500 MJ

Hey Taz, good to hear from you! FWIW, my kids are both of the age where we watch Looney Tunes together. By far, Taz is their favorite character :)

Just went through this whole thread, surprised that no one has posted up a parts catalog photo yet showing the different part numbers for the XJ/MJ driveshafts. I’m guessing that there is info in the part catalogs for what shafts fit for what applications? I have a rear MJ shaft here in my inventory with part number 8953004661, I’d love to know what it will fit... I think it is a LWB 2wd shaft.

Chicken before egg...or is it the other way around?

Same as the north side. Hanging them on treated 2x10’s. Nothing special, just homemade barn doors. :)

For what it is worth, both of my trucks have the handles. Per the registry the 1988 has the "CGX" on the build code. The 1990 has "CSR Passenger Assist Handles" in the build sheets you guys are able to pull up.

I would think that a successful tail light box would be able to have the lamps show from the side of the vehicle as well as the rear. I'm pretty sure that is a law...

This past weekend I had my folks visiting us. I used some of the time with Dad to finish off the south end of the shed’s skylights and trim. So the last item to conquer will be the doors on the south end. I still don’t have enough oak lumber for them, but I am very close. Goal is to have them done before the snow arrives this winter.

Looks great Ben. So did you have one year for the building permit timeline? Also, your little pine tree where you take your pictures from is growing :)

Ouch.

Glad to hear this, Good for you!

Has she been hauling any items in the back that might have left a mark on the headliner? Have you confirmed it is a burn?

FYI - there was no evidence of the rear axle or springs when I saw the truck. Wish I knew where that D44 went to...

@jdog wow I was way off on the VIN! Don’t know how I botched that up so badly on the original post.

Truck sits in my garage , give me a few min and I can get you pics of the VIN...

Hey that is not far from me at all. About 1.5 hours away. I don’t have a long bed, but maybe I could help facilitate getting this to someone who does.

CC is the best, you can never ask a bad question here!

@Oizarod115 I just realized this truck has the trans tunnel plate you are looking for. If you can’t get it elsewhere it might be worth your time to call up the yard and see if they will pull it and ship it for you... it’ll probably have some rust on it judging by the rest of how this truck was. sorry I didn’t put 2 and 2 together earlier today and nab it while I was right there...

Junkyard truck that I came across yesterday while traveling in northern IL. This truck is located at 3B’s Auto Salvage in Davis Junction IL. The truck broke in half when it arrived at the yard about a month ago so the yard crew is using what is left of the bed as a sorting bin for final scrapping out of other carcasses... This is a pull it yourself friendly yard. It seems this yard cycles their inventory quite often, I don’t think this truck will be around at this time next year. At least not the bed. I took the radio, pass mirror, drivers tail light (pass tail already crunched), usable rear bumper parts, headliner and badges from the truck. The fuel tank was long gone, no sending unit available.

Yes. Anything in the expansion joint can contribute. I used to be part of a highway maintenance crew and we'd see these come up every so often. Rigid (Concrete) pavements are the only ones that have the issue. Just like all materials, concrete expands and contracts in the heat. A prior repair adjacent to this section of pavement, the sun hitting it at just the right angle, ambient temps not cooling down enough during the prior evening, anything really that changes around it from year to year can contribute to the buckle. I used to know where a smaller one was on my daily commute during those years working on the roads 15 years ago and I would hit it at speed on my way home each night.

Listed on LKQ's website in Blue Island IL. It hit the yard on 5-4-2020, I wonder what may be left of it now... wish it were closer, can't justify the trip for something that has most likely been well picked over by now...

I did some looking on LKQ junkyards within 200 miles today and I found this one. If it weren't sitting there since early May I'd probably take a chance to make the drive and see what is left on it. Without knowing what is/isn't still there I can't justify the trip. Maybe someone else local can take advantage of this! For sure, there was/is a stock rear bumper, tail lights and cargo light and the super rare switch panel with fog lamps included on it!

I can SEE the quality of the bodywork from here!

ALOT of folks are out there in the same boat. Getting hourly rates for work is a tough thing to justify on personal automotive work because you are not a paid professional - so there will always be the folks who are suspect of your work. You have to look at it as saving money in the process as compared to paying someone else to do the work. Also you acquire more tools and knowledge in the process and keep yourself out of trouble. Working on my own home and my vehicles, I know about the quality of work that I do and I am happy that I am able to save myself money over having the paid professional do the job and empty my wallet in the process. What it does come down to - its all a hobby for me, I can proudly say that I did this/that. I'm not in it to sell either of my trucks, I never have been. If I calculated out the time like you have above I'd probably be close to your numbers for my Blue truck and at least half for my White truck. But the market value is what it is, folks only pay what they want to for this stuff. Both trucks are mine and I know what they are worth to me, which is why they are not for sale. I could not recreate either of them easily today for what their market values are and THAT is worth more than the money I have into them. My advice if you want to make cash by working on cars, get into parting out vehicles that are somewhat rare (Comanche or any pre-1987 Jeep) or get into buying up cars at auction for pennies to purposefully clean them up, fix them and quickly flip them.

‘87-‘90 are the years that the 4.0L non-HO came from the factory in the trucks. Many folks do take these trucks and upgrade them to 4.0 HO or swap the motor for a larger one. Your first post requests that the truck be “original”. If you get a truck from ‘87-‘90 with an HO motor, regrettably it is not “original”.