ryno56

Ha! I did the same thing when I was putting mine back together. The lower half walked off on me. It took me weeks to find one in a junk yard and then I found the original in a pile with the fender liners the next day.

I have the whole setup from a '98 in mine. Everything worked great except for the filler neck, it's a little low on the tank and I had to clearance (and then reinforce) the frame rail to get the filler hose on. Other than that, I didnt have to make any other modifications.

That's easier said than done I'm afraid. Junkyards around here are pretty slim pickin's for anything 97+. Will anything older than 97 work? I guess all it needs is a tank vent line and a vacuum line.

Does anyone have pics of where you mounted your vapor canister? I'm having trouble locating some appropriate real estate under the bed with a 22 gal dakota tank filling up most of the space.

Just wanted to jump back a couple pages... did you have to do anything inside the dash to get the double din unit to slide in? I'm seriously considering this over a flip-up single din.

Are you sure you have the right gate for a 242? What you describe almost sounds like trying to find 242 gears in a 231 gate.

Miles are longer than Km's. 50-70 Kms would be about 30-45 miles. I don't want to nitpick but also don't want anyone to get too excited.

:agree: What he said.

Every camper/trailer I've seen has the water filler on the outside. The only problem I see with putting it on the front of the bed is the road grime that will get all over it. Personally, I would put it there and just build a little box with an access door or maybe put in another fuel filler door for it. Nice work so far, I love this build. Any estimate on what it would have cost had you not come across all that stainless for free?

I'll chime in and steal some thunder... That is the stock bar that came in early Dakotas. It's pretty thin steel and was originally held together with some funky plastic clips. I don't know the specific years it came in but I had one on my 1990 Dakota. The later ones in that body style had chrome light bars that mounted on the bed rails. Looks sweet in an MJ. Any thoughts of bedlining the bar? I know mine had a problem keeping paint on the wheel well bars, but I did a lot of dirt road driving.

Neato!! I love gadgets and junk. p.s. you might wanna replace that seatbelt...

As a GENERAL rule of thumb, you can swap pretty much everything from the doors forward on an XJ.

I have heard stories of some housings that were not machined for a seal on the passenger side in CAD axles. Seems to be a crap shoot as to whether or not it would be. Most people that make this mod don't seem to have a problem. Maybe it's just a YJ thing...

Not only will XJ shafts work... they are exactly the same, and a dime a dozen at the JY's.

I've also got one in good working condition. I don't know the history but somebody painted it blue. I'll be using the handbrake from my '98 conversion so I don't need it.

I think they were Bosch, my late teens are a little foggy. They also had big plastic covers that said DAKOTA across the front. I was 19 so I thought they were awesome. One of the tabs was welded crooked from the factory and made the light tilt a little sideways, drove me nuts!

I wouldn't be too worried about the gap since the bolt holes sit mostly flush. I'd just use some big washers to spread the load out on the wheel wells. Are you going to run the wiring through the bar? I had that same bar when I had my '90 Dakota and it was a pain to get the wiring fed back through after I had it repainted. I remember the stock lights that came on the Dakota, they must have been like 6" X 9". Looks good though! :thumbsup:

MJ with plow; eBay. http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Jeep-Comanche-/280809804809?pt=US_Cars_Trucks#ht_500wt_1182

Just posting a link. http://www.autopartsway.ca is having a contest where anyone who links to their website is automatically entered in the contest to win GC's and private coupon codes. This is a good website for many auto parts with reasonable shipping IN CANADA. Thanks for looking.

Congratulations on the new job Ryan! I hope everything works out for you. Glad you can keep your '88! :thumbsup:

AKA: tan

Right! I knew I should have looked it up first.

Build date of April 14, 1992 "There was a riot on the streets, tell me where were you..." Seriously nice work. Interested to see the rest of the build. I believe that was April 26... Just sayin.

Sorry Pete, you beat me to it.

Some fabrication is also required to get the XJ rear axle under the MJ. The spring perches are at a different width as well as the shock mounts being different. It might look close, and it will go in, but you'll tear up spring bushings in a hurry.