DirtyComanche

Springs are quality. As I said, only their in-house stuff is crap. The springs are made by somebody else. Their OLD rear leaf packs liked to sag, but that was a couple years ago so unless you're buying used it'll never be a problem (those were for XJs/YJs anyways, not like you'd be using them). But anything made in-house is buyer beware.

You have 4.10s alright. Most 2.5s got them... Anywho, can I ask what those coils are out of? Variable rate coils are NOT a Jeep thing. If you ask me they look suspiciously like the coils ouit of a Ford thunderbird, mustang, or such... Look at the top coil and see if it is the exact same diameter as the Jeep ones. Anyways, if they are what I think they are they'll give you 3" or so of lift. Depending on exactly what car they came out of, and what options (engine) it had. But only one way to know. (They'll ride kinda odd too, but apparently not bad, the whole variable rate thing) Now that I look at them again I swear that they're Ford car coils. They don't look as long as the V8 (really stiff) versions, so you might be lucky... You'll have to modify the top bucket/bumpstop area when you use them, or they'll make a clunking noise as they move around. As I said, throw 'em in and see. Coil swap only takes a few minutes.

Pat prefers to find out about the rocks by driving into them... Best place would be inside the wheel wells, near the back/top if you can find the space. The lower you mount them the more likely it is that they'll get f'd. There's not really much else in the way of options, unless you like cutting metal...

Yeah, Rusty's offroad. Just generally really crappy product. Design, quality, etc. Left me feeling empty inside, and spending a lot of money to do it a different way... That's for their long arms. I feel the same towards anything else they make in house. I'd elaborate, but only if you really need convincing that they suck.

Oh, that's your solution to everything! :D Nah, my solution to everything involves a sledgehammer.

I think if your leafs flex past the point where the overload would be hampering them, they're being overflexed anyways.

Oh, definatly going to agree there. And while you're at it take the bed off.

Personally I'd not tow with a MJ/XJ. They just don't weigh enough. Sure, you could get away with one of those little trailers, or relativly light things. But anything heavy and the tail will wag the dog. Especially if you've got a shortbox. That and MJ/XJ brakes aren't exactly great...

Pete, you could always get some ZJ control arms, at least I think it's the ZJ ones. They are the same length, but have a bend in them to prevent tire rub. Pick'n'pull - $5.

Stock skids are just too thin. I had one of those steering skid thingos on there, and jeeze, one little rock and it's bent way the hell weird.

Ditto on the aftermarket ones. Summit universal seat brackets, and some comfy mastercraft seats and life is dandy. But I never follow my own advice. I've got a 2dr seat on the drivers side, it's offset towards the center for some reason (it's on the MJ bench brackets) and I think I'm going to build all new brackets for it as it's all f'd and really not comfortable. I mean, I found it uncomfortable sitting in it putting the dash back together, I haven't even driven it. I put it in to replace a 4dr cherokee seat (passanger seat is still that) that somebody had busted and welded back together at a funny angle. Maybe I'll jsut go to pick'n'pull and get another seat. But I like the folkd foreward thing. It was inconvenient unbolting the seats to put things behind them.

Rear axle matters too, the pinon length on the D44 is somewhat more than the D35, and I have no idea about the AMC 20. At least, I THINK it matters. They might have used the same shafts.

Shortbed with BA-10/5 and NP231 is 43.5" Ujoint center to center. I THINK. I measured it a bloody long time ago. It's still outside if you want me to throw the tape on it... Now, if you want a 45~" driveshaft, look a 2nd gen camaro (let's say 72-81, I think) and you'll probably have a 45~" driveshaft. Not sure on what engine/trans/rear it had, but I have a feeling it was just a V6 auto. Pretty certain it had 1310 Joints too. Certain shortbed fords would also be close, based on my junkyard measurements.

Those come with clips! Now, do they sell the clips seperate? (@#$%, I hate rusty's)

I used an angle grinder and a zip disk. I cut the bottom third of each hinge off, then went to town with a sledge hammer. Hmm, that sounds predictably like me. Only thing is, don't pull the hinges off the doors once you get them apart. Realigning them is just a waste of time. It's on my 'to do' list, along with 500 Million other things. I've tried to drive the pins out of the hinges after pulling them apart, seems mine won't budge. I'm not sure why... That was how I had intended to get them apart in the first place.

I'm not willing to say 'impossible' but I am willing to say it'd be darn close.

Pat, where'd you get you D30 alloys? Well, I guess you said call around. If I don't buy the HPD44 that I have a lead on, I might consider them, because I've already got a bunch of money in my D30 anyways.

The allure of this axle is that the 1-ton brakes will still allow a 15" rim to clear. I figure it is also 'upgradable' in that if I blow shafts I can go chromo without worrying too much about the R&P, and if I blow knuckles I can always drop coin on better ones. It's an 8-lug axle though, which isn't going to match much other than D60/70s and 14Bs, which I can get any of for cheap, but I'd have to drop coin on regearing them. But, I'm still not sure, it makes way more sense to go with a D60 front right from the get-go. Even though I don't intend to move up from 35s for a while. The biggest I'd probably ever go is a 37, which is where I'd say is about the limit for the stock D44 knuckles. It really just comes down to that I feel 35s and a D30 are kinda iffy, and that I wouldn't mind some more width. I probably should just not though. That and while the D44 is completely rebuilt and clean, it is open, althoguh I guess I could jsut weld it. All said and done I should probably just make this thing roll first. Then look for something else to stick under the front and rear. We'll see if he gets more desperate to sell it or anything.

Yeah, without ever even getting it to drive, I've decided that I will sell my 8.8 and HP30/parts, in favour of a HP D44 front with 1-ton brakes, that's setup for radius arms already, 4.56 gears, and perfectly clean. Now I've got to find another rear... Maybe. Maybe. We'll see.

The rusty's lift springs should be decent, as they don't make them themselves. That's the rule with rusty's; if it's made in house it blows, if it's farmed out it'll be fine.

For front leaf springs, you'll have to do some beefing. At the very least you'll need to build a new front crossmemeber for the shackles. And you'd have to run some plate along the uniframe up near the front to attach the crossmember too. The steering box area would need to be beefed up too, otherwise it'll get torn off; but that's regardless of whether you're running leafs. The LCA pockets can be used as leaf pockets, but I wouldn't. They aren't ment to take the stress. I'd either cut them off and build new ones, or cut them up and do some reinforcing. XJ/MJ fronts are pretty much identical suspension wise. The LCA pockets got extra reinforcing, and there might be a few other differences. What type of lift is this if it's a 12"? There's not much out there that's that big, as generally people build there own at that point... What size tires are you planning? With 12" of lift, I have no idea what would actually fit... Not to mention that the front D30 is only really good for about 34s (people will debate this to no end) and the rear D35 is good for about 31s, and the D44 rear is only really good for about 37s. Not to mention you'll have a major width/stability issue with 12" of lift and 60"ish wide axle. Oh, you've probably got a BA10/5 too, so watch it blow the first time you dump the clutch. And to answer one of the first questions, just doing the math in my head, at 12" of lift the front driveshaft is going to have barely any spline engagement on level ground. One final thing: Sawzall > Lift Live by it.

You can adapt a VW TDI engine to the AX-15 using a conversion kit for a suzuki(I think...) and the bellhousing from the toyota 5spd (it's an AX-15, just it has a different name and bellhousing). As far as I know, nobody has ever actually done this, but in theory it would work. You'd have to do a lot of research though and a fairly large amount of fab work. Just for a TDI engine, which doesn't seem ideal to me, at least not in comparison with the 4.0. Oh, you could always swap in a chevy 350 diesel. It would be just as hard as a 350 swap. That's baring that you can find one, and keep it running. And for flipping the axles, you'll have 5 reverse gears and one foreward. But if you mount the engine in the bed facing the wrong direction, it would go the right way... But then you've still got really screwed up driveshaft angles and a huge amount of fab work. Not to mention that the oiling on the axles will be screwed with them flipped. And the whole steering thing, and caster... If you were building a tube buggy, it's a reasonable thing to do (with the right axles) but for anything else, no.

Oh, depending on what year, the 4.0 and 5spd is a great combo. However, if you got the imfamous BA10/5 peugeot (mid 89 and earlier) it WILL break. The 4.0 in itself is pretty bulletproof, just keep changing the oil unless it doesn't work. The later 5sp (AX-15) is quite strong. Wait, you say it's an 87. It's got peugeot. Unless it got swapped (it happens)

The front D44s are GM? Unless you run the GM tcase or dig up a D300 or such, the pumpkin is on the wrong side. If you're at 10" the 14B rear would be a good idea... And the 6.2 desiel will never fit. I'd suggest long arms too... Oh, jeep diesel engines are quriky and rare. Beyond that I don't know anything about them.

RWD 3.4