LEAD_NOT_FOLLOW

I run the RE one's in the front with my 6.5" coils. On my XJ that's at aprox. 5" of lift I've just relocated the bracket and bent the hose straight. On the rear I just relocated it down further. I'm SOA in the back and had it flexed pretty good a few days ago and had plenty of room left. In this pic you can see how much hose is hanging down.

That looks really good. You rattle can it on? What brand and color did you use?

Today was spent trying to finish up just a lot of little stuff to get ready to go wheeling next weekend. Majority of the stuff isn't even worth mentioning. However I did bring the camera along and managed to snap a few pics of a few things. Started off the day with getting the rear shocks in. You can also see the "JEEP" in black better in this pic. I than installed and painted the other rear TJ flare. And lastly, a pic of some new MJ bling.

To each their own. I understand your concern, but if I felt I was going to endanger someone trust me I'd be the 1st to do something. If it was that dangerous I think DC would of put it in thier owners manual to remove the DS before doing so.... I was simply stating that it was not NEEDED to flat tow. I've towed (flat towed, or tow dolly'd) XJ's/MJ's probably a good 10,000+ miles and have never removed a DS. Never once had a problem either.

No not true. You can I guess, but it's not necessary. Once again not true. You put the TC in (N) and leave it in either park or in gear. You unlock the steering column. Here is what the owners manual says on it (same as I stated above, but just to source my knowledge). http://greatlakesxj.activeboard.com/ind ... mentPage=4 (1'st post on that page by me)

www.greatlakesxj.com www.terrainstompers.com (local Cincy club) www.jeepinohio.com I've wheeled with both GLXJ and TS and both are a very good group of guys.

I havn't address it at all. I'm actually not worried about it. It's slipped out some, but not enough to worry me. If I run into a problem with it I have a 2nd driveshaft and probably enough misc. parts to piece something together to get off the trail. Last trip to the Badlands I trashed the DS in my XJ (due to the power of climbing a rock wall with 35's and a almost 300HP stroker); and I doubt lightning will strike me twice (I hope). EDIT: I'll measure how much is actually attached to the yoke tomorrow and report back. If it's less than desired I'll probably do a TC drop for the time being.

I helped him do it. We didn't touch a thing besides the 3 bolts on each door hinge.... Additionally their is no play what so ever in the doors. They shut and hold fine.

No. I believe the hinges are the same, but the striker and latch systems are completely different. Unless I'm missing something here that the XJ and MJ doors are not the same, they do bolt up and fit mine. A guy in our local club has a set of '98 doors on his '88 and they were a direct swap. They are hard to see in this photo, but you can tell by the logo on the door.

http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=5602

It's the bumper mount and yes it was all twisted prior. I don't have time to fab up a rear bumper yet, so I'm just going to leave them and "hope" it helps protect the rear a bit while wheeling next weekend. The tow bar itself was pre-bought. I fabbed up the mounts and supports myself.

Today's progress... Got the "JEEP" flat black decals on the rear tailgate. I think it really sets it off well. The rest of the day was spent fabbing up the mounts for the tow bar. 95% done, just need to make up a center support that will tie into the lower radiator support. It's not needed, but just for a little extra security. The current setup ties into the tow hook brackets and bumper. Held on by 5 bolts on each side. I don't think it's coming off. Here is a pic of the towbar mounted.

I've always ordered my Catco's from summitracing.com (if that helps)

What exhaust? :roll: PO had it cut right after the cat. I plan on putting on a muffler directly after it to keep the sound down. That being said, I don't really have an exhaust pipe going out the back to worry about. Not sure what to tell ya...

I've always used Catco cats. I use their high flow on my street legal BMW racecar to keep it legal and it's worked out fine. I've also used them on several other vehicals as well. The nice thing about them is they are 100% stainless. I do not have any experience with the Walkers.

Tenative plan for Rebecca and I are to leave Friday evening at somepoint and get to the Badlands by 10:00 PM. We will be camping Friday and Saturday night and do plan on wheeling both days (Sat. and Sun) if our vehicals allow. We will be staying at the Attica Family Campground which is at the entrance to the Badlands. Cost is $7.00 per night and they do allow 4 people at that rate. So if 2 additional people wanted to split the cost with us that would be fine. More details on where we are staying can be found here: http://www.atticacamping.com If you want to split cost with us, PLEASE PM ME as I'd like to have this arranged prior. The Great Lakes XJ group will also be their this weekend and I do know that several of them plan on camping at the same place. You guys are more than welcome to share a campsite. I do plan on making a phone call in the next few days to try to get a large campsite reserved for us (GLXJ). Some weekends it gets pretty packed, so I want to make sure we have enough room. If you guys want to join in please let me know who's planing on camping so I can give them a number for the space we need. I will post back when I have more news.

Got a little bit done today. Painted the frame rails black to get rid of all the red. It looks a lot better. I also trimmed up the front flare a bit and trimmed the lower part of the fender. It should give me a bit more clearance at full lock. I than worked on the vacuum disco on the front D30. I tore it apart with went surprisingly easy compared to when I did this on my XJ. I than put in a nut to hold the selector fork over permanently now. You can see it in this pic. I than relocated my rear brake line down further. I had planned on putting in a longer rear brakeline, but while looking at it, I thought I could just relocate it down lower. I drilled out one of the holes on the mounting bracket a bit larger and than just utilized an existing bolt on the rear proportioning valve holder. More work to come...

It was either on the bottom or on the top. I opted for on the bottom so I could run a longer length shock. I'd rather take the risk of them getting possibly hung up than having my shocks be my limiting factor for flex. The ideal location is on the same plane as the axle tube itself. However having time being a factor and not really wanting to put any $$ into this axle when it will be pulled out over the winter, I opted for a bolt on application for now.

Looks good! What size coils do you have in the front currently?

You could also do this:

For the time being, yes. Extended uppers and lowers made for 6.5" springs. I do plan on going longarmed over the winter. I've waited for 3 reasons; 1) Have a set budget to build this in, and longarms would of not let me do other things I've wanted to. 2) Time. I needed to have this done in time for the GLXJ summer wheeling fest @ the Badlands. 3) I have a D44 that I plan on putting in the front over the winter. Figured I'd wait untill I swap that in to decide what I'm going to do.

I'll probably build a set of tube doors. If I could find a good drivers side door for cheap I may do half doors but they are a ton of work. I've only got what, a week left to get her done in time for the Badlands, it will be doorless as I don't have enough time to do anything else... :brows: I thought about TJ flares on the front. I don't have another set yet, and once again time is a factor at the moment. I'm just going to trim the fenders a bit and probably move the stock flares up a few inches for now. I have a spare set of rear TJ flares here. put rears on the front to match your rears... and I can bring them to the badlands. say, $20 for both? one has a crack in the lower portion where you would cut it to fit body lines anyways... If I was going to do it I was planning on using rears on the front, as I just don't like the looks of the front TJ flares on the XJ/MJ's. I'll let you know on yours. I havn't decided what I want to do yet. I'll PM you before the Badlands and let ya know.

I'll probably build a set of tube doors. If I could find a good drivers side door for cheap I may do half doors but they are a ton of work. I've only got what, a week left to get her done in time for the Badlands, it will be doorless as I don't have enough time to do anything else... :brows: I thought about TJ flares on the front. I don't have another set yet, and once again time is a factor at the moment. I'm just going to trim the fenders a bit and probably move the stock flares up a few inches for now.

Well got quite a bit of work done today. I first started off the day with cutting the lower control arm bolts on the body side. Talk about NOT FUN! I didn't count how many blades I went threw, but it has to be upwards of at least 10. Once I got those out, the rest of the install went pretty easy. Got the upper and lower control arms in and all bolted up. Got the trac bar installed as well. Front suspension is finally done. Pretty happy with the angles of everything at this height. Than got the 35's installed. I'll let the pics explain the rest. Drove it around the block and it rode well, no weird vibes or anything. I do need to get some new rear shocks in it yet and will trim up the bottom of the lower front flare. I'll also get that ugly red painted black on the frame rail. It was covered with dirt and I need to scrub it done before I do anything to it. More work to come...

Their will be at least 2 MJ's in the GLXJ group there. (me being 1 of them). I won't have reception with my cell, but I will PM JeepcoMJ some info if you guys want to hook up with us.