reece146

If you plan to keep the Dana 30 do WJ brakes and steering. My Jeep feels like a slot car compared to Y or T link systems (I've driven them all). If you change to a 44 with proper cross over steering you effectively get the same thing wrt geometry.

Please don't ruin your beautiful truck by putting Bushcrackers and 35s on it. What size are you running now? I wouldn't go any larger than a 32 or 265/75-16. Keep the factory flares. 2¢

Thanks!

Does anyone know what top is on the green MJ at the bottom of this post? I don't think I've seen one like that. It seems to have the correct height to match the top of the cab's roof. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showpost.php ... tcount=160 I don't have an account over there and couldn't be bothered. Thanks.

Thanks guys.

My buddy gave me a call to say there was an MJ with a good tail gate at a local wrecking yard. My MJ never had a tail gate so I don't know what it required to remove it. I'm guessing there is not much to it but just in case... Do I need any specific tools or special driver bits or anything like that or is it just normal wrench work? Thanks!

I've read that the OM617 can get to a reliable 200hp/300tq range. Superturbodiesel.com would be the place to start researching.

Megasquirt.

Torrent?

You are driving a truck, not an aircraft - your cabin is not pressurized. The pressure inside the cab is the same as outside of the cab with the exception of high and low pressure areas caused by the aerodynamics of the vehicle at speed. I'd speculate the things you are seeing are due to other factors (poor roads causing accelerated metal fatigue) and the cab is already "worn out".

It's more of a geometry thing. Think of a square cardboard box. Try to squish one edge of the box such that one of the faces change from a square to a rhombus, it's pretty hard. Now cut a big hole in the same face and do the same thing... it collapses. If you only apply enough force to load the box but not to collapse it, say a million times, rips in the cardboard will appear at the corners of the hole you have cut due to cardboard fatigue. Same thing happens in the metal of the cab of any vehicle. I agree that some form of a roll hoop could help, provided it is designed properly and doesn't just cause other problems of course.

I really doubt the cracks are due to air pressure changes. Are you travelling on a lot of gravel and/or uneven roads? These cracks are most likely due to a lack of torsional rigidity AND the truck being flexed out semi-regularly enough to have twist occur down the centerline of the truck. General unpaved road vibration can cause it too. To fix them, drill a hole at the end of the crack. This will act as a stress relief so the crack doesn't go any farther down this path. Then weld the cracks up. Some say drilling the hole is not necessary since the welding process changes the metallurgy anyway but what does it "cost" to run a 1/8" drill bit through the end of the crack? Nothing, just do it. If you spend a lot of time with your unibody Jeep twisted up think about doing some stiffening to reduce the impart of torsional flex. 2¢

That's awesome. I should sell my S2000 autocross car to build something like that. I even have a carcass and VIN to work with. Rotrex blown 4.7 stroker should be good for 300hp/500tq before taking it above 5500 RPM, no?

I hadn't heard of the Edge Products CAI, module, TB kit before. I'm calling bull on their claimed performance gains. I won't believe it without an independent dyno plot showing before and after install results. Did some googling for reviews, reports, dyno plots, etc. They don't seem to exist. In fact, all the marketing bull out there on the product seems to dance around what vehicle the test results provided are actually for. They may get that kind of result on a Duramax or some other turbo vehicle but I'm pretty certain it does not apply to the 1950s tractor engine in a Jeep. For their asking price you are almost half way into a 4.[5,6] stroker build with real power. Save your money. 2¢

At this stage it is more important to find a rust free MJ than one with ChryCo electronics, especially if you are planning on swapping over EVERYTHING from the 97+ donor XJ. I wanted a ChryCo MJ to start with but ended up buying a `88 (RENIX) that appeared locally (imported from southern US). For your build don't bother with a Dana 44 front unless you are doing it for the fun of building a custom axle. The high pinion Dana 30 (non-disconnect) can easily deal with 35 inch tires and difficult wheeling if built properly. The question becomes whether you want to put that kind of money into a Dana 30, not whether it can put up with harder off-roading. For your situation a Dana 30 that has had the standard maintenance type stuff done to it and possibly a truss added will be plenty strong. The important thing with a Dana 30 is keeping the differential case housing from deflecting under load. This is what kills Dana 30s most of the time and a good truss will keep it from happening. I wouldn't waste my time with a Dana 44 front axle out of a TJ Rubicon unless I got it cheap. FWIW, my front axle in the XJ is a '30, ARB, 4.56 gears, WJ brake/knuckles, tie-rod flipped cross over steering, manual hubs, CrMo shafts, converted to 5 on 5.5" lug pattern, custom truss. The ultimate polished turd but it was mostly bolt together and will deal with much larger tires in the rocks than I run (265/75-16 or in other words roughly 32" tires). As for whether you can do the modifications/swap yourself... only you can answer that question but none of this stuff is that difficult for a focused guy that can be patient and take his time. From your post I'd guess you have both of those traits.

Normal. The harder it is working the hotter it will get (within reason). Cruising at 120-140 km/h gets mine quite hot. Aero drag is a huge load. Off-road does not.

XJ Cherokees never had a 258 crank. I don't know where you got your information but I would not trust that source with anything as potentially convoluted as building a stroker and sourcing parts.

The problem is likely your ProCrap shocks. That said, six inches on short arms is a bit much.

FWIW... and contrary to some of the other posts. My XJ is built as an "overlander" and I use it as a daily driver as well when the mood strikes (I have more than one "interesting" car). I've built it to be able to do moderate wheeling and return decent fuel economy for what it is. I also will start using it to tow my race car on a trailer. All the while being able to drive it across country without any issues like having to tolerate funky handling traits. I'm running 265/75-16 (~32x10.5x16), ~4.75" of lift with long arms, WJ front brakes and steering, selectable hubs, manual lockers, 4.56 gears, armoured up and stuff... I haven't done any cutting on the fender openings, but I have long bump stops and 16x8-5BS wheels that tuck. If I drive it gently and keep speeds under 60 mi/h I can just touch 20 mpg down here at low altitude with my pavement pounder tires mounted. I can easily drive this thing for hours on end and not feel any more fatigued than any "normal" car. I'm currently building an MJ the exact same way. I'm happy with the setup and don't have a reason to change it. The key is to know what you want out of the end product and to do it "properly". No kludges or billy-bob make do things. 2¢

MY00+ casting 0331 MY97[96?] - MY99 Casting 0630

With the windshield out is there any possibility of not getting the dash in the correct location? I am hoping to start mine in September, I need to replace the cracked windshield anyway, but I was concerned with placing the dash either too deep, too shallow, too high or low without having the glass to reference against. Worth being concerned? I figure it will be a lot easier to do this with the windshield out but...

This is the first time I have ever seen this problem on an XJ of this vintage, I've seen it on older chryslers from back aroudn 90-95 where the paint flaked off and left the bare body, but never on anything this new. My otherwise cherry 2000 XJ has this pattern of rust on the roof. My 2001 was starting to do this before I dealt with it as well. Typical Chrysler craptastic-ness.

No, it would just be another Jeep name/memory that Chrysler would be running into the ground via their extreme crapiness.

So it turns out that my order was cancelled because I had ordered one light grey and one dark grey. The web site indicated one dark grey in stock but I guess that wasn't accurate or it got bought minutes before I placed my order or something. I was able to go back and order two windows with solar glass so I'm good provided they have it in stock and it ships. FWIW, good service from the company when dealing with them on the phone and via email.

So I went to order two of those sliding windows today (one dark, one grey). Order was cancelled due to lack of stock. Bummer.