Pete M

Even after flushing the block I can still hear the occasional piece of the old water pump flying past the new pump (the bearings died and caused the rotor to wobble and eat away at the aluminum housing). So I'm playing it safe this weekend and borrowing a Durango for the freeway miles. It's just a 4.7L 2wd, but it rated for like twice what the MJ weighs. I'm only going about 2.5 hours from home, but I wanted to try it out now before doing the same procedure for the trip to The Badlands. Back when I replaced the corroded harness connector for my taillights, I got the sweet idea to buy a second generic connector and now I can unhook the battery, turn the key so the steering wheel doesn't lock, and the tow vehicle powers the taillights of the MJ. :D Jeep on! --Pete

I've never seen cab corners, but I know there are rocker replacements out there somewhere. Don't know where I saw them (ebay maybe?) or of what quality they are. Other owners have taken their DC powered sawzall to the junkyard and scavanged off of MJs there. Or you can do like I did and coat the rockers in a poly bedliner and just ignore the rust that's behind it. :D Jeep on! --Pete

That crack is a new one by me, but since the bed is essentially bolted directly to the "frame", I guess it could be possible. Can you get a picture of the crack? Just a couple pics of bedless MJs: Jeep on! --Pete

The sky is the limit if you're starting from scratch. Some guys like tube, some like wood. Personally, if my bed finally bites the dust, I'd like to design a bed that resembles the old M-715 bed. Jeep on! --Pete Here's some ugly ones I've seen:

Comanches sure are a sweet lookin' breed. :D Very nice specimen you've got there! Jeep on! --Pete

The 2 door XJs have the fold-forward front seats, 4door XJs don't. Power seats are very different and should probably be avoided if you want a straight-forward swap. MJ buckets are still the easiest. car-part.com might help you find some in the junkyards. Jeep on! --Pete

I'm *hardly* an expert on this so I hesitate giving anything beyond guesses. See if you can email Jim about this. carnuck@yahoo.com I'm surprised he hasn't responded yet on Yahoo, but maybe Yahoo didn't send your email. Yahoo does lots of screwy things for seemingly no particular reason. Jeep on! --Pete P.S. (you might want to start looking for AX-15s while you're out hunting for 242s)

I'm guessing the throwout bearing may have gone south. Jeep on! --Pete

AX-5 is the 5speed version of the AX-4 and both bolt behind the 2.5L. The AX-15 is its big brother (more like a close cousin actually) that bolts behind the 4.0L. The AX-15 won't bolt directly to the 2.5L, but can be adapted using the bellhousing from a 2.5L Dodge Dakota that had the AX-15 (and some other stuff to finish the swap). Jeep on! --Pete

Pretty much the same group, but you may have to be patient with responses. Many members only check in every few days. So what was your reply? Is the fluid level topped off? Any trouble shifting the gears? Jeep on! --Pete

Compatible with a manual tranny? Yes. But you may run into a spline count issue with the ba-10. All Peugeots will have a 21 spline output shaft. The earlier years of 242s might have the 21, but I'm not positive. But I 'd take the opportunity to upgrade to an AX-15 while I was at it. Of course, the early years of those had 21 too, so you'll need to be careful what you buy. Jeep on! --Pete

I wish I had a digital camera when I did my build-up. I was still doing the film/scan thing and so there's a distinct lack of quality/quantity in the early photos. The low-end digital cameras are really cheap and I kick myself for not just buying one. And they're even cheaper now-a-days! Jeep on! --Pete

The np-242 case is a fine t-case. Aftermarket parts are catching up slowly, but surely. The shifter may be a bit different so make sure you get the right parts for it. The problem with the part-time cases (np231, dana 300, etc.) is that no vehicle's front tires turn at the exact same rate as the rear tires (the descrepency is even more if you turn a corner). If you drive on pavement that won't allow a tire to slip and take up the slack, drivetrain-bind can cause all sorts of complications and destruction. The awd cases (242, etc) allow slippage and you can drive on dry pavement with no worries. Jeep on! --Pete

I bet someday it'll get a bunch more add-ons. Maybe a 4x4 conversion? Hmmm... I think I'll be writing them a letter soon... :D Jeep on! --Pete

3 years, eh? That's about how long my 88 was down for the count before her rebirth. It's a long, long, looooong time to wait. :( Jeep on! --Pete

It is "sterile" at least. Nothing rotting or otherwise stinking up the place. I have standards after all. :D It's going to be interesting if I swap in that 4.3L and make it into a winter commuter. At least I'll never have to worry about someone stealing her. :roll: Jeep on! --Pete

Right back at ya. As much as mine is elegantly simple, yours is simply elegant. :D Did he use the stock mounting brackets on the rear bumper? Jeep on! --Pete

Sanitary and asthetically pleasing, eh? On some trucks it's overrated. :D This is my 86's interior. I love keeping it as, uh, whatever-you-wanna-call-it as possible. It's my little piece of redneck in the middle of suburbia. :D Jeep on! --Pete

(By Jim Allen as appeared in Fourwheeler on March 1995) Although Jeep vehicles are now a Chrysler trademark, the word "Jeep" has slipped into our everyday vocabulary. When spoken, it creates an image that everyone understands. Much has been written on the origins of the vehicle we now know as the Jeep. How it actually came to earn the name "Jeep," and the other vehicles that for a time carried the same name, is a fascinating tale. Legal controversy over the rights to Jeep raged through the 1940s ... and the fallout continues even today. But in the end, overwhelming public opinion was probably the deciding factor, and the truck - a 1/4ton General Purpose 4x4became forever the Jeep. But it wasn't always so. The first coinage of the word "Jeep," as applied to a motor vehicle, occurred during WWI. According to Major E.P. Hogan, who wrote a history of the development of the Jeep for the Army's Ouartermaster Review in 1941, the word predated the controversy. "Jeep," he wrote, "is an old Army greasemonkey term that dates back to the last war (World War 1) and was used by shop mechanics in referring to any new motor vehicle received for a test." The word also found use in those days as a lessthancomplimentary term for new recruits. Jeep was still used in Army motor pools well into the 1930s when the next incarnation appeared and became the inspiration for many more Jeeps. On March 16, 1936, a comic strip character appeared that became an instant popular sensation. On that day, Eugene the Jeep was introduced to the already beloved Popeye comic strip by E.C. Segar. For those of us too young to have known Eugene well, he was described as being about the size of a dog, though he walked on his hind legs, and was a native of Africa. He subsisted on orchids and was said to be able to cross into the fourth dimension. He solved all sorts of complex problems for Popeye and Olive Oil, and always told the truth. The general public became so enamoured of Eugene the Jeep that his name quickly entered the slang vocabulary of the day. An average comment on an extremely capable person or thing might be, "Hey, he's a real Jeep!" The original "Jeep" Next comes the Jeep that was never called a "Jeep" but was later regarded as the "Granddaddy" of all Jeeps. Since 1932, the MarmonHerrington Company had built a reputation for its 4x4 conversions of 1 1/2ton (and larger) trucks. In July 1936, because of an obvious military need and a request from the Belgian Government, MH focused on crossing the yetuntried waters of the light 4x4 truck market. They converted a V8powered 1/2ton Ford truck by installing a driving front axle and transfer case. With this conversion, the era of the lightduty 4x4 truck began. The prototype has been widely referred to as the "Darling" but the MH employees who were there remember no such nickname. It isn't clear exactly why the MarmonHerrington truck was never nicknamed "Jeep." (Eugene had been around for a few months, but perhaps the MH engineers never read the comics.) MH "Jeep" Later in 1936, Eugene's popularity was highlighted when the Halliburton Oil Well Cementing Company used the name "Jeep" for a custombuilt exploration/survey vehicle. Built by the FWD Corporation to Halliburton specs, the truck was a converted 1935 or '36 model. Like all FWDs, it was an allterrain rig but differed from the standard cargo truck by having a vantype body. The truck had "Jeep" painted on both sides and was once used in advertising. King Features Syndicate, which owned the copyrights to Popeye and Eugene, probably took exception Halliburton soon discontinued official use of the name.They did, however, exhibit a vehicle at the International Petroleum Exhibition in Tulsa, Oklahoma, in 1938, that had an animal caricature painted on the side that looked suspiciously like Eugene. It was in fact a coati, a raccoonlike South American jungle creature. It may have been Halliburton's way of good naturedly thumbing its nose at King Features. FWD "Jeep" This brings us to 1937 and another Jeep. According to test pilot Col. G.F. Johnson, U.S. Army Air Corps, the prototype YB17 bomber was nicknamed "Jeep" because of its sterling performance. The YB 17 was the predecessor to the heralded Boeing B17 "Flying Fortress" bomber of World War II. This name eventually fell into disfavour because Eugene the Jeep was a little critter and the YB 17 was big by comparison. Gen. H.F. Gregory, the Army Air Corps' first helicopter pilot, said the Jeep name was used for another, smaller, aircraft, with the official of Popeye's publisher. Had this experimental autogyro, a predecessor to the helicopter, gone into production, it would have officially worn the name "Jeep". While testing these amazing Kellett autogyros at WrightPatterson Airfield in Ohio in the late 1930s, Gregory and his fellow test pilots were called "The Jeep Salesmen." The YB-17 "Jeep" The next version of the Jeep takes us to Camp Ripley, Minnesota, home of the 109th Ordnance Company, Minnesota National Guard. Captain Martin Schiska commanded the 109th, as well as being an employee of the MinneapolisMoline Power Implement Company, builder of farm tractors. In the mid1930s, the Army was still using ancient, hulking 1917 Holt 5ton tractors to pull its larger field pieces. Schiska, a World War I veteran, realized the need for new equipment and impressed this upon MinneapolisMoline. As early as 1938 (some sources say 1937) MM was building and testing prototype prime movers, and in August of 1940, during testing at Camp Ripley, Sergeant James T. O'Brien is quoted by several sources to have applied the name "Jeep" to the MM prime mover. In a letter to MinneapolisMoline dated March 31, 1943, O'Brien explained how the name came about. "One evening," he wrote, "in a gathering of enlisted men, it was suggested that a short descriptive name be found for these vehicles, such names as 'alligator' and 'swamp rabbit.' I brought forth the name 'Jeep' as a result of reading Popeye in which Eugene the Jeep appears as a character, and the fact that these vehicles would go where you would least expect them to go. The name was unanimously accepted and subsequently painted on the vehicles, which have since become familiarly known." The MM Model UTX was a real piece of hardware. Basically a converted farm tractor, the MM Jeep featured fourwheel drive and a 425cid, 70hp (at 1,275 rpm) sixcylinder gasoline engine. It could pull a 5ton 155mm howitzer at 28 mph, with occasional spurts up to 40 mph, and had a fording depth of over three feet. The MM Jeep prototypes came in open and closedcab models. Two of the four tested at Camp Ripley mounted .30cal machine guns. All models featured a roller device in place of a front bumper, enabling it to cross large obstacles. Some also mounted winches. During testing at the Fourth Army maneuvers in August 1940, the MM Jeep was photographed climbing six feet up an oak tree. (The tree gave up at that point, and the tractor crushed it into matchsticks. So much for Treading Lightly!) The tractor was also said to have "walked" through a forest of 5inch trees. These photos appeared in the Army Times (Sept. 14, 1940) in an article entitled "Army Likes Jeep." The MM Jeep performed well in a succession of tests, but the Army's requirements seemed to change by the day. Before the UTX ever went into production, the evolution towards larger and larger field pieces and the requirement for a relatively high road speed ultimately overwhelmed the UTX's capacities. A total of six were built, and one survivesin a private collection. The MM UTX "Jeep" Even though the UTX never saw service, once the proper niche was found, more than a thousand upgraded units were eventually produced in several versions that included a 6x6. MM designs saw service with all branches of the military during World War II and after. Ironically, the Molines found their ultimate niche as aircraft tractors, but even as late as 1943 newspaper headlines still referred to them as Jeeps. "Jeep Helps Save Lives of War Heroes" was the headline of one '43 news story, describing a photo of a MinneapolisMoline NTX tractor and a tale of strafed, burning aircraft being towed off a runway so a group of outof fuel fighters could land. In 1940, several more "Jeeps"emerged. In the fall of 1939 and spring of 1940, Army units were issued a series of new vehicles that became popular with the troops. The T202 and T207 Dodge 1/2ton 4x4 trucks came in several configurations. The Command Car version, officially designated C&R (Command and Reconnaissance), was the opentopped fourby that was most often called a Jeep. The same basic chassis also came in Pickup, Weapons Carrier, and Carryall body styles. These trucks proved to be very good performers, and it wasn't long before GIs all over began to refer to the common Dodges as "Jeeps" for the same reasons as the MM. This name stuck through the evolution of the 1/2ton Dodge until it was replaced by the more commonly known 3/4tons in mid '42. As late as 1943, some troops were still calling the Dodges "Jeeps." The later Dodges began to be known more or less officially as "Beeps," short for "Big Jeeps." The Dodge "Jeep" On 1940, about the same time the Dodges were earning their sterling reputation, the American Bantam Car Company introduced a prototype 4x4 vehicle for testing by the Army at Camp Holabird, Maryland. As early as 1932, the Army had been looking to replace the motorcycle in reconnaissance work. American Austin, which later became American Bantam, supplied the Army with a small pickup version of its 4x2 Austin car for testing as a recon vehicle. It weighed less than half a ton, had oversize balloon tires, and got 40 mpg. It was based on vehicles supplied by the British arm of Austin to that country's military. In 1938, Bantam supplied the Army three more modified versions of its tiny 4x2 Austin roadsters for testing. The Army was generally favourable, but the tests brought out the shortcomings of twowheel drive vehicles in crosscountry use. The new 4x4 specification came out of these tests. Bantam worked closely with the Army to flesh out a design concept for a new vehicle. To Bantam's surprise, open bids were taken for the new design. The Ordnance Technical Committee sent out specifications to 135 auto manufacturers on July 11, 1940, requiring 70 prototype vehicles to be delivered within 75 days in order to qualify for competition. The specifications and blueprints sent out were essentially those which Bantam developed in June 1940. Only Bantam and WillysOverland responded initially, though Ford was courted because of its large production capability. Bantam delivered its prototype on September 23, 1940, Willys on November 13, and Ford on November 23. The three test vehicles each sported a manufacturer inspired nickname. The Bantam's was "Bantam" or "BRC" (for Bantam Reconnaissance Car), the Willys' was "Quad,"and the Ford's was "Pygmy." The rigs were extensively tested, and 1,500 improved models were ordered from each manufacturer for more serious evaluation. These were tested in the field with actual Army units; many were sent overseas under Lend-Lease. The "BRC" Jeep The "Quad" Jeep The "Pygmy" Jeep Competition over the potentially lucrative Army contract got extremely fierce, and Henry Ford was said to have exerted every means of influence at his disposal in an attempt to get the contract, though the Willys proved to have the most suitable overall design. In July 1941, after a great deal of turmoil with Ford, Bantam and the Army Quartermaster Corps, the contract was finally issued to Willys-Overland for the new vehicle. Officially designated a 1/4ton Command Reconnaissance truck, production began in earnest and Army units began to see them arrive en masse in late 1941 and early '42. According to a number of Army sources, the nickname most GIs chose for the little Willys fourby was "Peep" (the 1/2ton Dodges remained "Jeeps"). When the first units left overseas, these terms of endearment stayed with them for some time, but it wasn't long before a tide of change overwhelmed everything. By this time there was a huge influx of GIs going into service, many of whom had been subjected to a veritable media blitz about the new 1/4ton 4x4, which the press insisted on calling a "Jeep". According to Irving "Red" Hausmann, chief test driver for Willys, all this came about through his efforts. Hausmann claimed that as early as 1940, he had overheard a few GIs at Camp Holabird referring to the Willys prototype as a Jeep. There were also a large number of other names floating about, including Peep, Bug, Puddle Jumper, Midget, Pygmy, Leapin' Lena and Blitz Buggy. Apparently, Red liked "Jeep" best, and chose to call the Willys by that name whenever asked. It all came to a head in February 1941, in Washington, D.C. Hausmann was doing a publicity drive up the steps of the Capitol Building in an early production Willys. A bystander asked him, "What is that thing?" Hausmann replied, "It's a Jeep." Reporter Katherine Hillyer of the Washington Daily News overheard the remark and reported the incident in a feature story. From that moment on, the name Jeep stuck like glue. During the war, even the Navy got onto the Jeep act. When they started building small escort aircraft carriers for convoy protection in '42, they were soon nicknamed "Jeep Carriers." Even up to then, the Navy hadn't been completely Jeepless. Starting in early '42, they bought large quantities of MinneapolisMoline NTX aircraft tractors, which were still being called Jeeps by many troops, as was familiar Willys. The MH - Willys "Jeep" Tank Prototype produced for the Canadian Army Over the years, much ado has been made over the name Jeep having been derived from its military nomenclature, GP, for General Purpose. This can be disproved easily by noting that until mid1942, the Army designation for the truck was command reconnaissance, not general purpose (that would come later). No doubt the demise of the 1/2ton Dodge Jeep as standard equipment contributed to the use also. When Willys began using the term "Jeep" in advertising, MinneapolisMoline balked. In June 1942, the House Committee on Military Affairs substantiated MM's claim to the name, citing numerous references in newspapers and magazines dating back to before 1940. In 1943, Bantam joined MM in taking exception to Willys' use of the term. Bantam, having developed the platform from which the other 1/4ton vehicles were based, felt seriouslycompromised by having been left out of the Jeep building business and relegated to making trailers and aircraft landing gear. In 1944, the Federal Trade Commission chastised Willys over the use of "Jeep"; the turmoil lasted well into the 1950s. But was to no availthe public had spoken. A Jeep was a Jeep and would forever remain a Jeep. While there is no doubt that Willys-Overland was cheeky, perhaps even unethical, in its use of the name, the 640,000 vehicles produced during the war and the many thousands built later certainly earned the right to carry it.

After doing the spring over conversion I found out one side of the rear of my truck was almost 2 inches higher than the other. So I went to the effort of swapping the entire leaf packs, side to side. I remeasured and discovered that nothing had changed! Usually the drivers side sags more than the passengers due to the extra weight of the driver, but my truck is apparently just crooked. How off is yours? Jeep on! --Pete

91 and 92 are H.O. You might want to fix the linkage for the rear proportioning valve (that funny thing attached to the differential). The upper swing arm is supposed to be parallel to the ground with the link pointing straight up. Looks like you got a great truck there! :D Jeep on! --Pete

Yes, 91-96 will work for your MJ. You'll have to swap the coolant temperature and oil pressure switches for senders. Jeep on! --Pete

The *arch* of the leafpack is more important, not necessarily whether it's SOA or SUA (although SOA leafpacks are generally flatter than SUA packs). XJs have a much flatter leaf pack than the MJ and so the same AAL will affect them more. A 3" XJ AAL will give you about 1.5". If you need more than that you can try a longer shackle or find an MJ specificx AAL. Jeep on! --Pete

Not only is it completely bolt-on if you buy the right parts, but you don't have to do the whole conversion at once. :D You can swap in the front axle one day, trans/t-case on another, rear axle on another, lift on another. Just make sure you refurbish the parts before you put them on the truck. It would stink to find out that the brakes are bad *after* you put the new axle on the truck. And always plan on something going wrong. Bolts always seem to snap when the stores are closed and you need your ride in the morning. :( Jeep on! --Pete

Absoutely. 84-90 have a mechanical speedometer. 91+ have an electric speedo. They do not interchange. 84-86 have a different clip that attaches the speedo cable to the cluster and you'll need the clip off the the donor Jeep so you can put it on an 87-90 speedo cable to make it work. Then you swap out the coolant temperature and oil pressure switches on the engine for new sensors so those gauges will work. That's it. Be careful when removing the oil pressure sensor, the mounts are fragile and have been known to crack off at the block and cause all sorts of headaches. Don't over tighten the new one either. Jeep on! --Pete