Budhound

Hey Shelby, I was wondering did you just throw the motor from the 97 in the mj? I know you has said at the beginning that there was a slight noise at idle from the stock Engine/Drivetrain. I figured that you probably did instead of swapping everything over to the old motor. That engine looks really clean BTW, great job on the build man you have one bad @$$ truck. Buddy

UPDATE: I finished my first two weeks. there are alot of things they didnt tell me when i signed on but it doesnt really matter. Most of the stuff is like there is no overtime just straight pay + commission, and that even though I'm hourly they won't pay me past 6PM if I'm working on a customer's car that came in before 6pm. What the heck do I care though its a job, and ive already talked to the shop manager about a couple of the issues and he is in complete aggreance with me and apparently its something he was trying to get into effect jsut before I signed on. Other then that ive already learned how to mount/unmount and plug a tire and do a 4-wheel alignment :clapping: . I didnt know how to do that before, since ive never worked in a tire shop. Oh well this is prolly the last post in this thread so once again thanks everyone for the support and good luck to everyone. Buddy

First off thank you everyone on the congrats. Its a 45 minute drive one way and right now I'm driving a 1990 toyota camry with over 208k on the clock and i got it for 800 bucks. I can make it there and back if i drive normally on an 1/8th of a tank. I have to be there at 7:15 in the morning so I get up and try to leave the house by 6 / 6:15am to get there on time. I get paid 7.50/hr - 9.5 hours a day - 5 days a week and 6% of my labor cost? meaning the $#!& I do I get 6% on top of the 7.50? I'm not going to lie though in the florida heat and the humidity my 285lb @$$ is moving full throttle all day long and i can barely walk after work. It will be worth it though. I'm a lube technician there but today they asked me to do a CV axle and lower ball joint on a VW jetta turbo and fix some guys horn on a honda. Some how i managed to pull it off. I had only been there three days as of yesterday and they had me as the only lube tech and we got slammed but I managed to hold down the fort and impress the higher ups. don't get me wrong I'm not trying to rub it in alot of people do get bummed out but like i told my girlfriend its just a matter of time. Something will fall into your lap, it may not be a golden nugget but hey you can work with it. Yeah whowey, Not having your own tools makes it a pain in the @$$. Back when i was working at my last job and was driving a Comanche 2.5L I managed to replace my powersteeing pump with basic hand tools, and i don't mean the whole pump/resivoir combo. I had to separate the old pump from the resivoir and then some how press the new pump into the housing, and that is without a press, or a mallet, or a workbenck, or a vise, yeah thats right i did it on my truck bed and the truck was parked on a 15 degree driveway. It was raining to and you can ask my girlfriend she stood out in the rain with an umbrella and a flashlight so i could work at night. Had to do that on a weekend, and missed a day of work because of the whole ordeal. On some of the HD stuff though the guys at the new shop are cool with me using some of their tools as long as i don't break them. The service writers are even trying to help me find equipment on the cheap from used to new stuff. Its cool Ill keep you guys updated on it and good luck to everyone.

Someone upstairs must have been watching. I snagged-a-job.com with Midas and its full time. Only paying 7.50/hr but I'm not complainin. Start tomorrow its 45 minutes away from where I live and I have to be there at 7:15AM but its a job. Thanks for listen people. Hopefully, everyone else will find a great opportunity soon.

dang that sucks man I'm sure you find something. espically with a masters. Its jsut a shame, and now espically the script gets flipped in my area. It seems that if your a white male that isnt recieving gov aid and isnt bilingual then your bottom of the barrel. Since the area where I'm at has alot of tourism its like oh you don't speak french, or aribic, or spanish? then what good are ya. I'm sorry but if I go to any other country is it expected that they speak english to cater to me? and thats another thing to warrior, alot of places are like do you have a specific kind of licensing? no i don't but id need a job to get the money to get the licensing now wouldnt I? My girl told me last night i should check an employment agency, so i did and only a few had one or two openings and they were for expierenced/licensed people.

I would enlist and ive tried in the past but they kept saying i needed to lose weight. Ive lost over 40 lbs but i can't seem to get any lower then that. I could join the border patrol i have all of my testing and what not done but I have to pass the physical test. Aside from that my girlfriend would have a $#!& fit if i enlisted or if i joined the BP. Plus ive been looking into going back to school to get a degree. Since housing, meal plan, books, insurance and tuition can be covered by loans i figured that it would be a good idea. I'm hanging in there man, and you do the same hopefully everything works out for you.

First off id like to praise anyone who has a job right now :bowdown: . you guys are lucky. I chose to move about 3 months ago and its been a damn battle ever since. I live in west kissimme now, its SW of Orlando and it seems like most of the places around here only hire you if they can get a damn tax break. Personally, I think its bull. This isnt a whoa is me story, i just want to know if anone else is in this situation, you know someone other then my pissed off girlfriend that i can talk to. Basically, these buisnesses get a tax break if they hire someone that is on welfare or has recieved some form of gov. aid. I don't know about you but in this economy with double digit unemployment I think that program is crap. When the economy is doing well then i can see how it works but right now everyone and their momma is recieveing some form of aid. Where as someone like me who isnt using the system to get by and has child support to pay every month gets hammered every day and can't even get a job at mcdonalds flippin burgers. I dunno just needed a place to vent.

Having fought a few XJ/MJ unit bearing assemblies and having repacked conventional front wheel bearings countless times from my gearhead racing/autocross days -- there's no way on God's green earth you can replace a hub bearing unit faster than you can pop the bearings and repack. Not even close. I said if you lack the skills man. once you learn to do it its easy. its like teaching a guy to fish instead of catching dinner for him if you know what i mean. On my MJ I did the front brakes and when looking at the hubs i had the one piece units as well no packing required it looked to me like you had to remove 3 bolts and then the old hub would come off after the brake system is removed.

Well i had my MJ but I sold it I shoulda known i was a fiend for these trucks. just got to find another one.

well if you lack the facility and the skills replacing it as one unit instead of repacking a new bearing saves alot of time and headache. But like you guys said for the extra 100 bucks its not worth it. you could replace 6 bearings and repack for the cost of one hub.

I'm down, oh wait i have to get another comanche first.

EXACTLY... Stay away from Rusty's... If you wish to mix-n-match like that (which we have to do), get the RE 3.5" kit for an XJ and then get your 3" leaf springs for the rear. That is the set-up I have on mine :cheers: . You will have to measure and match shocks for the rear too because of it being an XJ kit, the rear shocks will not be the right length. Fill me in what the heck is wrong with rustys? I'm looking to go cheap i mean cmon i bought the truck for 500 bucks. and aside from regular maintnence and some xj buckets ive picked up i havent done anything. I'm not looking to go rock crawling jsut maybe some trail riding or something of that sort. THis info you guys are giving me is usefull so keep going.

ok so i relize very quickly why alot of people have mixed and matched suspensions instead of having one good kit . I was looking on both rustys and motion off road and came up with this: Rusty's Offroad MJ Comanche 3" Add-A-Leaf Kit http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.m ... sus_xj_kit Price: $265.00 KIT INCLUDES: • Front 3" coil springs • Rear 3" full length add-a-leaf • Front hydro performance shocks • Rear hydro performance shocks • Rear brake line extension kit • Grade 8 U-Bolts Motion Offroad MJ Comanche 3" Leaf Springs http://motionoffroad.com/catalog/index. ... cts_id=107 $375.00 Id rather have a new leaf pack then use add-a-leaf. Now, the questions is do i need to modify my steering at all or worry about anything else with the 3" lift?

i don't know jack about supension when it comes to trucks :help: . The suspension is old and is probably all original with exception to the shocks and struts. I would like to get a nice kit something that I wouldnt have to mix match from other manufacturers. The truck is 2wd but 4wd is in the plans for the future so id like to knock out the suspension in one blow. Any suggestions? Buddy

http://www.rubiconexpress.com/Jeep/XJ/P ... art=RE6165 It should work on my mj right? Its very basic my mj is stock. I don't even think the rear axel is flipped or maybe it is i can't remember ill look at it tomorrow. I'm looking for a small lift 2-3.5" what do you guys think. The truck will be used mostly on-road with occasional offroad duty. Buddy

hell with that i use the hole in my rusted out passenger side floor pan. 4 times already the mod is well worth it and with some time this can be yours for free. Buddy

Lol well tampa is about 3 hours away but I may be moving down to the west palm beach area before the summer. I'm about an hour from orlando so if anyone is round then gimme a shout. Buddy

Is anyone from central florida besides myself. It would be cool to meet some fellow jeepers at least some with tools :bowdown: anyways. Stop in say hi and maybe we can help each other out. Buddy

yeah i just think ill grab the best set of doors that I find. just found out my wheel cylinder on the passenger side is leaking.... yay time to do rear brakes. Buddy

true that i do need to get my @$$ to the jy. I already have some XJ buckets that I need to modify to fit the mj and i need to get a set of doors i can use the front doors off a 4dr xj right? I also need to get a camera to get some picks of my ride I'm sure some of you guys would get a kick out of seeing it.

I'm from central florida, i guess i should update my profile. The boggest concern I have with is the wiring. I already sent emails to a couple places about making a harness for me but they all said that they didnt have wnything for my application. I was going to unclip a connecter in hte engine bay and it snapped cause its old. I jsut wish i could get a new harness without having to go to the dealership.

well the cowl is the main problem cause it leaks, even though it hasnt rained much I think before i do that i need to swap the doors back to manual window doors cause the electric ones that are on it have shot motors. some jackass swapped them and didnt realise they were blown. Plus its gonna get hot here soon so i figured id better have windows that roll down. Does anyone know if the bracket with tensioner or idler pully can be purchased so i can remove my ac compressor the trucks ac is shot and i already removed all the hvac $#!& and bypassed the heater core. the only thing left is the condenser and the compressor.

ok so here is the sitrep. my manche broke down on me 200 miles from home and i spent two days straight and fixed it and drove it home. Now the little bastard has grown on me even more to the point that i want to make it a respectalbe rig. The cowl is shot and leaks and the floors are rusted out. the interior is pretty much gutted with exception to the bench seat that has no springs for the sliders, a bungeed gauge cluster the steering wheel and shift knob and a drivers side seat belt. This thing is a beast but for 500 bucks it does the job rediculously well. Ok so should I jsut look for a rolling chassis in great shape or fix the old beast?

well the other comanche was pretty liek the wicked witch of the west except instead of big moles and boils it had rust bubblin up everywhere so i guess that means ill just throw my money into my existing manche. Anyone around florida want to lend a hand?

True that I'm going to go look at it today, Also on a side note I will be going 4wd eventually I was thinking of rubicon axels and a ax5 4wd trans but I'm clueless as to the transfer case. I want a capable off road vehicle ( trails and slight rugged terrain but not heavy rock climbing) but I also want to get at least 20mpg on the highway. Let me know your thoughts and setups and what MPG your getting. Are there only a few transfer cases that will bolt to that trans? I also understand that the gears can be changed in the rear but I heard that stock rubicon axels front and rear are pretty gangster from the factory. I also contacted painless wiring to see if they have a engine harness and chassis kit that I could use because I don't really feel comfortable with old electrical connectors. Would suck to drop the engine from my existing mj into the better truck just to have me grounded by a broken clip or connector.