derf

I've done AALs before. They're cheaper than replacement spring packs. And that's their only upside. They do make the ride much more stiff. Rough country tends to be stiffer across the board compared to other brands too.

If you're going to do a carb swap, I have a Motorcraft 2150 that I just took off my CJ. And the adapter to bolt it to a 2bbl manifold. The 2150 is a good all around carburetor. It probably needs a rebuild and maybe some different jets. It was running rich on my CJ. Another alternative would be a TBI from a 4.3 chebby. Easy swap if you're good with wiring.

Got the manually controlled dual battery setup in. One switch for each battery to connect/disconnect it. I can run either battery or both if I want. Still have a bunch of wiring to finish. Also did the spark plugs. It may have been running a tad rich...

Not sure whether this could be considered a laxitive...

It is.

I've done gears on many axles. I can't offer warranty on the work but if it's something you are interested in doing with some help, I'm set up to do it.

Test fitting as I do wiring...

There were a lot more similarities in the early years of the XJ that quietly went away.

There's several options, including Dynamat knockoffs. There's several spray in options too. You can also get a roll of foam padding and cut it to fit. Just don't attach it to the carpet first.

I have a good 40 years of CDs accumulated. Going on 850 discs. Ripped under fair use with the original discs as backup. I have a dozen playlists with easily over 1,000 songs. Playlists are grouped by genre so I can change which one I'm listening to depending on my mood. I find that many vehicles can't do shuffle right on thumb drives. But it's not hard to connect the phone (wired or wireless) to the car's stereo. And PowerAmp is a decent app for playing my playlists. Still, I'm planning a cassette deck for my Comanche build and I'm going to revive my old mix tapes. Maybe even record some new tapes.

I remember the days of cassette players in cars. Mostly, I would just let the cassette play and not bother trying to find a specific song. Even now with MP3 playlists, I just let the list play. Of course, I spent a bunch of time making mix tapes followed by mix CDs, now MP3 playlists that only have songs I like. It's work up front but it's a good way to avoid having to deal with fast forwarding or reversing cassettes.

That's like arguing over which midget is taller...

Yeah, but the only way it's useful is on a 4 cyl...

I still have all my mix tapes from the 80s collecting dust on a shelf. I totally understand the nostalgia and wanting a cassette deck in an older truck. I'm considering doing that in my next project build.

Making more progress on wiring and so forth. Got the battery tray in and the two batteries in place. I'm going to build my own isolator switch system. That's up next.

I found one of the oil leaks. Pulled the drain plug, which the last person had way over tightened. Drained the oil, went to put the Fumoto valve in and it was too small. That's when I noticed the rivnut in the pan. Someone had probably stripped out the threads on the original so they drilled it out and put in the rivnut, which had a slow drip. Every time I work on this Jeep I find another thing the DSPO had messed up. Fortunately, I'm running out of things I haven't touched.

Planning it when I get to my Truggy build. I've been looking at Vanco for their kit to drive the brakes on my 1 ton axles. It uses a booster and master cylinder from a 1 ton pickup. And the PSC pump that will drive my ram assist will be set up to also drive that booster as well. Their kit is overkill for stock axles. There are some other options out there that use a smaller booster like one from a Chevy Astro van.

Generally. It takes a bit to move everything out of the way and some of the bolts in the back can be challenging to get to. But it's not terribly hard.

I would ask them to recheck it. Specifically mention that it no longer returns to center. Even reputable shops make mistakes from time to time. They should be willing to make it right.

Yep. Would be nice to get away from that but the jobs that pay very well are here. And that funds my habit, er, hobby...

I specifically needed the CARB E.O. number to get through emissions. Not sure if they have that as part of their kit.

Nice. I've seen people put a 42 gallon tank from a late 90s Suburban back there. It just fits with inches to spare. An XJ tank seems to be a reasonable option too.

Nice part about the Howell kit is that it will run so much better than the original carburetor ever did. In every way. And it'll have better emissions than it ever did from the factory. The only down side is the cost. But it's worth it.

Getting the wires to reach while you are putting the dash together can be a challenge. Some all thread makes it easy to hold the dash up while you do the work...