DirtyComanche

Do a 4wd swap first.

I thought he was well enough toasted that they'd consider it? Maybe if he hits a tanning salon? :nuts:

I don't even know the price here... Just that the dodgy takes about $200 even in diesel. Which is about $80 or $90 more than when I bought it.

:???:

They ain't the best. Like to explode. Kinda clunky. But they're cheap.

I think they set up the contest this way so people would sit on the page and refresh it... The ad at the top has a counter, I'd think. More counts, more revenue... Or they're just stupid. I threw in a few votes.

There was a saying about the detroit ECTEDs 'At least it functions like a true-trac when it stops working'. True-tracs are a pretty good unit for a mild wheeler that sees street, winter conditions, and occasional wheeling. I still have one on the shelf to go into whatever I deem worthy of it (the current XJ probably, if things go downhill like the will). I like them way more than a clutch-pack LSD, as once they get hot they don't work at all. Which typically happens if you're spinning your tires trying to get through something. But if you're to wheel it hard or often, buy a real locker.

Stupid mod. I've got in this arguement at jeepforum too (yeah, awesome). There is NO POINT. If the closed system is in good shape, it will work well, better even. And it won't fail. If it's in bad shape, it won't work well, and it will fail. Hmm. So, how about the open system? Same deal. Just not as effiecent about it. Typical scenario... Jeep overheats. Owner blames cooling system design instead of 16-20years of neglect. Owner swaps neglected parts to good ones doing the conversion. The cooling system actually works. Owner's logic rules that the open system was obviously better. But I would upgrade the bottle if I had an old/crappy one. But, I JB welded the last old/crappy one I had and it ran for quite a long time after that. And to bleed a closed system, you really just need a hill.

Not worth much... I took some helicopter blades (time-x'd) to the scrap yard here, about 2000lbs worth. I think they gave us $800 or so (it's not clean aluminum however, so it's a very low rate for aluminum). I took in about 1600lbs of steel on the next load (more helicopter parts) and we got about $100 for it I think. Clean aluminum is worth a lot more than clean steel.

Fair enough. Sounds weird. I personally don't think an XJ has room for 4 people and gear. Hence I have no rear seat in my XJ. And it's true that the wrangler-things don't either. So, I guess you might as well start with a MJ and hack it up. Although, truth be told I really think you're the type of guy who could have got into an SJ wagoneer. Big enough to fit the family and a lot of junk. But I don't believe in wheeling 4-seaters anyways. Maybe because I'm young and dumb. No signs of a family on my horizon, unless things go all bad on me.

Why 3.55s? Cheap? Why cut the roof and back of the cab off? Might as well have just bought a C/Y/TJ. Ohwell, it's your build.

Sorta. I had a 79 F-250 camper special axle - it was a leaf sprung version. So, as long as it had leaf springs it won't have the cast in mounts. I'm under the impression that all F-250s of those years were leaf sprung. But I may be wrong. There is a few things you should know about the leaf sprung ones... There's a spring perch cast into the pumpkin, and it causes it to be about 3" wider than normal. I believe you'd have to trim that off for the TNT truss to work, as you can't make normal 'jeep style' brackets work without doing that. Also, ford knuckles are junk. And it's almost certain to have 3.55 gears.

It can be done, but like you said... Things are scary here. (For how you actually do that, you have to bevel the edge of the bracket and grind a slight groove into the axle where you wish to weld it. Then you make 4 or 5 passes. Time consuming, but acceptable.)

Usually scenes are shot out of order. From a production standpoint it is impossbile to do it any other way, unless you wish to devote a huge amount of time to it. As a side note, the movie 'cliffhanger' features a bell 205 helicopter as a search and rescue machine. There is a scene where it is wrecked, and winds up hanging off a cliff. The 'prop' for that scene is definatly not a bell 205, as I am rather intimate with them. Why? Well, the scenes would have been shot out of order (the movie was shot in a LOT of different locations) and a 205 is a pricey peice of equipment to wreck. Even a wrecked 205 to use as a prop is pricey. Which brings me to the movie terminator 2, which has a UH-1H airframe in the background in a couple scenes (as a wreck). They can do that because UH-1Hs aren't worth much, parts or whole, and it's a relatively high budget movie. Not to mention they never ruined the airframe (it actually looked better than some of the ones I've worked on or seen rebuilt, but it still looked like hel to the untrained eye). Okay, I got off topic.

I dunno much about boats... But I'm sure you can get the rivets for next to nothing. Aviation rivets are sold by the pound, and they're fairly inexpensive. And if it's inexpensive in aviation, it's dirt cheap in the sane world. If you have an air compressor and an air chisel, you just need to buy a rivet snap for the size of the rivets. Then get a nice peice of steel for a bucking bar (say 2"x2"x5" solid). Driving solid rivets is a little tricky, but it's not a big deal if they're in a boat. And put some sort of sealant on the rivets before driving them. Aircraft floats use a product called sika-flex. But I think a guy could get away with something more common, even 10 minute epoxy. And that said, I would probably try sealing the existing rivets before drilling them out and replacing them. Find some nice too part sealer (again, I'm willing to say 10 minute epoxy might work), scuff up the back side of the rivet and around it and smear a generous amount on. I'd not use silicone just because it isn't ment to seal the outside of things, just between them and thus isn't very robust.

Tried heating it up, then airchiseling in the direction of looseness? I have a little 'el cheapo oxy/mapp setup that can get most bolts/nuts glowing cherry in 30 seconds or so. Cost about $30 and takes the bernz-o-matic bottles. Generally if you get the nut glowing, it will have expanded enough that is is loose, and it'll break the rust bonding free at the same time.

Find a good machine shop and they can get you the 12.9 stuff, and quite possibly even stock it... So, how did you get that bolt out that has the sleeve seized on it?

Just rum? I'm not much of a rum drinker after the last time I had it. We were wheeling in the coast mountains, camping in some hell hole of a campsite nicknamed 'little iraq' for all the empty munitions on the ground, it rained every day, and I drank 26oz of cpt morgans and wound up having a LONG next day since 9 or so of the 12 rigs carnaged major parts. So, not big on rum anymore.

I'm going to have to pick up all the products mentioned in this thread... I moved about 9 months ago. Stayed in one place (what is truely northern BC) for 4 months, and it was totally different than where I used to live. Then moved a bit south of there, where is technically my home address but I travel constantly for work. My tours are 2-4 weeks long, and always in random places. Last time was at the coast. And I generally get a week or more off after a tour and go 'home' to where I used to live. So yeah, I think I'm probably leaving my body guessing at every corner...

Anybody have problems with pollen or such? I live in a mill town. Pulp, paper, plywood, regular lumber... And there's a lot of pollen too. It's driving me nuts. Even when I was on my last tour, in a totally different climate/town/area, I was still reacting. Stuffs me up and makes my eyes itch. Anybody have any luck taking anything to deal with it?

I think they're all like that.

I use carpet cleaner... Comes in a rattle can or as a two-part liquid.

Definatly not. Oh, before you spend big bucks on a CAI of some sort - I'd suggest building one yourself.

So, ya see, it's just easier to change all the crappy OEM lugs out to better ones sometime before this happens.

No.