Pete M

and the winner of the "just because you can doesn't mean you should" award...

98 would be a ZJ. if it's a 98, those would work. 99 is the first year of the WJ, those will not (5-on-5 pattern)

regearing is not as simple as just turning some bolts. they need to be set up juuuuust so or you can burn them or the bearings up in a short amount of time. if you're a very handy guy and you want to buy the specialty tools and try your hand at it, it's not impossible. just challenging. I'm sure there are plenty of youtube vids on it. but if it were me, this would be a great opportunity to upgrade that axle too. my dana 35 grenaded itself under my then 2wd 88 on 30" tires. just started spitting ring gear teeth all over inside the diff on the way to work one day.

oh, and I also drilled a hole right next to the slot so the wire pops out rather than gets pinched. looks more official and less hack. I also ordered a cheap bluetooth adapter to play with.

I used a single Din adapter I found on ebay. gave me a storage slot below the radio that perfectly fits my phone. tomorrow morning I leave on a drive to michigan so we'll get a full 12 hours of testing in.

at stock height those rims with 31s will rub on stock flares. if you've trimmed, then you should be good.

car-part.com can help find an axle. keep in mind that v8 and v6 explorer 8.8s are identical inside so don't pay extra for the outside brackets you're going to cut off anyways.

my advice, throw it away and put your money into an axle that will last. the 8.25 and 8.8 can easily be found with 4.10s already in them. heck, I'd even consider another d35 already geared to 4.10s before I'd regear my own.

I'm sure chrysler says Mopar brand oil, but yes, any full syn should do.

have patience everyone. it'll be ok.

2.5+4spd usually = 3.55 2.5+5spd usually = 4.10

although "new" is a misnomer. this is a Minuit special. hot off his workbench with a new AUX port (that's the wire you see). Way better sound from this ol' girl than the year-old chinese crap ever did (which died on me). Much obliged Jeremy! I love it!

because helping someone keep their old Jeep going brings on the warm fuzzys at least that's my big reason. we're still in the software upgrade phase so I don't expect miracles to happen anytime soon. but I do have high hopes for the Epic Tech forum. a place full of only the most interesting and challenging fab stuff for MJs. we've already got tons of questions and project threads to move over to it and maybe that will catch the eye of some of the hardcore guys that see us as more "fix my truck" than "mod my truck". we shall see. In the meantime, the best way to get more eyeballs to check in the pub is to keep posting interesting stuff each day. give people a reason and they will come.

the photos now belong to us they should be visible to all.

yes, as long as you include 99-04 WJ lower control arms.

holy headroom, batman! them's some nice digs!

eventually superseded by chrysler who changed it to 10w-30 full syn

some owners with 4.10s have said it was "not that bad" but it varies with the driver's opinion. I put 30s on my 88 (a little different since it was 4.0/3.08s) and hated it (eventually the dana 35 ate itself and got a 44 with better gearing. )

TJ/MJ/XJ/YJ/ZJ/(plus one of the newer little Jeeps) all share the same bolt pattern and backspacing. so anything from old school turbines to the super sweet 15x8 Canyons/Gamblers/(can't rememeber the last one) rims that were available on some TJs.

aftermarket. I did have the factory tweaked-bumper and tailgate handle delete though.

2wds sit an inch lower than 4wds, so a 3" puck lift for you is more like a 2" spring lift for 4wds. but if you get 3" lift springs, your truck will be 4" higher than it is now. roughly. 31s on stock rims will need WJ lower control arms to prevent rubbing at full lock on the arms. 31s on aftermarket rims will need a 3" lift to prevent rubbing on the flares. if it were me, I'd go with a 2" puck lift to bump up the front and some 30" tires for the "Jeep look". below is my 2wd 88 with 30 inchers but no lift. 30s clear the arms just fine.

for a 2wd: poly spacers + WJ arms + factory Jeep rims + 31s = awesomesauce (except for gearing. expect your truck to feel slow.)

$86.14

awesome kinda like my pipe dream plan for building a new early Willys Jeep on a late model frame. just brake out that plastic card and wait for the big boxes to arrive.

you shouldn't have an axle disconnect (CAD) in that XJ. the 242 awd t-case didn't come with it.