Pete M

...after 3 hours of sleep too... I'll post more after I take a nap. Photo taking was VERY restricted (you will only see the MJ above), but I can tell you that the SCCA MJ, the blue 9-miles-on-the-odometer MJ and the Thunderchief are in good company among Hemi and turbine cars.

I probably rely too much on the FF website opinions. I don't really do research beyond that. I was planning on the Lions sucking again and they did, but not in a way that helped me out. :(

Be careful with removing a leaf. You could induce some horrible spring-wrap. Don't forget to include a V8 ZJ front sway bar in your plans. :thumbsup:

Sometimes you can get a better price if you bring in an axle separate from the vehicle. That way it doesn't occupy a valuable lift spot.

MJs have a longer wheelbase and so a longer driveshaft. About a foot longer than an XJ. Driveshaft angles are never really an issue up to 6 or 7 inches of lift. Other problems crop up with that much lift, but not driveshaft angles.

In the end it doesn't really matter who I play. If I'd have played the others, then they would have had crappy games. :shake: Seriously, who could have predicted that Pennington could produce 35 points? :doh:

No need to fight here guys. There's some opinion in there when it comes to seat of the pants "that was worth it" conclusions. I went from 3.07s to 3.55s in my 88 and it was a world of improvement with the 30" tires. But I didn't pay a penny for the upgrade. The pennies I spent (a lot of them) went to replacing the Dana 35 I just blew up with a Dana 44 (so that exploding thing wouldn't happen again). The gearing improvement was a side-benefit because I didn't really know any better at the time. If I was to do that over again, I'd have gone to 3.73s or 4.10s. But then, the truck was just 2wd at the time and so was only half the cost of a 4x4 to regear. But having said that, I was still much happier with 3.55s over 3.07s. Don't forget to factor in the cost of new bearings and seals. Oh, and I second the Randy's ring and pinion website. Lot of tech on their site.

Axle shaft U-joints?

Depending on what axle it is, dividing the ring gear by the pinion gear can give 4.10 or 4.11. Essentially they are the same thing though. Don't be getting your panties in a bunch there Rick. :cheers: The guy are only trying to help. The facts that you're an aircraft mechanic and you'll be getting help from someone who knows gears were not included in the original post. Plenty of Jeepers have tried regearing on their own, and many many have failed. Some horribly so. We're just looking out for ya. :thumbsup: As far as I know, XJ rear axles only need new perches burned on to go under an MJ.

Oh, you're talking about the clearance between the springs and the ground, not the axle and the frame. :doh: Well, I'd suggest a set of Explorer multi-leaf leafpacks. Keep your current main leaf and plop the rest of the explorer pack underneath of it (the explorer main leaf won't center the axle quite right). Add a shorter shackle to the mix and then see where you sit. If it takes a bit more, then go with a block. At least with a block, you know exactly how much it'll drop. 4wd MJ on the left, 2wd MJ in the middle, Explorer pack on the right.

Idle Air Controller. Have you cleaned the throttle body lately? A good cleaning with an o2 sensor safe cleaner and a toothbrush might help you out.

You have the exact amount of clearance no matter which method you use. How much are you looking to drop?

Did you clean up the connection?

Probably offroader. :thumbsup: He volunteered to help with the classifieds section.

When I had a similar thing happen in my 88, the water was leaking from the hood seal (the one at the back of the hood), dripping into the engine bay and following an wire down through one of the firewall holes.

The frames are different, the pinch welds are different and the wheelbase is different. I think it'd be easier to start from scratch and build your own than to attempt to alter an XJ unit.

Check the ground located behind the drivers side tail light.

I hate 3.07s and I feel your pain Rick, but regearing is one of the few things that even I won't do. It's a mix of science and voodoo and if it doesn't come out right, you can end up with a noisy axle or even a burnt up axle. Is your MJ your daily driver?

I punched mine through the frame and welded it to both sides. :D

Where along the frame are you measuring? The frame's width changes along it's length. I tucked my guards in nice and tight.

I've never gotten an owners manual with an MJ (and I've purchased 5 over the years). :( They are on eBay though. :thumbsup: And I don't know exactly how many seconds the truck will run without the resistor. Could be 1. :dunno:

Or you can email it to me and I'll upload it for ya. :thumbsup: petermontie@hotmail.com

If the Jeep fires up and runs, then dies after a couple seconds, it could be a problem with the fuel pump resistor. It's the whit/gray ceramic block on the drivers side fender with 2 wires running to it. The pump gets direct current for a couple seconds, then power is switched by the computer and fed through the resistor (it lowers the voltage slightly to reduce pump noise). Try pulling the wires off the resistor and connecting them directly together (don't worry, you can't hurt anything. 1987 MJs didn't even have it yet).

You have to find the leak first. Check the condition of your vacuum canister (in the front bumper on the passenger side) and the lines running into it. They are a typical leak point.

I did the same with my 90. But then within a mile of driving I developed a bad leak out the tailshaft. Don't know if it was related or not, but I swapped in a driveshaft from a AW-4 MJ just for good measure (the AW-4 is an inch longer than my manual trans and so the driveshaft is an inch shorter).