Skorpyo

Unless you've already read that...

In the few hours I've spent working on the MJ over the last two weeks all I've managed to do is remove, adjust and reinstall the upper control arms trying to get the caster right on the front axle. After two tries it's still off by a few degrees so one last adjustment should do the job. The upper control arms are a pain since one of them is so tight I have to put it in a vise and use a pipe wrench to turn it. It's currently needing another 1/2" of adjustment to get the caster right so hopefully one last time and we'll be able to call that part done. Once the caster is set I'm going to do a driveway alignment and see if I can take the MJ home. I've got a pile of parts for small projects left to go onto the MJ, but my main goal right now is getting my XJ ready to off-road. I'm upgrading the steering on it and hopefully will have new IRO critical path arms and 35s for the XJ before June when I take it up to NACFest. I'm also hoping to shake it out a bit before then on a trip to AOAA. Time will tell if I can get all of it expensed and setup before then lol.

This is a great program. My son's Scout Troop often volunteers, with other Troops in the DC area to meet and greet the vets at the airport and assist with the tours as well. Love the program!

LOL, I followed your link and was so confused... had an inception moment... the CL Link is actually to this post! and that is one bad mama jama...

With the site format update you might want to update the instructions so it says something like: In upper RH click on down arrow next to username Select Account Settings On left side of screen select "Signature" Edit and Update Not sure how foolproof it needs to be, but I always say nothing is foolproof, you just haven't found a sufficiently capable fool.

Check that annoying one between the TB and the MAP sensor... always a nuisance to me... I'm planning on doing the nipple swap on @cruiser54s list...

Yeah... if you're not going to "check back" then why ask for help??? I'm not gonna text some random person to help them, for all I know they might never leave me alone, or be a jerk, or a stalker... If I had a $1 for every time someone said they put new "breaks" on their jeep, or wanted to know what kind of "wench" to get i wouldn't need a day job...

I second this method, but I wouldn't let off the c-clamp until you put in a new centering pin... I ordered new centering pins from Rubicon Express (via Amazon) but take note of the head size versus your perches. I had to drill out my MORE perches to match the new head.

Cool! Well if you are looking for authors I'd be happy to help where and when I can. Thanks!

Based on searching I see this has been brought up before, but perhaps we could setup an FAQ forum OR a separate CMS (like Wordpress or Joomla) to publish articles that address FAQs we see in the Tech section so very often. Things like "What axles can I swap?", "SOA vs SUA", "What lifts are available?", "Who makes aftermarket parts?" and many others. The intent wouldn't be to replace the DIY section, but more along the lines of "Here's your options and here's a few people who have documented doing so..." with link to the DIY section. Just a thought as I'm sure Eagle and H0rdbrod are tired of reposting the same pics of driveshaft angles and SUA lift heights. I'd be willing to help out if there is interest. Thanks!

Photos from FB posted by same individual

I'm not gonna lie, it's 60* warmer here and I'm miserably cold... I dunno how you cold weather folks do it, but kudos to you.... Is it the Tim Hortons Coffee? Good luck with the XJ!

I found some photos of the old girl. First one's from Christmas of 1994 when my parents kicked in the extra 1500 and bought it for me as my christmas gift. I had saved up 1500 working at Blockbuster and I really wanted a wrangler or amigo (glad I didn't get one) and they "borrowed" that and bought the XJ from our neighbors for $3K. The second is from 1998 when I was on break from college and had just finished washing and waxing it. I was always the DD and we'd all pile in and head into DC to hit a pool hall in Georgetown then walk M Street. Man I thought I was too effin cool... Oh, and yes, that license plate is where my nickname came from... Dad was Navy so we were FL residents as long as he could swing it. No state income tax so he kept that residency as long as possible.

It wasn't on any of my jeeps, but the funny thing is it happened twice on the same vehicle in opposite directions! I got a rock hit on the driver lower side and 2 months later I used the defroster on a winter morning and it ran almost all the way to the passenger side... 2 years later got a rock hit on the passenger side and wife borrowed the car to drive to jersey and coming back she turned on the defroster and it ran to the driver side! Dump trucks around here are the worst, that or I have the worst luck... Local windshield guy knows me by first name now... he did my old Nissan (2 rock hits), my Hyundai twice (above) and my wives RAV4 (3 rock hits). Gonna have him do the MJ next summer, he quoted me $90 installed, it already has two spider cracks that were there when I bought it. (Sorry for the hijack @SatiricalHen)

I've had a windshield that already had a spider crack go fully across when the wife turned on the defroster... Forgot to warn her on a cold morning to not turn heat onto a cold windshield... Maybe the same case here?

Pretty sweet you're taking it to school. Hope she takes care of you there. Hopefully you'll see the temp level out on your drive. As for the clutch what method did you use to bleed it? Vacuum or gravity or.. and did you replace anything or just bleed it?

So I'll clarify that I PAID for a Carfax, and ran a NMVTIS search along with other free searches. The paid for CarFax search gave me barely more information than the free searches, essentially just the fact that it was Pelham, NC vs just NC. I don't put too much stock in these cause my MJ did return a title records for when I bought it, but nothing since, despite multiple state inspections. Oh and I was kidding about driving to NC, but based on the map of Pelham, it'd probably take me a day or two to visit every resident since it looks like they're maybe 1 stop sign in the town. It was, Cash for Clunkers was in '09 as an effort to fix the economy. I figured it probably would have happened too, but all salvage yards are supposed to report / record whenever a vehicle is salvage or junk titled and that doesn't come up for my old XJ... The last title record was in '07 so it was prior to the program and if it changed hands it should have been retitled. Of course I'm sure there are salvage yards that weren't good about this, and its entirely possible that it was junked or salvaged and just never recorded. Yeah, i hear you. It being 2wd was the one thing I held against it, but she always got me where I needed to go, even in snow and ice. It was a very "Pretty" jeep though, it was about as clean as it could have been when I traded it in. I may not have known how to fix brakes back then, but I knew how to have routine maintenance performed and I was really retentive about cleaning it inside and out. That being said, it's been almost 20 years since it was mine so chances are it's probably rotting away somewhere, and I accept that, but hey, a guy can dream... If you still have the VIN you could always check to see if it went anywhere after that...at least at a high level.

I'm fortunate to have a wife who supports my addiction... I think she just likes that it gets me out of her hair sometimes lol. That thing is a BEAST! Congrats!

Well, I choose to be optimistic since my MJ is just as old and if the original owner was looking for it they'd be pleasantly surprised that its rust free and running and has been a WV, VA truck its whole life. I'd like to think it's still running and maybe even in decent shape.

As I near completion of my MJ I keep wondering about my old XJ and what the odds are that it's still around. In 1999 I traded it in for my current XJ because a mechanic told me it needed about $1500 in brake work. I was young, and didn't know anything about doing my own work, so I took it to a dealership and they offered me 1500 in trade in so I traded it in. It was really a great XJ, ran like a top, had about 130K on it and aside from the brakes was a great vehicle. So these many years later I decided to try and look it up and since I'm a pack-rat I found the original trade-in receipt and I have the VIN. I ran it through CarFax and a few other free vehicle history checks and it's not been listed as salvage or totaled and the last entry was in 2007 when it was registered in Pelham, NC with about 180K on it. I've searched every avenue I can think of and haven't turned up anything. Short of driving to NC and driving around town looking for it I'm not sure if I'd be able to find it. Anyways, it was a 1988 2WD auto Cherokee Pioneer with white flares and no body trim except a red stripe. Chrome front and rear bumpers with a class II hitch. Grey interior. I kept it immaculate and to this day regret trading it in... Has anyone else had any luck finding an old vehicle and if so what means did you use? I don't know anyone in law enforcement or who works at the NC DMV who could tell me if it's even still around or currently registered.

Man, that really sucks, but I'm glad you're ok. As an XJ owner, I would understand you must devastated, even if it is fixable.Good luck with the rebuild and glad you're upright to tell the tale!

Got a ton of XJ/MJ stuff woohoo XJ: Fumitol oil drain valve, phone mount and charger, winch cover, D44 chromoly axles, Wilma Flinstone sticker (w00t!) MJ: Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve, LED reverse lights, interior LEDs, POR Bedliner and spray gun, H4 wiring harness, new parking brake cable It was a good haul for the Jeeps!

What he describes is referred to as a U-Bolt Eliminator Kit. http://www.barnes4wd.com/U-Bolt-Eliminator-Kit_p_690.html

So maybe this is a dumb question, but did you check that your caliper mounts are tight?

Maybe check steering box and frame around it? Seems like you've checked most everything else...