thecodemonk

As a note, a build thread is also an easy way to get some of those posts...post up some info on what you've already done mechanically and some details on your plans. :) Also, welcome!!

Woohoo! Looking forward to this! Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Nice! The damping material and headliner really make a huge difference to the feel of the truck while driving it. (It took driving in a hailstorm without a headliner for me to prioritize it on my truck....couldn't even hear myself think >.<).

Looking great!!! Everything looks so clean!

I've heard good and bad things about it radius arms. I have a friend who runs them (not RC, but a different brand) and has had no problems wheeling most of the same stuff I did on a 4-link (and continues to wheel much harder stuff than I was willing to risk my XJ on). That said, I tend to avoid RC branded stuff just because I think there's a lot of better-made things out there. :)

Mine had neither...just a dangling light underneath the bumper (I suspect it once had option B though)

Gorgeous!!!

You'd think this would be the case, but it's usually not. CJ5's (and most wranglers) are narrow and tall in the engine bay...MJ/XJs are short and wide, which makes some things more complicated, sadly (at least if you want to keep the stock hood lines).

It actually did! Being so low on stock tire size (and the weight is all low in the bed) meant it cornered fine. I drove more careful just because I knew I should...but it never felt like it struggled to corner. Braking took a little longer but not a huge difference compared to empty. I never hit highway speeds though...all in town driving. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

The trucks handle weight really well. Hauled about 2000lbs of landscaping brick in the bed and it climbed the hill to my neighborhood like it was empty. Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Welcome! Once you start building, please keep us to to date with a build thread! We love drawing inspiration from each other :) Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Went and saw the truck again today...exhaust is on and that tamed down the sound a lot at idle. I didn't get much in the way of pics of the exhaust yet...pipes are definitely bigger than stock though. Still need to add the O2 sensors to finish it up for running. Gauges are in and working! Just need to calibrate fuel and verify all sensors are reading the full range. Dash computer is tucked away nice and clean too! Also, some of the wiring is cleaned up and it looks like there's more room than I initially thought there was... One last engine bay pic, just because... They have the drivelines but not installed yet to give the guy working on the trans wiring room (doing the extra work to get the RA design switches all hooked up). They said it could be ready for me to drive as early as next week! (Which is an engineer estimate, so probably closer to the end of the week after, realistically) Sent from my Pixel 2 using Tapatalk

Going to a normal pitman arm alone might solve almost all of your bumpsteer , based on that picture. I've seen boomerang shackles get stuck against the frame inverted...granted, it was usually on CJs with super short leafs, but still. It's possible.

Your brand new springs may settle...drive it around a bit and see if that helps. If not, you can take one of the middle springs out to see if that helps lower it (or make a bastard pack using a combo of springs from the old spring pack and just the main leaf from the new one) The way to get rid of bump steer is to make sure the track bar and the steering arm are at the same angle. Bump steer is the reaction of the two swinging on different arcs and fighting against each other...since your track bar is solidly mounted, your steering moves to accommodate the arc of the track bar. You might be able to just get a non-drop pitman arm to correct the angle, but it would be hard to tell you for sure without a picture. If you can, maybe upload a picture of the front steering setup? (ideally, with being able to see the track bar in the same photo)

Welcome to the MJ club! These trucks really are uncommon gems and are a blast! 1: Cruisers's tips for checking grounds and wiring...check floorpans for rust (something I *still* haven't done on mine...doh!). I don't know if there's anything special about that year to check, but it sounds like maybe nothing huge. Check the stickies in the forum...they're full of truly useful information. 2: Like was said above...floorpans are the biggest thing. 89 MJ's post covers the rest it looks like. 3: If you get a picture of the rear pumpkin, it'll be easy to identify the axle. The dana 35 will last fine on stock tires, as the AMC engineers planned it for...but you mentioned thinking about 33's, which will strain that d35 under any significant load. You *might* make it last longer if you tend to have a light foot, but that's a tough assumption to make. 4: I suspect that the 33's will rub, even at 3 inches of lift. Specifically, in the front unless you do some trimming to the front air dam (even then, be careful going over bumps). My 33's fit on a SOA (which is 5-6" of lift) but still required trimming that front fender (and it will still occasionally rub a little on the wheel wells when turning and hitting a good size bump at the same time). If it's not far, you can probably make it home by driving like a granny and expecting not to have your full turning radius (depending on backspacing and what arms are on there) 5: SOA is cheap on the rear (though I think it technically increases the possibility of leaf spring wrap), but not cheap on the front. Getting 5+ inches of lift on the front is beyond the droop capability of most short arms without drop brackets. The alternative to drop brackets is long arms. That much lift usually means a new track bar as well...and while you're in there, probably get some upgraded steering arms...and on and on. I tried the short arm route but there are a lot of drop brackets that don't fit well, and that ended up being a waste and I just ended up with a long arm setup and now I have a bunch of RuffStuff short arm stuff sitting in my garage, having never been used. 6: Like Pete M said...Peugot will work fine until it decides not to anymore. If it works, drive it while searching for the AX15 (best option for stock manual trans). It's not going to be a sports car, so the clutch won't be ultra sensitive. With the 4.0L having plenty of torque, it should be perfectly fine for learning on. You'll stall it a few times at a light...don't worry about it, we all have. Just start it up and get going again. As for offroad, being in low range is what makes a manual easy to do offroad. Learning to offroad with a manual though, without overrevving all the time, will make you a better manual driver as a whole. You'll really learn exactly where your clutch grabs. Otherwise, I'm of the opinion that an automatic is the easiest transmission to use offroad.