Tommy

If they build it right, I'd drive one. Build a lwb version info a small but capable pickup, solid axles, 4 links at both ends. It'll be like an AEV Brute but factory. They just have to build it for the off road crowd and let the mallcrawlers buy it because it's cool, rather than build it for mallcrawlers and hope offroaders will buy it. That means no torsion bar ifs nonsense, preferably a real frame, give it the new Colorado diesel option AND a v8 option. And make the body/roof modular so you can go topless, wagon, pickup, slant back, err cetera.

I decided not to reinvent the, uh, wheel and went with soft 8s in 16x8. I just got my 285/75r16 tires in. For me 16s worked out cheaper than 15s. I think 16 is the new 15 now that 17 is the new 16 and 18 the new 17. If you know what I mean.

Sure doesn't look like a downgrade from the pictures. Sounds like he put a strong axle in and decided to go with leaf springs instead of coils. Potential downside would be ride quality. If I'm honest, my mj rides like crap anyways. It's a truck, it should ride like one. If the work was well done and you have all the information on Tue parts used for future maintenance, and you're comfortable with the price, I say it looks like a mean truck.

My grandpa drove the same stripper model f150 for 30 years without cup holders. Always set his coffee cup on the tunnel so he could shift, never saw him spill a drop. A few years ago he modernized to a late model ranger. He was pretty proud of the cup holders and fm radio the ranger came with.

I had a big rubber mat from a pizza hut in an old full size Chevy. Didn't like it. I like the weather stripping idea.

I don't really do the rock crawling thing, I'm more into the fast desert running thing. Honestly, 2wd would serve me most of the time, but I'm going to be moving to Idaho soon to start a new job (and get the shop going) and there get pretty good snow there and I like the idea of awd. It'll be kind of a jeepspeed thing but not built to compete, just built for me.

I've searched the forum and I've searched the Google and I've found everything from "the d30 can handle 35s with some upgrades" to "the d30 with break if you look at it funny, only option is a d60 from an old Ford 1 ton." I'll be moving into a house soon with a40x50 shop and I'll be starting my project in earnest. Loose plan is an lq9 or similar, 4l60e(maybe 4l80e) with a np149 awd tcase and probably a 4 linked 8.8. The lq9 will stay basically stock. At most it'll have a mild cam and headers. I'll be running 33s, which are already ordered. Would a later 90s hpd30 be usable with some beefing up? Thanks

The 3.4 swap is very popular in the Fiero world because it's a bolt in swap with inherent upgrades. Better oiling and reliability, better power, very cheap and easy to find. I'm not sure why there's so much resistance to it. I'm not sure why you'd ever pass it up for another 2.8. I have a 4.0 in mine and I like it but I don't see how it's worth the extra effort over a 3.4. It's a neat engine but it's not the holy grail. Maybe my history with the ls v8 spoiled me.

Very nice. Let's see a video

Back pressure isn't really a thing you want. It's all about velocity.

How is it mounted? Just to the 3 factory bolts per side? Or did you run the mounting brackets farther down the uniframe? Looking good, I like the bumper, it's a neat design, I personally think a big stinger would mess up the flow. I think an LED light bar beneath the grille would look mean since your bumper looks like it was made for it.

Yeah, I hear you there.

http://comancheclub.com/topic/8275-mrsimons-first-mj-project-tube-bed-page-7/page-7

Just keep an eye out. They were offering 11% off in November when I ordered the front and 10 or 15 off in September when I ordered the year.

You can adjust the options to get it cheaper. If you don't need or want shackle mounts or a receiver mount you can get it down to $175. And if you're military you can get it down another 10%

I must've gotten lucky

Both of mine came hard core wrapped up. Maybe he learned

I'm at about 4" with stock arms and no sye or t case drop. No weird vibes. No issues. The ride is a bit rough, I've got control arm drop brackets that should take care of that when I get around to installing them. Adjustable lower control arms would be a nice upgrade but at 3 inches I don't think they're absolutely required. You might want to look into a track bar upgrade though. The longer rear drive shaft of the mj makes it more tolerant of geometry changes than the xj with regard to the tcase drop you mentioned. At 3 inches I wouldn't make any changes there. I'm also running 31s but will be bumping up to 33s this spring.

Good call on timing. My rear took about 3 weeks to ship. I ordered a front from him last month and got it in 4 days. I'm guessing the xj bits are quicker.

I bought a bumper from nates 4x4 for mine. Came to 207 shipped to my door and has a built in receive mount and d ring mounts. I think if you delete the shackle mounts it's cheaper. I used it to tow my 20 foot searay cuddy cabin and it held up beautifully. It's nice and simple, no fancy compound angles or anything, but it works and looks nice. I did have to drill and tap for license mounts but found out after that you can ask them to put mounting tabs on it. I don't have a garage or welding equipment so building one wasn't an option.

I can't tell you whether you should go bi or not, that's up to you, but I would just buy the 2 inch hub centric spacers and be done with it. They'll serve your needs

http://m.ebay.com/itm/271668490299?nav=SEARCH

http://m.ebay.com/itm/111548126240?nav=SEARCH

I never did get that. "You don't like sending our men to die invading countries we have no ties to? You don't like sending our money and weapons to support terrorists? You must hate America!"