LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW

Only 1 week away! :cheers:

About 2 hours NW of me. I'm around the Fort Wayne area....

Bring it on over. I've installed about 6 sets among my own Jeeps and fellow GLXJ member's Jeeps...

No problem Dave. I was just going threw my resources and figured it was worth a shot...

The wife's XJ over the last few months has developed a bad case of "sloppy wipers". You never know how they are going to work; sometimes the wipers go completely off the windsheild, sometimes they only go about 6" back and forth. It has gotten worse over the past 3 months and I had been meaning to fix it. Yesterday on her way home from work they went from being "sloppy" to being "sloppy and loud". They had now begun to make a popping noise, as if they were binding and now did not really function at all. So she made her plea to me to do something about them (she's 7 months pregnant) and I decided I had better do something about it. I decided to tear into them today to see what the problem was and how to go about fixing them. It's something I see quite often on other XJ/MJ's that have their wipers not sitting flush. So I figured I'd document what it takes to fix the problem. This also can be used for replacing your wiper motor if it is faulty. The tools you'll need are the following: Straight Screwdriver Phillips Screwdriver 10mm Socket with extension T30 Torx Screwdriver Here is a photo of what they typically look like. We usually push them down after we get out. It's quite annoying. The first step is to remove the wiper arms. On the wiper arm itself there is a little tab (see green arrow) that you pry out with the straight screwdriver. Once the tab is out you can lift up on the wiper arms and they should come off. They may be a bit difficult to get off, so take your time and be careful if you try to pry on them. Once you get the wiper arms off you need to remove the plastic cowl. Their are 8 phillips screws that need to be removed. The drivers side has 3, the passengers side has 5. Once all 8 of these screws are removed you can gently lift off the cowl. Be careful with it as it is plastic and is very fragile. You will also need to undo the 2 hoses that go to your washer nozels. They simply just pull off. Here is a photo of what it looks like once you have the plastic cowl removed. Looking down into the exposed hole once you have the cowl removed shows the wiper motor and the linkage. The next step is to remove the 4 (2 on each side) T30 torx screws that hole the linkage to the metal of the cowl. Next you need to remove the 10mm bolt that holes the motor bracket on. You'll also want to undo the wiring harness that goes to the motor. Once you have done all the above steps the linkage assembly should be loose and you can gently work it out. I would recommend wearing a pair of gloves doing this step as the metal is sharp and you can easily cut your hands trying to get it out. Take your time and I swear it does come out; it just takes a bit of work maneuvering it correctly. Once I had it out I realized the reason for the "popping" that had been occurring. The bracket that holds the motor to the linkage had broken off and the arm was bent (GREAT!). So I thought about trying to fix it but it looked to be in to bad of shape. So I called a fellow GLXJ member (woodywagon) that had a parts XJ and made the trip over to his house to take the linkage off of it. Thanks again Rex! Here is a photo of the new (non-broke) linkage compared to the broken linkage. You can clearly see that the spot welds failed and the bracket is no longer attached. The wife's XJ is a 1993 and the new linkage I got was off a Renix era XJ. One thing I immediately noticed was the arm where the bracket for the motor attaches is more "beefy" on the Renix era linkage assembly than it was on the 1993 assembly. It also had 2 additional larger spot welds on it for the bracket. I now needed to swap the motor over to the new linkage assembly. For those of you who are replacing a bad motor this step also is for you. You need to remove 4 bolts; 3 that hold the motor to the bracket and than 1 that holds the linkage to the motor. All are 10mm. The "sloppy wiper" syndrome is due to bad bushings in the linkage assembly. If you go to your local auto-parts store and in the "shelf help" section you can find new linkage bushings. I got them at AutoZone for $4.99. The package says that they work with 1994-2001 Cherokee's; however I'm going to assume that they work for all model's. The package comes with several bushings, your only after 3 of them. You'll notice when you get them what 3 they are comparing them to the originals. Their are 3 bushings that you need to replace. I've attached 2 photo's to show what ones. They are basically just a ball and cup bushing. Take the old one's out (if they are worn they should somewhat easily pull out) and put the new ones in. The new one's may be a bit hard to get in, so use caution trying to get (force) them in as they are plastic. Than reassembly everything and than reinstall the linkage/motor and install back in your Jeep. Once you have it wired up and the linkage all tightened down I recommend running the motor and making sure everything cycles correctly. This all makes sure that your linkage is in the correct spot in the off position so you can reassembly your wiper arms correctly. Once everything is good put the cowl back together and reinstall your wiper arms in the position you want them. Your now finished and you should have a new revived wiper system. The process is fairly easy, just somewhat time consuming. Should be able to do the job start to finish in about 2 hours. And here is a photo of the new fixed wipers. They are now correctly parking at the bottom in the off position. It's also a good time to change your wiper blades as we did!

Well he's cutting the back half off, what do you expect? I don't think the OP ever said they were doing the same..... ;)

IMO If you run 33" tires or more and wheel moderately hard they are a good investment. Unless you don't plan on keeping your MJ for a year or two. The front frame is the weakest area. The steering box area should be braced on both sides with 3/16" steel. I would plate the other frame rail across from the box the same way. A beefy bumper or front crossmember should tie the two sides together. Next would be a brace from the passenger frame rail to the trackbar mount. After that plating the outside of the frame from the steering box braces to the LCA mounts or to the back of the cab with 1/8" steel plate. Then plate the under side of the frame back to the LCA mounts or to the rear spring mounts, 1/8" to 3/16" will work. Doing the inside of the frame in the engine compartment with 12 gauge steel would be next. Weld in rocker replacements that tie onto the frame will tighten it up and save the body. A real crossmember and a belly skid will finish it up for the most part. I plan on going nuts plating my MJ's frame and will be tieing it all together with a full roll cage from the front bumper to the rear bumper. I will also be tieing into the suspension mounts and rear shocks. It will make a great base for my front mid-arm 3 link. You may think I'm crazy for doing all this but I will be confident it wil last and be ready for any other mods I add later. 90% of which can be done with bolt-on things. C-Rok & TNT Customs makes a nice steering support brace for the frame rail. RE makes a tracbar brace that attaches to their HD tracbar/mount. Many vendors make a nice steering box brace. I can't say I've EVER seen or heard of someone ripping off a LCA mount; especially on the MJ since they are beefier than the XJ. Only issue I see is with the LCA mounts on the axle itself but we're not talking about axle's here; were talking about the body. Don't get me wrong I'm sure running "frame" stiffners is beneficial, but stating that your rig with 33's won't last more than 2 years is crazy talk. Heck I have 35's on my XJ and have wheeled the pi$$ out of it with no ill effects yet and do not have the stiffners (however have everything above that I stated). Yeah I'll probally run them sometime but thats on an XJ, not a MJ....

Please keep your eye's open as JeepKing's (aka Dave) had this trailer stolen in Ypsilanti, MI. Please contact the Ypsilanti police dept. if you see it. Image Not Found Image Not Found Image Not Found

Overall length was 179.3" for shortbeds, 194.0" for longbeds Overall curb height was 63.7" for 2wds, 64.7" for 4wds Track width was 57" with the 15x6 rims, 58" with the 15x8s Body width at the rear flares was 71.7" Length of inside of box at the floor was 73.7" sb and 88.5" lb Width of box at the floor is 55.3" for both sb and lb Width between wheel wells is 43.8" Box depth is 16.4"

Lead-not-Follow, Do you still have the pictures? No I don't... I was stupid and didn't save them myself and just hot-linked them from another website...

Yeah, I've read the same things. Seen plenty of writeups changing the heater core w/o A/C, but not with. My FSM says pull the dash - ARGH. Luckily I haven't had to do it. :D But it must be tough dealing with it in your neck of the woods........ :oops: Yeah it sucks, I don't drive the XJ a ton, but when I do I bundle up.... I'd of changed it a long time ago if I didn't have so much electronics's attached to my dash/under dash that I'd have to pull as well. TOTAL PITA!

http://www.greatlakesxj.com/tech/heatercore.html Total PITA! FSM says something like 8 hours. Some have said they got away with not removing the dash, others swear you have to. I've not had heat the last 3 years in my XJ and I've done the hose trick about 50 times with no luck. I've just decided to deal with it instead of doing it...

I know... been busy. I'll get to it in the morning when it's light out.

Going to take a look at it on Saturday. :D We'll see how negotiable he is....

Jay Leno owns one and said it's the most scary thing he's ever driven.

I have experience with the DD Machine Box4Rocks kit. It's not in an MJ, but in an XJ. I do not have any experience with the Madrooster Off Road kit. The Box4Rocks kit is defiantly a nice setup. We used it with a Dana 300 / NP231 doubler combo. Worked perfectly. The Box4Rocks kit I believe runs right at $399, where the Madrooster kit is more expensive at around $100 more. As to why one is better than the other I have no clue as I've not researched them in depth. As far as getting them, here is the info I can provide for you. D.D. Machine (ask for Duffy) (360) 779-2500 dd98370@hotmail.com (I believe he has Yahoo Msg. as well under the name of djld98370) Madrooster Off Road (ask for Phil) (559) 232-5566 madroosterfab@yahoo.com or desertcj2002@yahoo.com (I believe he has AOL Msg. as well under the name of ieffed)

I just trimmed the wife's XJ the exact same way to fit 33's. I'll snap a close up tonight when she gets home from work as I kept the inner plastic on her's unlike on my MJ.

Like such?

At those prices your not getting the new x-factor gen 3 kits, I'd almost guarantee your getting the older gen 2 kits...

The front 2 holes are for a 2wd and the rear 2 holes are for 4wd. Move the crossmember back to the rear 2 holes and it will line up.

Do it yourself. It's about a 1/3 the cost of having it done and only takes an afternoon to do it.

Right at the top... http://www.greatlakesxj.com/tech.html

What do you want to know? I run a HO head on a Renix block with my 4.6L stroker in my XJ...

Notice the writing above the photo in the background. She's not a true Jeep chick... :roll:

XJ and MJ leafs are not interchangable as they are different lengths.