thecodemonk

Front reinforcement is nice as some support for the track bar mount does help it resist working it's way loose...the one pictured on Rusty's looks a bit flimsy, however and I'm not sure I'd count on it. I used Full Traction's kit on the front of my XJ and it was solid once I got the brace on (it always tried to work it's way loose without the cross brace). It worked well. I have the TnT track bar kit on my MJ currently and am happy with it. Iron Rock OffRoad's kit looks good too and I'm happy with their 3-link kit, so I would assume their track bar setup would be similarly good quality.

The long and short of it is that anything is possible with enough time, money, and ingenuity. That said, like most everyone else here has indicated, it'll be cheaper in the end (both time and money) to use the proper part for this, especially since this is one of the few parts on the rear of a MJ that is still readily available from the aftermarket. A number of people have tried to go down the road you're proposing and nearly all of them gave up or ran into a roadblock that made it not worth the effort in the end. This is one of those "one time" costs that is worth it.

Cruiser's tips document where this is pretty well. It's a good idea to refresh all the grounds if you haven't already (clean them such that there's bare metal where the ground is contacting the body/frame/wherever the ground is). There is a ground down near the driver's kick panel, but it's higher than I had initially assumed when I went looking for it. It's there though. http://cruiser54.com/?p=110 - This one is the one specific to the one you're asking about. :)

Worked on getting a momentary switch and a timer relay wired into the fan to see if that resolves the starter heat soak issue I've been having.

Pictures might help. Short arms tend to start hitting the brackets on the front axle beyond 3-4" of lift unless they're bent short arms. Also, perhaps a measurement from the bottom to the top of the coil bucket might help? I can't remember what the stock measurement for this is but I'll bet it's in the search for measuring lift height. :) Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Woohoo! Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Glad to hear you're making steps to get life back on track. We will miss the MJ, but we care about you more than that man. Hope it sells well and to someone who will love it as much as you did, and hopefully, someone who will continue with it here in the community. In the meantime, if there's anything the rest of us can do to help you man, don't hesitate to reach out. Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Hah, I think we all owe cruiser54 enough to last him a lifetime of beers for how much his tips have helped all of us. Glad you held onto it! Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Sweet! That's a very similar parts list to what I did on the axles (I stuck with stock shafts until I start breaking them). Artec truss fits well together...got compliments from the shop that welded it up on how easily it went together on the axle. The artec high steer weld on kit works great for me. Just means there's a minimum about of backspacing required to clear the arms. Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Nice! When I did the cluster swap, I just left the indicator off. It's pretty easy to tell where I'm at by feel

I'm curious about those switches on the door. Is that custom? or is that some aftermarket kit?

I don't know of any MJ specific fiberglass hard covers. I think the only place I know of making a non soft cover is a roll top in Comanche Dawn's build thread. I think the company was Truck Covers USA

I mean...there's a list of things to check. Is the Trans fluid full but not overfull? Is the Trans fluid fresh? (does it look/smell burnt?) All fuses look good? After that, I'd check the wiring to make sure it's all in tact for it. This is a good resource for what wires to go which shift solenoids. http://www.radesignsproducts.com/tech.html

I think the roof line is different between MJs and XJs, isn't it? So won't that mean you'll have to adapt the roof of one to the other?

It would. You have to choose which way to go. Specialty hubs or redrilled hubs gets you to 8x6.5", but it means you need custom drilled rotors. If you go the other way and go to the metric pattern, the 14 bolt should be narrower than the front (as mine were), so rear spacer adapters is a pretty decent solution and all of your wear items stay OEM. (You could also stick with the sterling 10.5 to match patterns too. The aftermarket support has gotten a lot better for them lately.) Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Cool! What do you think you'll do about the bolt pattern? The Ford axle is the metric pattern (8x170mm) and the chevy is 8x6.5". Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Man, this is going to be epic! I think it belongs in the epic builds section for how extensive the work is going to be. Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

The cheese wax trick is super clever! I need to remember that when I swap my doors over. Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

F250 rear would not be a 14 bolt. The 14 bolt is a Chevy axle and a different bolt pattern. If it's stock, it's probably a sterling 10.5 (still a very strong axle). :) You'll definitely need a fair amount of lift for 35s (I'm at 7.5" for the same axles and 35s with no trimming so far, with the same end goal of 40s). Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Welcome! A trip through cruisers tips should solve most of that and probably some other gremlins you haven't even found yet. :) Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Linked rear! I was wondering how you'd get them both mounted up. That a two piece rear driveshaft planned for the rear most axle? Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

I feel like I saw a bunch of them on the NAXJA forums several years ago. The XJ and MJ are all the same for a snorkel setup. Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

Whoo! This is gonna be a real big project. I can't wait to hear and read every juicy detail as you go! Sent from my Pixel 4 using Tapatalk

I don't either, but I was just theorizing. That's weird to have that kind of sticking from there. Did you try re-burping the coolant and maybe replacing the radiator cap? I've had a bad radiator cap give me issues before. (though, in the end, the last time I had to fix the 4.0 cooling system was when the radiator blew up and I just replaced every component and hose in the cooling system and the whole thing ran great from then on).

Nice! Which year and model VW did the correct set come from? and what's the part number? That'll help future people locate them. It's probably easier to get even new replacements for those than even the Euramtec lights these days.