phenryiv1

I had one and sold it (like an idiot) and now would like another one. This will have a full size speedo and 4 small gauges (temp, volt, oil pressure, and ???) around the sides. I believe that the second large gauge is a fuel gauge.

mountainman- Maybe I missed it, but did you get a price on the taillights? I could use a spare pair. I had a spare pair but the originals both broke while stripping the truck for paint.

This is an old post, but I wanted to ask if you had any other pictures of the mounting points or whether you'd be willing to let me come up to Hagerstown to look at how it was mounted. The 20-minute dirve might be well worth it.

I'm with you on not just buying parts without a plan. My start issue has almost always been a dirty/damp CPS connection, but before I took over working on the truck it had a series of no-start issues that I imagine were the CPS but were "fixed" with hundreds of dollars in ignition parts.

So it cranks but won't start? i always look to this page for clues, but it seems like you already covered much of it... http://www.lunghd.com/Tech_Articles/Eng ... ostics.htm

Sorry for starting a thread then not responding to replies for a day... That said, my wife gets on me for over-explaining the scenario when telling stories, but I try to give all of the facts so that people can advise me appropriately. In this case, I left out one very important fact that renders moot several posts above: I already own the dolly, and it does not have brakes. So with that additional factor, it seems that I need to focus on full function of the brakes, extra cooling for the transmission, and general mechanical well-being. I have towed trailers with this truck in the past (on the since-replaced stock bumper) and had no trouble so long as I took it easy and allowed safe distances (like driving in snow). I may look at a rear axle swap at some point, but with brakes being the most important element, my initial focus will be there. Please keep posting recommendations.

So I HAVE read several threads on here and have done some internet searches, so please be gentle. Specifically, I found these threads to be helpful: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=36573 viewtopic.php?f=2&t=28488 viewtopic.php?f=2&t=22637 So I am looking to tow a rally cross car about 20 miles on secondary roads about 7x a year. The car weighs about 2480lb. in stock form, but it has been stripped to under 2200lb. and will continue to decline to about 2100lb. The car will be towed on a dolly. It won't go over 40-45mph, and the roads are relatively flat. I won't have a lot of gear in the truck so additional payload will be minimal. The truck is an '88 longbed 4x4 4.0L AW4 (Auto) with 94K. It has no modifications. I intend to change the brake pads/shoes, flush the brake fluid, and change the F&R differential fluid. The trans fluid and oil have been changed regularly. As far as the rear bumper, I have the Fey/Westin factory replacement, which I bolted directly to the frame rails by re-drilling the rails to match the bumper holes and the bumper has been installed using all new hardware. I intend to either look for a receiver hitch or (at a minimum) to create triangular tie-ins from the hitch ball to the frame rails, and will add rings for safety chains to the rails. So with the estimated total amount being towed at 2500lb., what do I need to do to make the vehicle more tow-worthy? Thanks in advance.

Does not show any actual hitches...at least not that I could find. So back to the main thread here, I read the first 2 pages and the last 2 pages. If people have the drawings of the side plates, are they available for sharing? I don't mind buying the universal Reese small/meduim pickup/SUV hitch (for $114), having the plates fabricated, and having them all bolted together on my '88, but the wait for someone to produce a finished product has gone on for quite some time now. I am not even sure whether the goal is a finished hitch or just adapter plates. I gave up reading after a while. If anyone is willing to share their CAD or even raw drawing, I'll take it from there on my own. If people like the results and want to buy more, we can cross that bridge later. If not, I get the feeling that I'll just buy the nate's 4x4 rear bumper and move on with life...

And some more, post-assembly:

I LOVE the tailgate lettering from jeepstickers.com They came out EXACTLY how I wanted them:

Yes- the universal small trick hitch. It fits the dakota, XJ, etc. There were several threads about it here when it was determined that the MJ-specific hitches were gone. Several threads talk about the 37042 fitting the MJ but don't speak to exactly how, and another thread dealt with someone making adapter plates. All died inconclusive deaths.

I read several (long) threads that went into the fit of the Reese 37042 on an MJ. I never could find any solid info on what needed to be done, whether people had developed adapter plates to allow its use on the MJ, etc. I have a 37042 and did a test-fit this weekend and it would require some fairly extensive work to get it to fit, based on my eyeball test. I saw where people were working on adapter plates, but I see no updates in months. I don't NEED a hitch (I have never needed/used one in the past), but I would not mind keeping this one, if I can make it work without too much trouble. So are there any updates to the process for fitting the 37042 on the MJ? Thanks!

New picture after it came back from having part of the bed re-painted. I finally got to some serious re-assembly...brush guard, repainted bumpers, added bumperettes from an XJ... Sorry for the crappy picture quality.

Picked these up from jeepsticker.com: This was Spencer's first run of camo tailgate and door emblem stickers. My grandfather was an avid hunter, and though I have not hunted in about 25 years, I wanted the camo stickers as a tribute to him. Also grabbed these at the junk yard...$40 for the guard and the bumperettes. I had the bumperettes on my '86 XJ and never thought to add them to my '95 XJ, though I did have a sweet Savannah Jones Brush guard on the '95. The grille guard for the MJ will get cleaned up and shot with satin black rustoleum paint. Lastly, I picked up some Hella 500s and a relay harness. Not bad for $30 shipped. I found them on my WRX site. '01-07 WRX guys like to run them in place of the factory fogs. The grille guard even has tabs for mounting the foglights, which is part of why I bought the guard in the first place.

Washed a bunch of the small parts (in the dishwasher) to degrease them for paint: And the results of the paint job, plus a partial reassembly. I used Krylon (the stuff for plastics) satin black spray bombs for the trim pieces. They turned out pretty good for a spraybomb job done in mid-40s weather.

Washed a bunch of the small parts (in the dishwasher) to degreaes them for paint: And the results of the paint job, plus a partial reassembly. I used Krylon (the stuff for plastics) satin black spray bombs for the trim pieces. They turned out pretty good for a spraybomb job done in mid-40s weather.

What is the best way to remove all of the old adhesive tape from the body side molding?

With me doing nearly all of the prep work (save for 1 small spot of rust near the taillight that I wanted them to handle) and all of the teardown, I paid $850 for the paint and the application of the paint. I still have to do all of the reassembly, including purchasing all of the parts that I need to replace like clips and fasteners. Had I had them do it, I don't even want to know what they'd have charged. I had about 20 hours total in the removal of the decals, emblems, adhesives, trim, the accessory teardown, and the sanding. I wish that I had paid more attention to some smaller dings that were nearly invisible with the dull paint but are now pretty obvious.

I have not, but I have also not looked. I don't intend to replace the "Pioneer" decals on the truck. The other emblems and molding will be replaced, but not the hockey sticks.

Some early shots from stopping by to see the truck yesterday:

Some early shots from stopping by to see the truck yesterday:

Good thinking on the issue of prepping the surface with a fresh coat of paint. I'd hate to scuff up the fresh paint in an effort to rough up the bed cap for the raptor. Maybe I will look into one of the universal rubber caps that attach with 3M adhesive. I just want something to protect the top of the bed. I had some GM ones on my Silverado and they did a great job protecting the top rail from moderate bangs and bumps. I would not trust the rubber roll-on ones against a major whack, but they did well enough on my Silverado and I was in the construction industry back then.

I had found your thread when searching for reviews and pictures of the Raptor liner, and that series of pictures is part of what convinced me to give it a shot. I see that you did not go over the rails with it. My main reason for wanitng to pull the drop-in bedliner (which is an over-the-rail version) is that I don't want the bedliner "cap" to scrape up the paint after the repaint. The original paint was in bad shape where the liner had rubbed off the OEM paint. How comfortable would you have been taping off the bed and shooting the Raptor over the rail to create a bed rail "cap" out of the liner? My only concern is the masking line being too imprecise and I get a messy line between the body and the Raptor liner.

Thanks for the tips above. My stupidity for not thinking far enough ahead and dealing with this while I was stripping the truck. I do have a dremel with a cutoff wheel, so that may be the easiest option. I don't mind getting a new windshield (I am already sinking way more $$$$ into this than its monetary value, but the truck has tremendous sentimental value, so while it isn't that money is no object, I don't have to worry about recouping my costs in dollars somewhere down the road. Also, as the MJ is not my daily driver, I have the luxury of time. I don't have to do anything with it right now.

It isn't that I am afraid that I'll want to go back...it is that I will be taking a grinder to my freshly-painted truck. Plus I'll be dropping another few hundred dollars on a windshield to replace a perfectly-functional windshield. Had I thoight of the windshield issue before, I'd have dealt with the tabs BEFORE it went to paint.