AZJeff

When it comes to auxiliary lights, you will find different answers depending on the region of the country. Back east, you really don't need much (relative speaking) in the way of added lighting, and using it on real roads will get you attention from law enforcement. Out in the west (such as AZ, where I live), extra lighting outside of town is VERY appreciated, especially on secondary roads. It's damned near mandatory on Forest Service roads. And if you are using those added lights, just be courteous to other drivers and tone it down when there is oncoming traffic. If you do that, the cops probably won't even say anything about your lights.

SIde bar here: One of my caliper mounting bolts was "almost" stripped out, and I finished the job when I installed a new caliper. Of course, because the caliper bolts are special, I needed to keep the original size/pitch of the caliper mounting holes. Helicoil to the rescue!!

You would need to measure the diameter of the stud and get a clip whose hole is a slight interference fit onto the stud. My local hardware store actually stocks these kinds of clips, so maybe you can find one nearby that does the same. Otherwise....Amazon is your friend.

You will need to create a small "lake" of PB Blaster or the like around where the nut would normally seat on the hub. This will allow gravity to help the PB Blaster to seep down into the splines. Heat will be tricky, because the only area you can really get the heat to transfer through is the part the splines of the hub. If you apply heat to the parts further down, it must travel through the bearings themselves, and that's a very small path, with lots of resistance to heat flow. What sort of heat are you using? On parts that big, you need to be using an oxy-acetylene torch. Anything less won't apply enough heat fast enough to get the hub splines to expand away from the axle shaft.

Agreed. Getting the control arms lined up to slip in the bolts can be challenging. After I installed my Core 4x4 arms, I didn't like the pinion angle or the caster (too much), so I decided to adjust the arms a second time. What I figured would be a 30 minute job wound up taking about 3 hours, because I found I had to loosen ALL the mounting bolts on both the upper and lower arms, and then using ratcheting straps, a floor jack, and a bottle jack to get all bolts aligned. On the passenger's side, i found it easier to get the lower arm installed first, and then muscle the upper arm into position. On the driver's side, it was the opposite: upper arm first, lower after that. Having a helper makes this much easier, by the way. I did it once by myself, and the second time, my son was in town, and it went MUCH easier with his help.

Those nuts cut their own threads as they are installed the first time onto the smooth stud that is welded to the cab. If you want to use conventional nuts, you will need to thread those studs with a corresponding die. That may prove difficult, since the lead-in on a die won't allow you to create full-depth threads for more than 1 or 2 turns. Unless your studs are really trashed, I would use the OEM type speed nut. Alternatively, you could use a push on clip like this:

I have Core 4X4 arms on mine. I had JKS on my last XJ. They both seem similar in overall quality. Whatever you do, make sure the arms come with RUBBER, not urethane, bushings, unless you want your fillings rattled anytime you drive it.

Guys, I would think what hub size will work is really dependent on whether it will fit the PULLEY on an XJ/MJ with the 4.0 The pulley (and it's bolt pattern) is the determining factor, is it not?

Gee, Cruiser. That would imply you were torquing them to 185 ft-lbs or more. I guess the bolts are strong enough to handle it

Good point.

The spec. for track bar nuts (depending on which ones) is no more than about 90 ft-lbs. While that is high, I would torque them ALL to about 100 ft-lbs, and use self-locking nuts or Loctite on the nuts. They are either 7/16 or 1/2 inch diameter, and the limit for grade 8 with dry threads is supposed to be 110 ft.-lbs, so I don't think they are overtorqued at 100. It seems those nuts have a propensity to loosen up relatively easily, for whatever reason.

Cork will work, but it’s not as compliant as the closed cell foam. The gasket is intended to basically be a water shield against any droplets that run down the engine side of the firewall.

Pretty much any kind of closed cell foam will work.

JEGS and some of the on-line speed shops will have those conical manifold washers. I would recommend using studs with nuts in place of the bolts in as many locations as possible. (Particularly on the bottom row of bolts.)

By “headliner” I assume you mean the foam-backed fabric. That’s available from multiple vendors on eBay in a variety of colors, as is the spray adhesive used to attach it to the backer board. The backer board that supports the foam (and is made from some fiberglass like material) is unique to the MJ vehicle. You might be able to adapt one from an XJ (this is what I did). Others on this forum might have a line on an original MJ backer board.

Cool!! Yeah, Eagle and I are both "seasoned veterans" when it comes to working on automotive stuff. Other persons might use terms like "fossil" or "old codger" In any case, I remember when (as a YOUNG teenager) there were brake light switches like that. I am glad you were able to fix it with one old codger's advice.

I must be a hillbilly. I always use a pipe wrench. Yeah, it makes small marks on the rod from the teeth in the jaws, but it's really easy to use, since it's self releasing when you turn the wrench backwards.

Oil pressure on an engine running normal motor oils (10w30 and the like) will NOT rapidly fluctuate. Yes, it will go up and down as engine speed changes, but advancing the throttle from idle to 2000 rpm and holding it there should cause the pressure to climb (with a slight delay) and hold. Likewise, releasing the throttle from 2000rpm back to idle should cause the pressure to drop, again with a slight delay. If the oil pressure is "bouncing around" with a mechanical guage, something is wrong with the oiling system (assuming you have confirmed it with a second guage). If the oil pressure is rapidly fluctuating with an ELECTRICAL guage, then the issue is either (1)bad sender, (2)bad guage, or (3)varying voltage being supplied to instrument cluster. Mechanical oil pressure guages do NOT need bleeding to get accurate readings.

I had Brown Dogs in my last XJ, and I can say this: at the time I installed them, Brown Dog offered both rubber and polyurethane bushings for the mounts. DO NOT used the poly ones unless you like not being able to see anything clearly through your rear-view mirrors. Even the rubber bushing versions transmit some vibration. Owing to this, when I put new mounts in my MJ, I went with OEM type.

I agree with MiniBeast. A compression test is something I would do right away. Another thing you might want to do is send off an oil sample to someone like Blackstone Laboratories to have a chemical analysis for presence of coolant in the oil.

You should start by getting a shop manual with the wiring diagrams for your model year of MJ. Then obtain a multimeter, if you don’t have one, and use it to start chasing down the lighting circuits. There are links on this forum to where you can download the manual.

Glad you got it assembled. A word of caution, though: it’s not a good practice to stretch out the flexible brake line to the extent seen in the above photo, as it can weaken the line and cause cracking.

My MJ is lifted about 3.5 inches, and it had an aftermarket adjustable track bar that had the ball/socket joint on the chassis end like the OEM type. It worked fine, when adjusted properly. But it used the standard OEM track bar bracket, and the coil spring on the driver's side would occasionally rub on the bracket, and make any annoying "sproing-ing" noise. I replaced that track bar with a Rough Country track bar and bracket that uses rubber bushings on both ends. The important part is that the track bar bracket is not designed like the OEM one, and adds clearance near the spring, thus eliminating the weird "sproing" noise when the spring flexes. As far as your tires wearing on the inside.....do you have wheel spacers attached to the hub flanges to increase track width? That can cause the axle housing to flex, and cause your wheel camber to become negative, and increase tire wear on the inside of the footprint of the tire.

Lots of XJ guys think the best solution to the floor pan being "waterproof" and easy to clean is to put truck bedliner on the floor. If applied correctly, it certainly is very durable. Of course, the downside is that it makes the vehicle have no insulation against heat/cold on the floor, and no soundproofing. That's OK for a trail rig, but if it's also a daily driver, it might get kinda old to hear all that road noise when traveling at any speed.

In order to sucessfully paint those pieces, (which are made from stainless steel, as others have pointed out), you will need to scuff up the surface a bit to get good paint adhesion. A "Scotch Brite" pad works really well. Unfortunately, that would make them less valuable if you decide later to sell them.....