DirtyComanche

Bolt pattern is 5x4.5. Stock is 15x7 with 5.25"(?) backspacing. Explorers, rangers, other jeeps, older dodge cars, older dodge vans, and a few other things have the same pattern. And your idle is probably your IAC. Well, start there. Take it out and clean it. Maybe replace it (get a couple from the boneyard).

I'd say to jsut buy good comfortable belts... Cheap ones normally aren't comfortable. Maybe the better ones will be over-kill, but they might be worth it sometime. And I have no clue about anchor points. I'd like to see them if anybody comes up with them. I only run the stock belts, which isn't the best.

I took mine out to save weight. No sound deadening, no insulation... If you have the seats out, I'd probably pop it up and have a look underneath. Yes, you don't live in a rust area. That doesn't mean there won't be any, as water can become trapped under the carpet. Oh, dynamat is the stuff everyone uses to sound/heat proof their cars. It just sticks on. But it's not much to look at. SO, you'd want something over top of it, I'd think.

I thought the chain from a Dodge truck 242HD was considered an upgrade. And what about the internals from a Hummer 242 (242AMG)? I don't know about the dodge, but the hummer parts don't fit AFAIK. Unless you swap the whole case. And the hummer case has a couple odd things about it. Oh, and if you went that route you'd have to make your own SYE (not the end of the world). Maybe the dodge case works. Dunno... But it is not rated for much more torque than the 242J. And it's rated about half of the 241HD.

Yes, the only SYEs for the 242 are hack'n'tap style. You see no increase in strength in the rear output/mainshaft. A major weak link. And there's no upgrades for the chain.

I disagree, but I won't get into it again.

I broke mine on 35s with a LS.

Iron! Not that I'm picking on you, or anybody else. But they're cast iron (ductile or nodular normally). Referring to them as 'cast' is just plain bad. But yeah, heat and nickel rod and it welds really good.

Rear :nuts:

That's @#$%ing hilarious! Who would ever think to do THAT?

Gotcha, thanks. We'll see what my springs work out to, and if TJ coils will be close.

Yeah, that's sweet if you want to do it that way. But there's actually a calculation that works based on leaf number, thickness, length, etc... I'll just find my book.

Houston eh? From Vernon myself... We've got a couple from this corner of the country on here. Most of the stuff for the front half of an XJ bolts up. Rear end is totally different. Oh, you'll probably find this website is the BEST source of information on MJs and products that work with them.

Apparently not. :nuts:

It's 200lbs here, 300lbs there, the next thing you know your truck weighs about 6500lbs.

Dunno where my handy dandy book went. Anybody know the formula for calculating spring rates (leaf springs)? Better yet, anybody know the rate of the stock MJ rear springs? And maybe with the extra main leaf mod... Okay, nobody will know that.

205s are heavy. Really heavy. The 203/205 combo weighs over 200lbs IIRC. A NP231 with SYE weighs 66lbs.

241s have their place too.

I'm pretty sure that was him. Good to see you're doing something though.

The tranny cooler lines in these trucks blow. I never fixed mine. But you can just use tranny hose and hose clamps if nothing else. Use 2 clamps for connection, or flare the ends. Oh, the whole swapping to an open system 'fad' is really not a great mod. If your closed system parts are in good shape, it'll cool just as efficently, if not more... If you're having over-heating issues, I'd suggest flushing the cooling system, replacing the pressure bottle, and replacing any old/nasty hoses. If people have been running straight water in your engine, you might not be able to fix it...

Needing a SYE shouldn't be a question. If you wheel you need a SYE.

In summary, if the pattern looks like that, it's trash.

The 231/242 outputs are way weak. You'll break a D35 before one goes, but not much else. Hence hack'n'tap SYEs are a huge waste of money, IMHO.

5-links in the rear suck.

I don't know anything about lifts. But you need different steering. Well, it'll work. I ran STOCK steering at 6.5". It was really sweet. I mean, at full droop the tires faced each other and you had no direction control. At full bump they faced out and it was even worse. And the angles were all screwy. And it really didn't steer that well while flexing either. But, you can flip the TR/DL and get it a little better, along with a ZJ pitman arm if you're cheap. Or get a kit to fix it. Or just make the stuff you need.