dasbulliwagen

I'm planning to do the same thing on the 86 I will build for my daughter. The WJ 2wd knuckles use an axle stub through the bearing to hold the wheel bearing together. I was planning to take the end cups of the front CV axles and either use them as is or cut them down to do the same thing. Yes the bolt pattern is different, but I'm planning on WJ or JK wheels anyways so the pattern would be right for them and then use adapters in the rear.

As a Ram Jeep dealer tech, we havent seen a lot of issues with the cylinder deactivation. I have replaced a few of the solenoids over the years, but its a random thing. The dial shifters in the half ton trucks means it has the 8 speed trans, which has been a pretty good trans so far. The extra low gearing in first really peps these heavy trucks up, then the extra deep overdrive helps with milage. The trans fluid for the 8 speed is $40 a quart though, so theres that, but like I said there havent been a lot of common issues. I used to be a die hard Ford truck guy before my Comanche fell in my lap, I still like the old ones a lot, but after working on them for the lat 13 years in the dealership, a Dodge is all I would buy new or late model.

Any wheel from a GM style Saginaw steering column should bolt on. They literally made millions of them.

Its probably been 7-8 years since I installed mine. They werent that expensive back then!

I have a Flowmaster 50 series on mine, but its a 2.5L. If a 44 is too loud for you, this would be the next step. Mine has an almost quiet idle, with a nice growl under load, and NO drone at highway speeds. Not sure how that will translate to a 4.0 but its worth a shot. Also, mine has gotten louder with age.

Assuming the only issues with the current 2.5 are low compression and bad blowby, why would you convert to carb??? Is it just to make a carb version of the 4.0 easier to do later? I believe the shop quote was mostly labor time as I could see the cost rising quickly for the amount of time it would take to strip down an XJ carefully saving the harness then stripping down your MJ to have that harness installed and then the engine and trans on top of that, not to mention the driveshaft. I could see it costing$10,000 in that case. That and I'm sure that number is an "I don't want to do that job" number and they'll only do it if it is really worth their while.

As a dealership tech I really don't need anything Technical on them. I was just looking for others builds and mods to get ideas for the future. The newer Grand has been a good platform so far. It's one of only a few Fiat/Chrysler products I would actually feel ok buying knowing what I know from the dealership perspective. I'm good with the Grand, the LX platform cars... Charger, 300, Challenger, the JL and Ram trucks. All the smaller stuff is a no go for me. I'd buy another Hyundai before I'd drive a KL Cherokee. I appreciate the responses. Thanks.

I'm looking at getting a late model WK2 Grand Cherokee pretty soon. 3.6 4x4.I tried doing a few searches but I'm coming up short on any real forum activity on these. Theyve been on the market since 2011, youd thing there would be SOMETHING out there! I even looked up the old mallcrawlin site for Grands. There are a few topics on there for the WK2, but most have few if any responses. Same goes for NAGCA and NAXJA. Just now looked at jeepforum. They appear to have a fairly active page for WK2. Let me know what you think. Thanks

www.raybuck.com has listings for Comanche specific seat cover kits. I'm planning to buy one soon. I can't comment on its quality or fit, but they look like stock in the pics, and have a few different insert options.

TRUE DUAL EXHAUST??? WOW!

As was said, if you continue with the 96, youll need to swap the entire XJ wiring harness, including the interior wiring along with cluster, radio, HVAC and all computer modules. Youll also need to modify the radiator core support for the 4.0 radiator, swap over all accessories, exhaust, sensors, evap system, and then modify the tail light wiring harness to match the MJ, and swap in a 91-92 fuel pump assy. Youll then need to have your rear driveshaft shortened to fit the new drivetrain as the XJ one will be too short. This is all in addition the the engine, trans, transfer case and front axle. If your original rear axle gears don't match the XJ ones, youll also need to weld on new spring perches to the XJ rear axle to make it work on the MJ. Its a big job, but not impossible. And by swapping EVERUYTHING over, youll keep wiring issues to a minimum, assuming they are all in usable condition.

The Gearwrench flex head 3/8 is my go to right now. That is when I'm not using my Milwaukee electric wratchet. Last time I looked at Craftsman wratchets.... several years ago, there were 3 or 4 different quality levels, depending upon price and where they were made. There was a USA made, Malaysian made, and China made. I'm not sure if they do that anymore. don't have a Sears anymore, and my Lowes isnt fully stocked with it yet.

Because of the miniscule loss of productivity and not being able to find a tech when they need one due to everyone being on the truck for five or ten minutes.

As a professional mechanic with Chrysler Dodge Jeep, I decided to give their stuff a shot as our owner won't let the tool trucks on the property. I got a 1/4 and a 3/8 wratchets. I didn't have any issues with the 1/4 for a long time, but the 3/8 broke the first time I used it. Went in and exchanged it, same thing happened. Did this five times before they wouldn't give me another one. Told me to call the corporate 800 number. Called and left a message, was told I would get a call back within 48 hours. No one ever called me back. At that point I dug up my receipt and took it back to the store and talked to a manager and explained my whole story. He was totally reasonable and gave me full store credit. Looked at the wratchets again at that point and noticed the design had changed. They must have had a real problem with those wratchets. I won't be getting them ever again, but I guess it doesn't matter at this point with the Craftsman switchover.

Did the late model XJ's come with the more modern style ABS? I could see that if you did a complete 1997-up swap, including interior, axles, etc, if it had an ABS system, that might be one way to get ABS in your MJ. The earler Bendix ABS system, as said, was a nightmare. There is a lifetime warranty on many of those systems that keep turning up at the dealerships. I havent done one in 6-7 years now, so I'm hoping they are all gone from my area now, or at least all converted to regular style booster by now.

I used to be heavy into air cooled VW's. And I had a 1959 Microbus at the time I got into anything internet, so I made up that name. I'm second owner of my truck. The original owner replaced the engine and trans at about 140,000 because it was leaking oil. I bought it with 336,000 on it and I assume its the same Jasper engine that he had put in it. Its just about the only thing on my whole truck that I havent done anything with, removed, updated or changed.

I had them getting in my attic for a while too. Called our local exterminator who said he would live trap them and release them elsewhere. Over the course of two weeks, he caught 2 squirrels. Both died in the trap before he could pick them up.... same day. If my wife knew that happened she would have been pissed! We paid them for what they did, and I went to tractor supply and bought a set of two live traps, and a bag of critter feed mix. Over the next month, I caught 16 squirrels, and two Opossums before the wife told me to quit. I relocated all of them fully alive and healthy to an oak grove several miles away near my work. I don't know what the exterminator guy was trapping them with, but whatever it was, it was killing them and he was lying to us about relocation. I'm not one for killing or abusing animals, though they are quite tasty when hunted or killed in an appropriate manner. Ive never been interested in hunting myself, but I enjoy when friends who do share the spoils. Wild herd population control and farming are necessary for our way of life, and I'm glad there are people out there than can do it for all of our benefit.

We had a Wrangler come into the dealership last week with a huge squirrel nest on top of the battery, there were three babies in there too. As my buddy was cleaning it out, he found that the squirrel had chewed two large holes through the top of the battery for some reason. Luckily they didnt get any wires, but Id never seen one do that to a battery before. I mean you could see the internal plates and the acid through the holes, almost the size of a golf ball. I'm not sure how long the customer had let it sit, but its the worst one Id ever seen.

I bought a part at a time for my lift over 2-3 years. Some of them were Christmas or birthday presents as well. Even then when it came down to doing the actual job, there were a bunch of little things I didnt account for trying to make all these non stock parts work together. I appreciate the comments. It looks a lot prettier in pictures than it does in person. The paint on it is DEAD. I have a few more things I need to do to it, and then Ill be figuring out new paint.

here's my 2.5 87 MJ spring over axle in the rear and 5.5" Rubicon Express springs in front. The tires in both pics are orginal JK size takeoffs right at 32" tall.

You keep mentioning the steering. Other than the knuckles, none of the steering is swappable to your MJ. The WJ has a wider track, thus longer steering rods. And I don't think the steering box will swap over either, as Ive never heard of that as an upgrade. The ZJ steering and box are upgrades but not the 99 WJ.

For stock ride height, a set of nearly new JK take offs are an excellent choice. They only need minor mods to fit and they ride great on the MJ. I ran a whole set front and rear for several years before doing my lift last summer. They rode good and the price was right. They can be had cheaply or free if you find them right. The ones I ran were the black ones (non rubicon). The red ones from rubicons will work as well, they are all very close in length to each other. These might be a good option if you don't want to spend big money. WJ upper arms will also work if you want to do all 4. Only takes minor trimming. Theres a writeup somewhere. Another good upgrade is to a tighter ratio steering box like from a ZJ V8. I did mine, went from 3 1/2 lock to lock, to 2 1/2 lock to lock. Its bolt in other than the pitman arm.

It might be easier to ask what parts are MJ specific that you should look out for, as sourcing parts for the specifics are going to be much harder if they are missing. Things like the tail lights, the cab vents, the rear fender flares, fuel pump, tail gate. If all of them are there and in good shape, finding the rest of it should be easy.

I'm really sick of seeing these 6x builds, not just with the Jeep. I know they are promotional builds and all, but they have no practical use for most people. One thing I have noticed is that these builds get people (reporters) who know nothing about cars/trucks/Jeeps to talk about them and marvel! The only place I could see this as being even partially practical is in the sand where flotation and traction are needed. Beyond that, they are stupid. My 2 cents.

Yeah, not a Gladiator, but still expensive!