Incommando

Can you or Hornbrod tell me how to identify that wire? Do you remember which wires are which on the factory switches to save me some time testing them? I want to use the stock ones as well. I have several different options. If someone knows how ( and if ) I could use this switch for the defroster to trigger an on-demand electric fan I was thinking of using it: Image Not Found Image Not Found I will use the for light for my fog lights.

I have a Rusty's Trail bumper that was designed to mount the winch in the bumper. http://www.rustysoffroad.com/jeep-bumpers/rustys-jeep-bumpers/jeep-xj-cherokee-bumpers/rustys-bumper-front-trail-bumper-w-o-pre-runner-bar-xj.html This keeps it hidden and it does not block your airflow to the radiator like a conventional winch mounting position can. You have to use the cheap series of winches like my Engo 9000 http://www.engousa.com/p/model-e9000 I swear I took pictures of this process but they are not on my phone now that I am trying to find them. You must mount the solenoid remotely. I put mine on the sheet metal behind the bumper. The top of the winch is on the other side of the sheet metal. Everything fit well the and the wires were easy to run. The face of the solenoid faces the engine. The problem I ran into is that the winch mounts with all four mounting feet pointing forward. This is 90 degrees from the common mounting style but it is perfectly fine and may be slightly better. Think of the winch laying on its side. The winch mounts to the bumper with the bolts going in from the front. However the position of the winch meant that I could not mount the fair lead in the pre-drilled holes as the winch was behind the bumper where the fair lead mounting bolts should pass through the bumper.. You could not put the bolts through as the winch was in the way. I solved this by making two brackets connecting the upper and lower winch mounting bolts and then welding a stud through the bracket on each side to mount the fair lead. I ran the wires for the connection for the wired remote up into the grill. In the pics you can see it at the top of the grille near the driver's side headlight. I have a spare grill if I end up not liking this. This location is easily accessed. The switch to go from powered to free spooling is easy to reach behind the bumper. If I am buried and can't reach it to switch it to free spool I will just have to power the line out. It does so fairly quickly. I hate chrome and shiny things on jeeps. It is just my personal preference. So I painted the fair lead black knowing I will have to repaint it after each use. Having to make the brackets slowed things down. I do not know if the design of other winch brands will allow you to mount the fairlead in the pre-drilled holes for it or not. Otherwise it was a straight forward project .

I have been able to go 'wheeling a ton so far this year. I made it through this the first time but got seriously hung up the second time. Took 3 Wranglers to pull me out. It looks so mild...

I got my winch mounted under the bumper. Not a bad install. But I hated the silver fair lead hanging out front. I personally do not like chrome or shiny stuff. So I painted the whole thing black. Yeah I know I will have to repaint the rollers when I use them but that isn't too hard. I ran the connecter for the wired controller into the grille. Easily accessed and I have a spare grille if I decide I don't like it. It is at the top of the grille by the driver's side headlight

Just so every one doesn't have to click the link here is the quote: In a low-pinion axle (right) the pinion drives on the stronger, drive side of the ring gear teeth when used in a rear axle application, but on the weaker, coast side when used as a front axle. The high-pinion (reverse cut) axle (left) and gearset applies pressure to the drive side of the gear teeth when used as a front axle, but to the weaker coast side when used as a rear axle. From: http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/transmission-drivetrain/131-1107-how-axle-gears-work/photo-10.html#ixzz3XPPooP80 Follow us: @fwmag on Twitter | fourwheelermag on Facebook way to rub it in.. lol Nah...I like to put the stuff in the post and also add the clicky. The folks who don't want to do the whole clicky thing don't have to but those who want to can.

32x11.5's on stock rims and 4.5" lift: Zero rubbing on road or off:

Just so every one doesn't have to click the link here is the quote: In a low-pinion axle (right) the pinion drives on the stronger, drive side of the ring gear teeth when used in a rear axle application, but on the weaker, coast side when used as a front axle. The high-pinion (reverse cut) axle (left) and gearset applies pressure to the drive side of the gear teeth when used as a front axle, but to the weaker coast side when used as a rear axle. From: http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/transmission-drivetrain/131-1107-how-axle-gears-work/photo-10.html#ixzz3XPPooP80 Follow us: @fwmag on Twitter | fourwheelermag on Facebook

If you are going to buy a lift anyway I would do the soa but that is just me. Most reviewers speak poorly of the rough country lifts. If you want a 4.5 the Zone kit gets very good reviews

The earth revolving around the sun is an opinion. Reverse pinion front diffs placing the pressure on the drive side of the ring gear instead of the coast side is science. I crack myself up.

Pretty much. The 8.8 is a good choice, perhaps the strongest choice without going to 1-ton axles, it is just a little more expensive Many people find a kit like this helpful: http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/88SS-31.html. You need spring perches, shock mounts, and u-bolts/plates as your current stuff is too narrow for the wider 8.8 tubes. There are others. There are a few options for connecting a jeep drive shaft to a 8.8, as well : http://www.ironrockoffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=IR-SF88FAis one or http://www.mountainoffroad.com/_e/Ford_8_8_rear_axle_Install_Kit/product/221379/Yoke_for_Ford_8_8_into_Jeep_XJ_YJ_TJ.htm for another. Again these are just examples and there are other brands out there. You need spacers on the rear if you run any wider tire or they may rub. The 8.8 is right at an inch narrower ( so 1/2" each side. Some folks put longer studs in the 8.8 and run thin 5/8" "sandwich" spacers between the wheel and rotor face to get as close to an even width front to rear as possible. Others run 1.25" spacers like the Spidertrax all the way around. The rear will be more narrow than the front. The factory axles are slightly that way anyway. To open another kettle of fish: Now would be a good time to do a SOA lift on the rear if you can afford to lift the front 6 or so inches at the same time. You would use the same parts/labor to go SOA on the axle install either way for the most part. I did a SOA rear/5.5" front lift for about $700 total but that was last year.

Amen. This is the best safety swap I have ever done. It is a night and day difference with my 96 XJ dual diaphragm booster even with factory brakes. Not a hard swap at all, either.

To hijack: what is the input on the front factory skid plate? Worth installing?

Negative. In a front application a reverse cut ( high pinion) differential design places the force of the pinion gear on the correct side of the ring gear. Estimates are that this improves the ring/pinion strength by about 30%. As the D30 has a tiny ring gear that is a significant improvement. It is true that the tubes, C's , and shafts are the same, though. Here is one of hundreds of items on the web denoting the strength difference. http://www.fourwheeler.com/how-to/154-0708-weakest-to-strongest-axles/

A TJ D30 is a curious choice as the low pinion design is measurably weaker than an XJ high pinion unit. The XJ in a TJ is not an uncommon swap.

I bent the hell out of my factory tow bumper ( tow package '88 ) pulling out shrubbery! The rear axle does not effect the recovery.

This. I use 32x11.5's. a 35 only gives you 1.5" of additional ground clearance not 3" as it seems.

Many people pound the 8.25 pretty hard. The later ones are every bit as good as a D44 and better than a Comanche D44. An "old jeep truck" source for a D44 rear is probably a J10. It will be wider, It will probably not have a matching gear ratio. It will have six lug rims that will not match the front 5 lug pattern you already have. I do not mean this to be insulting:You are young, inexperienced , and on a budget. . Your knowledge level is not yet where it should be to do such things. The #1 screw up on builds, especially by new builders, is to do too much and reach too high. The time involved and nickel and dime parts costs become astronomical. All too often the project gets abandoned and sold of at a loss. Building for "what I eventually want to do someday " is almost guaranteed to cause this to happen in your situation. Build it reasonably, have fun with it, and upgrade as needed. "Air locker" is another point where you hear of something or guys shooting the bull say "these are this best." Well, that is an opinion. For a rear locker they are unnecessarily expensive and complicated. There may be an argument for a selectable locker in the front but I have drivne at least 150,000 miles in various Jeeps with a lunch box locker in the rear with no issue. Winter driving? No problem if you know how to drive. We get much snow and ice here and I have never stayed home because the jeep was too hard to drive. There are many ways to do an MJ. My build in my signature was relatively cheap. I have an MJ that can cruise comfortably on the highway, is daily driver dependable, gets taken to off road parks at least twice a month, and gets abused. I have people come up to me on a regular basis when off-roading to comment on its ability. It is the baddest jeep out there? Not even close. But it does a hell of a good job and was built on a budget in a driveway.

I am mext door in Ohio and my uniframe and frame are also solid but the floor is getting suspect while the bed in particular jad major rust. Perhaps damage to the rails allowed stuff to form inside?

Repairing that depends on your fab skills. You could cut the floor out including the uniframe and then run rectangular tubing or square tubing from behind the front lca mount to the rear frame. You could then build your floor off of that either from scratch or using pre-made pans as a starting point That is just one option.

I just wanted to point out that there are already bolt-on swb & lwb rails out there so it is not a virgin market. Joe's product is unique.

Agreed. Unless you find a TJ rubicon d44. that should bolt up. But you will be dropping at least a grand on it. Other than that you could do wagoneer dana 44s if you want front and rear. But you have to get the years that have the driver drop front. They are getting harder to find also. And you will have to do a lot of fab work as far as welding on spring perches, coil buckets, shock mounts, control arm mounts, ect. The low pinion Rubicon hybrid axle is a combination of a D30 & D44. It is no stronger than a HP D30. WHY do you want to swap the front ? The stock D30 is good up until 33's .How big do you feel you need to go tire wise? Much cheaper & much much easier than swapping in a front 44 is to upgrade your D30. You can convert your two-piece cad axle to one-piece Spicer inner and outers with 760 u-joints for about $300 bucks. For a couple of hundred bucks more you can get chrome moly shafts if you want. Gusset the pass. side upper control arm for $30. Weld on a truss for $30-$300 depending on how crazy you want to get. Or sleeve the tubes from the inside for $120. Gussets for LCA mounts are $30. You are now pretty equal to a low pinion Dana 44 like from an '80-newer FSJ ( to get driver's drop) without a ton of fab work to put it into the MJ. Why do you want a D44 rear axle? The Ford Explorer '96-up 8.8 is an easy swap, is within an inch of being the right width, and gets your rear disc brakes on an axle stronger than a D44 rear. IF you can find a gear ratio matching your own. The rears go for 2$00-$350 here. Add another $200 in parts to get it into your MJ. For about the price most people ask for a MJ factory D44's you get s superior axle that is easy to find. . But the easiest rear swap in a 29-spline 8.25 out of a later XJ. It is the exact width and matching your current gear ratio is no problem. It is as close to the common D44 in strength as you will find. Remember that the MJ/XJ D44 is one of the weakest D44 rears due to the unusually small tube size they have. To swap in a 8.25 you basically only need to move the leaf spring perches in a little and weld on MJ-correct shock mounts. Easy peasy and can be done for about $200 including buying the rear end. Drive shaft mods may or not be needed depending on if you lift it or not. This swap a no brainer unless you are seriously hard core. D44's rears, especially MJ/XJ ones, are no magic axle. Paying the price that people want for a MJ version to be "bolt in" is silly IMHO as there are other better options for less money. For anything up to 35's modding your front D30 as mentioned and a simple 8.25 swap is your least labor intensive and inexpensive route and will be fine for 90%+ of MJ owners. If you are happy on 31" A/T's then you are well within that 90%. Hearing things like "dana 44" and "WMS" and using them without understanding the "why" of them just because they are popular terms is a guarantee of wasting a lot time and money. Needing to be told "everything" to do this swap means you have hours of research of readily available information ahead of you. No one can give you the back knowledge you should have for this in a post. The first step is to be brutally honest about how you will actually use your MJ and choose accordingly. Honesty in this appraisal is very important. Good luck.

In general a FSJ Waggy takes a ton of lift to fit a decent tire. The wide track Cherokees and J-turcks are more forgiving. Even so here are 285/75/16 ( 33x11.5) Swampers on my unlifted W/T Chief: You could not get those on a waggy without rubbing. The rear wheel opens are too small.

Square tubing from a steel yard. Weld that in.

The GM HEI style ignitions are great upgrades for any of the pre-renix AMC crap. The motorcraft /ford type system that replaced their points ignition was inefficient and unreliable. It was used into the 90's on the 360. You will notice an immediate difference in starting and revving with this conversion. This is common knowledge in the FSJ world and also in the AMC hot rod circles. However it does not apply to renix or OBD 1 MJ's. And BTW: AMC did not have a small and big block. The 304/360/401 (and their immediate predecessors ) were all the same physical dimensions.

I put weld-though d-ring shackle brackets on my receiver hitch tube if you can find one