TrailReadyMJ

I gained a little clearance with mine, but that's not why I cut them, and built the bumper the way I did. I had already dented them pretty bad, had little left to work with, so out came the cut off wheel! I don't have to worry about them now! :) I will add that I probably wouldn't have the heart to cut them if the bed was in great shape, but mine was not.

Those are all nice! But what is the reasoning behind the angled D ring tabs? Just curious, looks "off" compared to the rest of the bumper(s). Here's mine. I plan to revise it for a winch.... eventually.

I installed a pair of 6.5" coaxial Kenwood Excelons in the front doors with good results. Right now they are just running off the deck (also KW Excelon) but they will get an amp when I get time, heck, I may do this today now that I'm motivated :cheers: I professionally installed car audio for about 10 years (that's why I now need motivation to work on mine) and must say, for the money, these are some of the best sounding speakers I've used in an MJ or XJ. They actually provide good bass response with the carbon fiber cone, and have a silk dome tweeter for smooth highs. Of course the components sound even better since you can get better imaging! I plan to add a small sub at some point, and plan to install 1 or 2, 8" Excelon subs. These are shallow mount and don't take much room. They also sound impressive considering the size, great for our limited space! The stock door size is 5.25", but a 6.5" easily fits if front mounted! It is very close to the window crank, but doesn't interfere. (excuse the lovely electrical tape steering wheel the prior owner left for me... got a bit sticky on those warm days :doh: needless to say that was swapped asap! )

You will need to set them up for your truck and suspension setup. XJs have a shorter wheelbase, different springs, different mounts, etc.. etc... It may end up being close, but setting it up separate will save you a likely headache down the road. In case you don't know already... If you don't have a SYE and CV shaft, keep the pinion and t-case output almost parallel (about 1-2* lower is ideal due to the natural axle wrap you get with leaves). If using a CV shaft, point the pinion about 1-2 degrees below the output of the t-case, basically pointing it right at the output yoke. Of course MJs don't require an SYE like XJs do. I'm at 6" without one and have no vibes at all, at any speed. Hope this helps!

Thanks Blue XJ!

Make sure your frame mount is tight for the TB. The bar may be new, but these mounts like to loosen up over time. Other than that, as mentioned, it could be CA bushings, ball joints, hub bearings, caster, or a combination of these. Wheel balance itself won't cause "true deathwobble", but it can initiate the oscillation in the front end. Keep in mind true deathwobble is VERY violent, and does not stop until you greatly slow down the vehicle, sometimes to a stop. Often this gets confused with a "normal" wobble or vibration that is more speed related, such as tire balance. Deathwobble is caused when the front axle goes into oscillation, causing it to shake back and fourth independent of the truck. This causes the truck to shake the opposite way, causing a nasty chain reaction. Because of this sideways movement, the trackbar is usually the culprit, however the CA bushings are just as important here. Any play in these joints will be much more evident on lifted vehicles due to the increased linkage angles. That's why one may have had no problems before a lift, not change that much, just a couple inches, and have big issues after. Like CW said, the easiest thing to do is have a helper jerk the steering wheel back and fourth while you inspect EVERY joint in the front end. Good Luck!

Ask for Jason. He is very active and helpful over on NAXJA. He wheels an XJ, and actually turns a wrench every so often!

The ratio should be on the tag on the cover. Here's an example code: 4L10x88xxxx 4_10 = gear ratio L = Limited Slip (any other letter means open diff) 88 = Size 8.8 ring gear x = Not important plant/date info etc You will also want a 96+ axle from an Explorer, not a Ranger! Other than a handful of special packages, Ranger 8.8s are only 28 spline. All Explorers are 31 spline, but the 96+ have the disc brakes for an easy upgrade!

I agree, the thick tube does look better, but what's funny is his, being DOM, is probably stronger than all of the ones made from 3" "exhaust pipe". Blue XJ, I like how you ran the tube between the bed and cab. I have a couple questions though. Do you have any cross support between the bars? Being that tall, some extra support would be a good idea, maybe an "X". Also, are there any rubbing problems as the frame flexes? I've been working on a cage/roll bar design myself, but I want to lose as little bed room as possible. This may just be a solution :hmm: EDIT: I just saw you had a full interior cage, guess the cross support isn't a big deal in your case :cheers:

For the front, 1988 era Chevy 1500 front lines are a perfect fit, and about 6" or so longer than stock. I found this out a bit too late, and am running Dodge 1500 lines (can't remember year). They are actually too long, but I was able to route them to where they will never be in the way of anything. I can get a pic of this if you would like, but will have to wait for the snow we are getting here to clear first.

NICE Truck! As far as coils go, the stock ones are about as soft as they get. Only thing that may perform a little bit better would be a set of progressive rate coils from a V8 ZJ. These would give about an inch of lift though. I agree some 5100s would REALLY help with the ride, more than any spring replacement. These, and most monotube style shock, won't fade like common hydro shocks. Regular shocks develop air bubbles in the fluid when worked hard, thus causing them to fade out after the first few bumps. As far as length, you should be fine with stock length shocks. Every un-modded MJ I've seen has that rake... as do most trucks. The reason is so when the bed is loaded with it's rated weight, it doesn't bottom out, or aim your headlights into the sky. Most every pickup truck made is like this if you take a close look. Yours may be a bit higher, but if you installed new leaves, they will break in. Carrying around a good load for a while will speed this up. They will also ride softer once broken in. Note: Coils generally don't have this break in period. Here's a pic of mine when I first brought it home for height reference. Untouched stock suspension. Those are the same size tires, the color seems to make the front look bigger. And I still have the rake, and kept it on purpose for the above reasons.... It also helps with departure angle off-road!

As I recall from my last reading, my owners manual says you can engage 4wd at any highway speed! (assuming there is loss of traction). The highest speed I can recall engaging mine was about 35MPH in the snow, in drive, and it did it SMOOTH. Now, 4lo is a different story, and you do want to be in neutral, or push in the clutch, to engage. You also want to stay under about 5MPH. You will likely have to be rolling a little, there aren't any syncros to line up the gears and they may mesh if not moving a bit.

I had the same shudder you are describing, a couple different times, with a couple different issues. The "shudder" you are feeling is probably a miss in the motor. When I first picked my MJ up, it would start and idle smooth as can be. However once you hit the gas it would shudder, especially when there was a load on it, but it did so this in park. I brought her home, changed the plugs, wires and distributor cap, (they were ridiculously bad!) and it solved the problem... at least for a while. Then last summer, it started acting up again, and only got worse over time. Turns out this time the problem was a little deeper, and was caused by a worn/loose timing chain. That motor was old and tired, and I already had a HO motor from my old XJ, so I just swapped it in as I had originally planned to do anyway. Another similar experience I've had was back when I got my first XJ. It had a weird shudder, but it was primarily when engaged in reverse. It didn't act up at all in park though. This turned out to be caused by the fact 3 out of the 4 bolts were MISSING that mounted the bellhousing to the motor! The one that was left was backed out about 1/4" or so! At least I managed to catch this before it did any real damage! I replaced and torqued the bolts and it ran like new! You just gotta love the little things prior owners of vehicles leave you with!

Not right off, but I'll try to remember to grab a tape and get some measurements for you.

Sorry, I really don't have any plans as I designed these as I went, but here's a couple pics of mine. They are pretty simple, and give great clearance! I plan to mod the front more, to add a winch, etc... These are made from 1/4" plate, 3"x5" 1/4" Angle, and 3"x3" 3/16" square tube.

Lookin' great Steve! It's nice once they are all the same color isn't it...lol. BTW, I got the bedliner all cleaned up, drilled some holes for the tie downs, and got her screwed in. Works and looks good, thanks again!

I too didn't do anything special with the brakes when I did my swap. I just "permanently" adjusted the load sensor to make it think there was more weight back there, thus giving some extra pressure for the discs. Worked just fine, and stops much better than it did with the worn out drums!

:doh: Forgot about the EGR.

Looks good, did you go with the duplicolor? I usually use that stuff myself. No matter what you use, it will come off when you hit a rock. But at least that stuff is real easy to touch up with. If you just spray it over a gouge, it pretty much levels itself out to blend right in. PS. Why the extra steering stabilizer/rock magnet?

You can use the HO exhaust manifold, but as mentioned the downpipe is a bit different. Not a problem if you use the HO downpipe with it though.

Time for an update... I finally decided to build a front bumper to match the one I made for the rear a while back. Eventually I will add a winch tray, and I still need/want to tie it into the frame a little better, but for now I have added protection and good recovery points Here is the rear: Now I just need to do the rocker replacement! That will have to be next, I can see into the cab through the pass side rocker :ack:

My plan with it is to cut the bed to the right height, and attach the sliders directly to the frame like your standard rock sliders. The bed won't get tied into it at all, and will still be removable. My plan is to kinda match the look of the rear quarter cut and bumper I built.

I'm planning to do that same kinda thing. I did it on my XJ years ago and it worked great! I think I'm going to go higher on the MJ though. I'll have to cut and re-work the bottom of the doors, but the higher the better! It will have to happen pretty soon too, my rockers are shot! I will post up when I do it!

Yes, you can use the trans AND t-case from the 89, However, you will need to use the flex plate for the 91. The CPS between the renix and HO engines are different, and it will send the wrong signal to the ECU to fire the injectors. The only difference in the trans itself is in the output shaft, but if you have a matching case, you're good to go. The only other thing is the 89 may have a vacume switch on it for the front disconnect axle, but just ignore it and you'll be fine ;) (eagle beat me to it...lol)

You definitely experienced the dreaded death wobble! If you own a Jeep long enough, your sure to experience it at least once. If it's not a constant wobble, I'd rule out tire balance as the main cause, but it can help trigger the wobbles. What is happening is when you hit the bump, it throws the front end into oscillation, side to side. This doesn't stop until you slow down enough for things to balance back out. It will then be fine until you hit another bump throwing it back into oscillation. This can be caused by a number of things including the unit bearings, ball joints, worn bushings and steering components. The most common cause for this problem is in the trackbar. However usually there is more than one thing causing it, and it's often accompanied by worn control arm bushings (even if just a trackbar fix seems to fix it). Also check the frame side mount, and make sure the axle side mount didn't get wollowed out. While your at it, make sure your steering box bolts are tight too. Have a helper turn the wheels back and fourth while you inspect the steering components and TB for ANY play. Things may "feel" tight, but there's a lot of force being applied up there!