Incommando

Commando!

Nice looking MJ.

Got all of my parts here or in transit. Hope to start the weekend of the 18th.... As this is a 4x4 conversion and a lift at the same time it might take a little longer. ( it hit 60 here today. Shorts and t-shirt weather finally...)

To do: -Remove front 2wd beam axle and swap in 3.55 HP D30 from XJ donor. Replace stock parts with lift parts during this step as every part that must be removed for the swap has to be removed for the lift- shocks, springs, track bar, control arms,etc.... Very little extra labor involved for installing the lift at this time. Drill lower coil bucket for new hockey puck bumpstops. Scrap beam axle -Remove 2wd AW4 and swap in 4x4 AW4/231 from donor XJ and install shifter. including floor pan work. Install donor front drive-shaft - Remove rear D35 by cutting u-bolts and removing brake lines/cables and shocks. Re-work the hard lines to bypass the rear valve as detailed numerous places. Hope someone will haul this hunk of crap D35 away for the scrap value. - Position 3.55 29-spline 8.25 from donor XJ under MJ springs and measure for proper position and pinion angle for perches. Weld new Barnes perches and shock tabs onto the axle. Use new u-bolts to attach axle & attach shocks - Measure for driveshaft. Have drive shaft cut to length - Install new wheels and tires - Measuring tape align the front end as detailed various places before driving to the alignment shop for a quality alignment. I am fortunate and skip this step as the buddy helping me has built numerous tube-chassis race cars for both drag racing and circle track. He has a couple of jigs and the know-how to get a darn good alignment the first time.

Well it is done. I ordered the last pieces of the puzzle, the adjustable track bar and mount, today. With estimated shipping dates I hope t have all of the parts by the 4/13/14 and to start on this the following weekend. As this is not just a lift but a swap to 4x4 and a lift I hope to have it done my mid-May. The grand total of the lift parts was $783 including my shipping costs. That is about as complete a I can make it. There will be smaller incidentals along the way but that figure includes parts to make this lift more complete than any I have seen posted and more complete than the pre-assembled lift kits which generally give you just enough to get by and sometimes not even that. Shipping costs may vary by location and parts prices may change by the time someone reads this ( if anyone does) but that is an honest account of my costs for this lift.

Most people dislike Rough Country. The quality is considered poor and they create a "rough" ride. Kits are missing parts way too often. There are better options out there but you have to be careful: Hellcreek makes awesome rear springs but uses Rough Country front springs in their kits. Rocky Road is another company that has had a lot of bad press for customer service and over-stated product claims. Zone is getting a lot of good press. Their list price is a few bucks more than RC but you can get them cheaper on ebay and by asking for a quote on Pirate. http://zoneoffroad.com/suspension-lift-kits_jeep I did not know better and used a RC 4.5" kit on my first XJ. Parts were missing from the box and I got nothing but the run-around from them. For example the list clearly stated (then and now) that the kit includes extended sway bar links. Mine did not. Upon talking to them repeatedly and not getting anywhere RC finally said that they were not going to ship them as the kit no longer includes them but they were accidentally left in the component list. They are still "accidentally" in that component list on their website. This lead me to checking the net about these shysters ( something I should have done beforehand) and learning that such issues are common with RC. A post on here got going pretty good and the best that the main RC cheerleader could say was that he liked them because they have always sent him free stuff like ball caps when they mess up. :doh: My '88 on 32x11.5's with the RC 4.5" but I would not buy from them again. The ride quality was poor and I was not impressed with the flex. I am piecing a good off-road ready SOA together now but it is planned for 5.5" of lift.. I will have about $800 in it but that should be complete including shipping. That will also include more components, like adjustable control arms, and better quality stuff from vendors like Rubicon Express and Iron Rock Off Road, then a kit like RC's. Some listed SOA's you find are far from complete and will cost you about $300 more than stated (and more than mine) to complete them and hundreds more than that (about double the posted price) to duplicate it and that is without shipping charges. Before deciding on a lift and tires, though, be honest about what you want from your XJ. If it is a daily driver build it that way. If it really is almost trail-only build it that way. A popular SOA lift thread on here is very upfront about the lift being for looks and on-road use at the cost of off-road ability as they do not intend to ever go off-road. So it is important to build for what you will honestly be doing with your jeep for the foreseeable future as that builder did.

I have had jeeps with 4.27's in the front and 4.30's in the rear from the factory so that much difference is for sure acceptable. It sounds like maybe that '86 is 2wd. If it is then there is no added expense to a ratio swap and no real reason to stay at 3.55. ( OOPS EDIT: I see in the sig it is a 4x4. Staying with 3.55's saves re-gearing the front) I,too, think that a swap in ratios would best be made now. If you are changing engines there is no good reason for trying to stay within the stock parameters. When looking for an 8.8 search for a V6 Explorer over a V8. Both 8.8's are the same but for some reason junkyards often price the axles from V8's higher. There is a $20 difference in the closest PnP here.

Good catch thanks

Found his actual page. Like the Backbone this thing REALLY strengthens the front of an MJ/XJ. http://www.orsfab.com/

The Dana 20, especially attached to a T18, will also put a strain on the old groinal area.

The Crossfire was about 75% a re-badged M-B SLK. I don't think it was marketed well. That Compass Rally is straight up a Dodge Caliber.

I just basically bench press them into place. They only weigh 65 pounds or so and the 231 is lighter than that.

Eh, we like our muscle cars. I assume you are referring to the Stingray and Viper as muscle cars. I would rather have a lower-cost muscle car that can out sports car mosts sports cars then a sports car, especially one defined by the classic sports car parameters such as a vintage Miata,TR8, Sprite,or Midget, with good handling but the performance of a turd. You can get a CTS-V for a bargain price for its performance and go hunting much more expensive European and Asian imports with a very high success rate. Muscle car? Yeah, probably. But you also don't sound like a weed eater or a weed eater with a fart can... :brows: This is the father of that drawing concept: Image Not Found

Congratulations. Indeed any proud papa should post pics of his new baby

if diesel is an oil how does it burn so well in engines but engine oil doesn't burn? Redwolf Gasoline, Diesel, Kerosene, engine (lubricating) oil, and Jet fuel are all refined from petroleum which is purified crude oil. Paraffin, used to make candles and your friendly Hershey's bar, is also derived from petroleum as are many other things. All are derived from crude oil via petroleum. Some are very similar to others. Gasoline generally has the most additives and is the most flammable of the first three on the list. It has a low flash point and is easy to ignite in an engine. Think of gasoline as a very low viscosity oil and diesel as a slightly more viscous oil. Gasoline is more flammable than diesel fuel and diesel fuel is more flammable than lubricating oil but oil, including engine/lubricating oil WILL ignite and burn. there are furnaces designed to run on used engine oil. Diesel and Kerosene are more similar with diesel having a higher flash point meaning it generally has to be put under compression to ignite in an engine & burn completely. Home heating oil is a type of diesel fuel. It is taxed differently and that is the reason the various fuels are dyed different colors here and abroad: not only to differentiate the product but to see if someone is running a fuel on the road for which road use taxes have not been collected. Heating oil, kerosene, and diesel are very close in formula and can be interchanged in some uses. Old-style ATF is basically a low viscosity/high detergent motor oil. As all are crude oil based all are technically oils. You may still find some old-timers who refer to what we call diesel fuel as diesel oil and they are not referring to motor oil designed for diesel fuel engines but the diesel fuel itself. Just a McDonald's hamburger and a fine steak can both be referred to as "beef" despite a ton of difference in the products diesel fuel oil & lubricating oil can both be referred to as "oil." As many old-style carb and engine "cleaners" and many of those miracle engine cures or "carbon build-up cleaners" that you added to the fuel tank are basically kerosene you can safely run small amounts of these products, including diesel, through a gasoline engine. This is especially true with a fairly crude engine with a carb and few if any emission sensors. Of course synthetic versions of these products are another topic completely.

I personally think you're going the wrong direction, restoring the Pioneer and turning the Eliminator into a trail rig, given that the Eliminator is the more collectible one, but they're your vehicles. "I'm not sure of the year because there is no title and the inspection tag wore off." The Eliminator apparently doesn't have a VIN Tag to cross-reference or he could decode it to find out what it is. There is no title and apparently no way to get one. Personally I would not spend a dime on it as if it is ever checked it can be seized and crushed for not having a VIN. There are hidden VIN's but just having the dash VIN missing is reason enough to crush it. That is certainly true in Ohio and probably true everywhere in the U.S., as well. Sometimes even vehicles on trailers get the VIN check during a traffic stop or the rare but still possible roadside inspection in Ohio. BoardmanMJ: if there IS a VIN tag you could submit it to Chrysler to have it decoded or use one of the many decoder sites on the net to do so. http://www.jeepz.com/forum/vin.php The year info is available in several places: Emission sticker under the hood, tire safety info in the door jamb, and by the VIN are the most visible/ If all of these are magically missing or obscured the red flags are huge. If the truck has the VIN tag you could go about obtaining a title. I know a bunch of people turn possibly stolen but certainly illegal unregisterable rigs into trail-only vehicles because of such issues but that will not stop you from getting popped for receiving stolen property should it ever be discovered that it is stolen. What the value of a vehicle is to a person that makes them risk a felony charge is for them to determine. Even if it isn't stolen having possession of a vehicle in Ohio for which you cannot prove ownership even on private property can certainly cost you the vehicle if nothing else. And on a roadway in transit is not on private property even if towed. Again, only you can judge the acceptable risk of investing money or possessing such a truck.

Good luck. A conversion to 4x4 is relatively cheap and easy

If you see things like "RARE!" in all caps you can pretty much figure you are reading a ton of bull because 99% of the time the item really isn't RARE! What is rare about it? The 5-speed? Not really. And '89 was one of the biggest selling years of the MJ. As far as MJ's go there is nothing rare there. Not a bad $1,200-$1,500 truck

I like the non-prerunner version above. If I were buying and MJ/XJ front bumper I would make sure that the mounts on both sides were adequate. Good ones will reinforce both sides of the front frame especially the steering box area. Other options are the www.detours.com backbone winch mount http://www.detoursusa.com/xjbackbone.php There is a guy on Pirate who makes a really neat front winch mount that puts the winch under the radiator http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/body-armor/1011786-ors-cherokee-stubby-bumpers-free-shipping-3.html I would avoid any bumper that mounts pretty much just like the factory or with two little short mounting tabs with 2 or 3 bolts.

I know someone who used this on the windows of a sun room. it made a noticeable difference in the temp of the room

Not sure what makes it the best but it is neat. Swap out those front TJ flares for flipped rear TJ flares and get rid of those redundant side marker lights.

Honestly I have seen usable front ends sell for under $100. You would have well over $100 in buying and fixing that one. IMHO the only value for that front that remains is for donor parts. The axle shafts might be worth a little as spares if they aren't CAD.... I have never seen a market for used CAD stuff around here as no one wants to keep that CAD. If the axle was originally from an MJ the shafts are not very desirable as the MJ had the small 260 axle u-joints. I think what you have there is scrap metal because if it is that rusted what is the unseen condition of the shafts, unit bearings, brakes parts, cover, etc?

The MK platform (Patriot/Compass) is a joint venture with Mitsubishi that underpins cars such as the Dodge Caliber and Mitsubishi GS. The new Cherokee is built on a Fiat/Alfa platform that it shares with the Dodge Dart. And as with the MJ they build 2wd versions and 4wd versions of them. IMHO what is a 2wd XJ but a station wagon? A stock one, especially the early years, is really no higher than a PT Cruiser or HHR so what differentiates it from a station wagon? Besides one of Jeep's first vehicles as a 2wd sports car-ish convertible called the VJ which rolled out on 1948

The come-back of a car based jeep is the Patriot/Compass. Although the real execution was more crude IMHO you have an updated Compass Rallye pictured there. Besides if you are referring to the Eagle Talon that was a re-badged Mitsubishi and not a Jeep at all but an Eagle. If you mean the AMC Eagle they were not Jeeps, either, but AMC's just as a Matador is not a Jeep.

You will just have to measure it and match it up.