8valvehero

The rear end is a little high, so maybe that's why. I'll get out tothe JY soon and check the vin, then we'll know

I guess a vin check is in order. But while we wait for that, riddle me this: What separates a MT from the towing package w heavy duty rear axle? Is there a way to ID the extra springs as OEM?

It came out of a 88 4WD LWB with the stock towing mirrors-- so I figured the presence of a D44, extra springs and larger drums made it a legit MT. Am I wrong? I'll take some pics and grab the VIN next time I'm at the JY. edit-- ps I want to buy the doors. Haters gonna hate.

UPDATE! Great news! I found a parts '88 with the tow package!!! I'm slowly buying everything. First up, install the D44 and rear leaf springs. BEFORE: AFTER: (brakes not hooked up, need to install air-adjust shocks) She's sitting more level now (aside from mismatched tires), but the front is sagged out, so I'm just gonna go ahead and swap in the entire front axle/springs from the 4WD metric ton to wait for a suitable power plant. Also, I really want to swap on donor doors with towing mirrors. This is going to be my camper rig after all! Thanks for reading! More to come!

HAPPY ENDING! Thanks to everyone for the help!

GREAT NEWS! donor axle is a D44 3.07: :thumbsup:

Capitolization is wrong and I can't seen to save the changes? Damn iPhone

Hey gang, thanks for reading. Like the title says, I found a '88 LWB 4WD at the local yard. I want to do a 4wd conversion on my 2wd in the future, so it makes sense to buy up as much of this as I can while it's there. What (besides the obvious axles and shafts) would you recommend I get? Engine/tranny/tcase ALREADY GONE. But everything else intact and rust free. Thanks for the input!

More! So I found a great JY parts donor-- clean '88 pioneer LWB. Sadly I cannot buy it, but I can buy the parts off it very cheap. This week I harvested the clutch/brake pedal pivot and bushings to refresh my wallowed out existing assembly. The PO told me the clutch needed to be bled because it was low and not operating too well. Turns out it was just wiggling around on the pivot because the bushings were long gone. Clutch engages properly again. Thinking of wallowed out, these were u-joint bearings once: \ The rear vibration had been getting worse, so I decided to scope out the rear end. Turns out both u-joints were totally shot and most of the nuts holding the axle and leaves together had rattled loose. How I managed to drive 250 miles home without shooting the shaft out of the truck is something of a miracle. I was having a bit of a quandary about which fluid to put in my BA-10/5, but after a ton of research I figured OEM is best and went with factory-recommended 75w-90 GL5. Ignore the warning labels on the bottle telling you not to put it in synchronized manual transmissions. From what I can figure, that warning applies to transmissions with brass synchros and the BA-10/5 uses aluminum. UPDATE 9/1/2015- I have switched to using Castrol high-mileage synthetic blend 10w-40 in the ba10 and it shifts smoother, but has a slightly louder whine to it. To get the plug out I made a tool using of 5/16" key stock available at the local hardware store for $3.99 a foot: Now it's shifting smooth and quiet. Next week I'm going to attempt to grab the rear end out of my JY donor and get this thing sitting level again. That's all for now. Thanks for reading!

Bump. This needs to be in the "most important tip" sticky thread

thanks and yeah no wheeling for this ol' girl. she's done her time and it's easy living from now on.

This is getting too messy. JY has a '88 Pioneer 2WD rear end complete with springs for $160, they-pull-it. sounds like a deal. any caveats to note?

2 weeks before a cross-country drive and this happened: Too bad! Looks like I need to find a motor! 24hrs later and Craigslist provides a '98 TJ engine with some mods (incl. 2-piece ex. manifold) on the stand and ready to go. $800 takes it. Gotta swap the oil pan, oil intake and oil filter adapter, PS, AC & ALT brackets, WP pulley, tensioner, engine mounts, flexplate and some other stuff. Also as many new seals and gaskets as I could justify: The new power plant was a huge improvement, and having the entire drivetrain out gave me the chance to easily do a ton of other work that needed to get done. Like Bob Ross said: "There are no mistakes, only happy accidents". Now it's my wife's DD.

Rightly so. I should have specified that i'm talking about taking it apart and flipping the housing and slipping everything back together. Seems hair-brained now, but it just looks hideous with so much rake. edit- I was also imagining having to swap the drums around so they stayed upright. ahhhhh--- the power of imagination. dammit.

Yeah, I suppose a previous-previous owner. There looks to be evidence of some tire scrubbing in areas front and rear that would be impossible with the current setup.

Wait- I just realized something. Don't XJ and MJ spring perches have different spacing? If so- how does the XJ axle fit in my MJ with no modifications? The perches on there now appear to be factory and theres no evidence of a previous position. Leaves arent bound and they sit square on the perches.

Thanks. The perches are shorter why? Axle wrap? Edit- duh. Less room because it's on the inside of an arc. And I'm guessing i can reuse the shock brackets that are u-bolted on already. I'll order up the Ruffstuff perches and let you know how it comes out. Cheers!

Hey gang. I'm having a bit of a boggle and I need some advice. I've tried searching but it seems that I can't find exactly the kernel of knowledge that I need. Here it is: I recently purchased a beat-up 2WD MJ from some amateur off-road guys that had a roughly done XJ SOA swap. They never got around to lifting the front. I want to lower it back down to stock height. I was just going to pick up a MJ rear end from the local JY until I got to thinking about how great it was to idle down the highway at 1500 RPM with the XJ ratio. So I want to keep the current axle in there if I can. Also, I'm broke and I want to be able to drive this thing around and let the missus use our current '99 XJ exclusively. The question is what would the best way be to do it? This may sound dumb, but can I just take the axle out and flip it over, then slide it back in over-axle? (probably not: pinion angle) Here's what we're looking at: I'm ok with grinding and welding on new perches but I'm hoping that I can just flip this mofo over and slide in on top of the springs, then mount the shock brackets on the underside. XJ shock brackets gets ground off. Yes or no?? Also, Where's the good spot to buy spring perches if I need em? Rusty's? Thanks for reading and please help me out!! UPDATE EDIT: I ENDED UP SOURCING A D44 AND METRIC TON SPRINGS AND SWAPPING THAT IN. Also here's a link to my build thread: http://comancheclub.com/topic/42813-project-sipsey-88-pioneer-long-bed/

UPDATE: While I wait to assemble some parts money, there's plenty of busy work to be done. The entire column is totally buggered and needs to be replaced so I figured the best way to start would be to remove the column and assess the rats nest of wires that was under the dash. The PO, rather than diagnosing and repairing small problems would simply splice in a switch for things like beams, ac, blower and signals. I spent the evening pulling it all out and identifying/sorting/labeling/testing as much as I could: Everything is intact (once re-spliced) and carries voltage when applied, so it should be all good once I clean it up and reconnect all the missing accessories. Also the cluster is fully functional again, but I've still got to determine if I can trust those gauges readings. I should have taken a pic of the column laid in there wired up to test-start. It looked like a scene out of "Brazil" While I was taking out the column, I saw that the steering linkage was frozen and doesnt telescope anymore. I need to figure out what to do about that. Had to make some space on the dry erase board for Sipsey: "Sipsey" was chosen as a name because it is a classic southern name that makes a great sister to "Mavis" (rhymes with davis), our XJ. Thanks for reading and stay tuned!!

HOWDY ALL! So I've been lurking around here for a while researching MJ's and making the decision to buy my first one. I've got an XJ already, but really wanted a long-bed to use for camping on forest roads and as a ski chalet in the winter. Ultimately, I'd like to do a full 4wd (maybe auto) HO swap with 97+ facelift (lmk your opinions on that one), 3" lift and all the comforts of home inside a nice topper. I'm going to try to make this a fun to read thread with lots of updates. I'm making my posts in blue so it's easy to follow. Thanks for reading! Being married, our budget is small; so I had to be frugal and wait until an exactly right MJ came around. Requirements were: It had to be 4.0L, long-bed with bench seat. I determined that they are all difficult swaps to manage if you don't already have a MJ with it from the factory. Thanks Craigslist: 1988 Pioneer longbox, 4.0L, 2WD, 5speed, with bench seat. $700 and a 255 mile mad dash to be the first one to it. There's no shortage of things wrong with it, but it drove home at 60+mph ignoring ominous u-joint vibration while managing a stunning 255 MILES ON LESS THAN 15 GALLONS. Thinking of U-joint noise. I'm sure it has something to do with this mess of a XJ SOA swap with serious pinion angle issues: Floors aren't too bad though-- should clean right up: The bed and panels have some big dents but the cab and rockers are clean and the panel gaps look straight, so I'm willing to overlook them and wait for replacement: The driver door was almost ripped off in some sort of reverse over-opening snafu. I'm super familiar with this damage because both myself and my brother have done it. Go figure. I really enjoy the PO's charming bathroom door sliding bolt lock: My first thought was that I can easily re-position the door and get it to close. Then I saw this: "Dude, where's my striker?" Further investigation reveals someone was learning to weld while attempting to repair the oh-so-common MJ/XJ hinge issue. More to come! Loaner topper to keep parts dry: JAN 2015 STATUS: Replaced/New parts (excluding basic maintenance stuff)- D44 with Tracloc 3" Lift Open cooing system Fuse box and 100% of the interior wiring. Steering column Dashboard and all interior panels swapped to black Vinyl floor w jute padding and POR-15 Headliner Full gauges Refurbished damper box Foam firewall pad Front brush guard Brake prop. valve Brake front calipers, rear cylinders and some lines Pedal assembly U-joints Wheel bearings Wheels & tires Bed (w topper) Exhaust Doors (w broken hinge repair on d. side and missing striker pin replacement) Windshield Rear Glass Wiper motor & mechanism 91+ Lighting harness Probably a million little things that I forgot!