Pete M

A bit of vocabulary first. "pipe" is generally used to describe what you can buy in a hardware store and should never ever be entrusted with your life. It's simply not made to do that job. "tube" is generally used to refer to structural tubing that is designed to carry loads and be bent etc. Shrommolly is the best but most expensive and you're likely not to encounter it, DOM is second down the line and is what should be used in rollcages, and HREW is the cheapest and weaker than the others, but can be used if you use it wisely. As to the Harbor frieght benders, they will bend tube, but they will not bend it well. They are simply not designed to prevent kinks in the tube. You can probably get away with using them for bumpers, but I wouldn't even try for a rollcage. I went to a local guy for my rollbar/tirecarrier. I did all the prepwork (and design), then he did the bending/cutting/welding, then I did all the post work (painting etc). It was very affordable. :thumbsup:

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Look-en' gooooood! :thumbsup: Don't forget to align it after you raise the front.

There's no CPS on a 2.8L. When I had issues starting my 2.8, the problem turned out to be corrosion on the power wire feeding the coil. The spark was simply too weak to fire the gas consistently.

Congrats! :thumbsup: No photos?

Nice truck! Be sure to get a projects thread going and fill in some more details. :thumbsup:

Sounds to me like they need to buy up some property at the end of the run. :eek:

It's quite an involved swap. Essentially, you'll need to gut your entire truck and swap in everything from a donor MJ/XJ including the entire wire harness, dash,, radiator mounts and hood. A more straightforward swap is to get a 3.4L chevy block from a Camaro/Firebird. It's a near bolt-in procedure. :thumbsup: http://jeep.off-road.com/jeep/article/a ... ?id=277008

Which is negated if keeping everything SUA. :thumbsup: I have a small reservation that the now stiffer overload might cause the longest leafs to bend down at their ends. Can't say for sure if that'll happen though. It was the bggest reason I first decided to add in that second main leaf, my tired mains were actually flexing up towards the middle and curving down at the ends.

The area between the hood and the windshield is called the "cowl". :thumbsup:

What are your plans? Are you trying to get it street legal? Or is it just a wheeler?

It's really hard to say what any particular combination will do and that's why I don't have a chart. Each individual leaf out there could do something completely different. I built my new packs in the 88 the exact same way I did before (2wd leafs with an extra MJ main) and the fact that they are "fresher" packs gave me almost 2 inches of lift. :shake: If I was a betting man, I'd go with the XJ main first and see what it does. I've got an Explorer main added to my 90 and it's right at stock height (Explorers have a bit less arch than 2wd MJ packs). Wahoo, try it out and let us know what you find. :thumbsup: I'd prefer to use an overload with more arch. If memory serves me right, by the time the leafs are down to the factory overload, the axle is uncomfortably close to bottoming out.

How am I supposed to live vicariously through you guys if you don't post up pics? :dunno: :needpics:

There is a 5 year no-questions warranty on the red tops. Or at least there used to be. Yellow top was only a couple years. I run a redtop in my minivan and love it (technically it goes to the 88 MJ, but since that truck isn't exactly mobile at the moment...)

That's really hard to do on a tight budget. It costs money to host the photos directly on this site. The best I can offer is the projects forum and the "Introduce your Comanche..." thread in the pub. :dunno:

Aww, my fingers are going to be sooooo cramped by then... :D

What? :D How about...

I had a local shop bend some 1/4" steel into a bracket and then I drilled holes. In theory you can reuse your stock brackets. The receiver hole was cut using the angle grinder. :thumbsup: edit: I had the welding shop drill the big hole for the hitch pin (it's bigger than regular ones).

I believe 97+ were disc and 31 spline. Pre-97 were 27 spline and drum brakes. Not according the the experts at the explorer forum. all were 31 spline and 95+ are disked. :thumbsup: Check it out when you crack it open and let us know what you find.

The rust under the floor is due to water leaking into the cab and collecting under the carpet (probably through the rust holes in the hood). Make sure you fix all water leaks before installing new carpet. :thumbsup: And a bad translation done by an online translator program: :D La oxidación bajo el piso es debida regar salir en la cabina y reuniendo bajo la alfombra (probablemente por los hoyos de oxidación en la capucha). Aséguresele fija todas filtraciones de agua antes de instalar nueva alfombra.

The goal is to get the people of the rocky mountain area to post up so that later on it's easier to plan get-togethers. That's the theory at least. :dunno:

I don't have a welder, but that didn't stop me from making my own. :D I used an angle grinder and a drill and paid a pro to weld up the final product. http://pic20.picturetrail.com/VOL91/512 ... 747045.jpg

Interesting idea, but it doesn't work for me. :( I don't have any steel left in the rockers. Also, I'm not sure I could pop holes in solid rockers if my life depended on it. But then, I've lived in Michigan my whole life and disturbing pristine sheetmetal usually plants the seeds of rust. I think that guy is located out in the desert.

Be prepared that removing them can be a real pain in the kiester. The little brackets that hold them on are likely also rusty and the bolts tend to snap off. Though I guess this is only an issue if you want to put the flares back on. Most guys seem to pop out the remaining stud pieces and use SS bolts to reinstall the flares. :thumbsup: How nice do you want this all to look in the end? Can you post pictures of the problem areas?

found this on ebay: :D