jpnjim

I think you left the 'C' out (for clock). ;) YJ/TJ's actually clock their T-cases down a little vs XJ/MJ's. You can redrill the patturn for an XJ's clocking, you'll also need to get an XJ's t-case shifter, or try to modify the BA's to fit. I don't know if a (shorter) XJ AX-15 (transmission) shifter lever will work with a YJ/TJ AX-15 tranny. The did not interchange (XJ to YJ) on BA 10-5's, tho on those you could take the shifter handle apart, and swap just the shorter XJ shifter arm onto the YJ's lower pivot. (creating a higher effort shifter)

No handle, the 'JEEP' portion of the taillgate is singlewall, and the double wall sections aren't big enough to fit one (it might be possible to get one in the top channel, but it would be a really tight fit). I'm gonna put some kind of a latch on the inside, maybe something that takes a pin, so I can slap a padlock on it if I want.

:yes: (that's why it stuck in my head). I capped off my tailgate tonite (a mangled MJ tailgate had to die tho) Crappy nightime pic in primer, but it's the best I've got:

Had a little more time today, Chopped the extra height off: Then dug out this gem to cut up: In tough shape: and mangled: On both sides: It donated the top strip of sheetmetal (FWIW, much thinner than the FSJ's sheetmetal): Burned it in: Burned some more, flap wheeled it, primed it... but then it was too late for a decent pic: (water was to clean grinding dust off tonneau cover)

This was my inspiration, Gonna do something similar with the top (chop it, and add tubing, or top section of MJ tailgate to finish it off)

Had a little time before it got dark tonight, so I started on cutting down a FSJ tailgate I got from cmelo here on the board :cheers: : It's a little banged up, but I didn't want to ruin a perfect one, so it's perfect for this build. I set up the workbench: Measured how much to chop off: Cut: Save the cut-off (gonna need it later): Other side: :thumbsup: :banana: Popped in for a pic: Need to trim for the hardware to fit: Cut skin off cut-off: Cleaned off insert: Popped in place: Did the other side, then game called for darkness (& mosquitoes) :( No flash night pic shows the dings in the singlewall tailgate panel. I'm probably in over my head with that part, but in the end, it's a trail truck, so a few dings will just add to the flavor.

Thanks for the Tailgate Carmelo. :cheers: (I almost didn't tell you what it was for, incase you didn't want me chopping it up ;) ) It's not done yet, but here's a sneak peak so far (have to go to my build thread for the details :waving: viewtopic.php?f=7&t=14951&start=45 )

My 88' MJ's pedal is pretty high, 2001 XJ MC/booster & rod (also used the XJ prop valve & ditched the MJ adjustable). I drilled a new hole in the MJ brake pedal arm for the 01' arm to bolt to (and did some other work to use a Ford style brake light switch). Firm, but high pedal, not really the best setup ever. :hmm: Did you do the same thing, or ?

Those were used in Grand Cherokee control arms, I think the WJ. I don't think they were ever used in XJs or MJs. Willy The bushings in our (96') ZJ have the windows, same exact bushings (& arms for that matter) as XJ/MJ's, but with windows cut out of them. I don't know when they started using them, 1996 was a (ZJ) change year, so it could've been then. :hmm:

I had planned to do something similar when I built the cheepo-bed cage on my old MJ. (cut down YJ & CJ bars, with tubing stick welded in between) : You're setup makes me wish I followed through with it. :cheers: FWIW, I miss the cage, was great for home-depo trips, would just lean up all the 10'+ lengths of wood on the ft portion of the cage, and the side bars would keep them from falling out (= no tying things down). If I kept it, I was gonna make a chunk of the rear bar removable (a bolt-on section 48-50" wide in the middle), to fit taller stuff (like a refrigerator, etc). Nice work on yours, looks great with the lines of the Jeep (the CJ/YJ bars would've made mine narrower overall than yours is)

I cut a longbed MJ in half, closed out the end of the frame, added a hitch, and made a longbed-trailer. I never finished it (didn't triangulated the tow point = left it as a big long 2x2 coming out of the center of the frame), and used it as a junk shed more than anything else (had a cap on the back). After a few years, it hit the scrap pile. :eek: (yes, that tailight was broken, and the tailgate was mashed) Don't everyone start hating me all at once :( It HAD to go, and no one around her wanted it at the time. :dunno:

I know there's a type of factory hushing that has windows cut out of the rubber (for a less harsh ride, I guess). Whichever ones those are, get the other kind. :smart:

Thanks! (tho POR-15 could make cardboard & ductape look good :thumbsup: )

Bought 'her' a 96' ZJ (Laredo/L6/Select Trac) in 1999, w/33k miles. Was her daily driver up till a month, or so ago (tranny is just about completely gone now, @ 96k miles). L6 power was way down from any 4.0L XJ/MJ I ever had (I'm guessing because of the ZJ's extra weight). Tranny slipped on the 2>>3 shift, when cold since ~38k miles. Had the dealer do the 36K mile service (fluid change & tighten bands), but the slip came back around 40k. Was fine in the summer, and in the winter once warmed up, but steadily got worse, and now it's slipping in every gear. Other than the tranny, it hasn't needed much service over the last 10 years: broke about 10 of those ball jointed sway bar disconnects :fs1: Finally drilled out the bar, and went to the solid, w/ bushing style used in XJ/MJ's. Also one of the crappy Chrysler composite rotors snapped in half on her, at about 5 mph in a parking lot. :fs1: :fs1: They were a recall item by then, so Chrysler replaced that set for free. Only other complaint is the dreaded Diesel piston rocking. This Jeep does it worse than any other 4.0L I've had. I can't leave anything alone, so I bumped it up a couple inches 8, or 9 years ago. 3" (stiff) Rancho coils in the front gave it 2.25-2.5" (FWIW, coils rode alot nicer in the ZJ vs the XJ I had them on before), and I trimmed the stock ft coils down, and swapped them into the rear for ~2.5" (untrimmed the ft coils gave it ~4", and I didn't want that much lift). I kept the stock shocks, and didn't need a SYE. Looks pretty good with 30" TJ tires & wheels, but even 32's have fit (on the road) with a little trimming. Now I'm to the point where I'll either strip it (discs, T-case, wheels/tires, maybe the 'better' 96+ block, maybe pow seats), or hop on the government trough and get me some of that handout money towards something new. (Off Topic: I'll be sure to thank my 5 year old, since his generation is gonna have to pay all this debt off :headpop: ) Other than this gag picture (it's behind the photochopped MJ), I don't really have any pics of it online. Image Not Found

I'm just under 6'1", and I had my old Comanche set up like this for a year, or so. Prolly looked like I was 7' tall driving it tho :nuts: and you didn't need the sun visors anymore, ever. It was fun watching anyone over 5'5" smash their head getting in :rotf: but I eventually went back to the bench. I'm running 01' XJ seats in this MJ, I keep forgetting to measure the seat height-to-ceiling, or door frame vs my 98' XJ (same seats), but the MJ doesn't feel that much higher.

Worked out alot better for you than it did for this guy. :eek: Go play the lottery. :cheers:

An angle grinder + wire wheel cups worked on the loose spots, and a flap wheel on the grinder for the tougher spots. The topside was easy, the underside was a PITA. (get good eye protection) One of those small wire wheel cups would barely get inside the first few inches of the open 'frame' rails, so I used a wire brush to get in a little further. Probably didn't really help much, but I didn't want to just ignore the rust there. If I was gonna guess how long it took, I'd say it took a Fri afternoon & Saturday grinding, and a Sunday painting the POR. I also had to do a slight amount of welding too (indent above stock exhaust in X-member needed a patch), but nothing major.

I got an offset/offset muffler (chambered Flowmaster style), flipped it on it's side, and ran a straight pipe to the back. Then popped put a turndown on the end to cut some of the noise. It might look like it hangs low, but it's just about tight to the X-member, and the bumpstops (once they go back on) hang lower than the 2.5" pipe.

I wheeled the D35 in my old XJ for about 5 years (starting in 1995, on 32's). ooold pics (notice, NO TJ's :D ): Ran 32" AT's, 31" TSL's, and finally old style 31" Goodyear MT's (great tires BTW) on moderate trails around New England. I never broke an axle shaft (wasn't locked tho), but killed a R&P (3 teeth were just missing one day :hmm: ), and another time blew apart a set of spiders. (1985 3.73 XJ rear, with stronger 87' shafts swapped in) FWIW, both failures happened on the street. :nuts: Neither break left me stranded, but If you're gonna regear anyway, swap the rear at the same time (= don't spend money on the 35).

The pipe can go tight against the crossmember if needed, but it looks like there's enough room, even with leaving a 1/2", or so clearance to keep the heat off the 'frame'. The bumpstops were removed to paint the 'frame' in this pic, but when they (stock Up-Country MJ bumps) go back on, they actually hang lower than the pipe does: Plus the bumps contact the spring packs (in SOA), instead of the axle tube, so you have to add the height of the spring in there too ( = you end up with a decent amount of room). At first I thought about getting some of that circle-track type Oval exhaust tubing for clearance, But with the space there, it would've been mostly for looks. FWIW, eventually the MJ will be higher again, the pic is SOA, with MJ main leafs + (flat) XJ leafs underneath. I want to keep the height down to get the first inspection sticker since being off the road.

I went through a similar thought process with my build. FWIW, you didn't have to describe your XJ :nuts: I think EVERYONE has seen that build already. :cheers: When I was reading the thread on here & Pirate, I was thinking this thing needs an Atlas. :thumbsup: If you are going to go 205 (will it fit?), a 203/205 doubler might be a better choice (& stronger). Plus there's more choices of where to get one. The 203 weighs more, but if you're going 205 anyway, what's a few more lbs? After obsessing about this stuff for way too long, my general opinion: Dana 300/Stak RAC: D300 for low bucks (esp if 2.6:1 is enough). STaK D300 Replace-a-case if an Atlas/Stack mini would be a tight fit. Other than that, it's not worth it for the couple hundred bucks you might save (even though that RAC case IS beautiful :banana: ). Atlas/STaK mini I like the STaK 3spd gearing best, but (again, IMO) the 4spd Atlas is a better fit for an XJ, to get the ft driveshaft length up a little. I bought a regular Atlas on 'Christmas special' last year ($2k for any ratio + HD ft output + oil kit), and feel I'm going to have to limit axle droop on the drivers side, to keep from maxing out the ft driveshaft angle. It's not installed yet, but I had a flipped D300 in there (= same length ft shaft), and was easily maxing out the double cardan at full droop. I'm still considering putting in a box-4-rocks too, but that's way more gearing than I need (Atlas is 5:1 w/NV3550 & 4.56's). So, after all that, I guess my opinion is do a 4spd Atlas, or a 203/205 doubler if you have room (Dodge 203 will bolt to the AX15).

Thanks for all the positive comments. :D :cheers: Hopefully they'll help get me off my a$$ & finish the poor thing. :thumbsup: As far as the seats, I swapped in the late model floor brace (runs side to side from inner rocker to tranny tunnel), and bolted the seats to that, using the stock late model brackets (might have had to tweak the rear mounts slightly, but nothing major). In the past, I had ran 1985 XJ buckets in an MJ, and felt like I was sitting 4" higher in the MJ than the XJ. These late model seats don't give me that same feeling. I never measured from the seat to roof (I have a 98' XJ to compare it to), but since it was brought up, I'm curious to see what it comes out to.

I never did an MJ flatbed, but here's my old J-truck from the early 90's: Frame was rusted behind the shackles, and the bed was junk. So I chopped a foot off the frame, and built a bed out of wood (not so stylish today, I know): When the box + spare was taking up the whole thing, I flipped the box on it's side, and sunk the spare in the bed: Was a nice truck, but 4 wheel drum brakes & 8 mpg got old after a while. Parted it out some time in 1996 (360/T-18/5lug sfD60 & 4.10's)

IMO, narrowing it won't be that tough, the lower tube, that forms the hinge runs the full width of the gate, so, no matter how far you narrow it, the pivot point for the gate shouldn't need to be modified (tube even looks like a close enough diameter for the MJ). The toughest part will be shortening it (in height), and retaining some kind of latch system. Could always go with an external latch (copied, or borrowed from an older Jeep), since there's not much room left for the center latch once you shorten the gate. I still have hope, and there's also the option of lowering the entire tailgate (dropping the bumper), but then the gate wouldn't be flush with the bed floor when it was open (poor solution to the problem). I'm not completely in a position to start fabbing stuff right now, so of course I made this project even more complicated by buying a winch & trying to add that to my bumper at the same time. :D This is my current bumper, (mounted on the old MJ). If it'll fit, winch (MM8k) will go to the left of the receiver tube. Probably gonna cut a piece of channel to add to the bottom of the bumper (4" channel), since the winch needs a taller space to mount. Also want to add 'wings' to the bumper ends so the new bed corners don't end up like the old bed corners.

Dunno if this helps, but (since those pics were an XJ), here's what a Comanche looks like without all that pesky sheetmetal in the way: Pretty flat surface to box out. Though you'd have to drop below the door, like the factory rocker (unless you were trimming the edge off the doors): You'd probably make the new box-rockers long enough to just eliminate this lower sheetmetal portion of the cab corner. Would make it tons easier to burn the box on without completely removing the cab corner (my cab corner was dents & swiss cheese, so it had to go anyway).