AverageJoe10

Thanks for checking in man! I apologize for the lack of post as my life has been very hectic the past few months. Jeep is doing absolutely phenomenal! I'm actually incredibly impressed with how well it's doing. I use it to commute into Portland, (which is 35min away from where I live) almost everyday. I've been putting a decent amount of miles on it and it seems to be loving it haha. I think one of my favorite things about moving here is that I have at least one person everyday rolls their window down to tell me how cool it is to see an old jeep truck still driving around! Mainers definitely respect the old trucks around here! Unfortunately I haven't had a whole lot of time to work on the truck because I've been so busy at work but I'm hoping come winter time I'll be able to buy another car to commute in during the salt season and then hopefully find a local shop around here that I can work on the truck. We shall see.

Ah gotcha. Sounds like the right way to do it I'm sure she's going to handle great on the trails! Haha well the pictures fooled me! Honestly it's mostly because I compare my MJ to yours and my MJs paint job is pretty rough to say the least Nice to see updates of your progress. Looking forward to seeing more!

Glad to hear the suspension is working out How does she handle in the dirt? Your truck makes me want to repaint mine black instead of going back to red. Your MJ just looks so dang clean

Put on hold for the moment since I just moved but I'm hoping to get to it soon after I'm settled in!

Thanks man! Yeah I'm hoping to start applying for an auto shop here pretty soon. Don't know if I'll get lucky with another cool boss to work on my stuff but we shall see!

Just a little life update. I just moved from Boulder, CO to Portland, ME. Very excited to be living in New England. My girlfriend got a great job opportunity up here that she couldn't pass and it wasn't hard for her to convince me to come with as I love it up in New England. The other good news is that I couldn't abandon the MJ so I towed her with me! She did great! Lots of miles between Colorado and Maine but she towed behind with no problems. I also removed the rear driveshaft and put on the old tires and wheels in the rear to prevent less wear and tear Only downside to all of this, as many of you guys know, is the whole rust situation. Thankfully I've got some time to prep the truck before the salt starts showing up on the road but definitely something I'll have to address soon. Possibly a winter daily to drive? Idk if the GF will be on board with another car but we shall see lol.

Neat trick for the hose holder! Crazy that little things like that make the engine bay look so much cleaner. Great job

I'm definitely lucky enough to have a cool boss who lets me use the shop I work at, to tinker with my own toys on the weekend I like the way you think! Would be nice to actually see some results from hard abuse, where failure points happen, how long it last, etc. I've researched more into it and apparently they are common for spun pinion bearings and bent axle tubes. I used to work at a gear shop and we used to have a method for spun bearings. Maybe if that happens to mine I can try that old method. Also trussing because of the weak center point for that matter too. Regardless I'm definitely gonna give her a go and see how she holds up. Ain't no harm in that!

Thanks man! I'm excited to how it's already turning out. As for the axle, like you said maybe I'll need trussing something in. But we'll see. I appreciate that advice. To be completely honest I didn't know they were looked down on so much. But hey since I already have it all mocked up I'm just going to run it and see what happens. I'm safe on a couple of accounts, one being 31s is the biggest I'm going with tires and two being I have no desire to wheel this thing hard. I want it for more of exploration and mild dirt trails so I can't imagine braking the axle in some way but that doesn't mean it can't happen Like I said I'm just going to run the setup and if I have issues with it I'll excess once I cross that bridge!

Awesome man! Sounds like she's handling really well. She's ready for some track time like the street Comanches

Sweeeeeet upgrade man! I'm very close to getting a D44 swapped under mine as well! Have you driven it since it's been swapped? How's it feel with a rear sway bar?

Your truck looks great man. Really love the overall look you're going for

It is. Aluminum housing

Picked up a rear Dana 44 w/ disc brakes out of a grand Cherokee. 3.73 gears too so it'll match the gearing of the front axle that I put in for the 4wd conversion. Cut and sanded her down.... Then I mocked her up with new perches, tack welded while suspension was loaded on ground, pulled the axle back out and finished welding the perches I still have to rebuild the brakes on this as they are very rusted but that shouldn't take too long. I have the original hard brake lines and calipers too, that I'll install once cleaned up Excited to installed it and get rid of the wimpy Dana 35. I have no desire to put any money into the current rear end. It'll also be a bonus to go from 3.55 to 3.73 gears

Beautiful rig! Any chance you'll trade your bucket seats for a bench seat? lol Interior looks great