Pete M

what's a "fancy" oil filter?

and I'm to assume I can only use the minivan to pick up groceries and transport kids to soccer?

lookin' good. :thumbsup: why are the photos fuzzy? :hmm:

cause they suck? :dunno:

I don't understand the shying away from spending money on a cheap MJ. most of our MJs were cheap. some were dirt cheap. A couple lucky guys got theirs for free. :brows: Doesn't mean you shouldn't buy quality components to make it work great. Think of it as an investment that will likely outlive the truck and get transferred to the next Jeep. :thumbsup:

where are the rust spots located?

car-part.com

sweet car. :bowdown: we still have my dad's 83 Z HO and it'll likely stay in the family forever. :D

:cheers: you can get some beefy perches from Mopar for like $15. :thumbsup:

on-road structural integrity is usually more important. stress and force can be higher due to the higher speeds involved and no one else's life is in danger should your rear axle let go on a dirt hill. :thumbsup:

welcome! :wavey: nice truck! :bowdown: specific tech questions should go in the tech forum so more people will see them and also so that them and the answers will be in the search database. this forum is more for braggin' about what you do as you go along and for us to ask you about your truck. :thumbsup:

you can get some beefy perches through Mopar. the pair is like $15.

nothing matches the MJ spring pad location except another MJ. :thumbsup: oh, and the axles are identical between v6 and v8 explorers. only the outer brackets are different. If there are several choices in the yard, you can slap the best rotors and calipers you find on the axle with the right gears. :D

yes. block and heads are like 98% the same externally. :thumbsup: see this page: http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Pro ... ect_XJ.htm

very nice :D

core charge will be $30+ per caliper on the 8.8

and try real hard to get the flange bolts and calipers with the axle. the core charge on the calipers is insane. but the flange bolts are available from Ford. Do not use anything but the ford bolts. they are metric and very strong.

you might be able to pick upa whole car for the price of a junkyard motor. then you'd have everything associated with the wiring and can still part out the car and haul off the rest for scrap.

I don't believe it matters which year of 3.4/3.1 if you're using just the block. are you swapping just the block or the entire wire harness to get the fuel injection?

which 8.8? there are a dozen different 8.8s out there. Ford threw it under everything from crown vics, to aerostars to the IRS explorers (uses an 8.8 center section). all have varying widths and bolt patterns. The one you'll be looking for are under 95-01 Explorers (right bolt pattern, nearly the right width, disk brakes). don't get a 3.73 unless you have a plan for matching in the front.

don't think so. I've never seen it on a factory-paint MJ myself, but I've seen it on plenty of MJs that were touched up. right above the rear flares is prone to rotting from the inside-out.

you can try both cleaning the CPS as well as unplugging it and cleaning up the terminals inside the connector. the CPS sends a pretty weak signal anyways and anything that degrades that signal will cause the computer to wait longer until it's absolutely positive of the location of the engine before firing.

if a dent is properly repaired, then all is good. :D a fridge magnet will not hold through much bondo and so will show if the fix was a hack job (as seems to be the norm for above the rear flares and the rockers). :thumbsup:

peal back the carpet and check for moisture/rust/funny smells.