Pete M

front shocks should be easy since it's a straight-up lift. rears are a bit trickier since the lower mounts can be placed in different locations. but you can estimate once the mounts are burned in. honestly you might be better off finding a used set of tires. Moab doesn't need new tires or mud tires or any sort of tire in particular. it's like climbing sandpaper. friction is plentiful and thus it is kinda hard on tires. I would try and save a few bucks now, dial in the truck as you go, and if you slice up a tire on your fenders, you won't care too much. then get new tires before winter. how's the reliability aspect coming along? what all have you replaced so far in the cooling system?

I appreciate the thought but it's probably better this way. I've looked under 100s of Libertys and found only one 1 set that wasn't already wasted (and now I've killed them too). being just a cheap foam material, I think they die from time too, not just abuse (due to a collapsed suspension). we shall see what a brand new set can do.

at this point everything is close enough that I would carry on with all the details and then reassess once it's down on the ground and everything is welded in.

that's a new one by me

neat!

so what's the plan for making sure this breakage doesn't happen again?

why does it look grey in the pic? did they try to dye the covers for a two-tone look? the covers can be swapped left and right with some minor mods. so technically you might be able to get away with buying XJ covers and swapping them on. also, if it's not a full-on resto, that plastic fabric is a real pain to find in good shape, but the later years had cloth (assuming the colors all match which I'm not 100% on)

oh, and I would highly recommend this thread for getting familiar with your MJ.

that engine is very reliable mostly you just need to make sure the cooling system is in excellent condition. also, that air filter will be sucking in the super hot air of the engine bay. not ideal.

welcome to the addiction I would start with this thread:

What are the stock numbers?

I like it. it's innovative and looks like it was a fun project to work on.

would if I could. I'm surrounded by 100ft trees and so far they haven't stopped to hover. but just for you, I'll make an extra concerted attempt next time it happens.

not sure what sort of flight path I'm under, but every once in a while a chinook will go directly over the house. pretty low too. those big suckers make a very distinctive sound.

make sure the axle is centered under the truck side to side.

@star-one I split your truck off into its own thread the truck looks great! is that the original paint? how many miles?

it looks like your axle needs to be pushed forward a bit more. or at least the axle rotate a bit. the coil isn't straight. and since you're starting from scratch here, I would pull the coils out and make sure that the bump stop will contact the lower coil bucket properly by cycling the axle up (which is hard to do with the coil in the way).

oh right, forgot about the 44 axles. Is your caster set and burned in?

the stock shaft might be just fine. it doesn't have the same limitations as the rear shaft because the slip is in the middle rather than the end.

also, there's nothing wrong with starting in second. it's not like there are rules about always having to start in first. you'll love that extra leverage of first every time you're hauling anything heavy. also, also, if I remember right, 3.73s and 31s are the exact same as 3.07s on stock tires so 4.10s is only 1 step up from that (and the rule of thumb is that you want to go one step more to accommodate the extra weight of the bigger tires.)

it's more than you may be accustomed too. just think about the rpms of the 2.5L/auto with its 4.56s and 195 tires.

ordered some new rear bumpstops. I've given up on finding decent ones in the junkyard.

what will they think of next!

can't say I remember seeing any upgrades to the resistor packs. but I've not seen everything yet. I would pull out the resistors and inspect them. could be the plug has gone bad, could be the pack. the cover is to help prevent debris from touching the coils. they get super hot. something that the original designers hadn't thought of apparently. even with the cover they can still set a mouse nest on fire pretty easily.

also, make sure that the clamp isn't clamping right on top of the tip of the radiator output. it has to be closer to the radiator itself so it clamps down and then can't be pulled off the wide bit.