Pete M

rear hatch is now fully functional. :D was just a bent latch. rain is coming though, so my day might get cut short. :(

for the time being, I now own 7 and a half vehicles. 5.5 of them Jeeps. :D but by fall that will be down to 3 total. :(

the minivan has a slew of problems too, so this is more or less a lateral move in dd quality. the XJ pulls to the right a bit but I'm hoping that's due to the horrible bald tires. will be swapping them out with the 90's set of MTRs to see. There's a very good chance I'm moving to Georgia in the fall, so this XJ just needs to last me til then (without costing a fortune). Since the 90 and 86 MJs won't be coming with me, they can serve as donors for the time being til I figure out what to do with them. today's goals are to get the rear hatch open, investigate the power steering, and yank the front pass door's handle back into alignment so I can at least put a new piece of glass in it. tomorrow's goals: insurance and a plate. stupid holiday. delaying my playing with the new jeep....

a friend of mine got herself a Patriot and wanted to know if wanted her old XJ. It's certainly not the greatest Jeep in the world, but how could I say no? :D The end plan is that this will be the temporary replacement for my minivan (which will be given to another friend who's in desperate need of something reliable) as my DD around town. the good: it's an 96 XJ, 4.0, originally a Cali car so it's fairly rust free, power windows/mirrors/locks, hitch, brakes, 8.25 rear, Gambler wheels, and did I mention isn't pretty rust free? just the typical floorboard rust going on. the bad: needs tires shocks and track bar, smashed pass doors, broken front/pass window, rear hatch is fused stuck, AC doesn't work, loud exhaust manifold leak, various oil leaks, power steering keeps frothing up the fluid, 2wd and it's an auto, the pics: and I know I asked about this a couple years back when I originally helped her find the jeep, but what the heck is this thing again? is skynet spying on me? :rotf:

still should be 31 spline and tough as nails. :D

that IS weird! :eek: 'tis a cool memento though. :thumbsup: I too lost a 15mm in the framerail. but I got it back a few years later when I cut the holes for the rocker guards. :D

turns out my father is immune to poison oak. when he was younger his buddies and he were playing in the woods behind the subdivision and they all broke out in horrible rashes and swelling (one kid had to go to the hospital) while he was just fine. I've camped a lot and never had an issue so I'm hoping I'm immune too. but it's one of those things you just don't want to try to find out. if it happens, it happens. I'm allergic to evergreens though. try avoiding those in your daily life. :shake: and don't touch 2x4s or plywood either.

meh, so sue me. :D was without internet and cell coverage for a couple days and am still not caught up.

wouldn't it be sweet to find this tucked away in some random storage building? :D

I used baby powder to pinpoint my leaks. the water will make tracks through it and lead back to the source. :thumbsup: one of my leaks was actually coming through the windshield, running inside the a-pillar, and behind the paneling to get to the floor. :ack:

that's only if he's swapping a 4.0 into an 86 MJ

the 6 ft beds are different than 7 ft beds. but the differences may not matter depending on what you're needing to do. if all you're worried about is the driveshaft, there will be a 6" difference between driveshaft lengths (given identical drivetrains). shortening one will cost less than a hundred bucks.

now there's something you don't see everyday... :drool:

I have both. :thumbsup:

mine were cheap to acquire, easy to make (had to farm out the welding) and I've dropped the truck on them a few times now and the results were nothing more than scratches. :D on the subject of attaching to the rockers, mine don't exist so that wasn't an option. but if I had pristine, structurally sound rockers, there's no way in hell I'd be punching holes in them. but then, I live in the rust belt so that skews my view of things... :(

:waving: 2 months without internet? I don't think I could do that... :ack:

I built mine to hang free from my rotted rockers and compensated for that lack of outer support by punching holes through my frame and welding the bars to both sides. works great! :D

I wanna hear the story behind this last photo... :D

ya know, maybe we should add an "other" projects section...

what are you doing for gearing?

shorter shocks equals less travel so you'll need to find a sweet spot for you particular type of wheeling.

x2

that's weird for sure :hmm:

stickers. http://comancheclub.com/topic/31442-the-new-guys-mj-build/

I chose my words carefully. :D