socal1200r

I did a search on eBay, and saw some snowmobile vents that might work. I'm waiting to hear back from the sellers as to the dimensions of those vents. But the pics I've seen in this thread look very cool, and they're functional. As for the tabs, those are just metal stock bent at a 90-degree angle, with a hole drilled thru them?

I'm liking those vents more and more. Where's a good source for them, eBay, or? And what's a good price for a pair?

Like they say, pictures are worth a thousand words...those pics help a lot, thanks! The more I think about it, I'm inclined to keep the lights on the front bumper, or a light bar of some kind. Don't want to drill into the roof on my MJ to mount the rails and run the wires inside, so it looks like I'll keep any add'l lights I might get to the front. But great pics!

Great writeups on this DIY project. I'd be concerned with water getting into the engine compartment though, and had a thought. What about using some thin sponge foam, like what they use in Uni foam air filters, with metal straps that can be secured by the bolts on the underside? It would still let the engine compartment "breathe", but not let as much water in?

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? I just thought of something that would kill this idea here in VA. I think the vehicle code says that additional lights that are above the driving lights have to be covered, and can only be used for off-road purposes. If I had a light bar on the front, or mounted lights on the bumper, they only have to be covered to pass inspection. If I was planning on using the MJ off-road on a regular basis, that would be one thing, but since I plan on doing most of its driving on the street, maybe a light bar up top isn't such a good idea, at least in my case. But I'm liking what I'm reading in this thread, keep those ideas coming!

I noticed that too...that puts those arms one up on the others in my book...

Is it me, or do those 31's look too narrow on those 10" wide rims? It looks like the sidewalls are stretched wider than the tread face? On 10" rims, I would imagine 32's or bigger would've been the preferred tire choice? But I'm sure that would've caused even more rubbing issues with what lift he's got?

Does anyone know where I can get one of those aluminum tube bed extenders? I haven't been able to find one for the MJ, so I don't even know if one is made for it. I've only found one style, but it's in three pieces, very angular, and isn't the one-piece flip-over style that I'm looking for.

Look for WJ LCAs for '99-'04 model years. Here's a link to the same ones I got off eBay: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayI ... 0347055185 Just remember, they're not a simple swap, you'll have to do some grinding in order to get the wider bushings to fit, and the arms to swing freely in the brackets. The shop that installed mine did it in a little over an hour.

I posted a few pics of the wheel/tire combos I've done in the month I've had the MJ. They're in one of the threads about tire size or something like that. As far as I can tell, it hasn't been lifted. Stock shackles and leaf springs on the back, same thing up front. Going thru the PO's records, he put on new back shocks about a year ago, and when I got it, I put on new front shocks and steering stabilizer. Other than replacing the stock MJ LCAs with WJ LCAs, I haven't messed with the suspension. I'll probably leave it alone for now, and work on some other stuff (light bar with driving lights, maybe bucket seats and console, air bag helper kit, that kind of stuff)...

I'm running 31x10.50 Firestone Destination ATs on stock Jeep alloys (15x7), stock ride height, and have no fender rubbing problems. I did install a set of WJ lower control arms so they wouldn't rub there, and all's good. Since you have aftermarket wheels, which I'm sure have different backspacing than Jeep wheels, that's most likely the cause of your fender rubbing. If you need a little more lift, couldn't you add 1" pucks up front, and maybe 1" blocks on the back? That's probably not going to be enough to eliminate your fender rubbing though, but it might be worth a try. Or look on your local Craig's List and see if you could get a set of Jeep alloys? I think I paid $150 for my Jeep alloys off Craig's List, $85 for new WJ LCAs off eBay, and $100 labor to install them. That's less than $350 total, which is probably less than a new set of wheels, and no rubbing...

Yup, I'm missing the very front bolt for the exhaust manifold...it's a little loud, but doesn't seem to be leaking any exhaust fumes. I'm saying that for two reasons, one I'm not smelling any obvious exhaust fumes from under the hood, and two it passed VA inspection. I'd like to think that if it was leaking, or a serious repair, the inspector would've failed the truck...

Or you could just get the bench seat you already have reupholstered...lots more options that way...

Pete - that's what I'm talkin' bout, lol! Eagle - your point is well taken. Not sure how shackles would increase spring sag, but you're right, that was an easy way to jack up the rear end of cars and trucks back when I was in high school in the 70's, lol! Wish I still had my '69 Pontiac GTO with 400 cid small block, Muncie 4-speed, 6-pack intake off a '66 389, etc. But it had an odd rear suspenson, so I couldn't put shackles on it even if I wanted to, which was probably a good thing! The MJ actually rides fine the way it is, and since it'll spend MOST of it's time on-road, there's no real NEED for additional lift. The occasional drive on beach sand and fire roads shouldn't bottom it out, especially if my oldest daughter is driving. We'll see...

I followed your topic link, and pm'd Superwade and asked him if those are the same shackles he used. I took another look at the picture, and it looks like if the bushings were replaced with something that didn't stick so far out at the ends, those shackles just might fit...

Why? It looks perfect just the way it sits in that last photo. Thanks...I haven't made up my mind 100% about a small lift, just figured spacers and shackles were an inexpensive way to get a little bit of lift. 'Course my finances will determine if even that happens, lol...but thanks for the feedback...

Here are some pics for reference: When I first got my MJ, it had stock steel wheels with 235/75s, which looked okay: Then I found a set of Jeep alloys on Craig's List, with 225/75s, but they looked too skinny: Now I'm running Firestone Destination ATs, in 31x10.50: Definitely needed to install those WJ lower control arms, in order to clear the 31s: Now I just have to figure out what Chevy shackles will give me about 2" of lift on the back, and combine those with 2" spacers for the front, and call it a day...

Pete Who's Wade? I emailed the eBay seller of the greaseable Chevy shackles, and according to him, the ones he has for '88-'06 Chevys have 3 1/8" wide bushings at the top. I measured the Jeep's shackles, and the bushings are only 2 1/2" wide at the top, so those Chevy shackles won't work...

Okay, uploaded some install pics on this photobucket site. Let's see if this Atari guy figured it out...cool beans, looks like it worked...sorry for the large pic size... The new horn is pretty close in size to the stock one: Only mod needed was slightly bending the bracket to clear the bottom of the new horn:

I think we have a winner here...stock Jeep alloys and 30's would be the perfect setup for him...that gets my vote...

My 4-cyl has 4.10 gearing, so it can handle the bigger tires better, and the 31s look so much better than the 225/75s. I hope he's considering some long term things, like if he's going to lift it or not, get different rims, spend more time off-road, etc. Answers to questions like that could have an impact on what tires to get now. Hmmm, didn't know 235s and 30s were so close, and I'm sure 235s are less expensive and have a better selection to choose from than 30s...

ChinoTJ Make sure you read Mnkyboy's signature. He's able to run 33's because he has 5" of lift. What he said about 31's on non-stock wheels is correct to a point. You may not need WJ LCAs to prevent rubbing that way, but most aftermarket wheels have a different offset than Jeep wheels, so you won't rub on the LCAs, but most likely you could bottom out on the top of the fender. I'd rather play it safe and not hit the fenders. Again, this has been discussed in detail before, so I don't want to rehash it on your thread. I did this to help me decide about my new tires, and it couldn't hurt. Crawl under the front end, and measure how much travel you have before the bump stop bottoms out. On my MJ, it was about 65mm. Then, measure the distance between the top of your tire and the bottom of the fender. Mine was around 125mm. This told me I had 60mm of wheelwell gap still left after the bumpstop bottomed out at 65mm (125mm - 65mm). Convert that to inches, and it's a little over 2" of room left. Go to a tire calculator website like this one (http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalcul ... ion=submit), and play around with some different tire sizes, and compare the overall diameters and speedo errors. In my case, the stock tire was 225/75-15, and putting a 31x10.50 was roughly 2.75" bigger in OD. Cut than number in half, and I was looking at about another 1.37" of tire at the top. Since I had over 2" of room to go, I had space to clear the 31s, at least at the top of the fender. The 31s on stock Jeep 15x7 alloys also cleared the rest of the fenders, not by much, but they still cleared. A wider rim, or one with a different offset, might have caused some fender-rubbing issues with 31s, but 30s would've probably worked. Not sure what kind of wheels you're running now, but you should take that into account when deciding on your tires. I think a set of 30s would pretty much clear everything, regardless of what kind of wheels you're running, so that should be a pretty safe bet.

I've got a thing about stock horns, so on most of my vehicles, I usually end up replacing the wimpy sounding stock horns with something else. Normally, I replace the stock solo horn with a pair of 135db Fiamm Freeway Blasters. I did this to my Honda Shadow Sabre motorcycle, and to my Saturn Sky. So I was thinking of doing the same thing to my Comanche, but went with something else, a Bad Boy compact air horn from Wolo. They're around $40, and I've seen them at Pep Boys, Advance Auto, Auto Zone, and Harbor Freight. I mounted it in the same place as the stock horn, but had to use some bigger washers, because the Badboy mounting bolt is smaller than stock. I followed the wiring instructions, and put the stock horn wire on the "+" terminal, and ran a ground to the mounting bracket. I tested this setup by turning on the key and pressing the horn button on the steering wheel, and thought I was good to go. However, last night on my way to dinner, I noticed the dash lights weren't working, and the horn wasn't working either. So this morning I looked at the wiring diagram again, and decided to use the relay that was provided. I must've spent two hours monkeying around with that relay, wiring it up two different ways per the instructions, checking all kinds of things for continuity, starting with the basics and making sure the new horn still worked, etc. I ended up wiring it the first way I did it, the only difference was I ran both stock horn wires into a solderless connector, and ran a short length of single wire to the "+" terminal on the new horn. I had to do this because the stock horn wires wouldn't reach the bottom of the new horn anymore, thus the two wire into one wire connection. I hope this connection works, and doesn't do anything else weird to the electrical system, I have all I can handle as it is, lol! But the end result is worth it, because that little air horn setup is LOUD! I think it's just as loud as a pair of Fiamm Freeway Blasters, but a LOT easier to install. Doesn't look like I can "manage" attachments, and these pics aren't posted anywhere, so unless there's a way I can add the pics as attachments, I'm SOL...

I just went thru this same exact thing. I have an '88, 4wd, 5-speed, non-lifted, on Jeep alloys. If you don't replace the lower control arms, the biggest you should go is 30s. I replaced the LCAs with ones for a WJ (Grand Cherokee), and my new 31s clear just fine, including the fenders. Don't know if you're brand particular about tires, but go to your local WalMart and take a look at the Uniroyal Liberators and Goodyear Authoritys. They were $115 for the Uniroyals in 31x10.50, and $130 for the Goodyears. I ended up going with Firestone Destination ATs, because they were "buy three get one free", and I got a set for less than $500. Good luck!

When I was tire searching, I looked at WalMart, and they had a set of Uniroyal Liberators, and Goodyear Authoritys. Man, I was really liking the tread on the Goodyears, at $130 each, plus mounting, balancing, etc. I've read somewhere that the Authoritys are made just for WalMart, and their tread pattern looks a LOT like another tire GY makes. Anyway, if there's a WalMart near you, go check 'em out. Really nice looking tire!