Pete M

The center is indeed cast steel. And the answer to your question depends on who you ask. Some say to pre-heat, others say it's not necessary. :dunno: Either way, you probably won't need to weld the entire circumference. Just a few inch-long stitch welds should do fine.

I owned my LB for a couple years before I noticed it. :roll:

Actually, longbeds are in front of the axle. Shortbeds are behind :D

Then you should have 4.10 gears. If that's true, stick with it. :thumbsup:

I carry 2 of each junkyard sensors (someday I might actually take the time to see if any of them work). What year is your truck? If it's the AX trans, it's an AX-15 (the AX-4 and AX-5 only bolt to the smaller Jeep engines). The other choice back then was the awful Peugeot. The AX-15 is the most common upgrade for a blown Peugeot, so it still might be an AX-15 even if it's too old to have gotten it from the factory.

Sweet, so the idea works then? :brows: Now I can officially recommend doing it that way. :D

Gearing can be more important to 4 bangers than axle strength. Is your truck a 4speed manual, 5 speed manual or auto?

If they make noise or are loose, they should likely be replaced. Factory bearings can go 150 or 200k before needing replacement, so it's not a regular maintenance issue, but rather a "when it goes bad, replace it" thing. Rough roads, bigger tires, or wheels with less backspacing can accelerate wear.

Possibly because you could no longer rotate them front to back? :dunno:

That block weighs 500 or so pounds. Maneuvering it into your wife's ride is not recommended. Trust me on that. I did some minor damage to the door of my Dad's van. :oops:

Is the axle gear oil topped off?

The Sub weighs twice what the MJ does. :D Lots of axle related parts do great under our Jeeps and poorly under fullsize rigs. A 1.5" spacer would also work out fine on one side.

I've had the pro/con C-clip discussion on other sites before and now my only opinion on the matter is that, if you can't break it, than it won't matter. Explorer axle shaft breakage is so utterly rare that it simply shouldn't be a concern. And to this date I've never heard of a C-clip failure. The relative weak links in the 8.8 are the carrier and the wussy weld plugs between the axle tube and the center section. Get the tubes welded all the way round and swap in a Detroit or other locker that replaces the carrier and it's practically indestructible for reasonable V8s running up to 37" tires. For those of us running stock 4.0s and up to 33s, the stock carrier is ok. Not great, but ok. (I personally would still get the tubes welded). And for what it's worth, my plan (when I was going to swap an 8.8 into my 90 but then decided to use my Dana 44) was to buy a single 2" spacer and put it on the passenger side. Then center the WMS to WMS and burn on the perches. It centers the pinion (although this isn't really a concern, just a by-product) and means I don't need to do anything about shorter lugs on the shafts (which are longer than 1").

Then you'll need to buy new unit-bearing assemblies. Or try your luck with used ones.

Eek! :eek: Sounds like something that you may want to investigate. At least to figure out what the problem is.

Trailer? Heck, I'm planning on driving mine down. :D How dangerous can yours be?

Make friends with someone that does. :D Or look into local shops. Repair shops, muffler shops, etc. all have welders. At least six different people have done welding on my 88. Possibly going on 7 since I can't seem to get a hold of the guy who did my rollbar and sliders. But back to the real issue at hand, what size tire are you looking to get and which rear axle are you using? Is the truck going to be a wheeler, or just a daily driver?

I didn't say it was a lot, only that I wasn't expecting this much required effort. I had forgotten about the exhaust and the fender and the trackbar, and on top of it all now I have to figure out why the alt isn't charging the battery (or this is going to be one very short drive). :( Oh, and the radio blew a puff of smoke at me last time I fired up the engine. Guess I should add "remove the radio before it burns my down truck" to the list.

Flash rust inside. I would treat it as if it was a junkyard engine and tear it open to see what's up inside. Also make sure that the paperwork matches the engine serial numbers.

All I'm saying is that I wouldn't wait. Especially if a 400 mile trip and wheeling was coming up. Heck, I'm replacing the leafs in my truck and it's simply due to the rampant rust. No broken leafs yet. http://www.mars-atp.com/ in Mogadore claims to have a pair in grade A condition. http://www.giantautoparts.net/ in Akron claims to have a pair in grade C condition Try to make sure they are 4wd leafs, but just about any leaf is better than a broken one.

I already own my dream car, er, truck. It just needs a few more goodies to be perfect. :D (albeit expensive goodies, like a Richmond 6 speed and a shaker hood)

I've finally cleaned out a space in the garage and limped the truck over to the driveway. Due to the fact that I'm driving on one front tire and the track bar bracket has issues the drive was a bit disconcerting. But anyway... To do: :wrench: -Figure out why the alternator isn't getting power to the battery. -Fix track bar bracket (new specialty bolt has been ordered) -Fix exhaust hangers (broken due to rust) -Fix fender -Install new shocks (rears require new upper and lower mounts) -Assemble and install new leaf packs (from 2wd MJ and Explorer packs) -Replace front minispool with locker (dang I hate that minispool) -Figure out what to do with rear axle situation (go all out with new axle? Install good center section into old axle?) -Get the extra braces welded to the rocker guards Some random pictures: The hole in the axle bracket is just cast steel and the hole becomes oval in time. I'll be taking the main Explorer leaf and sandwiching it under the 2wd MJ main leaf and using the rest of the MJ pack. Essentially making a rust-free version of what's under the truck right now. My new-to-me rear axle has disks installed, but the guy never fixed the issue of slop around the lugs. This isn't good if I'm to drive the MJ to Indiana. Maybe Lowes has some spacers I could use. :hmm: Need to grind off the perches and get them welded on in the right spot. If I have time, I should probably do something about this if I'm to drive it on the road.

I recommend rectifying it asap. Before another leaf breaks. :eek: Have you tried searching car-part.com yet?

The conversion is essentially the same, you just need to stick with drivetrain parts from a 2.5L or 2.8L Cherokee or Comanche. You should have 4.10 gears in your rear axle (best to double check), so you'll need to get an axle with a matching gears up front.