socal1200r

Greg - just sent you a return email with the attachment...hope it opens up for you okay...

Looks clean to me, only record on it is a loan/lien...shoot me an email to: socal1200r@yahoo.com, and I'll try and reply with the file...

:agree: Get 2" spacers up front, extended greaseable shackles for the back, and you're done. Spacers and shackles can be found on ebay, for less than $100 (altho most likely not from the same seller). This is the lift I was thinking of putting on my MJ, but since I put an airbag helper kit on the back, I'm going to leave it at stock height for now.

31x10.50-15 Firestone Destination AT's on 15x7 Jeep alloys. I believe these Firestones are made in the USA. Got a great deal on them, buy 3 get one free. Second choice would've been Goodyear Wrangler Authority's from Wal-Mart...

1988 / 2.5 4-cyl / 5-speed / 4.10 gears / 31x10.50s / 16 mpg city & highway driving

Way to go...your persistence looks like it's paid off! Great work on your part, to make sure it doesn't leak before you press on with your interior. Nicely done!

I had a Ford Ranger with the 3.0 V6/auto trans, and a Mazda B-series truck (same as Ranger) with the 3.0 V6 and 5-speed. I don't think I ever got higher than 20-22 mpg on the highway with either truck. Usually got in the high teens for mpg, for a combo of city/highway driving. It would be the unusual truck/driver that can get high 20's to low 30's for mpg out of a V6 Ranger. My dad used to have a Ranger with a 4-cyl and auto trans, I'll have to ask him if he remembers what kind of mpg he got.

LOL...that's a good one...his odometer must be in DIRE need of calibration! I usually get half that mpg, for city/highway combo driving.

I've always thought the 5.0 / manual trans out of a Mustang would be an interesting engine/trans swap. There should be plenty of donors like that around, lots of parts available for the 5.0, and being roughly double the size of my 2.5 4-cyl, there should be enough of room in the engine bay? To me, one of the limiting factors has to be the manual transmission. If I wanted to go with an automatic, there would probably be more engine swap possibilities, but in wanting to stay with a manual trans, sort of narrows down the choices.

Sounds like a good candidate for locking the CAD...

Well, I've had no luck with finding a new oil pan for the 2.5L in my MJ, so it looks like I'll be making a trip to the dealer. I had the oil and filter changed the other day, and the technician who did the work wanted me to see the oil drain plug. It was one of those rubber/brass butterfly nut gizmos, and he said chances are the threads on the drain plug were stripped, that's why one of those things were used. I've got a good-size oil leak now under the oil pan, not sure exactly where it's coming from, but there's oil drops accumulating on the drain plug. It's pretty sludgy underneath there, and the technician said I should install a new oil pan. I asked him how hard it would be to change it, and he said the starter would have to be removed, but other than that, it looked pretty straight-forward. So the local Jeep dealer wants $131 for the oil pan, and hopefully that comes with a drain plug. I'll ask the dealer what a new oil pan gasket would cost, but may end up buying one at the local auto parts store instead. We'll see...

Just checked the TireRack link, those Yokohamas are out of stock. Just for yucks, I chose another brand of tire, just to get the shipping quote, and it would cost over $100 just for shipping. So IF they had a set of 4 of those Yokos in stock, it would cost roughly $625 to get a set of 4 delivered to me. Then I'd have to spend probably another $80-$100 to get them mounted/balanced, which would push the "on the rim" price to around $700. Still think a set of Goodyear Wrangler Authority's from WalMart is a great deal. Those tires in that size (31x10.50) are $130 each, and they'll mount, balance, new valve stems, road hazard, and tire disposal for about $18/tire. So that would be less than $600 for a set of 4 on the rim, with a road hazard warranty. If i didn't get such a good deal on these Firestone Destination AT's, I would've gotten a set of Goodyears from WM...

So you have a SOA lift in the back, but nothing up front? I would think that would put even more weight/balance on the front wheels? Also, even though miles-wise your MJ is low for the year, there's a good chance some of those stock rubber bushings need to be replaced, if anything, due to time, not miles. If you're going to put on a new track bar and front shocks anyway, that could go a long way towards fixing the shimmy. However, with the SOA lift in the back, and no lift up front, my guess would be you'll still have some work to do...

Thanks Paul - I might have to get a used one, if I can't get my hands on a new one at a decent price...

How many miles are on your MJ? I had an aribag helper kit installed on the rear of my MJ, and I got to talking to the mechanic, and he mentioned something about the infamous death wobble. He said people with 100K or higher miles on their Jeeps put on a lift kit, don't replace the bushings, and are surprised when it "shimmys" or "wobbles". I had a '95 XJ that shimmied so bad one time I had to slow down and pull over, it felt like the front end was shaking itself apart. When it did the same thing a few hours later on the return trip, I knew something wasn't right. Not sure what eventually fixed it, but I ended up getting the tires rebalanced, new Bilstein shocks front and back, new steering stabilizer, and had the front end checked out by a reputable off-road shop, who replaced the track bar and some of the bushings. Once all that was done, it never shimmied or wobbled again, and tracked straight and true, even over rough rain grooves, and metal grates on lift bridges.

Does anyone know where I can get a new oil pan for my 2.5L 4-cyl? It's Jeep part number 53020831, and the stealer wants $131 for a new one. I checked eBay, but no listings for a 4-cyl. Emailed some of the sellers on eBay, and they don't have one, or can't get one. If anyone has any possible sources, shoot me an email with the info, and I'll contact them. My email is: socal1200r@yahoo.com Thanks!

As long as the engine that the vehicle gauge cluster came out of matches yours, you should be good to go. The gauge cluster that I used came out of an '87 6-cyl XJ, and I have an '88 4-cyl, so I had to recalibrate the tach. As long as the donor engine and receiver engine are the same, shouldn't have to mess with the tach...

Hopefully your new full gauge cluster came from the same engine that you have, i.e. 4-cyl to 4-cyl or 6-cyl to 6-cyl? If not, you'll have to calibrate the tach like I had to (6-cyl donor cluster into my 4-cyl).

LOL...did anyone else notice the boost gauge in that Finnish TD MJ instrument cluster (lower right corner)? Just another example of how Europe has WAY cooler cars than what's here in the States...

I'd also highly recommend looking for a full gauge cluster (pre-91?), window handles, upgraded door panels, full center console (for the bucket seats), maybe some XJ stuff like front grill / turn signals / lower dash /, and a set of Grand Cherokee lower control arms. Have fun!

I'd have to agree the "buy it now" price is crazy...someone would have to REALLY want one of those to pay anything close to the "buy it now" price...

Nice Cherokee Chief...the winning bid was $4500, not bad! I like it, didn't know they were gas hogs though, but they seem like they're built like a tank!

I had one done years ago in a Ford Ranger I used to have, cost about $500 for over the rails. I got a gallon of a roll-on bedliner to do the bed in the Comanche, and it's no where near as good as a spray-in liner. 'Course the roll-on stuff cost like $50, with roller and brushes extra, which is a tenth of what a spray-in liner would run. But depending on how you plan on using your truck, the spray-in liner is a good investment. For example, I wouldn't be comfortable with someone tossing $25 worth of wood into the back of the MJ with the roll-on stuff, but wouldn't have any problems if it was a spray-in liner. You get what you pay for...

Any idea where they're made? I won't buy a Chinese-made tire, so that eliminated some AT tires from my search a while ago. Sounds like your mind is made up on an MT, just don't expect too much mileage out of them on the street. I think the Goodyear Wrangler Authority at WalMart is a great looking tire, certainly more MT-ish than AT-ish, and I think they're $130 a tire in 31x10.50. WalMart charges something like $18/tire for balancing, valve stems, road hazard, and tire disposal (mounting is free). I put a set of the Definity Dakota AT's in 30x9.50, on a '98 GMC Sonoma 2wd truck that my youngest daughter will be driving. They went on stock GMC alloy wheels, 3" body lift, new shocks, and they ride pretty nice, not loud at freeway speeds at all. They rub at full lock, but don't bottom out, so I'm okay with them so far.

Went to the local Pick and Pull out in Virginia Beach today. Quite a few XJs and WJs, and low and behold, they had one MJ. Weird, because the bed was gone, axles were still there. It was red with a tan interior, bench seat. Didn't see anything I'd need, but I still poked around that one. They had a two-door XJ with tilt-forward gray buckets, in fairly good shape from what I remember, and a LOT of the XJs had the full gauge clusters (but I think most of them were electronic speedos). I found some that had black window cranks, so I got two of those, with the spacers, for future use. I gotta remember to bring my digital camera with me whenever I go to a place like that, lol! Memory ain't what it used to be, so pics will definitely help next time... A couple of things of interest that had me going were a pair of upgraded door panels from an XJ, just like the maroon ones I have, but these were in gray (to match the gray buckets and full console). By "upgraded" I'm referring to the door panels that aren't all vinyl, but have a fabric section in the middle, with the storage bins at the bottom. However, the hockey-stick armrest on the passenger panel was missing on the gray panels. I was tempted to get them anyway, but when I pictured what the gray panels would look like in my maroon interior, I decided not to get them, because that would set me down the course of re-coloring the interior from maroon to gray, lol! So the window cranks ended up costing me $5 each, and they're in "as new" condition. I think the last full gauge cluster I got from them was about $25.