AMCJeepMJ

I like the idea, but would have to see a complete width unit installed before I pulled any trigger on it.

Hey welcome lex. Not a bad looking rig if it weren't for the rust... and you're back bumper is relatively straight!

I came to that conclusion looking at it a little deeper last night. Is MAPP gas even available anymore? I thought the only company that made it went under in 08.

I picked an ARB winch bumper today for $100. Its a little tweaked on the drivers side as you can see in the pic. The peak of the crease is approximately 3/4" above where it should be. Any suggestions on how to flatten it back out to approximately where it should be, so it fits under the header panel? The rest of the damage I can live with [it will match the rest of the body damage]. Image Not Found

To put intermittent wipers on my 87, I just did the following: 1- Purchased from local guy parting out his XJ a column/wheel that already had intermittent wipers on the stalk... and came with an ignition key. $40 2- Purchased from local salvage yard the delay module and another wiper relay. $2 3- Removed old steering column (a bit challenging if you haven't done one before, like me prior to this) 4- Installed new steering column (pretty straightforward once you see how to get the old one out- reverse of disassembly) 5- Installed the delay module and switched wiper relay (super easy) 6- Test to make sure everything worked, which it did 7- Put everything else peripheral back together to get to old steering column in first place 8- Put old steering column in trash 9- Put away tools and wash hands Time spent by rookie installing steering column: about 2 hours Total spent: $42 ... and I didn't have to go through the hassle of taking off the steering wheel and messing around inside the column. Sorry, no pics of this procedure from me.

First thing I thought of when reading the subject line: I started with a set of rocky-road 1.5" XJ shackles for a 1" lift, but moved on to a motion offroad 2" XJ lift shackle for 1.5" of lift on my MJ. Both are tough as nails and do the job of raising the rear without any issues... but do your homework before you lay any money down on suspension parts... especially if there could be confusion between applications.

BUMP for a great resource!

I torqued the u-bolts down to 80# and the spring/shackle bolts to 100#, put about 40 easy [careful] miles on it and retorqued to 83# and 105# the next day. I did try jumping on the bumper but the back hardly moves [really tight springs, and I'm over 230]. An inch and a half of the lift is from Motion Offroad lift shackles which should provide [at least in my mind] a degree or two of 'up' angle for where the driveshaft meets the axle, so the u-joints don't have to bend so tightly. I didn't have the opportunity to crawl under the truck yesterday to check the u-joints; schedule was too full.

Is one u-joint more susceptable to failure after a suspension geometry change than the other? I visually inspected the rear u-joint as I was installing the springs but did not notice anything unusual about it.

I've searched for this but haven't found a solid answer (maybe just missed it, for that matter), but as the subject line of the thread asks: How much lift can I do to the rear before having to worry about driveshaft length? The MJ in question is my DD 87 2wd with D35 and 4 speed that currently has 3.25" of rear lift due to heavy springs to carry increased loads [sod, wood, etc.]. The reason I ask is since I have put the springs on this weekend, I have noticed a vibration that starts at about 55 mph and increases with intensity as speed increases [has recently balanced tires that were smooth as glass prior to spring switch] There is a humming sound being transmitted through the body of the truck that also increases with intensity as speed increases above where it is noticible at 55. The vibration is enough to blur the rear view mirror. All bolts were torqued down to spec during the leaf pack switch. As new poly bushings were installed during the leaf pack switch, a lot more noise is coming from the rear of the vehicle [or perhaps new bushings makes them noticible instead of the sound being absorbed in old squishy bushings]. Steering and vehicle control is not affected by the vibration... its like sitting in a Sharper Image vibrating chair to give you an idea of what the vibration is similar to. Thoughts or comments?

Welcome! Make sure you take a few minutes and add your MJ to the 1989 registry: http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewforum.php?f=33

Retorqued the new u-bolts which were installed this weekend. Measured the ride height today, and have: 1" lift in the front 3.5" lift in the rear

Installed the above pictured springs [very stiff], resulting in it riding high in the back. Looks low in the front even though it has a 1" lift over stock. Think it may be time for rear brake lines- not much slack left after the lift.

Or have a parent that was in the military. I have Farmers [which are great to me] and am paying $103/mo for full coverage/collision/comprehensive on the Escape and above state minimum liability on the MJ.

Began the disassembly of the rear suspension of the 87 to put in 4-leaf leaf packs. Repainted gloss black, with fresh Energy Suspension bushings and 1.5" lift shackles from Motion Offroad:

Is that guy standing on a wire or is he floating in midair?

Worked on my buddy's 69 350/350 in daytona yellow with side pipes. That car SUCKED to work on and some parts were impossible to get [dash vent air director, other miscellaneous small parts]. Most modern V6 sedans will smoke the one in the pic above in every way. If it were me, I wouldn't walk away from that heap... I'd run. But its your misery, not mine.

The poison ivy soap worked for me. So did a shot. Any good sporting goods or outdoors store should carry plenty of the soap. The oil from poison ivy is different than other kinds of oils and its the irritation from the oil which makes it itchy. Regular soaps and detergents will not get rid of it. Ivy soap, ivy soap, and more ivy soap.

4.0, auto, 2wd? Sounds like a good commuter and haul-things-around-on-weekends-or-help-people-move truck to me.

MTs do give quite a hum from my experience. I would stick with ATs unless you do a lot of wheeling in soft ground. On the flip side, the MTs have way cooler tread patterns and look a lot tougher than ATs.

I have not been pulled over [here] for too many lights or too much lighting. An example of a past setup I have run [which worried me about alternator output]: -4x KC Daylighters on a gutter mounted light bar [now collecting dust in attic] -2x KC-style wide-angle slimlights on front bumper [now on our Ford Escape via a light wing] -2x old-school KC amber foglights under front bumper [now on top of front bumper] -2x tractor lights under rear bumper [rectangular and inexpensive] -2x Hella H4 headlights Not all were run at the same time, but the KCs put out a LOT lot of light. Having that much lighting was kind of overkill, since I only used them when I went out camping or driving on the old logging roads in the mountains when lighting wasn't exactly at its finest... its not like I was running the Baja 1000 and needed all that light.

What a currently available amber fog light may look like: Pic courtesy of Quadratec.

Hey now, I have vehicles-O-plenty, work full time, have 2 teenage daughters, visit here, and still somehow am able to get some quality online time in with MarioKart Wii fairly regularly [when the Wii isn't being hogged by others playing Galaxy2 or one of the Zelda games]. It CAN be done! :)

Alright, FINALLY the issue has been resolved. The problem was I wasn't using a big enough hammer. A few good whacks with a two and a half pound sledge and the leafs dropped like flies. Remember to use hearing protection while hitting metal on metal, kiddies.

Interesting indeed. I thought this was going to be relatively simple. The leaf packs are aftermarket with 5 leafs that I am trying to remove... and eventually put them on my other MJ that currenly has only 3 per pack, so I don't want to tear them up or damage/destroy.