zagscrawler

I'm no expert but the price seems fair...but i do question the whole cut it in half thing. Is he going to cut it at the collecter and weld all the tubes together then reweld the collecter back on? is that what you mean? Ive done tons of welding in my time and get a little scared rewelding up cracks near old welds, the problem or crack will most likley move down next to your new welds eventually. I mean i doubt there was anything wrong with the old tubes or welds but some other stress caused it to break in the first place. I would look also into relieving the stress that caused the prob in the first place (bad motor mounts, trans mounts or missaligned in the first place and just bolted together to get back on the road kinda thing). I guess what I'm trying to say is that you may save some bucks with repairing the one you have but it might not last long with out further inspection of key elements. Oh and I'm not sure if i would trust someone to cut off a flange like that and just eyeball it going back together and expect everything to bolt back up with out any stresses. Not sure if that helps or not but good luck with it what ever you do. :wrench:

Sure does Garvin. Thanks man. This is the kind of feedback i need right now. My wife wants a boat more than she wants me to have a jeep so this has to be right the first time, specially since I'm trying to finance both atm. To be honest with ya ive been on trail with my buddy in his dana 35 having cherokee with 35's and cromo shafts and had such a blast. I'm kinda gauging everything off this. wait i lied he has a chrystler 8.75 in the rear i think, but he has had breaks and he swears he will go anywhere that the rigs with 37's will go. He may be a little full of shyte but i had fun let me tell ya. So i know its real hard to guage what i expect out of this bad boy but i hope to be able to fallow him and maybe some of the harder hitters to be honest. not sure if this bit of info helps you help me but thats kinda my direction for now. So as a general opinion i should find a way to use the dana 60 in the rear since its available ( still wondering on price tho) and beef up the d44 front to match hub and lug? or is the low pinion a breaker in the front if i want to put close to 7" of lift in it? Again I'm sorry if I'm beating something that has been beaten before but I'm drooling for more info.

Hello all, ive been looking under my front end for an hour or so and can't seem to find the obvious culprit for this funny noise ive got. It sounds like a loose bracket of sorts, kinda like metal on metal but with a spring flip flappy vibation, only happens when i hit bumps in the road or speed bumps. Its not on a flex more of a small jar to the front end that makes it happen, kinda like a licsence plate rattle when a fool has to much subwoofer in his f..... honda but more metalic. Sorry for the long winded explanation but I'm new to these trucks and TMI can't hurt right. I know the ball joints and pretty much all the greasable joints are very very old but only the ball joints seem to have any noticable play and when i grab the steering links, via tie rod ends, they twist a bunch but have nice resistance but they also smack the dust cover for the disc brakes and ting bad enouph to remind me of the sound. The suspension is fully loaded when i do this so I'm sure its not a true test of the joints but maybe this is common with older joints in these things. oh and when the tie rod ends ting the dust cover its not left to right play its just in the natural twist of a tie rod end. Oh and most of all I'm sure to tell yall its a 2x4 font end still, need to keep it going till i gather all the right parts to complete the build. Again i can't thank enouph for the patients and understanding of you guys so far and hope to not wear it out my welcome. Zag

Thanks for the clues on the wheel base. I love your avatar. That is the exact jeep i own lol pin stripes and all, tho i plan on ditching them sooner or later. I imagine the rear won't be as big a pain to figure out as the front as far as lift goes. All i really have to base any knowlage on are my buds cherokees and ive got a strange ? for yall. Are the MJ's narrower in the cockpit than Cherokees? i don't seem to have the room or at least it feels like I'm closer to the passanger in this thing. One last noob question for the night.. i think. I might be wrong but sure looks like my MJ has a longer wheelbase then my friends cherokee's, if I'm right are there any real advantages to that or is it more of a disadvantage, like high centering and such? Basicaly will i be at a handycap trying to play fallow the leader?

Ya i do intend to regear the diffs and still need to do some homework before i decide on the ratio's. I can get both front and rear d44's for around 300 bucks and only the rear d60 for 300 bucks.. do those prices sound fair? Thanks for bringing the miss matched hubs to my attention. I think i would rather just swap in the d44s as long as they will hold up ok to at least 35s and minor engine upgrades, still needs to pass emissions down here. Plus ive seen comments about the 44s having more clearance at the pumpkin such. I don't plan on doing any kind of crazy competing but there are some knarly trails near hear and don't want to be snaping stuff all day you know :D A couple of my buddies have cherokees and was wondering how much of the lift kit and suspension mods from there trucks i can copy for my MJ. Thanks for all the help so far and to come. Oh and also how do i know if i have the short wheel base or the long? Ive not seen to many of these around here to compare. And ill also look into the trans type. Any call letters or stampings i can read on it to tell which it is?

New to the site and would love some advice. Ive got an 88 MJ 2x4 and with to convert it to 4x4. Ive got a rear dana 60 from a one ton ford and also front and rear dana 44's from 88 jeep grand wagoneer. Not sure on the best combo between these or if i should look for some other axles. I am well versed in fabricating and have access to a full machine shop as well if that helps. I think i can also get my hands on a manual 5 speed with transcase out of a (86-90 not real sure :???: ) cherokee if i need to swap out the trans as well. Thanks in advance for the help. Forgot to mention that i would probably be running 35 but don't want to be scared to jump to 37 if i decide later.