87Warrior

You can get the carpet from an XJ to work in the MJ.....a headliner not so much. The MJ and XJ have different shaped roofs. Do a search for SMS Headliners here on the forum. Steve (a1500ram) is easy to work with for a new headliner.

This Toyota is a pleasure to work on. Not because it is particularly easy, but because I haven't started bleeding or snapped any important bolts due to rust. The first job I did was replacing the steering rack. It was darn tight in there. I ended up lifting the motor 2" to get clearance for the removal and installation. I then repacked the wheel bearings, greased the spindle bushing and replaced the upper ball joints. I don't think the wheel bearings had been touched in 100k miles. The grease was dried up around the edges yet the bearings seemed to be good. Bearing packers make this job so easy. Somewhere in there I cranked on the torsion bars. The front end sat 2.5" lower than the rear. Raised the front so it is 3/4" lower than the rear and pulled the running boards. After an intensive interior cleaning and leather treatment, the ashtray/smoke smell inside the cab has almost disappeared. New tires will be installed this week. Ordered the Cooper AT3 in a 265/75r16. A little narrower and a little taller than the stock size.

she was third overall and first in the mod class. pretty good in my opinion. That is awesome. I'm not sure what results I saw, but I am glad to hear she finished well!

The 8.8 is a solid choice. Make sure you budget for spacers to compensate for the width, a companion flange so you can bolt up a Jeep drive shaft, and perch mounts that will allow you to move the axle back 1" if you want to keep your stock drive shaft and you are staying spring under.

Unfortunately I didn't get to watch the race this year. I noticed Jessi didn't do as well this year based on the results. Mechanical problems? I keep hoping she will take 1st.

$300-$400 is the typical price for a wrecking yard axle around here.

The Spicer ball joints from Amazon are the best way to go. High quality and priced well. You will need two kits to do both sides.

Sounds to me like you need to twist on the adjusting sleeve at the pitman arm some more.

I am not sure if it was classified as a 'work truck' from GM or not. Was a 2wd 4cyl with extended cab. It also had carpet instead of vinyl flooring, pleather seats, usb and 120v outlet, and a full NAV radio with Bluetooth and backup camera. That 'stat screen' with the gauge cluster was full color not a LCD. It was real comfy and averaged 27mpg highway and 18 mpg hard city (30-40 start ups a day). The first day I took delivery I had it in a ditch hunting for a Fiber Optic cable. The traction control worked remarkably well transferring power to the spinning tire. If I ever needed to buy a new truck, I would seriously look at the Colorado.

Sounds like you are doing exactly what I did. I cut the 2wd leaf right behind the eyes and mimicked the factory cut. Also added a friction pad. Here is an in progress pic that shows my cut on the 2wd main leaf installed in my 4wd pack.

Nothing will deaden noise like carpet, pad and a headliner. Luckily, you can buy those items new still. Most folks use truck bedliner as an alternative to carpet. I did this in my 86 and hated the noise so I installed carpet. Carpet cut the noise significantly.

I love that sticker! Haha. ...or is the Jeep just leaking oil? If Toyota is still using Dana as the supplier for the frames, I am sure they started coating the inside of the frame. Toyota is a manufacturer that learns from their mistakes. I haven't driven the new Tacoma yet, but I can say the Colorado is a pleasure to drive with a nicely laid out interior. Had one for a few months as a company truck before I left the job. The Colorado was world's better than the Ranger I previously had.

I have one installed on the 99 4.0 in my 92. Admittedly I haven't driven the truck yet, but the header did fit just fine. You may have to grind a little on the washers that link the top of the header to the bottom of the intake manifold so they sit flat. Pacesetter ships their headers with a cheap paint coating to prevent rust during shipping. The instructions clearly state the coating is not high temperature rated and needs to be removed, and a proper high temperature exhaust paint applied. Stripping the shipping paint is a piece of cake when using 'Aircraft Stripper'.

Like wise. Long time member there, but all I do is read and realize how much I still NEED to buy! On topic, I love the Harbor Freight Ball Joint Press. I know some folks say it's junk, but I've done 7 Jeep axles with it as well as a GMC 2500. Within the next couple of weeks I'll be using it to do Land Cruiser ball joints. Keep the threaded rod greased up and it keeps on going!

I am speechless!

Awww, come on Pete. Rusty trucks need love too!

I absolutely love mine in my TJ Rubi. It is by far the smoothest manual transmission I have ever driven and has been 100% trouble free for 130k miles. FYI - they all sound like they have marbles rolling around when idling in neutral.

Not necessarily true. I drove my TJ for awhile with 35's and stock 4.10 gears. Regeared with 5.13's and noticed a substantial drop in hwy mpg yet a slight improvement in town. If you want to know about how the truck will run down the highway with 4.88's over the stock 4.10's, don't shift into 5th gear. While the motor will be spinning a little faster in 4th than it would with 4.88's in 5th, I think you'd be able gauge the driveabilty pretty well.

It had been awhile since the ol' girl stretched her legs, so I decided to take the MJ to the local ORV park. As always, the truck never ceases to amaze me. The Cooper AT3's are proving themselves as my favorite all around tire. A good friend and myself took our rigs to the park. And my buddy's XJ. It was his first time at the park with his XJ. I've been helping him build it and provide parts recommendations for awhile and was pleased everything worked so well. Short of the small tires, it did awesome. Now that the truck has been running the new power steering pump for awhile, I noticed the actual gear box is now leaking. Ahh, another project for another day.

$2k would be a bargain for a shop to do gears AND a rear main (on a 2.5). You have to drop the transmission to replace the rear main on a 2.5. I am a big believer in the 2.5. It is a great motor. And honestly, if you are not going to do a 4.0 swap yourself, stick with what the truck came with from the factory. Will make trouble shooting in the future much easier. Plus you wouldn't be relying on somebody else to do the swap correctly.

You have full access to the inner frame rail from the back of the truck. Lots of room with the bumper pulled. I used a combination of a short socket on a long breaker bar to hold the nut and small piece of tape to hold the washers to said socket to reach the far bolts. The front couple of bolts are easily accessed. Trust me, with the bumper removed this is quite easy. When I pulled the bumper/ hitch combo to install a JCR rear bumper it was far more challenging since the bumper and brackets are welded together....yet still doable through the small gap left between the bumper and bed. I have never removed the bed on this truck.

Yup. When I went to install a hitch on my rusty 86, all but two bolts broke. I studied the available space I had to work with and deemed it impossible to drill out the broken bolts without removing the bed. Then I studied the nuts on the inside of the frame and noticed each nut was only tack welded to the frame in two spots. I hit each nut with a long chisel attached to an air hammer and they popped off no problem. I bought new Grade 8 hardware for reassembly. On the inside of the frame I put a large washer followed by a lock washer then the nut. I'll be honest here, getting the nuts attached to the bolt while tucked inside the frame rail is a pain. I had success using a long breaker bar and socket holding the nut inside the frame while I torqued on the bolt head itself.

I've run 10w30 Mobile 1 High Mileage and Mobile 1 filters in my Jeeps with great results. It is amazing how clean the oil becomes when drained after a couple years running full synthetic. My TJ has always run full synthetic oil since its rebuild 110k miles ago (except for the first 500 miles when I ran break in oil). To this day, it is still the smoothest and quietest 4.0 I have ever been around. A few years ago I lived in Vail, CO and had several -20F cold mornings and the Jeep didn't struggle to start once, even with 10w30 synthetic.

That first drive is always a relief. Congrats at getting it back on the road!

Don, you know that is the same group of Gadiator concept photos that have been floating around since 03/04. Truly I am not excited about a Jeep pickup. I'm sure it will be as big of a let down as the Cherokee was...you know, a candy coated Fiat. Probably something like this: