skidoo_j

You're probably not done with your how to thread but I was wondering... with that large nut on the back side did you have issues re-installing it?

You're saying they commit fraud by substituting counterfeit parts and selling them as the originals? I've ordered from rusty's in the past. Between two vehicles and a few orders there was one mis-shipped item, they corrected it with a bit of discussion and argument over who was paying for shipment of wrong part sent and correct part, I did win after I threatened to let my Credit card debate payment. I've been happy with their products, they've seemed well built and hold up fine. My brother has been running a rusty's setup for 5+ yrs. I however think their shipping prices are crazy and if you shop around alot of times their shipping price makes them more expensive then jks or bds. I've seen they now sell comanche specific lift kits, I'd be cautious of their rear leaf packs, they seem like they may not be made well, when i called to find out specs they couldn't provide them at the time. I've ordered from quadratec, nothing but praise. Ruffstuffspecialities again praise. And most recently 4wd.com. Their shipping was free, I received a discount, purchased JKS arms (after shipping less than rusty's), i received 90% in 3 days and did receive communication regarding status of the remaining. I ordered parts from JCR and they were drilled incorrectly, I contacted them and sent dozens of photos to illustrate the incorrect holes, was told "we sell 100's of those a day and you're the first to tell us they have problems, maybe a comanche is different" I modified them my self and made them work then later found 4 other people who had the same issue, they however never contacted JCR. So i took the liberty and wrote them again with the order numbers of the friends who had same issue and never heard back. It's possible their jig had shifted since it was originally laid out. I would not have a problem ordering from any of the companies in my past personal purchase history. They've made a few errors, but they did correct them. I'm just persistent.

It's a sad day when you have to part with something that you've put so much time in. It's definitely one of the nicest ones we've got on here. Hopefully the new owner treats her as well as you have. Oh I didn't see if you mentioned your one of instrument cluster on the ad.

not uncommon. I've had several female friends pay 20 for labor to replace tail lights. I had a friend with a 2005 toyota corolla pay 75 dollars to replace her cabin air filter. Needless to say while she was driving telling me about it I was laughing so hard. She asked why i was laugh so hard and pulled her cabin filter out and back in in under 2 minutes while going down the road. And told her the filter its self is only $10.

Do a craigslist search. There are about 10 in oregon off the i-5. From 200 dollars for one with no drive train, to 5k for one that looks like it's near new. one that's in seattle that's a good project. i think it's cody's on here.

Be sure to get the hinge too. No personal experience with this swap, but IIRC the hinge is different too.

so both sets of measurements you are providing are altered suspensions? i'm conflicted on how your xj with 3.5" lift and 1" longer arms has the same t/c yoke to axle yoke measurement as 2" lift with stock arms. there should be close to an inch difference from the arms as the front of an xj and mj are identical and you listed both tranny and transfer as the same. what is your "new" shaft from?

I'm not changing my drive train. I've lifted the front about 4.5" plus i have adjustable control arms and I'm sure they're longer then stock to maintain the correct angles.

Yes i need the measurements. I'm going to try and source a driveshaft at my local yard. But they only give in store credit on a return. My stock manual shaft is in there and works, but it's close to 2.5" of exposed shaft. I don't' have a ramp to see if the suspension stops before the shaft pulls apart, so i know the auto being longer would be better but if i can get one that's perfect i'd rather. Hence why i need a stock reference for the axles other than collapsed length.

Would someone be willing to crawl under their stock rig with a 4.0 auto or manual and measure the front drive shaft. Just let me know from where to where you measured. It's important that the weight is on the truck. If there isn't enough room for you to get under it for a full yoke to yoke measurement you could measure how much of the shaft is exposed. I think even that would be helpful knowing what powertrain combo it has. I'm just looking for a point of reference. Thanks in advance.

Received my IPF housings today, not as impressed. I'll see once i get them installed. The lens doesn't seem very thick, and it almost feels plastic.

Yes. So that's why people say it's not much better then a hp d30. The rubi 44 is low pinion and has d30 shafts, and knuckles... so really the only gain is a stronger carrier and the ability to get lower range gears.

That's how I measured for mine. One thing I suggest though look for ones with a larger travel, atleast 10". Once the new shock is installed i remove the spring and see if the shock is going to bottom out and adjust my bump stop accordingly.

Pulled and cleaned the cowl, painted the wiper arms, vacuumed the cowl opening area up to the cab intake. Hey the air doesn't have just a dirt smell in the cab now :)

what just happened. hornbrod had responded and not its gone...

Damn I wish i had known this about a month ago. I passed on an elocker that was the lower carrier for 150. damn damn damn. so the d44 in the rubi is a low pinion?

Okay the lengths of the drive shafts can be obtained through dana spec sheets. But the information they list on their sheets are the collapsed lengths. According to the dana spec sheets the collapsed lengths roughly are 29" for manual and 30" for auto. What I'd like is the stock resting length. I've measured my flange to flange, but this number seems to only be relevant when building new as factory Drive shafts are listed by collapsed lengths. So I'm trying to see if a drive shaft from an auto that's 1" longer is correct for my truck now. But because i never took my original yoke to yoke measurement prior to the lift I don't want to assume and waste money on a too long or too short shaft. I'm looking for the length from centerline cross at axle to centerline cross at transfercase with stock suspension, on a xj/mj with 4.0 manual and/or auto. I'm hoping if i have one of those measurements i can atleast determine how much i've changed my current length and if i need to look to another vehicle for a front shaft. the only other way i can think of to get a good length would be to remove my front coils, and let the truck rest on the bump stops, measure center to center and subtract like 1/3" for rebound and then find a front shaft from the dana's factory chart that way. and then go find the vehicle in the JY. Unless someone knows what the standard deduction from yoke to yoke to collapsed length is. (yoke to yoke) - ?????? = (collapsed length )

Is a "thick cut" set of gear as strong as a standard set? I've read on this forum that Rubicon's use the 3.07-3.73 carrier with a thick cut 4.11 gear set is that correct? Are there "thick cut" gears for the D30 as well? I guess this question is moot if the answer to the second question is yes, but is it safe/advised to use a "thick cut" gear set with a locker?

In my area used alloy jeep wheels sell between 15-50 a wheel. It depends on condition and quantity. 200 for a set of 5 wheels is fair here with minimal to no rash... I bought my canyons for 125 for a set of 5. if found at a scrap yard they're like 12 dollars each for weight. and if at the wrecking yard probably 15-20 each.

I would run mine upside down if the light bevels would match. I personally think it looks better that way.

spring perches, and u-bolts. I also added new shock mounts welded to axle but you can modify and use the oem plates.... and new shocks. you'll have to measure for length as what you get depends on where how you mount the axle end and if you keep the factory mount on the frame. I used ones from a company called http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/cat ... pKits.html they're a bit expensive, but they were the thickest steel i could find, and the perches are some of the longest i found (helps reduce axle twist. I did grind the cut out deeper when doing mine because i wanted to minimize the lift. Good luck. there's ton's of people that have done it on here already .... take a few minutes. I think i even have several posts when doing mine of what i did. others are way more detailed. search d44 SOA

You can measure your current ride height, and if it DOESN'T match the factory spec you know your springs are sagged. Top of axle tube to bottom of frame rail. 9.2" +/- 1/2" for 4WD, 8.2" +/- 1/2" for 2WD. Eagle you're correct, and I even posted that prior :( late night and tired i guess. it is much more notcible through when you pull them off and take the eye eye center measurement. I remember what my thought process was though last night Because he's SOA and just kept thinking it wouldn't work, now this morning after sleeping : the measurement procedure of top of tube to bottom of frame rail must be modified to be used with SOA, you must subtract the diameter of the axle tube and height of the original spring perch, the height of the new spring perch and I'm thinking even the thickness of your spring pack from your measurement. to get it back within a factory comparable number I suppose by using the arithmetic you just posted in the other thread about Metric Ton springs it would be easy enough to convert the factory's top-of-axle-tube number to a top-of-main-leaf number, which could then be used as a standard for both SUA and SOA evaluations. So we would take the 9.2" to the top of the axle tube, add the tube diameter plus the offset from the bottom of the tube to the perch mounting surface ... and that's the distance from a stock spring to the frame rail. That number can be used for SUA and SOA, as long as the spring mounting points haven't been altered. Very true, but Mine are long gone and could not generate the measurement. And it would only be usefull to determine how saggy the springs were. It maybe something that could benefit over in the "how to measure ride height" sticky in DIY

here's some info from previous threads: Oh and later in the thread they go over how free arch is not directly related to ride height because of the spring rates and the varying thickness of steel. I took it only to measure when i took a set off at the junk yard to see how bad they were.

To tell if these are actual factory metric tons, assuming they are not installed you can measure their free arch. this is the distance from a line running from eye o eye to the spring pin. stock springs both non-metric ton and metric ton are around 9" plus minus 1/2" or so. Here are factory specs on metric ton In another post somewhere someone also posted the specs of all the known factory leafs by part number.

It's possible for people to get almost 6" of lift with a SOA conversion with non-metric tons springs. Going SOA is similar to a block lift. If you're trying to figure out how much lift you will receive from an soa measure and ad, the diameter of your axle tube, the thickness of your oem perch, the height of the new perch (this is where people can gain additional lift) and the thickness of the spring pack. That is where the lift in the rear comes from when doing an SOA. When a non altered truck has a metric ton pack the ride height is the same as they are Spring Under the axle, so the aditional leafs in the metric pack have no influence on the main leafs position only carrying capacity. When SOA converted the additional leaf and thickness of leaf will increase the lift vs a non-metric ton spring set. hellcreek springs does use one of the metric ton (4+1) design to manufacture 3" lifts while maintaining SUA. I however do not think they still metric ton rated. IIRC hellcreek's official Metric ton springs are the 3+2 design and are sold as stock height. When i personally was looking for new leafs, HELLCREEK was the only manufacture that I found that was using steel that was OEM or better in grade, and were the only ones using steel from US manufactures. There is a reason they're 230 a side vs 230 for a set. Anyone on here that has a hellcreek lift or Metric ton springs loves them.