Spinnakerblue89

I find the autocorrect stuff to be hilarious, especially when the person tries to correct it and still fail.

One really should invest in a decent plasma cutter for situations such as this, I suppose.

Was it ever confirmed that a 2-door XJ seat belt will fit and work perfectly for the MJs?

I really don't like reviving such old threads, however, I certainly will not be the last person that runs into this issue, and since the question will inevitably be searched up by a future MJ enthusiast, I would like to say something regarding this advice for those who stumble upon this thread. This is the best thing I've read. Let me put it into perspective, if you're stuck on the lower seat belt bolts. 1. This bolt is in a prime spot to not only rust and completely seize up inside the body. The heads by now may be so rotted that no Torx T50 will get a good grip (mine sure we're). And to top it off, I seeing comments that from the factory these bolts were applied thread locker- making them that much harder to remove. 2. The bolt may be so frozen that welding a nut onto it and torquing it may just shear the bolt itself- happened recently to a friend of mine on his truck, actually. So if none of the advice given works. Easy out makes things harder, drill bit hates the ultra hard steel, candle wax won't budge it, liquid wrench doesn't wrench anything... Then you'll be in the same boat that I was. So I used a metal-cutting oscillating saw to hack off the bolts flush with the inside of the truck. Cleaned up the rust, and did exactly what Pete above suggested. Because in the end, it may save time, money, sweat, blood, KNUCKLES, and heartache. Will it it be like it was new? No, and your truck certainly isn't at this point anyway, so save yourselves some agony and just drill a new hole next to the old. There are some battles not worth waging, and some hills not worth dying on. Harsh, but true.

The AZ bit is so true. In 2015/2016 I lived in Flagstaff and frequented Phoenix. I'll always live with the painful reminded of what happened to my thighs as I had to drive a 2004 Mustang GT with charcoal leather seats and the whole car was dark gray in and out. Sage, sage advice.

This is excellent information to have, thanks Eagle!

I saw something about four, maybe five years ago that had me scratching my head. It caaaaame from Wal-Mart!!!! I was driving by the local Wally World, had to stop at the intersection direction in front of it. As I'm waiting for the light to change a different shade of green and go, I saw leaving the parking lot, a 1980's/1990's Chevy Monte Carlo with the following: Ahem... Spray bombed top to bottom a matte black, with various shapes and figures in neon orange all over it. A plow-like design affixed to the grille- yes the grille- the same black color. Shaped like one of those wooden sticks the doctors uses to check your mouth with, and it had three long black spikes protruding our from the front- likely spray bombed traffic cones. Aft the B-pillar was chopped, so it was basically converted into a ute. The rear bumper had so many long antennas on the top of it, and it looked like an aftermarket rear bumper you'd see one someone's 4x4 rig. Also, it looked like between the rear bumper and the bumper guard, there were a series of used shock coils... The tires were hideous. Plasti-dipped in (I think) red, had stickers all over them. I know I saw a Wile. E. Coyote sticker... The hood had large air scoops on it. And I think that's about it... From the outside at least.

In all honesty, fresh faces aren't inherently a bad thing. I have a lot to say about the current ownership, leadership, and engineering in the Jeep brand, some for better, some for worse. Incidentally, I'm not of the view that radical, extreme, and colorful concepts need to be the focus for any product. I get a lot of comments at my work about concepts from all sorts of brands and when I see more conservative or more mellow concepts, I can't help but smile believing that said company doesn't want to cater only to one mindset, the extremes!!!! But that's just me. My favorite Jeep concept was probably ten years ago with two-door Wrangler-based pickup. I would rather have that, myself. However, hindsight being 20/20, there are times when I'm driving the Pioneer or my '88 Ranger, and I could use the extended cab of a new truck...

I would like to throw my 2 cents out there. Currently I am doing a water pump+heater line replacement on my '93 ZJ Laredo, 4.0. I have the GMB kit from Rock Auto that I closed the fan clutch too. I ran into a snag when I was putting the water pump together on Sunday and haven't gotten back to it due to work and a recent freeze (thanks, March...). Apparently, some of the water pump replacements have tapered (pipe) threads, so unlike the original water pump, the inlet hose nut won't fit flush against the unit. I don't know if the 2.5 i4 uses the same part or not but keep in mind that if the procedure is the same as it is for the 4.0, don't get hung up on the inlet pipe not threading on the last 1/3......... ...... So I'm told. If anyone else with experience has any advice to the contrary let's hear it!

All very valid points and another good reason to listen to the words of those who ventured before me.

I was just recently considering the notion of foregoing brand new rocker panels in favor of rock sliders. My rockers are totally shot, so bad even the bottom of the door is shot. But... I don't have 4x4 and I don't plan on taking the Pioneer out on any trails any day soon. I wonder if rock sliders would be work it? I dunno, part of me feels that because it's likely to be tougher steel it's probably a better idea. Let me know if I'm crazy.

PART of the reason I'm hesitant is that I'm also considering a conversion to floor shifter. I've read up on it and it's not a hard process, I don't think, but part of me also wants to keep the Pioneer as it is because there's no good reason to actually convert. Everything works as it should. But at the same time, I hate, absolutely **hate** column shifters. I've got a shoulder angel and a shoulder devil when it comes to this.

I've thrown my order in! What a logical and significant upgrade, might I say.

Appreciate the info. I had my column shifter looked at back in Sept. '22 as the needle was missing. Haha, the fellow who did the work on my steering column told me that the part to fix it was either going to be $440 or I can find the part from an old GM steering column... I digress, that's an issue for another day.

I'm intrigued as I've been blessed with a column shift setup. Are these difficult to find? Are they GM parts? You seem genuinely bummed about this.

It sounds like it is an uncommon option to find today.

Appreciate it. For now I'm just exploring the idea, I stumbled upon this thread as I was searching for ideas to fix the rear window- it has no handle. Luckily my local JYs all have a plethora of old Rangers and F150s also.

That was another thought, since scrapyards seem to be chock full of Cherokee in my neck of the woods.

Drats. So goes the world!

I was wondering: Could the wire harness for the bed light be used to power a device for rear window defrost?

I have a red 1988 Ford Ranger that came with a topper when I bought it a few years ago. It's actually an S-10 topper according to the PO, and it's just slightly too long for the Ranger, but is compensated for with padding. I have no use for a topper, I bought the truck to haul things with such as furniture and frequently the topper gets in the way. However, I haven't removed it yet because the PO installed a CB radio antenna on it and I haven't given any thought yet on where to put it. When I do get around to it, I'll see if it fits the Comanche. Unless measurements may be enough?

I watched the video posted above and found the results to be enlightening. Look, the thing I'm reading is that POR-15 may very well have been considered the standard at one time, but since then it has undergone ownership change. New owners often down share the exact same vision, philosophy, passion, or instinct of the previous, so it's easy to understand that at some time, the formula changed. I do wonder if applying an epoxy primer over second or third layer of the recommended treatment (per the video) would give the the finish a tough-as-nails shell? Might that be worth a try?

I saw one a few months ago where a customer with a Fusion states the car won't move. The technicians proceeds to remove countless walnuts from every possible corner of the exterior of the vehicle.

I did a lot of research into this sort of thing because the underside and interior of the Pioneer will be given some form of treatment soon. I do occasionally visit Ranger and Rover forums, as well as other Jeep forums and I lurk the F-Series pickup forums for general tidbits. I keep seeing products by PPG being mentioned. I forget the name of the exact product but one recommendation I kept receiving was for a product I think called Omni170. Any word on this option?

Thanks, Cruiser. Makes perfect sense to me!