tbrand

It will be a long time before I will be in the market for a new car, but when I am, I'll buy the car that fits my needs best. I don't care where it's assembled or where the company that made it is headquartered. When Chrysler was an "American" company, the LH and LX-platform cars were built in Canada. Ford is, by most accounts, an American company. The Fusion is built in Mexico. The Chevy Impala is Canadian as well. That's just off the top of my head. Plenty more of the small cars (Spark, Sonic, Fiesta, etc) are made in multiple locations. I don't think there are any more "American" cars in the "every step of production done in the USA" sense.

A buddy of mine works at a dealership that has a Rubicon with the Brute conversion from AEV, and a 5.7 Hemi dropped in for good measure. It's listed at $65k. A guy just called to offer $19k. Cash. Couldn't figure out why my buddy essentially laughed him off the phone. Now, around here, I suspect most of us would rather have a $10k beast of a Comanche and pocket the difference, but there's no arguing that the Hemi Brute is a heck of a rig. What's the worst low-ball offer you've gotten for something you own?

Petty Cash Racing runs a Cherokee in the 24 Hours of Lemons, which is an endurance racing series for beater rigs. Last time I heard, the AW4 transmission they use had been through 5000+ hard racing miles. It started out with 250k normal miles on it, and it's outlasted at least two 4.0 motors (which are not exactly dainty, themselves). I think you'll be ok with the AW4.

My interior's still blue, with the exception of the tan seats. I couldn't deal with the broken-down bench any longer. I like it - the blue is just a bit different than the gray/black interiors I see a lot.

It's out of a Triumph Spitfire.

I usually go for a week or three without seeing any, and then two back-to-back. It's strange. You'd think as popular as XJ's are here, that some folks would like the Jeep thing, but need a truck.

Mine on the right. Left him a card and a "sweet truck!" note. He left me a "Thanks! Still going!" note.

Another option (the way I did it, thanks to jpnjim's or someone's suggestion) is to pull the shifter and fill through that hole. Yeah, it's a pain, but it's better than trying to get at two stubborn plugs in the transmission. According to the interwebs, the 2wd Peugeot takes 5.2 pints (2.6 quarts) of oil, while the 4wd takes 4.9 pints (2.45 quarts). Buy 3 quarts and you'll be fine. EDIT: Just found this link while poking around. http://www.jeepforum.com/forum/f12/how-ba-10-5-tranny-fluid-change-write-up-652142/

I've owned a Taurus PT1911, a Springfield XD .40, and a Glock 17. I loved the way the 1911 felt in my hand, I loved the way it looked, and I liked the way it shot. However, after owning the other two, my personal preference is for a gun with no external safety. Lots of folks will have an opinion about it, but mine is, I want as few things to remember as possible, should I need to use the gun in an emergency. .45 is a little spendy to shoot, and reduces capacity compared to a 9mm or .40, but carries a bigger punch as well. The Glock is the gun I have now, and I carried it on an armored route for about a year. It shoots straighter than me, it's very easy to break down and clean, and you can find parts/upgrades anywhere. It holds 17 rounds, and 9mm is pretty cheap to shoot, so you can get good practice in at the range. It may have less stopping power than a .45, but what good is stopping power if you can't afford to put rounds downrange to practice? The XD is the favorite of the three I've owned - too bad I needed money a few years back and sold it. It felt a lot like the 1911 as far as shooting angle is concerned, and I liked the backstrap safety. It fit in my hand, it's reasonably light, and it's available in several different size/caliber combinations, so you can get the best fit for you. Springfield licensed the desgin from a Croatian company, where it's marketed as the HS2000 and is usually a bit cheaper. Get the compact/subcompact if you'll carry a lot, or get the full frame/tactical model if you want a bit more accuracy. Whatever you buy, pick up 500 rounds with it, and shoot. Practice drawing and returning to holster UNLOADED, so that it's muscle memory, should you ever need it. Practice dummy rounds are available to practice clearing jams and for adding realistic weight. Buy more rounds, and shoot more. Learn from someone who shoots better than you. tl;dr version: Try a bunch, buy the one that feels good, and practice.

I drove mine home 20 miles with a bad master cylinder. Use the starter to get going, skip the 1-2 shift and go straight to third - on my BA, second gear was a huge pain, and rev-match on the downshifts, and you'll make it ok, especially if this clutch/tranny is getting yanked and you just need to make it to the shop.

The Pub is the place for general discussion, introducing yourself, goofing off, etc. If you'd like to start a build thread showing your progress, that goes under the "Your Project MJ's" section. Any tech questions you have should each get their own thread in the MJ Tech section - that way, you're more likely to get answers from the folks who know. Not everyone gets a chance to browse through all the build threads, as there are a lot of them. Welcome to the MJ madness! Hopefully your rig is as rust-free as it looks! :cheers:

'01 Mazda MPV: 11 years '89 MJ: 23 years Average: 17 years

What package did you have to order to get the 120-mph speedo?

Well, yeah, buying cash is preferable to buying on credit, but our young gentleman asked about buying on credit.

I'd be careful about using a cosigner. If you can't pay the loan for any reason, your cosigner is responsible for the rest of the payments you owe. Pick someone whose relationship with you wouldn't be ruined if they had to take on $9k of your debt, if you absolutely must go that route.

The following is my personal opinion, gathered from my own experiences. Your mileage may vary. Any similarity to any actual person, living or dead, is entirely coincidental. All rights reserved. This may not be reproduce, re-transmitted, or rebroadcast without the express, written consent of the National Football League. Er, right. My thoughts. -I would be surprised if you could walk into a bank or a credit union and get a loan to finance that truck, as the lender will have a hard time getting their money out of the vehicle if you can't make the payments. Dealers will sometimes be willing to take a risk on someone, especially if they make a big profit on the initial sale, because they can repo the truck, clean it, and put it back on their lot. Banks have a lot more hassle to go through. -5.1% interest isn't great, but it's not bad for a first-time buyer on an older truck. And the credit pull probably only knocked 2-10 point off your score. The real danger is when someone goes from dealer to dealer trying to get financed, and gets his credit run ten times. -Don't forget to budget in money for insurance. In most states, a lender will require you to carry full coverage on a vehicle you don't own outright. I don't know what your driving history is like, but I saw prices for full coverage from $125/month (what I bought) to $250/month (my first quote) on a 2001 A4 back in '07. -You're a diesel mechanic, which should save you a ton in labor, but don't forget to save money towards repair parts you'll eventually need (or, let's be honest, upgrades you'll want to to). I'd suggest a minimum of $50/month for fixes, more if this will be your baby. -Once you ask about price (and especially payments) it's their sale to lose, so they'll push you for it. A buyer who isn't sure he can get financed anywhere is more likely to take an offer of financing from the dealership. If you know you can only afford $200 per month, stick to that. Walk out if they try to give you a $300 payment. -Figure out what you can afford (including gas, insurance, truck payment, and maintenance) and don't fudge the numbers because you want the truck. Nothing sucks more than your shiny new truck becoming a boat anchor on your finances because you lied to yourself about how much it would cost. Down payment will help your monthly payment be less. Whew... that's a novel. Hope some of it helped.

Wow... those look really, really good. I'm impressed with your work.

So one of the editors at Hooniverse got himself a Comanche not too long ago, and posted today about finding three in his local junkyard. It looks like a few of them have some good parts left. http://hooniverse.com/2011/12/11/hooniverse-weekend-edition-the-bump-in-the-night-edition/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+hooniverse%2FRrVl+%28Hooniverse%29&utm_content=FaceBook He's in Florida, near Daytona I believe.

I had a multimeter, but it has disappeared. Probably in a box somewhere, but 8 months after moving, there are still boxes we haven't touched. I may just go pick up another one at HF or something. They're not too spendy. I'll double-check the vacuum lines again.

So, my truck was typically idling around ~1250 rpm, and I finally had some free time to fiddle with it. I pulled the throttle body and cleaned it out thoroughly, as it was a mess. I reassembled everything the way it was and... now my idle is up around 1500 rpm. This is, of course, once I've gotten the truck warmed up. Immediately after startup, it idled around 1000 rpm both before and after cleaning. Ideas? '89 Renix 4.0 5-speed.

This may be a silly question, but how are your u-joints? Mine both went bad in the space of two months, and gave me all kinds of odd noises and vibrations.

I'm just glad you got yourself a new avatar...

Head over to the DIY Writeups section of the forum, and there's a whole thread devoted to driveshaft length. :thumbsup:

Whoops... Guess I'm on crack. I could have sworn that they said on TV the Cards hadn't won since the 40's. Shows you how much baseball I actually watch.

I'm pulling for the Rangers, but I'm happy to see either team win. Rangers have never won it, and the Cards haven't won since before my dad was born. At least it's not the Yankees. :D