jpnjim

XJ D44 was only listed as an option for 87': in the Off Road package as part of the towing package and as a stand alone "HD rear axle" option. Others have seen them in 88' & 89's, but officially you could only order them in 1987. The MJ D44 was available as an option in 87', just like the XJ, but was also part of the "Metric Ton", or "Big Ton" package, in LWB MJ's with steel wheels, from 87-92. (Metric Ton package came with a 4.10 geared AMC Model 20 in 1986). Other than that, I'm not gonna say "it only came in this", or "it never came in that", because: a) Jeeps seem to get alot of parts swapped in & out of them along their lives, and B) lotsa people firmly believe AMC/Jeep was likely to build any combination of things at any given time, and I'm not gonna be the one to talk them out of it. :D

The front probably has to be flipped, or passenger drop. I guess you don't need a clocking ring on the front to flip it. It's hard to say how anything will fit without having any of the components on hand. Either way, the 4:1 atlas is much slicker than the other setups. :dunno: But I will feel for a passenger drop 241D (or such) and a usable ford 205 for now. If I can flip my driver's 241D without things getting too weird, that might be the best option. I'll throw the case front onto the tranny and see whenever I get back home. For the 231 I'm pretty sure you don't need a clocking ring to flip it. This appears to confirm that. A couple posts down he also added a hole to make sure the front bearing gets oil. Pretty interesting thread, with an interesting solution for his shifters. I think the 241 shouldn't need a clocking ring either. Willy If you drill a couple new holes in the back of the tranny, you can flip the B4R, but a clocking plate is needed to adjust it up, or down from there. (B4R + D300 with clocking plate on input). The output of the B4R has a ton of clocking options for the rear T-case (you can kinda see the clocking plate sandwiched here:) Mocked up/installed:

Haven't gotten back to this yet (had a Saturday job, two Wakes, a Funeral, and a 3 year old's birthday party this weekend :wall: ). but thanks for the advice so far. :cheers:

I've had XJ/MJ's where the end of the drive spring rusts, and the crank gear just spins, trying to grab & drive the spring. (drive mechanism is a kind of long coil spring in a tube, with a gear that meshes up against it, and drives it up & down). Did you try (carefully) grabbing the glass, and pulling it up a little, then seeing if it'll crank up? I had the front doors on my first XJ do this, but the rears windows didn't need the full length of the drive (and the ends of those drives weren't rusted), so I swapped the mechanism rear >> front, and all was well again. :D If you do end up swapping drives, you have to drill out a bunch of rivets to pull it out, but the rivets are really soft (easy to drill) & you can replace them with short 1/4-20 nuts & bolts.

Atleast they didn't grind down the welds, so it's easy to see where they are. They actually make spot weld cutters just for this purpose (looks like a small hole saw), but I just used regular (sharp) drill bits like you are doing. Dimensionally, the XJ braces fit fine, once the MJ braces were removed, and because I moved the drivers side bracket backwards, but kept the passengers side in it's normal location, I cut the rug in half where it runs under the console, so I could stagger the drivers side of the rug rearward, and keep the passenger side rug in the original location. If you have a 34", or greater inseam, I'd think about moving the seat bracket back. My 98' XJ would be soooooo much more comfortable on long trips if I could just get one more notch out of the seat adjustment, to stretch out now & then.

I removed my MJ's floor braces (well, they mostly removed themselves :D ) I cut out a 2001 XJ's floor for the drivers side, and used the brace (set back a little, to move the seat back some). I don't have any pics loaded up of the drivers side floor installed, you can 'kinda' see it here: For the passengers side I just used 3 pieces of flat sheetmetal (better solution IM0), and set the 01' brace more, or less in the stock position. (cutout section was to fit a doubler) If you want to use a late model XJ's molded carpet, you'll want to put the brace more, or less in the stock XJ location. Only problem is the stock late model XJ's seat position allows less legroom than earlier XJ/MJ's.

:clapping: I guess it really is a small world. :cheers: I didn't get to meet Ryan, he was nice enough to drop the bumper at my MIL's house in Derry. He made a good impression tho (I'm pretty sure she liked him better than she likes me ;) )

:yes: He posted it on NEOW. Small world I guess. :thumbsup:

The guy building this wants me to take the easy way out :nuts: :bowdown: :bowdown:

Current bumper is basic, high clearance, but doesn't offer any corner protection (old pic): So I picked up a used (& rusty) Toyota Bumper: It's a tight fit on the MJ: And the wrap around tubes need to be shortened: But I think I can make it work. I'm also thinking of putting a winch back there (slight photochop here): Tucking the new bumper up tight (means also widening it), and maybe moving the D-rings down, or ?? (another photochop): So, should I leave the bumper as is, modify the Toyota tube bumper to fit, move the D-rings, etc, etc? I really like the look of formed plate type rear bumpers better, but I have this already & it'll give me more protection than I have now. What say you CC. :wavey:

i shoved it back in the plastic tubing, i did use some regular old electrical tape to bundle them together at places. i'm always interested in learning something better, whats the right thing to use? Usually listed under 'electrical harness wrap', it's more rubbery, and not sticky like electrical tape. A few wraps here & there of electrical tape is fine, it's only when you wrap the whole harness that you hate life down the line. (even good electrical tape turns into a sticky gooey mess eventually). Friction tape is also OK, spaced out like you did yours.

A very similar (and confusing) thing happens when you don't ground building transformers. So a good rule of thumb (in cars & buildings) if you're getting screwy readings, and can't track it down, check your grounds. :D I'm glad you got it straightened out. :cheers: FWIW, what are you gonna wrap the harness in now? They make non-sticky tape for that (sticky electrical tape isn't the right stuff to use).

:thumbsup: hope you feel better soon (been sidelined most of this year, so I know it sucks :ack: ). Look for that other thread too, seems that guy put his to use more. My MJ's been pretty much driveway jewelry since I did the mod, so I can't say it won't try to pop out when wheeling in 4low, etc/etc. I think he redrilled the plate/lever on the T-case too (I didn't). EDIT: Found the thread: viewtopic.php?f=9&t=14975

This makes PERFECT sence. Turning the ignition/headlights/tailights/etc on increases the number of loads looking for that ground (that isn't there). If you connected a regular test light from the battery (-) to that ground point, the light would glow brighter & brighter as you increased the loads looking for that ground. Somehow, when you did the work, and/or replaced that bad wire, you must have disconnected the ground feeding that point. Check your (-) to body connection (should be a jumper to the engine), or even just temporarily jump the (-) terminal to the body.

If fuses aren't blowing, I would definitely say it's a bad ground issue. When you read 12+ positive where there should be a ground, you are really reading through a load connected to that (bad) ground. (you are 'seeing' the hot on the other side of the load, through the load). If you put a volt meter on it, you should get some funky voltage less than system voltage (because the meter would be in series with the load, or loads). Their website says the Powerprobe has some kind of a bad ground detector, is it just an indicator light, or ?

Awesome plate! :cheers: Too bad this weekend has been :fs1: so far.

I took some pics: Here's the seat (& Jake): (can you tell this is his favorite shirt :yes: ) & here it is mocked up on a 3.5" high mount (for visibility & legroom): None of the seats are bolted in yet, and it looks more cramped in the pics than it really is. Seat actually makes a comfy armrest when he's not in it.

Also, check to see that the ground jumper from the body to engine is in place. I'm betting if you ran a decent size jumper wire directly from the battery to that cab ground (when you are reading 12v there), it will not short out, and the problem will go away. (FWIW, I'm an electrician, but I absolutely HATE automotive electrical :nuts: )

If you have 12v dead shorts to ground, you should be either blowing fuses, or smoking wires. (are you?) How are you determining that your cab grounds are @ 12v (+)? (are you testing to some other ground, or to the battery, or ?) Keep in mind, if it's just a BAD ground, connecting a test light between the bad ground, and a good ground will light the light (and/or give you a reading on a voltage meter) With the key off, & the headlight switch/brake pedal switches in the off position are these grounds at negative polarity (-) like they should be? Since both the headlight switch & brake light switch energize the tailights, I would start there. The fuel pump & the tailights share a ground wire, I would make sure it's correctly grounded (common problem with MJ's). I would also look for a hacked up trailer light connection (first place I check with any funky wiring issues) It sounds to me like you have some bad grounds, and end up with stuff that share grounds in series with each outer, as the try to find good grounds.

I'm gonna move forward with this. :D Had Jake & mom sit in their respective seats, and all three of us were snug, but comfy, and there was still plenty of elbow room to shift (tho a shoulder harness is a must to keep him from leaning forward at the wrong time, and catching an elbow :( ) FWIW, I was also checking out the Ranger 60/40 split bench. Nice setup, but since the 60% section is on the drivers side, it would get pretty cramped with a booster seat in there.

I never built one, but here's my opinion:

With my (01 XJ) NV3550 I was able to connect a rod directly from the T-case shift arm to the floor mounted shifter, without the (tranny specific) in-between linkage. I never got beyond the hacked togeter screwed & tackwelded rod, but here it is: The shifter works backwards like this (full back position is now 2wd, full forward is 4wd low), and IIRC, I had to re-index the t-case shifter arm on the T-case, but it was pretty simple. I changed the shifter handle on my factory shifter, but it's not really necessary for the mod to work. IIRC, there is a writeup by someone else here on the same mod.

:cheers:

I like that little flip up console/seat, it would fit the cab better than the mini-race seat too, but I didn't think there'd be enough support to take the little guy wheeling in it (+ legally, he needs atleast a booster seat). Have you driven it with 3 people across? That's gonna be the decider for me, if I can't wheel with him in the middle, a full size seat is gonna go in the bed for 'someone' (I'm thinking 'she' won't like that tho :rant: )

Anyone try it? I just got one of these: (Edit, ewps, left out the link: http://www.actionimport.com/Catalog_EMP ... _Seats.htm ) 1/2 way down the page "Child Race-Trim Super Seat - Tweed Cloth with Black Vinyl Sides Seat is small, but fits my 5yo perfectly (he's skinny, so probably good for another year, or 2 atleast) No pics for now (camera isn't here :ack: ) but I mocked it up on a 4" stand above the hump, and it's reeeaaally tight, but I think it'll work. :banana: If the seating position works for the little guy, I'm gonna make a 9.5"wx4"hx21"L mounting box under the seat (could even make a drawer for storage, but that might be a little much). I have to move both (2001XJ) seats closer to the doors, but the seating position doesn't seem that cramped (getting him & a passenger in there might change my mind tho). So anyone else try this? Did you like it, hate it, or :???: Would be for trips to the store, trail runs, but not daily driving with 3 across.