ghetdjc320

The long port sticking out of the back of the compressor is your low side. Looks like maybe you're missing your high side adapter. Just connect the manifold gauge on the low side and see what's going on. The pressure switch may be the culprit.

I’ll have a set in about 2 weeks

Does it go away if you loosen your mounting bolts a bit?

That’s very good to know. I’ve been reading up on suspension tuning from accutune. Looks like they recommend at least a 3” gap between the bump stop and axle. Good info for sure: https://accutuneoffroad.com/articles/guide-to-suspension-design-for-going-fast-in-comfort/

Long awaited goodness:

Front end all removed. Also removed dash and console. Discovered a ton of wiring splices under the dash so I’m scrapping all the wiring on this rig. Went with the Painless stand-alone LS harness and Painless 10413 chasis harness. Will re use connectors as needed for the new harness but won’t be keeping too much. After long consideration regarding lift, tire size, and general suspension goals I have made some concrete decisions. Will be running Acos up front (possibly the pro model with hydraulic bump stops), oem Mopar control arms (they really are a good design, Mopar or TNT track bar, fox shocks and jks rear shackles for an extra 5/16” (the larger axle will use up 1/4” of that height gain). The design of the stock control arms is quite good as they are plenty strong along their length and we’re designed to twist for flex. The are not harsh on the stock control arm bracketry and are very light weight. A well thought out design for stock to slightly lifted ride height. Front lift: 1.375-1.5 from Acos or Acos pro Rear lift: 5/16” via JKS shackles (just enough to offset the larger diameter axle tube Front control arms: OEM Mopar Lower control arm skid from Barnes New clevite axle side control arm bushings Barnes inner c gussets Stock original eliminator 4x4 front and rear springs 235/75/15 tires on refurbished turbines. The goal is to accomplish 6” of up travel and 4” of down. Will bump stop appropriately to prevent any interference. Also trying to keep a tight factory turn radius. I will have air locker front and rear along with a full factory skid package and hidden winch behind factory bumper. Running ZJ steering linkage. The sway bar will be lowered 1” to accommodate the double sheet steering bearing from Boosted tech. Front frame will be reinforced to give the best possible handling.

I also will need a new cable soon. Haven’t found the right one yet

Just for reference, you would need an XJ lift shackle to provide any lift on an MJ. The stock MJ shackle is 4 3/8 from eye to eye. Stock XJ shackles are much shorter. Most XJ lift shackles are 5” eye to eye and provide about 5/16” lift on an MJ. There are many other lengths available though

That doesn’t look like any wire has been snipped. The speed sensors for that year were just 2 wire VR sensors. Does the speedometer not work?

*If* you want to keep the D35 rear axle, there are some practical suggestions that, with a bit of time and money, will make that axle handle 33’s or even 35’s without issue. Just an alternative to the sea of praise you will hear about the ford 8.8.

The Mopar unit is significantly better than the aftermarket ones. Dorman and SKF both make one also. The Mopar ones used to be on rock auto but like $45 for a while

Throw Subaru into the mix. They have some safe, reliable cars that you can still do a fair amount with. The forester is a nice all around vehicle

I ran straight 30 weight conventional oil in my 231. Had very good results. That was in the tropics though with consistent high temps year round. It did quiet down the case a bit over atf. Worked great for me

Just managed to finish up my first stateside panel. If anyone needs one let me know. Will be building one for myself here also. The AC decks I can do on a core swap, outright purchase or rebuild yours and return. For non ac decks, I will rebuilt yours as long as the face panel is not too severely damaged. For those that send me their original panels, I will try to restore and preserve as many original parts as possible on your unit.

Got the first batch of parts back from blasting yesterday. Also got the air lockers in. Had a chance to crack open the RX-173 radio as well. The layout inside is surprisingly simple. Will be replacing the panel lighting and button foam (need to source the foam still). Also going to add a Bluetooth 5.0 receiver unit. I’m going to try to keep the Bluetooth board inside the radio and use a small external Bluetooth antenna. It really looks like there would even be room for an amplifier board inside with the tape deck removed but I’ll keep that external. Instead of the two existing pins for the aux input as described by Jeremy (much thanks @Minuit for your detailed information on these units), I’m planning on intercepting the radio signal. As has been mentioned before, the radio will bleed through somewhat when unsing the board pins input. Instead I will intercept the 3 pin radio connector to the pre-amp module and establish a pass through circuit that prioritizes the Bluetooth signal. So with the radio powered on and Bluetooth either paused or disconnected, it should play radio as normal. With the Bluetooth signal active, it should completely disconnect the radio signal from the preamp. Hopefully this will eliminate bleed through. The Bluetooth module is also programable via laptop and the EQ can be tuned, hopefully to achieve a good flat response. Also going to add the same finish coating to the buttons as I do to the hvac and switch bezels to prolong the finish as the ones I have are not worn and are in good shape.

@FT-Comanche sent you a PM.

Yes it is

Managed to find a set of 98 ZJ 5.9 hood vents. Will see if they arrive. The seller removed the listing right after buying them.

The factory skid’s ramped design deflect debris better than the boostwerks setup. Plus it ads a clean finished look to the underside. My lift is only coming from the Acos pro setup so the skid will help cover the steering linkage, stabilizer, uca mounts etc.

Can’t say that’s the exact smell as I ripped that carpet out several months ago now but it was a persistent chemical smell that was quite strong. Took about an hour to clean up all the rubber crumb it left behind also.

I have used both the Essex and the cut pile from acc. They are both nice. The Essex is a bit more comfy and quieter. Just do not get the mass backing. Terrible junk that crumbles apart and perpetually smells like some chemical compound when it’s warm.

Mishimoto hands down. Worth the money. Also, a 7 blade mech fan and the 10 blade curved oem late model XJ fan. If the system is clean, it will eliminate heating issues on a hood engine. Novak also makes a very heavy duty unit. Another option is cold case. Slightly cheaper than mishimoto but a very similar design.

HP non disco 30 all stripped down to bare housing and brackets. U joint caps were busted and the ball joints were quite stuck but it all came free in the end. Housing, axle shaft yoke ears and pre-90 knuckles all heading to the media blasters to get cleaned up. Picked up some inner c reinforcements along with some bracketry gussets for the LCA mounts and the UCA on the tube. New spicer ball joints on the way.

Have a set of ARB’s on their way also for the front and rear. Also picked up an NP242. Thinking of doing the Tom woods sye on that tcase since it’s quite a strength upgrade. Have to modify driveshaft lengths anyways so might as well switch to some better built CV shafts. After considering different ride height options, I’m planning to go with the ACOS Pro. The pro model has a gas charged bump stop which will be very helpful and help dial in the LCG build. The plan is Acos pro up front set to about 1.5” lift on the original 4x4 eliminator coils. Some fox remote reservoir shocks up front and the BFG AT 31’s on the refurbished turbines. Out back I’ll run a JKS shackle which is just slightly longer than the oem shackle. This will accommodate for the 1/4” clearance loss from the larger diameter axle tube. I went with the Barnes SUA swap kit since it uses a square u bolt and keep the fasteners and plate on top if the axle while running sua. I may possibly add an additional leaf to the pack just for axle wrap resistance if I can find a good leaf set to grab one from. Don’t really plan to add more than an inch max to the rear. I plan to keep a tiny bit of factory rake. The adjustability of the Acos will help a lot with that. Still need to sort out control arms as well. Will probably run the Currie anti rock sway bar up front so I can clear the pillow bearing for the boostwerks hidden winch/steering brace setup without using sway bar drop brackets. This is all going to go under a factory front skid plate so it’s going to be some trick fab.