Pete M

He's going to weld it. I've welded plastic before. Don't know what he intends to do , but I was using plastic welder (a small hot air blower) and you sorta work it like a TIG, heating up the surfaces to be joined and adding in filler material.

Lift springs aren't always all that accurate. With 3.5" coils you could get 4.5 out of them or only 3.

As a general rule of thumb, the more you spend on a shock, the better it will be. And money spent here is money well spent. The same goes for oil filters.

No pitman arm is needed or recommended. It'll throw off the relationship between the drag link and track bar.

What year was your AX-15? Mine was a 99 and it was definitely different.

Nope, I got it from the Peugeot swap page. About the middle of the page under "Night #2". http://www.jeeptech.com/convtrans/ax15swap.html

The tires are 31x10.5, but don't read too much into the rest you see since the axles are fullsize Ford. :D You could go SOA with 2wd MJ leafs if you find it's a bit too high in the rear. 2wds should sit about 1" lower.

Might depend on the year AX-15. This excerpt is from the above article:

10 bazillion dollars. :D I wouldn't start saving your pennies just yet. Heck, I don't even have my hands on the 4.88s yet. And if this project timeline goes like my other ones, I might have the axles swapped in by like 2012. :(

Make sure you shop around for prices, as they seem to vary wildly. And you'll probably find that it's cheaper if you can drop off the axles themselves rather than having the truck occupying one of the shop's bays. There are guys here that have done gears themselves. I'm not saying it's impossible to do gears yourself, only that if done wrong it could seriously hamper your day (stranding you and destroying your new gears and bearings). You can read up on the how-to of gear install at ring-pinion.com

Yeah, but I don't have the means to add hydro cheaply. Plus it wouldn't fix the problem with the truck not always turning even when the wheels are pointed in the right direction. Bob, I can't go to the badlands until I have at least one functional MJ. I doubt dad would let me thrash on the Libby (not just yet at least, it's still under warranty). :D

31s with probably 6 inches lift at the time. Personally I think it looks fine. Since you have 3.07 gears now, there are 3.55 and 4.10 geared Jeep axles out there in the j-yards that you can swap right in for a good upgrade.

There are very few things that I would pay a pro to do and even fewer things for which I would gladly pay them. Setting up gears is one of those. Of course, I haven't had to pay anyone anything yet, as I've purchased all my axles with the gears I wanted (or close enough).

Well, technically I can't go "back" since I've never had an open front in the 88, but I don't intend to use the mini-spool anymore either. I've got a lunchbox locker for it. That way I should be able to shift into 2wd for a sharp curve on the trail and the locker will disengage and allow me to steer and turn easily. :D I figure I won't mind the welded rear since the truck doesn't really see pavement anymore and I tow it around on junkyard tires.

Well, go on. Guess! :D :banana::banana::banana::banana::banana::hate banana: I have to get off my kester and sell some of the stuff collecting in the garage so I can afford the initial investment, but I found a guy selling his Ford axles with 4.88s and a welded rear. I could never justify the expense of outright upgrading my 88 MJ's Ford axles (4.10s), but I've rationalized this purchase because this way I can eventually sell my current axles to recoup the costs. The bummer is that I always wanted even deeper gears, so this is a bit of a compromise. I'll get over it... somehow. :D

I used the pilot bushing from a CJ. It's a $2 part, which is important since the other (and wrong) CJ bushing choice was much more money. http://www.jeeptech.com/convtrans/ax15swap.html

Different brands of CPS might look a bit different. From what I can tell from reading that article, the "slotted" CPS has the elongated hole that allows the CPS to be moved closer to the flywheel. This is just a guess though. Are you saying you tried a new CPS and it worked once but then stopped? Are you certain you don't have any spark?

Yup, long cranking times can be an indication of a failing/dirty CPS or a weak signal due to corrosion in the connector. The computer won't fire the engine until it is absolutely positively certain where the engine is in its rotation.

what are those out of and can i see more I got them about a decade ago so bear with me. If I remember right they are "mini van vents" Not "minivan vents", but "mini van-vents". Smaller versions of the vents people used to put in the back roof of their fullsize vans. I bought them and had them installed at an auto glass shop. Lord only knows if they are still made. I think they are SPC brand or something like that. I've had them since the first year I owned the 88 so they are in every picture of the truck at www.picturetrail.com/petermontie

I agree. I've heard waaay to many horror stories of guys replacing the master 3 or more times in a year.

The idler pulley in my minivan squeaks and we touch a bar of soap to the belt to make it shut up. :D Cheaper and lasts longer than belt dressing I tried.

If I remember right I've 3 different leaks there. One from a cracked hose at the pump, one from a not-tightened-enough clamp at the pump, and 2 from leaking water pumps.

In my 88 I lost backups to a bad switch in the trans and later on I lost my brake lights due to corrosion in the wire harness connector located right behind the drivers side rear tire.

I too used allen-head grade 8 bolts from the hardware store.