JACKED88

I'd like to see pics of this setup, with lights attached. Should be plenty of XJ roof racks at the bone yards. I'd be concerned that the cross bow wouldn't be strong enough to support two or more driving lights, and the lights would "bounce" around? We used one of tha bows on my sons ZJ for 6 lights. We added a pc of 1"x 2" aluminum angle all tha way across for additional support. With tha bow being ... bowed but wanting tha lights to be level we put spacers under the angle in the center and at both ends raising it up off tha bow just enough to mount the lights to it. Worked out pretty well and no, they don't bounce.Although we "I" could have done a cleaner looking instalation, you know how kids are always in a hurry so this is what he/we came up with. Still not bad for a rush job. Wish I could say my light bar is coming along nicely but I'd be lying if I did. To be honest I havent had tha time to do much with it. I did however pick up another light for it. Two down ..... three to go. As for using a shortened version of an XJ, ZJ or whatever roof rack for lights on a MJ ...... It would work just fine assuming you don't mind drilling holes in your roof to mount it.

Well, the axle tha j/y sold my son was for a 44 instead of a 35 as needed. Called and went to countless other j/y's but nobody would break up a complete rear end and sell us just one axle so he ended up having to buy a new one. Got it installed and took tha jeep for a test ride. NOT GOOD!!! I could hear a rotational noise coming from the front right wheel. Thats tha same wheel and or side of tha jeep that hit tha tree and had tha broken lower control arm. There's definately a metal on metal clunking sound comming from that wheel. Told my son to stop and try to put it in 4 wheel drive. As soon as he did we heard a terrible grinding noise. Pretty sure he has a broken front axle and or cv joint. Gonna take it apart tomorow to see how bad tha damage is. First time he test drove it by his self, he came back telling me it starts shaking once he gits up to about 35. I ask him what tha hell did he expect it to drive like after being slammed into a curb and then tree at 40-50 mph??? More later with the results on pulling tha front axle.

Why's that? Does he work for RC or sell their products?

LOL!!! Thats actually pretty funny. I do tha same thing on a lot of tha stuff I buy. Like most I can only afford to buy something once. Back when I was shopping for a big screen tv I did all kinds of research. So much so that when I walked into one store knowing everything I did about some of their tv's, they though I was a some kind of undercover corprate bigwig coming in to test their sales staffs knowledge on tha products they sell. Frickin cracked me up. BTW .... That was over 10 years ago and I'm still watching that tv today. :thumbsup: :agree: You can't buy tha wealth of information these guys share with us every day. It's thanks to their generosity that we're able to make educated decisions armed with years of combined knowledge and experence. Most times a simple thank you just doesnt seem like enough to express my/our appreciation. But I'll keep trying. :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: THANKS GUYS!!! :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown:

Yeah, I thought so. My guess is several others are tha same as well. No problem. I'll be sure to ask for Jason. And thanks for tha warning about Rusty's products. L8R!!! Robert

:agree: In addition to that I think this would be a good time to thank everybody for your help and for sharing your knowledge and experience. I'm sure I'm not the only one who truely appreciates it. Again ..... THANKS GUYS!!! :bowdown: Now ........ back to work. I made some phone calls today to Rough Country, Rusty's and Iron Rock Offroad. While doing so I've now gone from thinking I needed 4.5" springs to knowing I need 6.5's. After talking to all three, I'm reasonably sure all of their coil springs are made by tha same manufacturer. Iron Rock told me they were positive Rusty's gits theirs from tha same place and that they were pretty sure R/C does too. Of the 3 differnt spring I was asking about, all of um have the same 180 lb rate. Coincidence??? :dunno: With all of um likely being tha same spring, Rough Country actually has tha best price of $129 bucks. Unless tha guy at Iron Rock is wrong and R/C springs are made by a different manufacturer and as such are total pcs of cra-p, I think I'm gonna order sum. With that said you should already know what I'm about to ask. :roll: By not being positive that Rough Country springs are tha same as the other two mentioned and for tha last time to ask about somebodies springs ..... are R/C springs any good??? Forget ride. I think we've established that. Question is do they hold up? :ack: I don't know about yall but I'm all sprung out. If I can't deside on a set of frickin springs with all this info, then there's definately something wrong with me other than being an MJ owner. :wall: :rotf: Lucky for yall that I've already desided who's adj arms and track bar I want. :thumbsup: Otherwise that could go on for several pages too. :eek: BTW, after these springs comes my adj track bar so I can git tha axle centered. No, I don't intend to install tha springs till I have tha bar. Thanks again everybody. Robert

So how do they ride??? (on tha street) Will a 150 lb spring rate be too soft for a 5-6 inch lift? In other words is my truck gonna be too top heavy and suffer in handling and or have excessive body roll? I'm talkin to a point of being dangerous at highway speeds. Ya know, if you keep in mind that I'll be going from these stiff a-ss F250 4x4 front springs tha pre-owner installed to some springs designed for our trucks just about ANY of um aughta ride better than how it does now. Just picture dropping a bowling ball on tha ground and expecting it to bounce. :shake: Not happenin!!! Thats about what this truck feels like when you drop off a curb or something. I also think tha shocks are too stiff. Speaking of, can anybody suggest some shocks that are close to tha stock rate but long enough for a 6 inch lift? Thought I read something a while back about Toyota T-100 rears for tha .... rear, but don't remember anything suggested for tha front.

I know your not supposed to judge a product by their pix since it may not be a pic of the actual item. now even with that in mind I've noticed differences in some of these spring. That difference being the number of coils the spring has. Some have 9-10 where others have up to 12. IRON ROCK 4.5" SPRINGS (12 COILS) OME 4.5" SPRINGS (9 COILS) My question is which is best? More or less? Seems to me tha less coils you have the more travel they'll have before they bottom out. For my application I don't need the amount of travel you rock crawler need so additional coils likely won't effect me. Although friends may not let friends buy from Rusty's, out of all tha springs listed they do have the softest spring rate inwhich is close to stock and therefore presumeably tha softest ride. (using close to a stock shock rate) I need to start somewhere and git something ordered for my truck. Plain and simple which springs are tha best bang for your "low budget" buck??? (for a daily driver doing very moderate offroading)

I need to know if thier any good. How about their ride? Hard? Soft? Other? Since this is a daily driver I'd actually prefer kinda soft. (hopefully that'll take some of tha bucking out of this thing) Rusty's is runnin a holiday sale on their 4.5" front coils springs for $100 bucks. If their worth a damn I intend to order some asap. http://rustysoffroad.com/mm5/merchant.m ... Code=COILS How bout tha coils Iron Rock sells? Do they make their own or sell somebody elses? Need tha same info as above. Their description says their 20% stiffer than stock but that doesnt tell me anything about thier ride considering I have no idea what a 4x4 MJ is supposed to ride like since tha pre-owner put these stiff a-ss F250 spings under this truck. Iron Rock is also runnin a holiday deal with free shipping on orders over $100 bucks. Thier 4.5" coils are $129.99 http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merchant ... e=IR-X4FSP In the end either set of springs ends up costing about tha same shipped to my door. While we're at it, how bout Rough Country or Superlift coils? Others? A best to worst list including quality and how they ride would be great!!! Oh, this might help ...... my MJ has tha 4.0 and I don't intend to put a heavy bumper or winch on it. I don't crawl over rocks or do any hard core offroading.

Naaa, drivin across town isnt a big deal. Its tha frickin traffic that makes tha trip a pain in tha a-ss. :headpop: Supposed to go pick one up tomorrow. Knowing my son he'll want it put in tomorrow night but I don't see that happenin since I'll be tha one stuck doin it. :shake:

Yeah, I was reminded of that a little while ago. My other son has a 96 ZJ and his wheels won't fit on tha 99 WJ. Apparently Jeep changed um so it stands to reason none of the others will work either. We found an axle clear across town but were hoping there would be a larger selection of years and models to choose from so we could try tha more local j/y's. Oh well, we'll just have to drive furtherrrrrrrrr. Thanks!!! Robert

My son slid into a curb and bent tha right rear axle in his 99 Grand Cherokee. Now of course he's looking for a replacement. Question, is his D35 a WJ only axle or will say a Wrangler or reg Cherokee axle work? (Not looking to replace tha whole rear end. Just the right side axle.)

The Rubicon has lockers front and rear. Even locked-in the MTR proved worthless in the local clay and loam mud. Well crap. So much for that idea. I've been tryin to defend the MTR's mostly due to what I can git um for. ($550 bucks) But if their not gonna perform and git me through tha mud when I need um to I'm gonna be cussin myself (tha whole time I'm diggin out my truck) for not listening to yall. As before, if my guy can git um, Coopers it is.

Went to Discount Tire today to have a trailer tire repaired. While I was there I found out tha manager drives a F250 4x4 crew cab so I cornered him and ask about several different offroad tires. (GY/MTR, BFG/MT, COOPER STT to name a few. He claimed he's run all kinds of different tires and that he thinks tha Cooper STT is the best all round tire. Nice ride, good wear, not too loud, plus a few other praises. Yes, he had them on his truck and they look pretty good too. Said he changes tires on his truck every year with about 25,000-27,000 miles on um regaurdless of wear. (must be nice) Claimed with that mileage tha STT's have a little less than half tha tread left. He added that on a small light truck you should git over 50,000 miles out of um. This is his second set of a STT's and the set before were MTR's. Now everything he said sounded real good for tha STT but he went on to say that he had never had or heard any complaints about tha MTR's and that they gave him about tha same mileage as the STT but he still thinks tha STT's have a little better ride. He didnt have anything good to say about tha BFG's. Claims their hard to balance and keep balanced due to they tend to chop pretty bad. :wall: :wall: :wall: If my tire guy can git me close to tha same deal on a set of Coopers, then Coopers it is. If not, for better or worst I'm gonna have to try tha MTR's. BTW ..... a new set of MTR's from Discount Tire including road hazzard = over $1300 bucks. :shake: Pretty sure tha Coopers are about tha same. :no: NOT HAPPENIN!!!

Question, do any of you guys who say one tire or another isnt any good in mud have lockers? OR, do you think only having two wheel drive at any given time may be part of tha problem? My nephew has a 2000 F250 4x4 extended cab with some pretty beefy A/T's on it but he still gets stuck in tha least amount of slick surface mud. Tha problem isnt so much once he's moving, its when he needs to back up and them of couse go forward again. First one rear tire spins, then one front. When he changes dirrection, same thing but a different tire might spin. Seems to me if he had lockers giving him traction on all 4 wheels he wouldnt have this problem. I guess what I'm saying is that I don't blame his getting stuck on his tires. I blame tha lack of power getting to all 4 wheels at tha same time.

I'm assuming that reply was for me. If you remember, back in my (My D35 is Growling at me.) thread I ended up buying that 8.25 axle from Matt. (comanche09) Havent started setting it up yet but hope to after tha first of tha year. By then I hope to have some 4.11 gears and a locker to install before I put it in. Yes, I'll also be putting 4.11's and a locker in tha front as well. As before, when I put this thing into 4 wheel drive ......... I want 4 wheel drive. Not none of this tire or that tire spinnin b/s. Question, is there a life expectancy on lockers in a daily driver?

Wow!!! Back tha truck up. Whats this about turning sucks when you have a locker. I thought they were supposed to slip when your turning. Is that to say you can't run a front locker on pavement? What about tha rear with a locker. I thought I had read something about being able to hear a locker clicking and or unlocking as you turn corners on tha street. Would somebody please explain all this to tha nooby before he starts buyin lockers for his daily driver.

All of these retail for about tha same price. We'll see what he can git um for. 285/75/16 Goodyear MTR ....... this one I already know. $550.00 (all 4) BFGoodrich Mud-Terrain T/A-KM ........ also known. $425 (all 4) D/Cepek Mud Country ........ D/Cepek Crusher ........ (more tire than I probobly need but definately look cool) D/Cepek Mountaincat ......... (work great on my sons XJ) Mickey Thompson Baja Claw ........ (also more tire than I probobly need)

OK, ole boy can git me just about any new tires I want plus he gits real nice used ones too. Tha MTR's are still $550 installed. He had a set of near new BFG MT's and said he sells um for between $400-$500 pending wear. Tha ones I saw looked great and said I could have um for $425 installed. Told me to make a list of whatever new tires I'm interested in and give him a call for pricing.

I'm just lookin for tha biggest bang for tha buck. Compaired to the overpriced BFG's inwhich are definately all terrain tires, the MTR aughta kick a BFG's a-ss. I'm not totally sold on tha MT/R's and will still go see what else he has to offer. He had some other tires there but can't remember what they were. I do remember they cost more. I'll be back in a few hours. Robert Oh yeah, I was mistaken. My son has these. (D/Cepek Mountaincat)

Again not what I wanted to hear but better to know now than when I'm sunk in a rut. So how come Goodyear claims it to be their best MT tire if its no better than an A/T? To be honest, I don't know how much of a mudder, bogger, swamper I really need. I'm not goin hard core bogging. Just down some muddy roads/trails. My son has a set of Diick Cepek Mud Country's on his 96 XJ and they seem to do fine where we go and his D/C's don't look any more aggressive than tha Goodyears. I'll go see what other tires this ole boy has to offer but I gotta admit that tha price he's offered me on tha Goodyears might make my decision for me. $1000 dollars worth of tires for only $550 bucks is hard to pass up. Did I mention he has lay-a-way!!! :thumbsup:

Crap. Thats not what I wanted to hear. So whats tha problem with um in mud? Not enough bite, won't self clean or what???

Everybody talks about how fast thier MT's wear on the street. However most of these people are driving full sized trucks. It stands to reason that our lighter MJ's wouldnt wear MT's quite as fast. With that said I've found a super deal on new Goodyear Wrangler MTR's. (non Kevlar) Need to know tha good, tha bad and tha ugly about um. I've read pages of reviews but would like to hear from somebody that has or had um on our somewhat lighter Jeeps. Thanks in advance. :bowdown: Robert

There's a guy in my neighborhood who has a real nice red t-bucket roadster. Every year he puts his reindeer cutouts in his yard and them parks his roadster behind um as if their pullin it. It looks really cool. Assuming he does it this year I'll try to go take a pic of it. Nice job on tha lights. I used to do all that when tha kids were young but as the years went past so did my desire to hastle with um. Now days I just put a red bulb in tha front porch light and call it done. :cheers:

Dude, I'm not even into collage football. I could care less who's playin or who wins. I didnt even know TEXAS was in tha playoffs till I read this thread. Now that I know I have to admit it is pretty awsome. :thumbsup: GO TEXAS!!! With that said and having read how you guys hate TEXAS, surely you didnt expect me to just sit here without sterrin tha pot a little. Weather I'm into football or not, what kind of a true American would I be if I didnt defend tha state I've called home for over 52 years?