Pete M

Buy used! :D

As God as my witness... :D

If you have any accident beyond a mild fender bender and it's against the law to have a homebrew suspension, they will likely look into it. :D If the cops don't, then the other guy's insurance will for sure. I don't worry about getting pulled over, I worry about the impending lawsuit from the other guy and then my insurance company denying my claim due to the fact I never told them I've heavily modified my truck. :(

I would rather answer a simple question a hundred times than to just tell someone they should use the search. Every case is different and there's no telling whether or not the person asking has the knowledge to differentiate how their situation is different from another owner's. I prefer to handle each problem on an individual basis. But I admit in the past I have given a partial response and then mentioned that a similar topic was discussed recently. As long as it's done in a friendly tone. I CAN'T STAND it when someone just says "learn to use the search feature you noob!" or something to that effect. That ain't nice and that certainly ain't friendly. :headpop: But do be careful about the bashing of NAXJA. For every bad apple there are a whole bunch of good ones. :D

It's close enough to be tech. :D XJ rear flares are a bit smaller than MJ rear flares. Does that make the choice any easier?

Technically an MJ crossmember is held up by 8 bolts. :D Just another reason the MJ is better than an XJ. When I built my custom crossmember, I was concerned about strength even with four 1/2" grade 8 bolts going through the frame. The "frame" is just sheetmetal after all. So later on I had it welded up. That's lasted fine so far (I tend to be a slow drivin' wheeler), but now I'm concerned about rust slowly eating away at my frame in that area. So the next stage is to weld up a crossbar to connect my crossmember to my rocker guards (that run through the frame). You can never have too much strength in the attachment point between the suspension and the body. I'm going to have to side with the needs-more-support crowd, but it might be my cautious side talking there. It's not only your butt on the line if the suspension breaks and you have an accident on the street, but also those driving around you. And if you are the cause of the accident, you are the liable one. That's why I pretty much stopped driving my 88 on the street. At this point in time it's waaay stronger than factory, but it's not my opinion that matters after an accident. Just something to consider. Oh, also, in Michigan it's a law that all suspension parts must have been built in a factory. Not sure what Georgia has in that regard.

I don't need impressive mpg as much as I need to smile every time I get into the drivers seat. :D I just don't think an Escort would do the same thing. Although, maybe if it were a stick... I imagine that'd be kinda fun. But then I'd totally destroy the fuel economy having all that fun. :brows:

That's why we have rule #1. :cheers: http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=1239

The first ratchet wrench I bought was an angled 7mm/8mm for the front driveshaft bolts (there was a conflict with the custom crossmember and that wrench was the only thing that could work). Now I have a full set of them plus a set of stubby metrics and I can't imagine life without them.

Also, the perches are different between the Dana 44 and 35. The rocky road flip kit would simply require too much effort to modify to work on a 44. Rumor had it they were working on a 44 flip kit but I haven't heard anything for months.

Good eyes! Yup, that'd be the 242 that's in my 90 MJ. :D

Screw dat. I'd rather grab a cheap 2.5L MJ. The savings from not having a monthly payment alone would pay for more gas than I could burn. :D

I can now get just about anything shipped for $100-120. But I think I'm limited to the US. :(

No score, but I did get to use a cool ramp. :D Never been on a man-made ramp before. :(

Diesel is holdin' pretty steady. :D Regular gas runs from $3.20-3.50 around me.

A local welding supply shop.

D'oh! Yeah, I see now that you had 18v right there in your title. :roll: I'll have to try that out on my 2 bad 18v batteries later this week. One day I needed a battery for the van so I ganked the optima out of my 88 (been sitting disconnected for a few months now) and put it in the van. It was dead so I charged it overnight. Started the van right up after a fresh charge, but couldn't hold that charge overnight, even with it disconnected from the van. :( So I took it to the optima store, only to find out that the yellow tops don't have a 5 year warranty like the red tops. :mad: They held it 24 hrs and declared it dead so I bought a discounted red top to use instead. But I still hold out hope that recharging it over and over and over again might produce a usable battery. It's a deep cycle after all. That dang thing was like $180 (I only paid $40 for it after the red top died under warranty) so I'm willing to sacrifice a little electricity to find out what happens. :D

Not really. I'll post more of the 90 when I finally push it out of the garage. Hopefully later this week. :D Any particular reason you posted this here? :hmm:

Hmmm, wonder if that'd work with batteries as high as 18volt. :hmm: On a side note, I'm trying very hard to nurse my Optima yellow top back to life. It just won't hold a charge overnight anymore. :(

I don't think there is one. They each have seals of there own and then just bolt together.

Orrrr, you can ask for more magnets. :D I've got more if you want them. Plus I'm thinking of having cards done up along with the new batch of magnets. Cards are dirt cheap so it didn't make any sense not to.

Superdutys went to front coils a few years ago. :roll: Other things Ford got right are the high-pinion front 44 and 60. And the 9" isn't half-bad either. :D

Yeah, Marshals charges separately for the trans and bellhousing. Bastards. :headpop:

Well, you guys can certainly go on without me (heck, I don't have a working MJ yet anyways), but I won't be back from my trip by the 11th.