much of a problem. I just couldn't pass these ones up because they're in such good shape and they're black (hard to find interior color, at least for me it is). I measured the brackets this past weekend, hoping that they were the same so I could just put them in with as they were, but no dice :( the holes are spaced differently, and just wouldn't work. So now I have to get creative and figure out how to get the #$&@ off them so I can mount MJ ones (once I find a set of them LOL) And I think the buckets are gonna take up a bit more room behind than the bench, but not too much. The bench is thinner than the bucket backs, and not quite as padded (I guess the padding is for back seat passenger protection ??) Jeff

The anchor pins thread into the knuckle. If those threads are stripped out, you can repair with a helicoil (or replace the knuckle :( ) Jeff

It's your truck, and your money. Do what YOU want with it. My .02c worth... Jeff

To all, Today is, among other things, National Be-Kind-To-Spiders Day. So if you run across any, don't squish 'em. Give them a beer, take them out for dinner, or something like that :D Spiders are our friends! Jeff