Mudtruck87

I broke almost everyone of mine. I just used new bolts with the large fender washers and I haven't had any issues yet. Was a fast and easy way to fix it.

Wow, that gave me a thought. If the truck is sitting level and you run the axle through the motion it makes sense that you wouldn't want it to rotate. What if it truck isn't level? IE.... it's climbing or decending.... then the truck wouldn't be level and if the axle didn't roll a little then it would be doing the up/down thing...... yet if it rolled it would do less of an up/down...... Did that make sense? or am I over thinking this?.......... :wall:

Just to jump here, I have a buddy who is really talented and builds a lot of his own stuff. Competely built his own Long Arm with four links (plus the trackbar of course). The reason he went with a four link was due to the rotation of the axle. I will try to explain it in words. Let's say you are climbing over something and the axle goes to full flex with a four link set up right the axle can't rotate forward, with a y link the axle rotates forward which means when you try to turn left/right your wheels turn more up/down. Did that make sense? With his rig on a lift, the axle was raised and lowered and top/bottom of axle stayed in proper alignment and never rotated "off axis" if you will. I haven't had the chance to watch a y link set up to see if it rotates. In theory it sounds good but we all know how that works. Is there someone that has a y link able to test this? My buddy stated that it took him hours upon hours to get the length of the arms right between the uppers and lowers. He is running a total of 6-8 inches of lift with 35's. Proper bumpstops so he doesn't eat fenders and he does have mad flex. Just curious........

currently running D30 with broken vac can on front and a D44 with a spool on rear. Axle is wore out at the seal so it leaks lube into the drum with all new parts installed. Thought of a lot of options. 2 1/2 ton rockwells would be a dream but I would settle for a set of axles like the ones under my '04 Dodge 3500 SRW Diesel. Already Disc Brakes, Heavy Duty and with all the abuse I have already given them they haven't failed me yet!

Is it sad to be waiting for a bearing to need replacing just so I can try the welding trick? The simple things in life :wavey:

I have learned to keep a few old discs around because the fit into tighter spaces. LOL With out a compressor though you could have a thousand discs and still be stuck.

if you have a grinder ... small angle or straight, for your air compressor just grind a diagonal line in the race till you are close to breaking through. Then with a chisel smack it in the grind line, or if you have a punch hit the side of the line which will make the race collapse into the line. I have then just pulled them out by hand. I hope that made sense. If not I guess I can take a pic. I have used this trick many times and as a matter of fact just 4 days ago. If you happen to break through the race and touch the tube just make sure you file/grind/sand the high spots. A high spot will make an irregular spot in the new race and a low spot won't have an effect. some times the grinding discs are too big to fit in the tube, using a disc that is nearly worn out will give you plenty of room to work in the opening of the tube. Hope this helps. :wavey:

Awesome truck! You are doing some real nice work. There is no question that the truck will look outstanding once it's back from paint.

87Warrior, my apologies. I didn't mean to bash the other Jeeps. After all they are all in the same family. My point was only to side with those who have gotten the "what in the world is that look" when we show up with our MJ's. I totally agree that there are many contributing factors to what happens on a trail. I guess I was just letting my love for my MJ run my mouth before it passed through the community friendly filter, LOL :doh: . I go trail riding with all sort of rigs and enjoy the fellowship. I have only seen about a dozen MJ's in my area. None of those MJ's are lifted so I get a little hyper when I have a chance to show off the MJ. :thumbsup: Again, I apologize to those who thought I was bashing...... I wasn't. I do admit that I am just a tad bit biased when it comes to my MJ P.S. TJ parts are still Jeep, if we let guys run Explorer axles I guess you're okay :rotf:

I will admit I fell in love with the look the first time my friend asked me to work on his Comanche. I even thought about offering to buy it. Just so happens that I ended up with it over 5 years later. I will admit that when I was turning it into my toy I had a "stupid" moment and thought I would eventually trade it for "the other style Jeep", however, My MJ is here to stay. When I first meet wrangler fans, the majority believe themselves to be superior over the MJ. When I confirmed my MJ was a Jeep to one guy he replied...... so is a Liberty but I wouldn't be caught dead on a trail with one of them....... After the trail ride..... instant RESPECT. To date I have out wheeled every wrangler I have gone with. To others I meet the compliments just roll in! Not only is it a JEEP it's better....... it's a COMANCHE!

When I restored my MJ I customized the floor so it's a flat surface. I used the duplicolor kevlar bed liner to finish it off. I stress this next statement MY MJ WAS BUILT WITH MUD AND TRAILS AS THE PRIORITY With that being said I installed a hole in the furthest forward and outbound corner of the pan to drain out water and mud when cleaning. ( I run as much as I can with my tube doors). The heat is ridiculous during the summer time on the trails. The previous posts of your feet burning have been confirmed, LOL. I accept it because it is a given that I will get mud etc in the truck and it is so easy to hit the inside with a soapy brush and let it drain out. If I were to use my MJ as a daily driver, doors on (cause we all know even with the windows down they have little to no draft inside), and the original floor with the reinforcement rail, there would be no questioning the installation of a sound dampening material and carpet. The floor mat idea is a great thing. I have oversized heavy duty rubber mats in my 3500 Dodge and the original carpet is still spotless after 100,000 miles (and yes it has seen it's generous share of mud and work) Hope this helps

sounds like this problem has been licked! Make sure to let us know how it worked out.

I'm trying to follow along. I guess you are using a floor style jack with a large surface plate? I would try a bottle jack. It should fit between all the U bolts.

Roger that! Thanks

How tall, probably tall enough that most would put me in the class of "what were you thinking". The thought of 38's running through my head, one ton axles (which would widen the foot print, giving more room at the backside of the tires). This whole idea is to be different then others more than perfect functionality. I'm not a leaf spring hater by any means. I can't be, I have seen to many rigs with amazing talent. As a confession, I am doing a spring over this month till the budget allows to do the triangulated set up properly.

Maybe less. They were about $12 per PAIR when I bought them, but I'm sure they've gone up. But that's per pair. When I ordered mine, after seeing 4x4 vendors getting $40 and up for so-so perches, I heard "$12" from the parts guru and I had to ask, "That's for one, right?" He said, "I don't know, that's the price for the part number you gave me." (I had the number from the printed Mopar Performance catalog, but the catalog didn't specify if it was one or a pair.) So I had him order two. When they came in, the boxes clanked. So we opened one box -- and out came two perches. Best deal in history, beyond a doubt. So what's the part number? I had a parts guy searching for 30 minutes till I gave up. Thanks

I agree that triangulated is the only way to go if you are going to do it from scratch and severe modification depends on what you are setting up the truck for. If you want the low center of gravity like all the rock crawler creations then yes the bed and all the other stuff has to be eliminated or radically changed. If you set up a truck for height then I think the bed and such wouldn't be an issue. The benifits of a 4 link are more than just articulation. They can be tuned for various applications. There are advantages to each and it is a personal choice much like plasma vs LCD vs LED. That is why I love this site, so many idea's from stock to radical and everything in between. Keep the idea's coming!!!!! My failure could be your thought leading to everyone's successful creation.

I have been reading up on it for a while and really thought about doing for no other reason than to be different. I will have to conclude that unless you really really need to....... It is better to just stick with the leafs. The Pro's I have found. It's cool, Looks good, makes a great conversation piece and if you are rock crawling every other day I would do it. The Con's I have discovered. Usually set ups are to keep center of gravity low, Leaf springs handle a lot of weight better if you still need to use your truck as a truck, The gas tank will be an issue. The bed and frame will more than likely need extensive alterations, a lot of time measuring and calculating proper link length and mounting and a lot of money to buy the right materials. The more I have researched the more I am leaning towards just doing a few easy mods to my leafs and run with it. Money is getting tight and it seems that as the years go by my spare time is less and less. I would love to see a true triangulated 4 link on a daily driver that wasn't turned into a truggy. Even if it wasn't mine first. I would imagine that once the first one has been built and all the info was posted others will be quick to follow. Keep the dreams alive!

Nice work, I love to see the old MJ's updated with all the modern technology. If my MJ was more of my DD then my off road toy I would ripping out the interior instead of posting. Thanks for taking the time to document all the modifications you made to get it all to work. Will help me if I ever decide to pamper my self off road in the future LOL. Great build!

I agree on how easy the headliner is to do. I got material from Wal-Mart (on clearance rack) 3M adhesive and had less than $10 total cost. I just pulled the headliner down scuffed all the old foam off and glued the new stuff on. I would venture to say it might have taken the same amount of time as organizing and "installing" all those pins LOL. I used a fleece type material which gave the appearance and feel of the original foam. Time and money well spent. Just a thought

Congrats. Keep up the great work!

honestly I didn't use anything to hold it up. I probably should have. It is wedged in really tight and through all the mud and trails it still hasn't moved I thought about puting a thin metal sheet above the head liner so that I could use some light screws to hold it up in the center. I might do that if I install a center light fixture. It's raining cats and dogs right now or I would snap a picture of it. Maybe if it lets up I will give it a shot.

keep it up! Looking good and with some nice ideas and upgrades. I loved the addition of the sound bar in my Comanche. When the doors are off I can still hear the tunes! Can't wait to hear how the motor is working on the street and off road.

Awesome build. Awesome MJ! Some great work and it shows. Positively a head turner. Keep up the good work as as we all know....... It never stops.... Look forward to the pages to come.

Nice truck and look forward to seeing what you have in store for "Mary Jane" I wonder what the hidden meaning is behind all these names...... Mary Jane, Missy Jean...........