dasbulliwagen

Here are a couple of my favorite posts from www.naxja.org about junkyard upgrades. Its not MJ specific, but it is great information. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=66012&highlight=junkyard+upgrades http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=951380&highlight=junkyard+upgrades http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=996114&highlight=junkyard+upgrades

Another issue you may run into... was the recall performed to begin with or did this vehicle slip through the cracks? If it can be found that the recall had already been performed I'm not sure what recourse you may have after that. Depends on how much chrysler wants to take care of you. If you post your VIN and milage or PM it to me I can try to see what if any info Chrysler has on your truck. Its pretty hit and miss for 86 and 87 models but sometimes you get lucky. If your truck is listed it may have original selling dealer info. If they are still around maybe they can dig through records and find some repair info for the recall. But assuming they are around, if they are anything like the dealers Ive worked for, those records get dumped after a while. But you never know, might be worth a try!

I agree with you, but being a dealer tech having an 86 model come in that the advisor can't get a VIP on to tell them if there is an open recall is going to be your immeadiate stopping point. They arent going to allow a free repair to a vehicle unless they can verify that they will get paid for it. If I were you, I would start by taking all the above recall infomation and calling or emailing Chrysler directly. This would be the best starting point because the dealer won't be able to get any info. Chrysler themselves won't even have the info but may be able to make something happen. I wish you luck!

Being an 86 recall through AMC, Chrysler will not have any info on this and won't feel obligated to do anything about it. Ive been through the books, even on my 87, its all AMC stuff and Chrysler doest have much if any info carried over from them. On top of that, they legally don't have to do anything on any vehicles more than 10 years old. Sometimes they do a lifetime warrany on certain items, but with your parking brake, this is not the case especially since they didnt own the company at the time. I feel for you, but I don't think youre going to get anywhere with this. I don't even think a lawsuit would get you aywhere, considering the vehicles age, milage, number of owners, unknown total maintinance, a case like that would be thrown out before it got started.

Ive looked at all the options for Wrangler 4 cyl headers, just being the cheap jeep person I am the prices are a little out there, especially when you can buy physically larger and more complex ones for other models much cheaper, such as that one for the 4.0. I understand you pay for R+D, and economies of scale come into consideration, but sometimes it just doesnt make sense. Just trying to broaden my nuimber of options for when I rebuild my spare motor.

Ive been looking at headers lately, and for some reason the cheapest one I'm finding are for the 4.0... economies of scale I guess. But anyways, I was wondering if I could cut the end pipes off a 4.0 header and put it on my 2.5. I would of course have to weld up where the 1 and 6 pipes were cut off. Does anyone know if the bolt pattern for these two motors is the same in the middle? Looking at comparisons of the flanges for each finds the pattern is similar, but I'm wondering if they are exactly the same in that area to where I could make something like this work. Here is the 4.0 header that got me wondering about this. Let me know what you think. The price on this can't be beat and the few reviews Ive seen have been good. http://www.ineedparts.com/apn-jeep-exhaust-manifold.html

Yes its steerable from inside. I loved doing that when I was a kid and made sure this one would too. Thanks for the compliments!

I just came back from tech training today. I asked the trainer about this and he assured me that there will always be a solid axle wrangler. The Jeep heritage of the solid axle and foldable windshield seemed very important to them. These guys are privy to a lot of inside information. So only time will tell. I hope he's right.

Drove one the other day during the dealer PDI process. It is smaller than i thought it would be, and shorter too. The interior was great and power from the 3.2 V6 nice as well especially for its size. This is not the cheap feeling vehicle like the compass or patriot. Especially with the three we got being in the high 20's low 30's for pricing.

Depending on the year of your donor you may have to change how it mounts. My donor was an 86. In 86 the mount studs are on the header. In 87 they changed to being on the body. The lower ones were in the same position but the uppers weren't. I removed the studs from the fender and drilled new holes to mount the header. The wiring for the lights was plug and play.

^^^^ The only thing the new Cherokee has in common with the dart and the other cars is the base platform pan. The rest id different and built for a specific purpose for whatever vehicle its going to be. The reviews from the off road mags have all been pretty good so far even regarding the fact that you bring up. Will it ever be as capable or modable as the XJ? No. Neither is the KJ, but it is happening and will happen with these 10-15 years down the road. And now to the point I was going to make before I read your post. If they do go independant suspension on the new wrangler, it would be cool if they could engineer the Rubicon to be solid axle variant and have all the standard models Independant. I follow www.allpar.com religiously and have seen no word of what you are refering. They did do an article a while back going over the Jeep front suspensions, but there was no word of what it might mean for the next Wrangler. The head of Jeep is a die hard Jeep guy, and knows what Jeeps legacy means. Why do you think Chrysler bought AMC in the first place. It was only for Jeep. The rest got cut. And this same reason is part of why FIAT was willing to take us over. That and Dodge trucks and full size cars to round out their lineup. I think the next Wrangler will stay solid axle, just because of the legacy and because we are the only ones still doing it in that segment. You don't buy a Jeep Wrangler for its nice ride, you buy it for its history and capability. I think the heads of Jeep still know this and hope they do the right thing.

Finished it!

I know this is an unrealistic option right now, but I just went to school on the new VM 3.0 V6 that is going into the Grand Cherokee, the Ram 1500, and Chrysler 300. It is a very compact stout little engine that looks like it would fit right into an MJ. It has 29 bolts holding the bottom end together! The turbo is at the rear of the intake manifold which might be an issue in an MJ. Hopefully the turbos in these won't be an issue, because the trans has to come out to replace the turbo. I could see if it was set a little forward with the mounts and trans it wouldnt be an issue. I think the 8 speed trans is a little long anyways so this would make up for that. Just my 2 cents!

Ill keep you in mind. Thanks. Youre about 4-5 hours away from me though.

I guess Ill just keep them for a while, and see if I can find another.

Havent posted here in a while, but Ive got a few things for the MJ or future projects. Today, I got 3 TJ Canyon wheels for free, a few weeks ago, I bought a full set of new JK takeoff wheels and tires for $200 that will go on my truck as soon as I get a set of adapters, and a month before that I got a bunch of other Jk stuff for free, including front and rear bumpers, base model shocks set, Rubicon shocks set, and steering stabilizers. Ive been thinking about taking some of this stuff to an off road swap meet, but then again, you never know when you might need one of these peices. Almost forgot about the JK rear brake assemblies, calipers, rotors, mounts and backing plates that the Chrysler tech center gave away.

Parts dept at work was cleaning out and found 3 TJ Canyons. He had them sitting in the service dept door way. I asked him how much, and he said for me to just take them, as he couldnt sell just three. They are in really good shape including the center caps. Does anyone think I can sell just three? And how much could I ask for them? I may keep them and find a 4th later, but then again, if I find someone that needs them, Id let them go. Thanks for the help!

For overhead cam V6 engines, the new Chrysler Pentastar V6 has great power, and if combined with a 3:08 axle setup, and maybe even the 8 speed trans that is offered with it ( it has 2 overdrive gears and is available for 4wd ) would be a killer option if it could be engineered to work with all its electronics. You basically have to have an entire donor and very good wiring diagrams to swap it over and make it all work, but I think it would be worth it.

I paid $250 for mine. Its rust free and I drove it home! I can't imagine $1000 for THAT!

To me it looks like a Mazda B2300, the later ones with the stupid rounded front end. Just had one in the shop yesterday and it is a spitting image. Ill keep my 87.

There are at least 2 other recent topics on this subject. Anyways mine is at 352,000 miles... about 212,000 on current engine accordinjg to the original owner. 2.5 4cyl.

Not sure about where you live, but in Michigan, if you hit a deer and you want to keep it, a state trooper will issue you a liscence on the spot. Just throw it in the back!

here's a wagon I'm building from scratch for my daughter. Ive been working on it on and off for over a year now and it has to be done by October 21st. I made real progress on it last weekend. The tub started off as a horse trough from Tractor supply. It was much deeper and longer when I got it. I shortened it heightwise and lengthwise and welded it back together. I then made a frame from 3/4" angle iron scrap. The steering head is a heavy duty caster, and the axles are made from all thread and tubing with flanges welded on each end. It will be painted in a traditonal red wagon way, possibly with some custom made decals either in Radio Flyer or a custom one I designed incorporating my daughters name. Ill post more pics when its done!

I'm not sure if I still have mine. That fender was caved in so it got changed when I did the waggy front end. The new fender came with a power antenna that powers up and down either with key on off or radio on off.