jpnjim

1) I would not chop the structure of a rolled (probably out of wack) XJ, and try to fit it to an MJ. Even starting with two straight, perfect Jeeps, piecing them together, and getting the whole thing to go straight down the road afterwards would be a trainwreck for the average homegrown 'mechanic', without the right alignment tools, or a body rack. Since everything bolts on anyway, I don't see the sense to doing it the hard way. FWIW, piecing an MJ & XJ has been done in the past (MJ sold on Ebay last year), but I'd have to have alot of faith in the builder to go near that thing. As far as VINs & titles, that guy got a salvage title issued, but I'm not sure if the state printed him a new VIN, or not (they can do that) 2) No way would I screw around with the VIN's on yours. 2a) I especially wouldn't do it, then post a public thread about it. The laws on this stuff are designed to keep you from even touching the number, and the penalties are based on punishing car thieves. = the average guy not trying to rip anyone off gets screwed. I'd get the paperwork in order before putting time & money in the MJ. It doesn't happen that often, but anytime you have someone look at the 2001 VIN on an MJ, (insurance company, registering it, inspection, shop doing work, etc, etc) you run the risk of them reporting it. I know of an old-old body style 1991 Chevy Crew Cab that was confiscated for a short time by a (mistaken) shop, because they didn't realize old body style crews were still being made in 91 alongside the newer body styles. State Police were called in to see if the VIN's were swapped, and alot of checking was done, till the shop realized they made a mistake :doh: :doh: :doh:

No way would I put another frame 'under' an MJ's 'frame'. The only thing I could see doing that even comes close to that would be to: cut the cab free remove what ever's left of the uni-frame's rails and fab up body mounts to fit an existing frame. Then, I'd probably lean towards a 1976+ FSJ frame, Waggy, or a shortbed J-Truck, depending on what wheelbase I hoped to end up with. They're great frame's, the engine's I prefer to use bolt right in, they have aftermarket support if you're not going to fab your own suspension, etc, etc. A Chevy guy might try to build body mounts to fit a straight axle Blazer, or PU frame, so he could keep the Chevy drivetrain. But that is a TON of work, for what you'd gain. You also would lose ground clearance, no matter how you did it (short of frenching the body over the frame rails). Stacking the uni-frame onto another frame would have even worse results, and be more work, since (as someone already said) there's no existing frame that would line up to the underside of an MJ's frame. If the uni-frame isn't strong enough for you: beef the MJ frame (or outright replace it, staying Uni-frame, like Dirty Comanche did to his XJ viewtopic.php?f=7&t=11792), or Truggy it.

What to use with a WT FSJ front D44? Even though they're C-clip axles, I'd try to find a semi-floater 14 bolt with 6 lug axles. 'Heavy Half' half ton Chevy's & SS454's got them, 9.5" ring gears & 33 spline shafts. In the mean time I'd run the M20. But honestly, if you're gonna go full width, you might as well ditch the FSJ axles, and go 3/4 ton 8 lug. More rear options (FF14 bolt, D60, D70, etc), and if you ever come across a D60 front, you're not scrambling to swap the 6 lug rear you have for matching 8 lug. As far as what to do for flares? Cut those FSJ flares off the Wide Wheel Cherokee, and put them on the MJ. :brows: I bet they'd look awesome. :banana: :thumbsup:

Extra 'frame' bracing above the floor (where floors start to rot) Extra X-member brackets/bolts (brake & lines have to bend around bracket on left side). Already mentioned LCA braces Rockers are different (XJ's are open ended on both ends, MJ's are closed off in the rear).

http://www.jcroffroad.com/Merchant2/mer ... ode=XJMISC

It's amazing how we've PC'd ourselves right out of the greatest country in the world. :USAflag: :USAflag: :USAflag: :USAflag: :USAflag: enjoy what's left while you still can. :(

At that price, it'll be sitting for another 5 years. :nuts:

:cheers: These things kicked IFS tail, with 100 year old solid beam ft axle technology.

FSJ Pickup (a J-20). It's not done yet (I'm better at starting projects than finishing them :doh: ). Narrowing it was easy: chop each side down to the MJ width, strip the sheetmetal off the cut off piece, and slide back inside the tailgate. The bottom 'hinge' point was the right diameter, but you have to cut the slot back into the gate to get it on & off. To do the top, I cut the top off a (rusty) MJ tailgate, chopped the top off the FSJ tailgate, flanged the edge of the sheetmetal, and fit the MJ piece on. I still haven't worked out a latch yet, but I'm gonna do something from behind, and make it so I can slap a padlock on it if I want.

One of my 72' Javelin's had manual steering. Fairly well optioned out other than that: AMX, 401 Go-package (incl PDB, HD cooling, twin grip, cowl hood, etc) 4spd (close ratio/2.23 1st) & 3.91's. By the time I got it, it had a 343 engine & a trailer hitch (but still had the manual steering & 3.91's). Even that 20:1 manual box was no fun to park (I can't imagine someone used it for a tow rig :rotf: ). You should start a thread on your old Jav's & AMX's so we can :drool: :yes:

:eek: :eek: :eek: [Hands covering ears while singing "la la la la I can't hear you"] I wasn't here, I didn't post in this Red Sox thread [/hands covering ears] ;) in all honesty thou, I have no problem taking California > NYY. If Red China put together a baseball team, and called themselves "The Barack Obama's", I'd still pick them over the Yanks. :rotf:

X2. I'd steer clear of early XJ's, no real reason to go with anything pre 1987 (or pre 1991 for that matter). The earlier you go, the more odd-ball the drivetrain is. If it were me, I'd look for: 1) a great deal on a 97-99ish 4.0L XJ. I've seen plenty with high mileage, and dents/dings for $1200-$2500. Watch for rust/rot. My 98 has a true 70K miles, and no rocker panels left. 00's & 01's seem to be the top of the XJ food chain. Unless you have to have a 60th anniversary edition, or want an 00-01 only color, I'd save the $$ and get a 97-99. 2) 91-95 4.0L. there should be enough of these getting dumped that you can find one for next to free. Also look out for rot, no reason to repair rot damage when there's another one to pick from on the next block. 2a) 1996 4.0L's. Oddball year, OBDII in the earlier body style. Lots of parts that only fit this year/model vehicle. Still great XJ's, but I'd pick a 91-95 over a 96 (unless it was a screaming deal), just for simplicity's sake. 3) 87-90 4.0L. I can't even think of a reason to look for one of these anymore. They are great XJ's, but now they're all 20+ years old (model year 2010's are out, so even 1990's are 20 model years old), and (IMHO) the Renix stuff isn't worth dealing with anymore, unless you find a real gem.

Today was a good day, I got a little further on the MJ, and DID NOT watch the ball game. :D It's tough to be a Red Sox fan, because now we have to root for the team that beat us. :nuts: Oh well, it was an awesome season, we have a great team, with the pieces to go the distance, but it didn't all click together when it needed to, and we got the elimination we deserved to get. Just hope the Angels keep riding this hot streak right through the Yank-me's :yes:

I spaced it back 2" further than the old bumper (for protection). Actually would've been more room for the winch if I moved everything inward (would've cleared the bed reinforcements at the rear). Next I need to add some filler strips (about 2.5" per side), so I can put the ends on: MJ rear bumper needs to be ~66" wide, compared to the typical front @ ~61" I was gonna chop off the bed corners to fit the bumper ends, but now I'm on the fence, I could leave the sheetmetal, and mount the corners a little further out. There's also a ton more reinforcement to do to beef up the winch mount: and I'll be adding the receiver plate that extends to the X-brace back in the end (from the other bumper). Only other thing I'm not sure of is how I'll finish off the backside, right now the leading edge of the bumper is more like a shovel: At least the winch is well protected: and there's more room above it than it looks: FWIW, the winch (MM 8k) was a really good deal, thou I will be cleaning up that drum before it goes together permanently. I'm probably gonna order 50' of synthetic line, and call it good. :cheers:

Winch goes in here: Was hoping I could keep two bolts in, and swing it down to install the winch, :idea: but :no: I couldn't get that lucky. Peek-a-boo winch: I was thinking about cutting this into the bed floor: but it looks like there's enough room to operate the in/out lever (once I trim a little more): Back & side views:

I completely abandoned the last rear bumper idea, so I figured I'd start fresh with a new thread. Here's the bumper I've been running for the last 10 years, on 2 different MJ's: Pretty simple (used stock mounts, with a plate on the bottom of each, to mount a tow hook, and spaced at the top with 1.5"x1.5" angle iron) last pic before... chop bolted the pieces back on and used the Iron Scorpion kit: http://ironscorpion.com/zen/index.php?m ... 70a52835ee plus a YJ winch plate to make a new center for the old bumper (I know the ends are crooked :D ): Getting the Jeep level in this driveway took a floor jack, some ballast on one corner, and letting air out of the tire on the opposite side: burn it in:

Name just sorta popped into my head :nuts: Now I'm wondering who would get the title here? :popcorn:

I can't say enough good things about RE coils. I bought my first set in 1998, and they're still fine, and not far below original installed height (RE 5.5", still give a little more than 6"). Since then, I've tried their 4.5" XJ coils, and 3.5" ZJ's (taller & stiffer than the 4.5" XJ's). All were excellent, and firm, without being overly stiff. I've also used Rancho 3" XJ's (harsh, but still holding strong after almost 15 years of constant use), and Rusty 3" XJ (very soft, and self destructed after a couple months).

There was a 97plus-erized MJ on Ebay a while back (the one that had 97+ tail lights & tailgate), and the guy had used a plastic welder to stretch the XJ bumper ends & rear flares to fit the MJ bed. It looked great in the pics (would like to have seen it up close tho).

Decided to abandon the tube bumper, and go a different route. I started with this ft bumper kit: http://ironscorpion.com/zen/index.php?m ... 70a52835ee and closed off the receiver hole, & moved it down to make room for a winch fairlead: Then I figured out the 61" wide bumper wasn't the best fit for a 65-66" wide (MJ) pickup bed. :doh: So I'll have to add 2.5" per side to work right. So the ends are just sorta stuck on there for this pic (to give an idea of what the finished product will look like) till I can come up with some strips of 3/16's to space them out: I'll be cutting the left side clevis mount off, to make room for the license plate. I'd really like to french the plate in (recess it), but anything I do seems to take 10x's longer now, so I'm not gonna complicate it more than it needs to be. :ack: Winch mount will be a (flipped around) YJ plate I got with the (cheap) Mile Marker 8k (drum needs some serious 'de-rusting'): Most of this is just mocked up for now (which is why the receiver tube is a little crooked :D ), but the winch plate will be properly supported, and attached to the bumper mounts when it's done. :smart:

It makes a lot of sense that they only used the first 2 weeks of his presidency to decide, everything was all rainbows & unicorn farts then. Obviously they lock all those nice award people in a cave after the Feb deadline, so they can hash out who the winner will be, without any interruptions. I bet they feel pretty silly about the whole thing by now. :popcorn:

Did the price for the mounts separately come down too, or just the complete bumper? Not to sound ungrateful, that is a GREAT price for the whole bumper (esp considering there's not many others doing an MJ rear :thumbsup: ), but I'm on the fence about buying mounts (vs cutting up my current rear bumper)

:yes: so that just makes my original statement that much more :wall: :D

What size tires/type of wheeling? Street use too, or do you just use 4wd when off road? A lock right + upgrading to later axle shafts (+ carrying spares) is a good compromise that doesn't usually uncover the other, tougher to fix weaknesses of the D30 (small internals = weak lockers, R&P strength, tube/knuckle strength, etc). I did the above (+ gears), then later went to alloy shafts. At the time, I considered 30 spline's, but at some point the ring & pinion is gonna become the weak link (and you don't want to change those on the trail if you can help it). Ultimately I stayed with 27splines, so I could keep my old ones as spares. Going to a Waggy 44 is a good option too, but I like having everything use the same 5 on 4.5" bolt patturn (easier to swap tires from one Jeep to another). FWIW, generally speaking, if you need 30 spline shafts (in a D30), for what you do, you probably won't be happy with a True-Trac anyway. It's a good LSD, but 'loose' enough that 27' splines should survive almost any sane (D30) use with it. Also, It's your money, but $1600+ is alot of coin to spend on a D30. (though it is your money :thumbsup: )

lol. Glad this was taken in the spirit it was written. :yes: :cheers: