Incommando

With the RC kit they direct you to re-drill the mounting hole on the axle side .75" to the driver's side to re-center the axle. Although Hellcreek uses RC components for what they don't make themselves, I was very impressed with their customer service. I have heard good and bad about Rusty's but the two XJ's I wheel with regularly have had very good luck with them. That is all of the personal experience I have with them. Motion Off-road provides a lot of good tech info to us MJ people and has a lot of MJ parts, but I have no experience with them. The MJ in my sig is the '88 with the 4.5 RC kit and 32x11.5's on factory Gambler rims. A 3" lift and 31x10'5 are a good look on MJ's IMHO. As the 32" tire only nets .5" of additional ground clearance ofer the 31-inchers, I would probably go that route for a 4x2. Powertrax no-slip the rear and have at it. I am currently converting a '91 SWB 2wd Pioneer into 4x4. For the front I found a set of used 4.5" R.E. springs, used adjustable lower control arms, and a used adjustable track bar. It was relatively easy and cheap to source as it is all XJ stuff. For the rear I am swapping out the turdy-five for a 29 spl 8.25 and doing a SOA. I will then either adjust the front up with spacers or the rear down with XJ shackles to even the truck. Luckily I have friends who weld and I will end up with much less than $500 in the lift when I am through and that is with the cost of the matching front/rear axle set. :thumbsup: I still need to scrounge up the cash for a 4x4 AW4 & t-case.....

No emissions where I live so... hacksawed the mount for the converter off of the head pipe. Bought about three sections of 2" I.D. tube, clamps, a hanger, a turn down, and a glasspack muffler and did my exhaust from the head pipe back for under $50. headpipe(clamp)tube(clamp)tube(clamp)muffler+ hanger(clamp)tube(clamp)turndown. Muffler ended up right under factory hanger mount and the round tube muffler design tucks up nice and high.

I had no power issues with a 4.0/AW4/3.55 combo like yours with 32's. Everyone has opinions, and here is mine: Rough Country rides like crap and has horrible customer service. Even their fans admit it takes several tries for them to get the order right but defend it by saying it is OK because in the end they often send free stuff... :roll: I was shorted multiple times on my lift kit order and they never made it right.

This matches perfectly. Thanks!

Anyone have a diagram for the dash wiring or sound system wiring? The radio turns on and will change stations, etc... but I get no sound. This is a factory AM/FM/Cassette with pop-out controls for bass & treble. Oh, the PO had cut all of the wires from the plug into the radio instead of just unplugging it ( :fs1: ). I have the 13 or so wires correctly spliced back, but no joy... Thanks in advance

Hornbrod: I am curious about the Hesco strokers as I have read some conflicting reports. Would you consider the maintenance on the engine higher than average? More than the 3-5K oil change and the occasional tune-up? Do you take any steps for maintaining and tuning your engine that would be considered above average for most engines? I have read some posts "on other forums" flaming them but nobody has any particulars, so I am very suspect of the claims.

News organizations exploiting the mentally ill like this is disgusting to me. Remember all of the Y2K nutjobs? :wall:

Fransisco Franco is still fighting valiantly to remain dead... (See how many old timers remeber that gem....)

I threw up a little in my mouth

Pats fan...figures.... :D :peek: I think that with Al Kite-a acknowledging he be dead means he be dead. How do I know he is dead? On 5/2/11 I went out to try to get a grape squishy at the quickie mart. The doors were locked and the sign taped in the window said "Closed due to death in the family." Proof enough for me.... :wavey:

Don't overlook the simple: mud or debris caught on the shaft/ujoint/yoke. Heck, on any rotating part.

Sriously, 8,000 #'s is widely considered to be the minimum for any 4wd vehicle.

Exactly. My experience with the 4wheelparts conglomerate in its various forms is less than impressive.

Many report a LOSS of MPG from the K&N. Many posts on Pirate about this.... Re-gearing to get the stock tire height to ring gear ratio would probably give you the biggest boost, but how long it would take to recoup the investing varies greatly with driving style.

:thumbsup:

I've always heard about the YJ front lines and Dakota rear lines... What years of Chebby should I look for and do the work on the MJ as well as the ZJ? Thanks

License plate bracket?

Welcome aboard. If your manual tranny is a Peugot it is a universally hated unit that I don't think anyone would recommend that you swap in. The rear D60 is great, but the width and lug pattern would not match your possible Waggy D44 front. You can swap the D44 to 8 lug using readily available 3/4-ton Chevy stuff and spacers to match the width. D44/D44 combo might be easier but would probably require both to be regeared as the driver's drop waggy years featured truly sucktastic gear ratios. With 35-37's you probably intended on regearing anyway, though.

Excellent post! This should be a sticky somewhere. To me it looks like you can get away with stock uppers for at least 4.5" of lift, even if it is not "optimal." With fixed but longer lowers and stock uppers on my 4.5" lift I had no trouble getting the jeep aligned and back to where the wheel self-centered and tracked true.

A properly equipped MJ is rated to tow 5,000 #'s, IIRC. The max. tow rating for a JK Unlimited is 3,500 #'s. The Honcho package was offered for several years on J10 shortbeds. There were very few of the sportside (stepside in Chevy-speak) trucks made, something like 1,500 IIRC, from '80-'83. Although it is just an appearance package, the production #'s for those sportsides is very low.

IIRC the Honcho was an apearance packaage on the J-series, and not a seperate line? Like a Scrambler is a package on the CJ8 (like a Renegade CJ7) and not a the actual jeep like so many think. All Scramblers were CJ8's but not all CJ8's were equipped with the Scrambler package. While many have indeed ben clamoring for a jeep truck, a dealer-converted JK 4dr is not really the same thing IMHO.

Some 7-leaf waggy springs and one of those lil' dually conversions and.... :wrench:

As long as the Wrangler line continues to use the 3.8, no version will find its way onto my shopping list. Bring on the pentastar!!

Back in the day, the first mini-trucks here were re-badged Jap trucks: The Chevy Luv was an Isuzu and the Ford Courier was a Mazda. For a decade or so the Mazda B-series has been a thinly disguised re-badged Ford Ranger and the last Isuzus were re-badged S10's. Several Mazdas are re-badged Ford's now, like the Tribute. My how things change.

Control arm bushings or a worn track bar can also cause this...