Incommando

In addtion to the axle shaft you will need to install a seal into the housing from inside of the differential. A search will turn up the part #...I don't recall it. Not to overlook the obvious but you will also need to buy/fabricate a block off plate for the CAD opening. Having the CAD locked should not make the front tires grab without the transfer case engaged, from my humble experience.

I now realize how blessed I am to get 18 city/24 hwy in my lifted KJ with 31" heavy e-rated tires on steelies.

Neat idea and great work. Opinions on how the winch would do in such a mount in the rust belt where the road salt flows like water in a flood?

Rough Country 4.5" coil front/AAL + Shackle rear (not recommended) 32x11.5x15's on factory Gambler rims

Surely cobbled together. Those beds were common after market custom items in the late '70's & early '80's. Numerous early S10's & Rangers had their beds swaped for those generic stepsides.

I have not got that yet. I was going to measure what I ended up with and go from there

The general consensus is that at 4.5" + of lift you need to add longer lower control arms to re-center the axle. Plenty of people get by wit 2", 3", or even higher without doing it though. I'd say if taking off the spacers takes care of your rub problem you are good to go. If the front tire is moved way far back in the wheel well arms may be needed. You can use less expensive fixed, but longer, lower control arms if you need them.

Thanks for the speedy reply. $60/pair for 8421 Doestch tech NIB had me interested.

Oops...my mistake. Reading comprehension fail. Yep, rip dem spacers off! Just for those reading this later and my own curiosity: Do you think that stock control arms are pulling the front axle back, causing the contact? My 4.5" lift with 32x11.5's with spacers on similar rims had no issue but the aftermarket arms put the axle back into place...

Any bad suspension part can cause DW, including ball joints. Most cases I have seen generally centered around the trac bar, though. XJ/MJ's seem to have a tendency to wobble out the mounting hole on the subframe, allowing DW to occur even if the joints of the bar itself are good.

Most factory wheels have about 5-5.25" of backspacing while most aftermarket wheels have about 4" of backspacing. Rubicon or other factory wheel will tuck the tires under the vehicle more than most aftermarket wheels. Removing the spacer from the Moab rim (5" BS stock) will put the tire 1"CLOSER the the inner fender and confound the problem, if I am thinking right? Most new 245/75/16's are about 30.5" tall and about 10" wide. They should fit most stock trucks and if a truck is lifted 3" should not be having rub issues. They are a tad shorter and narrower than the 31x10.5's that most run with 3" of lift or so.

will a shock that is 32" extended and 18.5" collapsed be too long for a 4.5-5.5" front lift? If so, anyone got some part # recomendations? I am trying to match a rear SOA using 2wd springs and relocated stock perches to keep it as low as possible. Also, am I correct in asuming that stock-ish rear length shocks are correct as you are moving the perches up when you do the SOA? Thanks!

Not sure how stock that M715 is...at the minimum the front axle appears to be different or modified due to the lockouts and extended hub. Swapping the junk early axles was common. http://www.m715zone.com/vb/showthread.php?t=5274 = "The stock front axle is a closed knuckle full floating Dana 60. It has 30 spline axles. It comes with an open differential, ie NO locker or posi. It has a WMS to WMS (wheel mounting surface to wheel mounting surface) measurement of 73.5 inches.The stock rear axle is a Dana 70 full floater. It has 23 splines. It comes with an open differential, ie NO locker or posi." check out the experts on these sometime: they have no delusions about the stock M715. The info about the weakness of the factory axles came from that site. Even with the lowly 230, the rear axle was so weak that in low range/first gear, the engine torque was higher than the rear axle was rated for and they routinely blew apart. I was under the assumption that the M715 had Lsd's front and rear: they did not automatically come this way but many had a rear LSD and/or both LSD. But in any world lockers > LSD's & open diffs. :brows: take a sawzall to a 360/t18/d20 J10 to put M715 sized 34's on it, spend $500 bucks to slip aussies in the front and rear D44's, and you have a better truck with $$$ still in your pocket. Better yet, take $5k and build a killer MJ that takes them both! Therre is a reason why full-sized trucks are rare in most 'wheeling places, and the m715 doesn't bend those rules.

Apparently a rare option with the 4.0/AW4/D44 rear w/towing package was 3.73 gears, but I'd say 99% were 3.55's. A factory 4.0/AW4 with 4.10's would be very very rare.

EDIT: I scored front springs and shocks. Still interested in control arms.

True, but how much of that stuff will still be working in 40-45 years? Even by modern standards simple can be > complicated. Very valid point

Some of these jeeps are neat, but have some serious fail to them: MK Patriot/Compass twins: they are Dodge Calibers for goodness sake! any factory 2wd jeep: By most people's definition, an automatic fail for "jeep" '84-'86 XJ Grand Wagoneer: 12 MPg V8 lucky to put out 130hp, bad x-fers, whitewalls, and 2.71 axle ratios. Plus you have to lift them a ton to get any tire on them 63-65 IFS Waggy 63-71'ish FSJ with D27 front and two-piece axle D44 rear any CJ with the horrible Ross steering and no brakes at all That YJ renegade contraption CJ with AMC 20 two-piece rear Anything unfortunate enough to have a pukegoat and a turdy five combo Honorable (?) mention: anything converted to a hummer/landrunner mess Some of these jeeps have some coolness, but as far as reliabilty and pure jeepiness goes....

Only sure way is to pull the cover and count the teeth. A good approximation: mark a point on the frame/floor/whatever and one inline on the wheel. rotate wheel until the two spots come back inline. about 3 turns-3.07. 3.5 turns-3.55. a little more than 4-4.10. Factory 4.0/AW4 ratio was 3.55

Personal preference. I like the more balance look and less overhang of the SWB, especially off-road. The departure angle of the LWB is worse and due to the longish wheelbase you have to lift it higher to have the same breakover angle as the SWB. Too each their own, especially as we all use our MJ's for different reasons.

Optima batteries developed a good rep, were bought out by another company and apparently cheapened, and are living off of their old rep until the new lower quality bites them in the keister. A little web search turns up plenty of reasons to not buy them: "...When the Swedes owned optima...quality was foremost of all at all cost. JCI is the company that KILLED optima batteries, they always had 99.99 pure lead until JCI bought optima. The first thing they did was: fired all of the on staff scientists, then fired all of the PHD's, then fired the chemists, then dismantled the chemistry lab, then dismantled the prototype lab, then got rid of the pure lead and replaced it with lead with higher tin content, then JCI brought in their genius engineers and re formulated the lead acid paste, then replaced the AGM paper with lower grade paper, ex cetera, ex cetera. All of this was done within the first 2 years of their ownership! . I am aware of some of the mfg practices being used specifically on the optima in mexico, and they are not conducive to quality!"

Judging old things by modern standards is fair if you are using them in modern times. If you are using them as museum pieces or as original condition collectables, that is one thing. But IMHO it is a poor choice to start with an M715 as a 'wheeler when for way less money you can make a bare-bones '79 J10 outperfrom it: they both need axles swapped in and a 360/T18/D20 drivetrain is superior. M715 axles: closed knuckle, weak shafts, few gears available, weird bolt pattern, freaky offset pinion, tubes thinner than most D44's, hugely expensive replacement parts like brake drums.... Everyone recalls the flat-fenders as being awesome go-anywhere wonderbuggies, but the reality of them was far less. The axles on my '45 CJ2 were underperforming even with the flat head four. when I swapped in a 225 and 32's, frame and spring strength where a real issue as was the tiny wheel base when trying to climb anything. Our memories of these jeeps are rose-colored. Anyone who lives anywhere near the rust belt nows the very serious weaknesses of the entire CJ line a swell as very spotty AMC reliability and crap like the CJ M20 rear and Carter carbs The stock new Dodge Power Wagon is better equipped and more capable than a stock M715 ever thought of being. Compare equipment lists and then search out off-roading videos. It is arguably the most capable stock 4x4 pick-up made for the 'wheeling most of use do ( the Raptor has its points but few of us do high-speed off-roading.) The fact that it can cruse at 90 MPH all day long while coddling the driver & passengers too/from the trail and towing far more is just gravy. Pricey? yes. But when adjusted to 1967 prices it is probably not much more than a decent 4x4 truck of the day and is light years ahead in performance and comfort. None of the vintage iron compares with its axle strength and the factory front/rear selectable LOCKERS, not limited-slip diffs like the M715 had. While an M715 was awesome in its day and when compared to other late 60's offerings, it is only awesome if you are trying to maintain late 60's performance.

as much as I dislike Crappa & JP, the list is actually pretty sound. the M715, for example, has early versions of modern axles that probably aren't as good as later 1/2 or 3/4 ton stuff. NO power. They ping the "cool" meter but...

Doing SOA with 2wd springs on rear that should get me about 5" of lift.

Where?

Not to hijack too much, but they have been very good at communication. I understand most places would not even begin to consider replacing the unit as I bought it NIB and uninstalled, but second-hand. If they do not cover it I will be understanding of that.