comanche5L

didnt get a whole lot done today, but got a good start on re-facing the rollpan: the source for the new face the top is 1.5x1.5 square, the bottom is 1x2, if i were to do it again i would actually go to the store and pick up something like 3/4x3/4 square tubing, this is overkill but its what i had kicking around at the time. here's its pulled out so you can see the contours of the bottom of the bed on the bench curving the alum. around, holding it until the self tappers are in and finally trimmed to fit, going to paint it as is, then install with SS selftappers afterwards.

Got into it a little more today, replaced my original fenders with the proper ones of the newer cherokees. I had my older ones rounded off with filler, but ive had these fenders for a few years now in the shed.

Have a little time, so i decided to do a few cosmetic changes to the MJ so this is before: Tying the Rockrail into the doorjam. slid a piece of 2 x 1x 3/16th on top of that : tacked in then added a piece of 3/4 x 3/16th flatbar from corner to corner Also picked up a set of doors off a '97 XJ. power mirrors and manual window winders which is what i wanted. These are bolt ons, they changed the hinge style in the '98 an up. Still doable but more work. test fit have to paint the inner panel grey to get rid of the tan New style door striker tacked on, still have to add bolts and backing plates for strength from behind. thought i was going to get lucky and reuse the original striker bolt hold but it was just a little too far off Now to tear it off again and paint the door jam and around the inside of the door. picked up the paint last week, its called 'sparkling graphite' off a bmw, its a dark grey gun metal color..........stay tuned ;D

when i remove it, i always pull the bottom out first, let it slide up the collum a few inches, then i pull the top out. never had any breakage doing it like this before. It is tight, and to put it in i do the exact opposite.

yeah that was mine ( ) i don't have many pics of the motor swap, didnt even have a digital camera back then :dunno: . i do have some more pics of the conversion i can throw up later today

i didnt drop mine, still on stock suspension, and did the +97 front clip swap about 6-7 years ago. i would love to do the interior swap and "newer" cherokees are becoming more popular in the junk yards so i still may find one. here's my 2wd: i still have a 91 MJ 4wd that i use in the woods, and "almost" ready to get an inspection on my '91 YJ. havent decided what I'm going to do with the YJ yet.

are you sure its the pressure keeping it from freezing? ive seen this on a discovery channel and you can make them instantly freeze with a tap against the counter with the cap still on. no pressure was released

ive always used 100 grit sand paper with good results. it recommends 220 grit but i fint the 100 lets it grab better. and i second that, you do not want to spray that on bare metal, if you went through, itd touch it up before spraying

yeah you can cut off a second harness off another XJ/MJ and splice it into the existing wiring harness, or you can just run with the one side. the side signals fit good, same type of connector, but you need to trim the soft plastic that makes a seal so it fits perfectly into the newer lens

yes everything from the MJ will fit, the only modification you have to do is cut one of the little tabs off the MJ socket and it will slide right in to the XJ signal lens.

just curious on what you changed to need a wiring diagram? the stock signal sockets will fit in the new style signals.

ive put XJ power leather buckets in my '88, made my own legs for it and its fits perfect, I'm 6'2" and there is tonns of space in there providing you have a welder id say its the best way to go. might of taken 3 hours max and its done.

what backspacing do your wheels have? any rubbing? that is the XJ 3.5" lift isnt it?

first of all, that looks kick @$$. its the exact lift i was going to get, and with your pictures now, i am defently going to pick it up, just got the price on one today. is there anything you had to buy (other than shocks) that didnt come with the kit? and the AAL gave you the right amount of lift by the looks of it. i was afraid that i would have to re-arch the rear springs so it would sit level, because i know that RE always under-rate their lift height. thanks for making up my mind EDIT: this is the XJ lift kit isnt it?

first of all, this job sucks. best way i found was to take the bolts out of the tcase skid, and let it drop down. disconnect the 4wd linkage as well. have the skid supported by a jack, and once everything is removed lower the jack until you can get at the 2 bolts for the CPS. once its all lowered its only a matter of taking the 2 bolts out and changing the sensor for the new one, and you done. ive tried it before without droping the tcase skid, and its is a real big pain in the @$$ to reach the top bolt. i even had extensions going out past the end of the tcase (yep it was riduculus!). good luck!

i wouldnt try it. go with a 3 core and overheating will never be an issue.

what kind of lift & tires? looks real good

if you get as much snow we usually do, id opt for the 4wd conversion, you are gonna need it, and apriciate it when you get a big snowfall. no comparison between 2wd and 4wd in the snow.

thanks for the pics jeepco, gives me an idea of what id be getting. the guy i was talking to had nothing but good things to say about the RC lift kits, he said they have come a looooong way over the last few years

not too hard. me and my dad have been painting cars for about 8 years now, probably have done over 20 cars altogether. the painting is the quick part, its all the prep that takes the time. the stripes were easy, once it was all yellow, it was only a matter of running the stripes with masking tape and roughing up the area to be painted with some scotch-brite pads, and covering the rest of the truck up.

works fine for me what kind of front flares are those? friggin things are huge!

JeepcoMJ, what brand of 3" lift do you have? any pics?

just make sure you end up with the same gear ratio front and back. you can try googling, there has been a lot of people doing this over the years with some good write ups out there. if i find any ill pass them along.

wow pete that is just what I'm looking for. i don't think that looks to small at all. do you know the width of the tires? i may have to go for 15x12.5, and get some nice rims with maybe 4" BS. the only fear of re-arching was the rough ride, we did it to my dads CJ and it was real rough, but then again its a CJ and i can't remember if it was ever not rough to begin with. ill be posting up pics with whatever i decide to go with.

no you didnt distract it at all. the only reason i wanted to go with the RE is that i have seen a few cherokees with the RE 3.5 and 31's and i loved the look. sat up real nice, and i knew what mine would look like in the end. I have seen other 3" lift kits on MJs and i wasnt real impressed with how much they were lifted. I'm not against staying sprung under, in fact thats probably what ill end up doing. i may end up getting the XJ RE kit AAL, and using what i can out of it, and re-arching the rear. my dad is going to florida in a few weeks and i may get him to pick me up a kit while hes down there. it seems to be real expensive to buy the kits up here because they all have to be shipped up from the states.