DirtyComanche

Make one out of Lexan for the time being?

If it's got more than one axle, locking a tire up doesn't do much if they're prepared. Lift that side of the axle, strap it up, and go. Same thing you do when you have a blowout and you're too lazy to change the tire (or out of spares). :rotf: My personal theft deterrent is that my trailer is in a field, and the grass is high enough you wouldn't know it was there without doing a flyover first. :thumbsup:

Glad you got it home and it will be saved. I was afraid it would wind up getting scrapped sooner or later.

I have Explorer rear disks on my truck. For comparison purposes, the rotor is 11" in diameter and 1/2" thick (vented). Shouldn't be vented... Unless you've bought fancy aftermarket instead of 'normal' stock style. Or do you mean drilled/slotted? Official numbers in the book at 11.25" and .470" thick, or something like that (nobody really agrees, I think it's because it's actually listed in metric and converted/rounded). A modern vented rotor is typically about 11-13" and 1.25-1.5" thick. There is exceptions, as there is some thin vented rotors on cars like the Lincoln Mark VIII, Mustang, etc (some are even 5x4.5 bolt pattern if you're interested). And there's some much bigger stuff used in front applications. There's probably smaller stuff used in front applications off of cars, but the question would be finding something with a hat large enough to accept redrilling/fit over the hub. The GM rotor that normally is used in this application is 12.8" and 1.28" thick. 1/3 of the thickness is mostly void space (no weight) as it is the vent area. Guys cut them in half at the vents, then turn the (previously vent are) face smooth. We dug up some rotors for a limo that are about .790" thick and 12.8" diameter, waiting for them to arrive to be weighed. I have my doubts that they're any lighter, as most of what has happened is the vent area is smaller, and they have a thicker hat to incorporate a parking brake drum. The K20 rotors most guys use are a front rotor, and they actually windowed the hat for whatever reason (airflow probably), so between that and the wider vent I doubt it weighs more. The small Isuzu rotor is only 10.3" diameter, or something like that, IIRC. Super small friction area, as the hat is the same size or larger than the comparable solid rotors. It actually would probably be a good choice if a guy was running 6 lug hubs. In short I doubt there is anything that exists that's really worth the hassle. The conclusion I am at right now is to not worry about it. I'm waiting for other ideas on hubs that don't cost a fortune, we're going to try weighing some and see what we can come up with.

And the easiest (and probably most reliable) option would be just a generic DRL controller that's wired to the ignition, if you can live with the lights being on in park/neutral.

Affordable, and looks easy to install. But the wiring diagram doesn't make any sense -- from the diagram, the lights would be on all the time. It's either as Hornbrod said, and it senses alternator charge due to increased voltage (turns on at 13V or so), or it is as I suggested and senses ripple current and turns on. Both methods do have certain risks, IE a system like GM's intelligent charge controlling might not trigger at all times if it is voltage sensing, or it may not trigger with certain 'smoothed' or low RF alternators if it is sensing ripple output.

This DRL "switch" is pretty cool, stand alone, and simple to install. It must work by sensing the increased battery charging voltage when the engine is started and keeps the DRL's on until you shut the engine off and the battery settles down to it's lower normal "at rest" voltage state. I can see this might be problematic though if your charging system isn't working as it should and/or if the your battery is dying. It might work on seeing the ripple output from the alternator. Kinda like the Soundracer. :rotf:

If you want them to only come on when in gear, it's pretty much what you said, wire them to be on with ignition using a relay, and use the grounding of the NSS to kill power to the coil/trigger in the relay (a transistor might be the cleanest option for that).

Yeah, it is, or should be. What year XJ?

As Eagle said, unfortunately that axle isn't much good for you. It's a 79 or older, I believe, and it's 64"~ wide. And it should be 6x5.5 bolt pattern. It's not a bad axle, it just doesn't match up well to anything that you probably want to do. It would pair excellent with a HP D44 front out of say a 79ish F-150 Supercab or something like that, which would be about 65" wide and driver's drop. You would need some Wagoneer knuckles/spindles/hubs for it though (or whatever) to make it 6x5.5 to match. But good luck finding one, and swapping it in would be a lot of work.

Trying to make budget 'race' parts. The typical brake swap for a full float axle is to use K-20 calipers and rotors. Both are overkill. So guys split the rotor and and run a smaller caliper, either from Wilwood, or a Toyota type of application (there's a few out there that can fit). It's a bit of a drag to do, but it does work. Otherwise, Explorer rear rotors actually will fit on an 8x6.5 hub, but it's marginal. The hat diameter is the issue, you have to grind a fair amount of the head off the studs in order to get them through. There is another way to do it, which would be to counterbore the hub and install the studs into it, and then bolt the rotor to the back of the hub rather than using the studs to retain it. Or you could do what GM did on the K-truck stuff and window the hat so there's clearance for the heads of the studs. But just weighing options and seeing if there's something easier. It isn't like the Explorer rotor is a terribly convenient starting point. Looking up the Grand Caravan ones, they're only about 1/4" larger in diameter than the Explorer ones, and given they're the same bolt pattern I'm not sure if the hat will be any larger. Unless there's an option I didn't try. I think a 6 lug application might be a bit better starting point if one exists. The Isuzu Trooper rotor is rather small though, otherwise it could have been a good candidate.

Does it still work?

Nah, I'm pretty sure it will fit. The one I had that didn't fit had #1 and #6 pipes turn towards the midpoint of the engine rather than turning downwards. It would have probably cleared fine on the 00+ intake, not even close on the Renix, and not quite on the early HO one. But you're going to have to try it. :cheers:

This is random. What's the largest solid (non-vented) brake rotor you've ever seen? Have you ever seen a solid brake rotor on a car/truck/van/whatever with an 8 lug axle (8x6.5 pref)? Scratching my head trying to come up with something close to fitting on something odd without going to a rotor and caliper that weighs way more than it needs to.

The pipes downturn pretty fast, so it hopefully will clear the intake.

Yeah, that's the built in trans cooler. :thumbsup:

I live in Prince George, winter ain't so cool (well, it is really cool actually, or cold), but there's an awful lot to do in the summer. :thumbsup:

Pretty certain that will be the plug for the trans cooler part of the rad, as 'almost' all rads come with the trans cooler in them and just have them plugged if you aren't using it. It's inverted flare, not much else uses inverted flare (nothing I can think of on an XJ/MJ, except brakes, which that is not).

I think WJ brakes are still the kinda only valid swap, and to me I don't see it being worthwhile because it's not exactly bolt on. The Grand Wagoneer is a very different animal as it is a fullsize (SJ) and the front axle in it is a 'more conventional' type with serviceable wheel bearings, external locking hubs, etc, and as said it's 6-lug. You can actually make these trucks stop well, just buy decent pads/rotors, make sure the proportioning valve is actually working, upgrade the booster, and make sure everything is properly bled and in good shape.

Bolt my throttle body up to the HO intake? Adapting the HO throttle body is the more better way. It's fairly well documented, you need to make some bits to adapt the TPS, you need a new throttle cable/bracket, and you need the fuel lines from the HO. That way you get a bigger throttle body, combined with the HO head you should make a noticeable amount more power.

Yes. Better off swapping to the HO head and intake though. Just don't buy an engine with one of the later (junk) 0331 heads. Or you could be lazy and just bolt the Renix intake to the HO head. Just make sure you use the Renix gasket if you do that.

Should be little checkvalve orifice thing on it, same as (better) butane lighters and such. I have the Weller (branded as Snap-On or Bluepoint) equivalent to that.

I had it go like that on a SBC one time. About the 4th time of doing it and not finding anything visibly wrong with the removed seal, I started looking for other issues. The crankcase breather was clogged and pressurizing the crankcase and blowing oil past the seal. Nothing wrong with any of the times I put the seal in. :doh:

X2. It's just a better product in the end, IMHO.

It's kinda funny because he's on Pirate, and can do amazing work... But has never mentioned that he has/runs/works for a shop or is a vendor. Guess there's a reason for that.