87Warrior

I assume the white cone is a bushing of sorts for the clutch fork. Not sure what foam ring and metal ring you are referring to.

The problem is that the '87 2.5 has an internal slave, while the '86 2.5 has and external slave. I am in the process of redoing the hydraulic clutch system on my '86 2.5 and have purchased that clutch line for an '87. See below for the differences: The general shape is the same until you get to the end of the line. The new part (top) is the replacement for an '87 while the bottom is my stock (slightly bent) '86 stuff. The flared fitting at the end of the '87 line is male while the 86 is female. My hope is to use my tube bender and reshape the end of the '87 replacement line and find a hydraulic line splice to mate the '87 line to the 86' slave line.

Heck yeah. I can't wait to start shoving everything in. You must have been hiding out behind the 86 MJ he has in the shop to know those kind of details! :banana:

Thanks! At 165k miles, my clutch was pretty well worn. Exactly. Plus it made getting the spacers in easier without a spring compressor. Granted it would have been easier to just leave LCA out when installing the spacer.....

Thanks for the complement. Although I can't really take credit for the work. :rotfl2: I honestly don't know. I figure once I do get it back from the paint shop, I should be able to get the truck put together and running in a couple of months. At this point I am going to forgo the engine build. The whole buying a house thing kind of chewed up my budget for that. I still cannot find a grey 40/20/40 split bench Dakota seat for the truck and it is driving me crazy!

3" is quite a bit of lift and generally needs more than just springs, control arms and tires to make it 'right'. For a truck that wouldn't really benefit from a slick suspension set up, I wouldn't do it. Let's be honest, this truck probably will never see a rock garden. A 2" boost should let you run a 31 if you desire.

Way to help out Jim. My wife's grandparents (who you met on the trails years ago) have a place in Woodland park...currently. Thank goodness they are in KS now, but the family is worried about their little piece of paradise. Colorado needs a good steady rain.

Tonight I stopped by the body shop to drop off the doors, cowl, fenders and header panel. A little bit of paint has been applied to the truck, and let me tell you... I absolutely love it. Engine bay: (notice the 97+ XJ hole alignment and shapes) I am going to have to polish the 4.0 before it goes in that clean bay. Interior: Of course the poor lighting in the shop and my camera phone make the red look more pinkish.

X2. I am quite surprised I have never come across a bus while wheeling over the Rockies. Welcome Dave. You got one heck of a deal on that truck!

Very nice! The only thing you need to finish it off is that fancy flecked floor paint. Organization truly helps keep things moving quickly. In regards to your gearing question, your best bet is to pull the diff covers and count teeth or look for the tooth count on the ring gears.

I just read through your whole build, don't know how i have missed it all this time. Your truck has come a long way. Looking good. I haven't been behind the wheel of a running MJ in over 2 years and it is killing me!

That's your problem right there. Those LCAs are not designed to twist, therefore your axle mount did. Weld a johnny joint to the end of the LCAs and you won't twist off any more brackets. Nice work on the new bracket. Looks like an exact replacement!

It's getting closer. Replaced the rear main and oil pan gasket. Then I took the flywheel to town and had it resurfaced and installed the pilot bearing followed by the clutch disk a pressure plate. It turns out somebody did some parts swapping on me. I have the wrong bell housing and slave cylinder. I have the proper external slave parts on the way. Then the transmission will be raised into position. My AutoZone budget boost came in the mail. - 2" Chevy drop shackles - 1.75" coil spacers I went ahead and installed BB and replaced the control arms with a low mileage set of stockers with good bushings. Control arm mount trimmed. I ended up removing the stock isolator pads and only using the lift spacers up front. It sits about perfect now. With this set up, I gained about 1.75" out back and 1.25" up front. The rear leaf springs are sagged quite a bit.

I made one a year ago for my 92, but I made it read 92 Comanche with the 99 XJ diagram (retrofitted for the MJ fuel tank). Red Rocker, what program are you using to build the decal? I used Illustrator and thought it worked pretty slick.

Thanks Correy. I decided to take the hit to the budget and go external. Ordered the bell and shift fork on flebay. There isn't anything easy.

Pics for the masses:

I tried to finish up installing my transmission and clutch into my 86 2.5l, AX5, 207 today and was unsuccessful. A brief back story about the truck. I purchased it with the transmission and t-case in the bed. Knowing it was an 86, I knew it should have had the external slave set up. But after inspecting the bell housing, I determined it had been swapped to an internal set up sometime since there were no provisions for a clutch fork in the bell housing, or mounting available for an external slave. Ordered a Luk clutch kit for an internal slave AX5 (87 MJ). The clutch disk and pressure plate went on no problem. Then I went to mount the slave and ran into three problems: 1. Slave will not slide back to the transmission. It is stopped because the transmission input shaft is to large past the splines. 2. The bell housing has one opening for the hydraulic lines on the driver side. There is absolutely no way to manipulate the slave hydraulic lines to line up with the opening. One line wants to be on the driver side and the other wants to be on the passenger side. 3. There is no provision on the front of the transmission for the slave retainer clip. My speculation is I have the stock external slave AX5 and stock NP207 mated to a late model internal slave AX5 bell housing. I do not know how to verify or deny this . What can I do to get this truck on the road utilizing most of the parts I currently possess? :hmm:

There is absolutely nothing wrong in following the KISS method. If you are thinking about the V8 ZJ set up with all good quality parts throughout the system, you should give the Currie set up a looking over. It wouldn't cost much more than all new TREe, drag link, tie rod from Moog. I don't really have much experience with the various steering set ups. I have the ORO UTurn on my TJ. It came on the front Rubi 44 I bought for my 92. I absolutely love it off road and on the highway. I really hate it in town and in tight parking lots. The front tires whine when making sharp turns and leave a little tire mark on the pavement. I would really love to drive a TJ/MJ with WJ steering. I am a fan of the V8 ZJ tie rod too. I installed it on my 86 last night and had it on my TJ for years.

Disconnecting the trackbar and a heavy duty ratchet strap make twisting the axle around very easy. I've replaced the control arms in my TJ (all eight) a few times now and am getting darn good at it.

What steering set up are you thinking about? I'm pretty sure sloppyish is a word... Especially when talking Jeep chassis components :thwak:

$30 later my 2.5 fltwheel looks new again. Now to press in that pilot bearing. Thanks for the info guys. :jump:

For basic replacement auto parts, I buy from Advance Auto and have it shipped to my door. Their prices and shipping costs have always beat rockauto, which I check before every purchase. If I need anything special, I always use Northridge4x4.com.

Well, can you surface a 2.5L flywheel? I was reading through the 2.5L section of the FSM again and noticed it mentioned checking the flywheel with a straight edge. If not, what is the best way to clean it up?

I am fairly certain that most auto parts stores can get them. I ordered a new one for my internal slave 2.5/ax5 from Advance Auto.

Free is good.