dasbulliwagen

I ordered the Rugged Ridge mats. They fit fine, except at the rear outside corner, where the MJ has a floor brace that the XJ doesn't have. I'll live it, maybe get some may retainers that will hold the corner down. Here's pics of the area in issue.

After installing my new carpet, I'm now wondering about some good floor mats. Looking at Rugged Ridge fitted mats for the XJ, but they don't specifically say they'll work in the MJ. Do any of you have experience with this, and if they'll fit. Thanks. Here's a pic or two of my fresh interior.

Has anyone seen anything about this truck? I haven't seen it mentioned here or on the Facebook pages. Appears to be some sort of V8 twin turbo setup. Let me know if anyone knows anything about it. I saw it just breifly on Sleeperdude Youtube channel of him at the Bristol event.

I think for the 86 it requires welding, also would need to change the hood as the latches are different.

My favorite right now, Puddin's Fab Shop. He's mostly a mini truck guy, but does a bunch of different stuff, including frame and suspension fabrication and sheet metal work, all using mostly basic tools in a home type shop. This guy has a huge personality and is funny and educational. He's a former Air Force B-52 mechanic, and has awesome work ethic. His family runs his merch business 100% so the profits don't go to a mail-order vendor. New videos out every Monday 7 pm eastern. https://youtube.com/c/PuddinsFabShop

I'm in the process of replacing the radiator. Found this original AMC part sticker on the top of the rad core. Thought you guys might like it.

Hes coming in next week for me to replace the rad. Weve been working through one weak point at a time with this cooling system. We get one spot fixed and the next weakest point starts to leak after. We'll have this thing going like new before too long. Its a really clean, all original rust free truck. It just needs a little well deserved TLC.

I'm assuming that the cap on the original style expansion tank has an overpressure release, though I could be wrong. That's what I was talking about. I know it's a closed sealed system. I just assumed there'd be some overpressure protection to keep from tank damage or blowing a hose off. That happened after one of the new tanks I put on his truck. It split open the weak point in the old lower radiator hose.

I'm still in and out, just havent done much with my truck lately. Classy Comanche saw me sitting in my truck during lunch and stopped to talk. He hadnt had much luck working with the Jeep dealership, so I told him Id help . I can't work on anything at home, but he is able to bring it to my job at the Chevy dealer and I try to minimize the hourly rate time for things I'm doing for him. These stupid coolant bottles have been a real pain. It is a nice rust free original truck that just needs a little TLC.

I'm sorry I havent been on here much lately, but I'm the mechanic doing his work (classy comanche). I don't have a ton of experience on the 4.0 because my truck is the 2.5, but ive been on this site since 2008 and I was a Jeep dealership tech for 13 years. I'm not sure what the pressure bypass is in the stock syle expansion tanks cap, but they never leaked from the cap, they just split at the seams. Hes been careful about running it too low on coolant thankfully. Today I installed the Macs tank, and an overflow bottle, using the supplied 16 PSI cap. The tank build quality seems really nice, and it went in with no issues. The overflow tank he bought was a generic one, and I put it right in front of the Macs tank using vac hose covered wire and a zip tie. This will work fine for now. We are trying to get him to the point of reliable drivability before tackling the other things it needs done.

Someone should download all those pictures to the site before the ad listing expires. As said, those are a great resource for a replica or tribute vehicle build. I was really suprised by the rear mono leaf setup, The billet rear sway bar mounts, and what appears to be a mostly stock TBI 2.5. Love it.

The diesel rated oils. I'm in the southeast, so I run 15w40 year round, and I don't do a lot of milage so I change once a year. On a 200,000 plus miles 2.5L, with a Mopar filter.

You need to look into the CV axle thing, because I'm pretty sure the WJ splines at the hub are larger than the XJ/ZJ ones and will not connect. This would require adapting the different hubs to make it work if keeping it 4wd.

I did it years ago. I spliced in the newer style connector and kept the old one on too, so I can swap if needed to either style.

Yeah, the layout is similar, but that cluster is pure Mitsubishi. I highly doubt its even close.

I agree, take the front, and spring over the rear of yours. I did mine that way, but added control arm drop brackets to make it ride better. You have any more details on the kit.... Brand of kit, which shocks, etc?

As a former Mazda dealer tech, you can't go too wrong with anything Mazda, as long as its not rotary or turbo'd. Also Hyundai and Kia sedans and small SUV's have been good to me. My daughter will probably end up with our '14 Elantra 6 speed manual in a few years. And my father in law has our old '05 Tucson hes now towing behind his motorhome. Both were bought new. I had a used 3 year old '97 Accent for almost 15 years before we replaced it with the Elantra. Ive had very few problems with any of them, though all of them are manual trans cars.

Raybuck is now listing sending units with or without the pump for the MJ. Might be a place to look for one for the 2.8. It was under $100 for one without an electric pump.

New upholstery ready to go in with new carpet!

Just got the seat back from the upholstery shop. Looks good. I'm ready to get it back together. I'm missing driving my truck! More pics to come after I get it installed.

The 17" steelies on base model Chrysler and Dodge LX cars- Charger, Magnum, 300, Challenger will bolt right up and have the same hubcentric center bore size. Using that I would assume all other wheels from those cars would fit as well. Backspacing might be an issue, but I don't really, know. I do know that Ive seen them used before.

If you can find one, the 1984-1986 XJ and 86 MJ got the A904 auto. Its a non overdrive 3 speed. They can be made fairly reliable with a shift kit. The AW4 would be much better as a daily as its a 4 speed with overdrive. Both will be hard to find used, but you might get lucky with a rebuilder having one in stock. If you can adapt one, yes, you can probably make a GM transmission work. The 4L60E as used in the Camaro and Firebird behind the 3.1, 3.4, and 3.8 might be a good choice, or better if you find one that isnt electronically controlled, but youd need to research that.

Yes, this will be a problem without extensively re supporting the unibody by building new support structure that will work within the confines of the Dodge body. Id love to see it done, because nothing else will save that MJ. Maybe you take some 2x4 box beam and reinforce the existing floor and rear rails to stiffen it all up. I would do this before cutting the cab off. You can then add support off of the 2x4 rails to the firewall and front engine compartment, and to the rest of the floor and body mounts which will need to be made.

I have the stuff to do this as well. not sure if Ill put it behind the seat or in the bed. I'm waiting on finishing some other things I'm doing to it before I install it. On another note, Ive noticed on my local Jeep Facebook pages that there is a lot of hate towards these jacks and that they are dangerous to use. I havent found a lot of info on why though. I still plan to mount mine though. Anyone have any insight on why these arent a good idea?

This probably isnt what youre looking for, but I installed an overrider/light bar on the stock bumper with a front hitch underneath that has built in recovery points.