USN_JeepMJ

Haha, yup, that’s me! Definitely tough to sell it… wish I could keep every Jeep. Unfortunately I just don’t have the space for everything. I know It’s probably priced on the high side but we’ll see what happens… definitely worth it! I made the mistake of adding up the total cost and let’s just say it was quickly approaching the sticker on my 392 before I stopped adding. I’m letting Niche handle the sale and they’re entertaining all reasonable offers.

They're JCR sliders Interesting. The reason I've always x-strapped is that on long trips (TX to CO) I tend to get the vehicle moving side to side on my steel deck trailer and thats been my primary concern (other than emergency braking of course). But I'll be honest, I've never considered what Bleeping is talking about with a strap breaking. I've never had a strap break (especially now that I'm running an amazing set of Bulldog 3335 lbs straps) and on my last trip to CO I had a huge emergency stop from 80+ with my 2500 Ram and MJ in tow... Jeep didn't move an inch! I used to do both... On my old trailer I'd straight strap the axles and x-strap the body. Those were generic straps and I was just learning about towing so it was definitely overkill. There are definitely benefits to either way but the most important thing you can do regardless of which you choose, is checking every strap every time you stop and continually monitoring the vehicle position. My new Ram has some amazing tools for that including multiple camera angles which allows me to frequently monitor for load shift while in motion. My old Denali and Yas Marina Blue XJ:

Haha, I guess there are a few! I had been running JK spec Gorilla Lug nuts on my JK axles with JL wheels... while JL wheels have the same bolt pattern, they're made for the JL's M14 studs and larger lug nuts. The JK lugs were digging into the JL wheel seat and causing damage. I found a solution! Lug Nut Guys JK to JL lug nuts. They have a larger seat for using JL wheels on a JK. Before: After: I also purchased a set of Key Parts MJ tail lights (they offer the entire assembly now not just the lens). Overall they I'd say excellent finish with an OK fit. Nothing is going to fit as well as the factory original lenses that have warped with the body over the years... but overall not a terrible fit. I'll run them and save my originals for someday if I sell it. I also have a set of the smoked Oracle LED MJ tails on pre-order (Aug delivery) so we'll see which ones I like better: Factory original on the left (sanded and cleared) and Key Parts on the right: Makes it look so new! In future news, I do have plans for more protection (gas tank skid and rear bed rock rails), new guage cluster (Dakota Digital HDX TJ/XJ cluster), and beadlocks with some 38 Nitto Trail Grapplers. Ufortunately for the Comanche, I've been focusing on my new project, an '08 WK that I've modified the body to fit 37's at 3" of lift plus the SRT8 6.1L Hemi and Brembos. The WK build: 2008 Limited Build - Project Yankee Boy The Comanche has been getting used though. Recent trip to Bridgeport OHV Park (30 minutes away!):

Wow, excellent work! This thread is making me want to go back and do a better job painting mine. I wish I would have broken my paint job up more instead of trying to shoot the whole thing at once.

No updates on the MJ... Unfortunately. I'll probably put the MJ under its cover for the winter. I think its wheels will be going on the WK so it'll definitely need some new wheels and tires before next year! In the meantime I'm up to 3 V8 Jeeps:

Smoke across the northern cascades

I'm not sure if I'll make it out this year but definitely next year! I finally go to test it offroad in Ouray Colorado! But first, some protection: I prepped my car hauler trailer with new lights all around, new tires, Ram trailer TPMS sensors, and a quick rinse: My first time towing with a HD truck... All I can say is wow. It pulled the trailer with such ease that I'd honestly forget I had it back there. The Cummins got about 50% better fuel economy than my previous Ram 1500 hemi pulling a similar load: Unfortunately I didn't really take too many pictures. My best friend met us out there with his brand new Sahara 4xe so we kept it to trails that he could get through without damage. This was meant to be a shakedown run for the Comanche so the Mineral Creek trail (beginning of Engineer Pass / Alpine Loop) was about as difficult as we did. Here's a few pictures from somewhere on that trail: As I do every year, we decorated for the Ouray 4th of July Jeep parade of lights: It rained a lot so that put a little damper on the trip and we ended up only getting a few days of wheeling but the Comanche did so with only 2 issues. First I had an annoying belt squeak which ended up being due to the wrong belt (slightly too long) and second I had a heat-soak issue (high intake temps and high altitude. Water and oil temp did not go up) at the top of one of the passes which lead to the Manifold Absolute Pressure sensor "failing". A quick reset of the code with my scanner and a few minutes to let it cool down and I was back on the trail. I think an oil cooler and some intake shielding will be in the future. Heading home:

Thank you everyone! So happy to finally have this thing on the road. Trip to Colorado is coming soon! Will do!

Thank you everyone! I'm quite honored to be the MJOTM!

It sure does! Picked up my new plates: Installed a H3R Halguard extinguisher: And a powered Kicker sub (only thing that would fit behind the seat): Lastly what I'm currently working on: I'll have to get some driving videos. Its an absolute blast to drive!

Thank you! Not planning on it now but if I have any sever issues with axle hop I'll fab one up Thats how I still feel haha Just using Rustoleum rattle can black (semi-gloss and satin) Its alive! I have a few videos of it running but I'll need to get them up on Youtube to view. In the meantime here's some shots of the interior powered on: Lights! So it fired right up on the first try but I subsequently found a few electrical issues that needed addressed. I've solved all but one of them... I'm getting some feedback through the interior button illumination circuit (just a few buttons) when using the turn signals or hazards with the parking lights off. I was hoping it was just a bad ground on the flasher but no joy. Any ideas? Finding the severed wire at the plug under the carpet for the right rear turn signal was a real joy: I needed a storage solution for my tools and recovery gear and ended up going with a Pelican BX90 Cargo Case and roofrack mounts. I also installed a HiLift jack along the bedside: I relocated the Warn winch remote plug and installed the synthetic line with a Factor 55 Flat Link: I think it'll be ready to drive it to get inspected by next week! So close!

I almost changed my order to black when the custom blue was delayed... glad I didnt! Its getting close! I finally tried my hand at TIG... some welds were great some were not so great: Originally I was going to do a 90 out the passenger side just like the factory one but I decided I was just going to bash it on the rocks so I made a turn-down: Clutch and brakes are bled and wheels/tires are on! I still have about 1" too much rake in the rear. I figure the leafs will lose some height after the tank is full and I have my recovery gear in the bed: The front suspension geometry came out pretty good! I have a fox steering stabilizer that I'll put on after its aligned. Next I need to put some fluids in the Jeep: After the fluids are in and I wire the O2 sensors it'll be ready to start. I'm just waiting on the rear shocks from fox before its drivable!

Oh and if anyone with stock axles is interested, here's what the XJ/TJ/LJ/MJ/ZJ/YJ kit looks like. It fits all years with a D30 front axle. It just requires pre-'89 spindles (calipers were bolted on pre-'89 before they went to the slide-pin/shelf setup in '90). Oh, and these do not utilize safety-wire so no worries about that obstacle. I had them on my previous '98 XJ:

Anytime! I'll have to get some more detailed pictures here soon I do miss the Gladiator (especially the gas milage compared to my Hemi powered WK) but this truck is going to be excellent on long road trips! Can't wait to try it out. So I had talked to Wilwood 2 weeks ago and they said the earliest I could expect my custom brake order (placed in November) would be mid-April due to supply issues. I was quite surprised to wake up to 3 heavy boxes sitting on my porch! Competition Blue JK big brake kit from Wilwood. Installation is not exactly plug and play. Also, keep in mind these are for a JK and will not bolt up to normal MJ axles (though there is a kit available for pre-89 spindles). First and foremost, you need to bolt the rotor hats to the disks. This is easily accomplished with a in-lbs torque wrench but the next step is the tough one. You need to safety-wire each pair of bolts... This was my first time doing it and it took me half way through all 4 rotors to start getting ones like this: I may go back and re-do the rears as I was still learning at that point... The fronts are THICK: I'm running 30" Wilwood lines with Tereflex rubber brake line anchors: The rear brakes are also vented but only about half as thick as the fronts: In the rears I'm running factory stainless steel replacement 97+ XJ hard-lines with 10" Wilwood flex lines: F+R Adams driveshafts (the front will need to wait until the exhaust system is complete): One last look at the Competition Blue against the Austin Yellow:

Thanks! Picked up my new tow rig! I needed something to be able to drag this Comanche out west: This truck is HUGE. It easily dwarfs the Comanche. I burned in the axle brackets. Ruffstuff Specialties U-bolt elimination perches, shock mounts, and tie down brackets. JK parking brakes with backing plate trimmed to fit Wilwood brakes. Various tabs for brake lines and parking brake cables: Painted! I also added some stainless brake lines and an ARB diff cover: I welded a steel cup (specifically I repurposed a WK rear bumpstop cup) on the spring top-plates with a 1/2" nut welded on the back side to allow the use of JKS bumstop spacers so that I can easily adjust my bumpstops: A detail from a few months ago. I'm running a GM R4 a/c compressor with a Four Seasons AN fitting adapter. I then took some new XJ lines and trimmed the flex line before crimping on an AN fitting for both the high and low pressure sides: Hydraulic crimping tool: Detailed shots of the completed fuel system. I'm running a GM fuel filter and a Corvette regulator with all "push-lock" AN fittings and lines. The 3rd line is the fuel tank vent line with will be going to an evap canister under the hood. My parking brake setup: 97+ XJ bracket with the mounts cut off and re-welded for passenger side mounting. I'm running a 2DR JK line on the passenger side and a JK 4DR line to the drivers side. Seeing these pictures makes me really wish I had painted the underbody... oh well. Detailed shots of the JCR tire carrier: And lastly I installed some JCR rock sliders: And thats where it sits now. Building an exhaust system is the next step. I have a bunch of stainless tubing on the way! The Jeep has a bit more lift than I was expecting. With the JKS ACOS set to +2" and a set of Clayton 4.5" springs I'm sitting at 7.5" of lift in the front and in the rear I'm running a set of factory replacement springs with Clayton adjustable shackles (currently set to +0" of lift) and the Ruffstuff Specialties U-bolt eliminator perches in the SOA configuration (they add approximately 1" over a normal SOA due to perch thickness) but it is sitting at about 8.5" of lift. The Jeep is unloaded with no fluids... but I'm still surprised at the lift height. It was designed to be sitting at about 6.5" of lift all around so I'm really hopping everything settles.

Oh I forgot two pictures. The front end is finally on its own weight! I'm running JK spec Fox Shocks: Spare tire is mounted in the bed:

Another delay in the Comanche project... I spent a month flying around Europe and the Middle East. Somewhere over the Red Sea: After I got back I got rid of the Gladiator in favor of something that can tow (I ordered a Ram 2500 Megacab Limited w/ 6.7L). In the meantime I needed a daily so I built a cheap WK: And finally it was back to work on the MJ. New MJ tank: For the LS I went with: Walbro F20000169BX (255 lph) Walbro 400-1016 (installation kit) Rockauto: US Motor Works 12-104-5 (strainer) mtscompany.com JPSU-6 (new sending unit assembly) Racetronix BCWS-001 4-wire pass-through Lastly to get the 97+ gauge cluster to display correctly… I bought a cheap TJ pump assembly to grab the gauge sending unit off of. New XJ hoses cut to fit and a new cap: Fuel line routed to the engine: I'm running a Corvette regulator with a return line under the Jeep for a 1 hose setup. I'll have to get a picture eventually. My new Welder showed up at some point. Its HUGE! That brings us to this week. The Currie D60 finally showed up! I had to downgrade to 35 spline shafts (the 40 spline Eaton E-locker has been on backorder since June... with no ETA I finally gave up) and Aburn E-locker: Test fit with some Ruffstuff Specialties u-bolt eliminator perches: Time to test out the new welder! Thats where I'm at today. About to go pick up my new truck then get to work burning everything in.

Ok, it's settled. I'll go with those wheels! At least until I get a more aggressive tire and beadlocks. Thanks! I've had a Currie D60 (in JK width) on order since June... The Eaton E-Locker was supposed to be in last week so we'll see if they get it to me sometime this month. Kind of getting sick of waiting.

I just ordered everything I need for the fuel system! While waiting for the rear axle to show up I randomly just thew the set of wheels and tires I originally purchased 2 years ago when I had a diesel JL on order (I ended up getting the JT instead after diesel production was delayed). I had planned on going with black wheels on this build but this setup looks so good! I think I'm convinced! Plus there's plenty of clearance for JK Wilwood brakes.

Thanks! can't wait to get back out there... hopefully this fall sometime. Clearly I won't be going in the Comanche until probably spring now. Oh well! Thank you! I only cut down the rear legs as that rotated the seat bottom back giving plenty of clearance for me to sit with the added benefit of giving more thigh support as opposed to the very flat position the brackets originally gave. I cut the rear legs and overlapped them about 1.5" along with trimming the support pieces and bending before welding everything back together. I also added a hard mount for my aftermarket seat belt ends. You can see what I did better in this picture:

More sanding and buffing: The flares were sanded and buffed: Next I installed some vinyl from jeepsticker.com. came out great! Closeup of the reverse camera: Mocked up the JCR spare tire carrier: Then sanded everything for some Raptor Liner: Frog tape and a steady hand made for a straight line: Next I scuffed and cleared the original taillights and built a harness complete with new Crown sockets and superbrightleds.com LEDs: The rear axle is delayed until November now... With that depressing delay I decided to finally install my CG Precision downpipe and H&R springs onto the Supra. While I wait I'll button up the fuel system and fab and exhaust. Maybe start the LS for the first time? we'll see.

yup!

Same here, actually think they're really comfortable too. Looking forward to driving it! Thanks! Will do It's a Navy C-40A Clipper. Thanks!

I had to take a quick break on the Comanche to regear the JT to 4.88's prior to a trip to Colorado: This Nitro bearing puller made the job easy! Success! It drove from TX to CO, did some wheeling, and made it home to TX: Cleaned the shop before getting back to work on the MJ: And finally I saw a WK still in use as an EMS vehicle on a recent trip for work. Waikiki beach: This next part is a little out of order but I'm too lazy to rearrange the pictures. I finished dynamating the doors: Next I installed the finished door panels. I took a set of Limited panels, scrapped them for the upper pad/woodgrain trim and added those parts to a Sport door panel (I didn't want the map pocket). I painted the Sport door panels in SEM black to match the rest of the interior and added the upholstered pad and arm rest. I also added "Kicker" emblems on the speaker grill (you can see it on the passenger panel) and on the drivers side I swapped in a 2dr switch bezel: Next (or rather before) I decided it was finally time to cut and buff the rest of the body (I had previously done the front fenders/hood). 1000 grit 3M purple pads on the DA to start. This was followed by 1500 and 2000 by hand and finally all 3 3M Perfect-it compounds: Here you can see a "before and after". The fuel door is untouched and the surrounding bedside has been completed: So smooth: And now its back to waiting for my axle to be manufactured:

I just covered it in black paint and hope no one notices