adam518

OK, here is how it sits now. I moved the rear axle back exactly 1.25" and am happy with how much better it is centered. The Ravines with 5.5" backspacing and wheel spacers gave me the look I was shooting for. They stick out beyond the flares slightly, but less than my XJ with 3.75" of backspacing. I used 1.25" spacers in the front and 1.5" spacers in the rear, giving a total of 4.25" of backspacing in the front and 4" in the rear. It still has a slight rake and I'm good with that. It would drive me crazy on the XJ, but to me, trucks look better with a slightly higher rear. I had to cut the front fenders and flares to eliminate rubbing. I hope to order a JCR Offroad Crusader front bumper today, but for now, I'll leave the stock bumper in place like you see in the pics. With the extra real estate in front of the tires, I'll probably move the front axle forward .5" to .75" to give a little more clearance at the back of the front tire. It doesn't rub now, but it's a little tight. If necessary, I can trim more material from the fender and flare to keep it from rubbing on the front of the tire.

I can't take credit for the wheel choice completely. I saw them on Rymanrph's rescue green truck and decided that I had to have a set. With any luck, I'll be driving it today or tomorrow with my new wheels & tires installed. The spacers should be here today, but I still need to finish moving my rear axle back about 1.25".

I have a 8.25 in my XJ and a D44 in the MJ. If you had a D35 or 27 spline 8.25, I'd say go for the D44. The 29 spline 8.25 is a really good axle...it doesn't get the respect it deserves. The only drawback is that it does't have as many aftermarket options as the D44. I'd say if the locker you want is available for the 8.25, keep it. I'd buy the other 8.25, or look around for one even cheaper, and you would have 2 extra axle shafts for cheap. I am glad my MJ already had a D44 installed when I bought it. If it had a crummy D35, I would have felt perfectly content with locating a good 8.25. Of course, I may feel differently if I were going to run 38" Boggers with a spool. Then again, if that were the case, I would probably not feel really happy with a D44 either.

Several reasons... I was concerned with axle-wrap. I know it gets debated a lot and don't want to knock anyone else build, but the factory spring was engineered to be used in a spring under fashion. If you think about how the moment of torque is applied to the axle to spring mount point, the higher that the perch is from the ground, the more stress at that point. So, two axles at the same height from the ground, one spring under and one spring over, the axle with spring over will be a lot more likely to experience axle wrap and damage the spring. You take that, and magnify low range gearing, high traction and/or high wheel speed that grabs traction all at once and it is a real concern. I know that plenty of heavy duty full size trucks are spring over, but the spring was engineered to work in that fashion. I was not comfortable taking the spring that was in my truck and converting it to spring over. A lot of folks will say that the Cherokee came spring over, but it's different, too. The Cherokee spring is much shorter than a Comanche spring. All else being equal, the Comanche spring would see more potential of axle wrap due to the length, like it's easier to bend a long piece of metal than a shorter one. Another thing was that the factory spring had very little arch...who knows, maybe it was fatigued. Regardless, even if it were changed to spring over and gave the perfect amount of lift, it would not have articulated very well. A more highly arched spring will compress better...assuming adequate shackle length and proper shackle angle. Also, I was only looking for 4.5" to 5" of lift and spring overs usually give more lift than that. I read a ton and heard really good things about the Hell Creek springs and decided to give them a shot. I have only put about 100 miles on the suspension, but so far am really please with how well it rides. Anyway, those are my reasons...I am sure others have good reasons for doing something different.

Got my new tires today! Spacers should be here tomorrow so I can get hem installed. I decided to got withe the Mickey Thompson MTZ's

I definitely want to go with a mud-terrain. My Coopers have been very quiet...for a mud tire. They are great in the mud and I think they look good, too. I've had tons of compliments on their appearance and it's nice to have something a little different. It's funny, but I have seen very little press on the STT's and they are usually not included in tire comparisons when the big publications to their tire shootouts. Maybe Cooper doesn't lay out enough $$ when it comes to advertising time. Regardless, I made my initial decision to buy a set for my XJ after reading as much as I could on forums. I was looking for a versatile mud tire that was livable on the street. They also needed to look good. They haven't disappointed. ...ugh. I don't know. Every time I buy tires I end up in the same spot. It would be nice to try something different, but I know the STT's work well for how I use them. ...but then again, the MTZ's sure are pretty. From what I understand, Cooper manufactures the Mickey Thompson tires now. The dimensions are identical. They are probably the same tire with slightly different tread & sidebiter design. This decision will definitly require a few more beers to help me get my thoughts straight :doh:

After seeing the truck w/33's and 3.75" backspacing, I have decided to run the Ravines (5.5" backspacing) with 1.5" spacers in the rear and 1.25" spacers in the front. With '97 up front fenders and an aftermarket front bumper, I am confident that I can keep it from rubing in the front. It may require some bump stops and steering stop adjustment. In the end, I want the tires to be spaced out a little, but not as much as my XJ. This week, I am in Destin, playing on the beach with my kids, but I'll probably go ahead and order my tires, spacers and a set of rock sliders. I am axious for this project to pick up a litle speed. BTW, anyone have a tire preference? I have pretty much decided on either Cooper STT's (which I have already used 3 separate times in the past) and Mickey Thompson MTZ's. I'm leaning toward the MTZ's just to use something different, but the STT's are an incredibly versatile tire and I have ben very pleased with them in the past.

It's really not that big of a deal. I just did the same thing on my '91 and turned every single bolt myself...didn't have any help whatsoever, outside of advice. You'll need : 4wd trans Transfer case Rear driveshaft Front driveshaft Front axle Transfer case shifer & linkage You can make it as cheap or as expensive as you want. Since my changover was done at the same time as a lift I also had to pony up for a locker, regear both front & rear axles, sye, springs, shocks, cv rear driveshaft, etc. In the end, my lift / 4wd conversion cost way more than the truck to start with. I am also bad about "while I'm at it" syndrome. As in, "while I'm at it, I may as well install new brakes, u-joints, ball joints, tie rod ends", etc.

Yeah...the 4.5" coils netted me more like 5.5"...even after it somewhat settled.

More good news...my new seats showed up today. I ended up going with the Corbeau Moabs in charcoal vinyl. The quality seems really nice and they seem to be very comfortable. I may be able to mount them tomorrow after work, but if not, they'll have to wait for a week while I go on vacation.

I finally got it on the road last night. It drives like a champ! I just can't get over how well this little truck drives, both now and when it was stock. In the end I am really happy with how 4.56 gears and 33's work with the manual transmission. It pulls really strong in all five gears. Long uphill grades in 5th gear are no problem and it isn't turning excessive rpms. The tires rubbed the ends of the flares so I cut them a little with a cutoff wheel on a grinder. It's a little sloppy, but they are coming off soon anyway. The wheels are temporary, as they are off my daily driver XJ, but I wanted to see how it would work with 33's before I ordered new tires for the MJ. The Comanche will be running hyper-black Ravines and spacers. I think I'll try to get 1.25" spacers for the rear and 1" spacers for the front. As much as I like the tires sticking out beyond the flares on my XJ, I'd prefer a little less tire sticking out on the truck. Here is how it sits now with 4.5" Hell Creek springs in the rear and RE 4.5" coils in the front. The rear axle sits a little further forward than I would like, so I plan to move it back about .75" or so. The plate I am going to make will go between the axle and leaf, and since I am spring under, it will lower the rear about 1/4". I'm ok with that as it currently has a fair amount of rake.

It does feel great. I'm so close. Tomorrow night will be it's maiden voyage. I've felt under the gun the last bit because I'll be leaving for vacation this Friday, and having it up and running before leaving was kind of my goal. Tonight I installed the sway bar and JKS disconnects that used to be on my XJ. You would think 4 bolts and toss it up in there would be a 10 min project. Almost 2 hours later it was all wrapped up...nothing ever goes as planned. Tapping holes, missing bolts, removing the miserable factory studs from the stock sway bar brackets on the axle, etc. I know that the sway bar studs changed over the years and don't know exactly when they did, but on my '97 XJ and the '96 XJ front axle that now resides in my MJ, both were splined studs that pressed into the sway bar brackets, even though they had torx heads. You can twist the heads all day long, but they aren't goings anywhere. I cut the torx head off and used a big socket extra thick washer and nut on the onboard side to pull the stud/bolt out. It was actually easy compared to the first time on my '97 when I had no idea that it wasn't a true bolt that would thread out.

Checked the code using the key on-off-on-off-on method. It turned out to be a code 12 which is just telling me that the computer had been disconnected. Well, it did sit for almost 4 months with the battery disconnected. Anyway, after reading the code, I started it and the check engine light did not come back on...all is well and I don't have to spend any more $$. I can't wait to drive this thing. Tomorrow, I'll swap my XJ wheels & 33x12.50 cooper STT's onto the MJ and drive it for a few days. I'd do it tonight, but I have to take my kids to preschool tomorrow and I have to have the XJ. Pics coming with tires mounted soon! :banana: ...sorry, but I love the little dancing banana

Almost on the road! :cheers: Today I was able to center the front axle and finish the alignment. After that, I installed the new clutch slave cylinder, braided clutch line line and bled the system. The clutch works as it should. For the 1st time in almost 4 months, I fired it up today. It came to life on the 2nd crank and runs as smooth as silk. The only problem is that I have a check engine light. While it was apart, I did install a new JBA header and all new exhaust including a Magnaflow cat converter, reman 703 injectors and a Bosch O2 sensor. I didn't get a chance to check the code yet, but I am wondering if it isn't 1 of 2 things. (1) Was the O2 sensor bad right out of the box? The guy at the parts store warned me that he's had bad luck with them, but that was the only one he had in stock, or...(2) Could I be running a little lean because of the header, high flow cat & 703 injectors? If so, would an adjustable fuel pressure regulator help fix the problem? I went through the computer reset procedure. At no time did it ever smell rich, stumble, die, miss or anything else. Aside from the CEL, I am stoked. I won't get a chance tomorrow, but Tuesday evening, I should be able to get it on the road for a test drive.

I mounted my Ravines (no tires on them yet) so that I could measure and adjust my toe setting. If anyone decides to run a ZJ tire rod installed like I did, and if you have 15" wheels, you will need to double check and make sure the grease fitting on the outer tie rod on the driver's side isn't rubbing on the inside surface of the wheel. Mine was making contact, so I removed the grease zerk and installed a plug, like the one on most lower ball joints. I figure that I'll grease the tie rods every time I rotate my tires. With the wheel off, I can remove the plug, install a grease fitting, grease it and the reinstall the plug. I also did the same plug install on the other end of the tie rod. The fitting was barely hitting the face of the stabilizer bracket just before the steering stop hit the knuckle. Again, I'll have to remove the plug and temporarily screw in a grease fitting every time it needs to be greased. Even still, it's a pretty cheap and easy way to get a much stronger tie rod.

I did the ZJ rear swap on my '97 XJ. This little truck stopped like a champ before I tore it apart, so I left it alone. It has a D44 rear axle, so I'd have to have a spacer made to do the install. I'll probably end up swapping to discs before it is all said & done.

Here's a couple of pics of the front steering linkage. I picked up a V8 ZJ solid tie rod at the pull-a-part to replace the sissy hollow tube MJ/XJ tie rod. I used a Go-Fer-It insert to move the driver's side tie rod end over the knuckle. I did the same thing on my XJ & using the Currie steering system, but the tie rod wouldn't clear the driver's side sway bar link without removing a lot of material from the link. The ZJ link has plenty of clearance due to the bend. I have it installed flipped 180 degrees from the factory. The adjuster was originally on the outboard side, but it wouldn't clear the sway bar bracket. It works perfect flipped and is tons stronger than the old MJ/XJ tie rod.

The bottom bolsters on the A4 are relatively small, but dragging my rear across them over time would probably cause them to wear quickly. Maybe the Moabs make more sense...but those A4's sure look sexy

Thanks for the advise. I was worried about that and called Corbeau. The guy who I spoke with was very nice and assured me that the suede was just as durable as the other materials. I appreciate your response because I had just about decided to go with the suede. By the way,are you guys a Corbeau dealer? If so, pm me a price for the Moab's in solid dark grey vinyl. It looks like most everyone on the internet has the same pricing. I assume that Corbeau has map pricing for their dealers, though some offer free shipping.

I finished the install of my Novak Transfer case cable shifter tonight. It was a bit of a pita. The jamb nuts are large and there isn't a lot of room to maneuver a wrench properly. From the install pics on their website & instructions, it looks as if there is more room in the trans tunnel on a TJ. Their pics looked right roomy compared to the space I had to work with. Also, there's a bracket that attaches to the ends of the studs that hold the transfer case to the trans. My bracket wouldn't fit and I had to remove some material from it to get it to fit. I called Novak and evidently I am the 1st one out of thousands per year with such an issue...oh well. The guy wasn't exactly rude, but he wasn't exactly friendly either. It's not my intent to bash anyone, but in the future if I am in the market for something Novak makes and they have competition on the part, then I'll go to their competition. It is installed now & shifts properly. Before installing the shifter handle, I ground the detent off the shifter bracket so it no longer has the goofy "Z" gate deal when going into 4-lo. Now it is straight front to back with four smooth positions.

Seat opinions anyone? I have pretty much decided on Corbeau seats. Originally, I was hoping to find '97 up XJ 2 door seats, but they have proved elusive & it is nearing the point that I will need seats. I talked to Corbeau and most of their reclining seats will fold forward to at least a 45 degree angle so that I can access the rear. Both of the seats I am looking at have the ability to fold forward & both have bolsters small enough that it shouldn't be a pain to get in & out of in a lifted vehicle. Here's my two choices: A4 in black & grey suede Moab in grey vinyl I like the idea of the simple Moab seat in vinyl. It is relatively inexpensive. Vinyl is easy to clean and very durable. However, I can't stop going back and lusting at the A4. Has anyone used either seat or have any opinion?

You can use ACOS on any spring. If you install them with your current springs and have them threaded all the way up, they will give 1.5" more lift. Threaded out to the max will give 3.75" of additional lift. I have seen guys with '97-up XJ's run the older front bumper and I think it looks pretty good. I'd rather have something more suitable for recovery, but it would definitely help you with the tires. I have the PowerTrax in my XJ with a 29 spline Chrysler 8.25. Here's a link to Rusty's: http://www.rustysoffroad.com/powertrax-no-slip-c8-25-97-01.html I agree with what you are saying about traction on the street. Most all selectable lockers are either fully open or full locked. My auto locker comes in handy on the street more than you would realize. When pulling out onto a wet road facing uphill with the wheel turned, I used to get a lot of wheel spin and now I don't at all. While I like my auto lockers, I would not suggest running one in the front on the street in 4wd. It 2wd, it would be ok. The locker will engage when under load. So, in 4wd on an icy or otherwise slick road, it could put you in a ditch. If you want to run a front locker, I would consider a selectable lock up front.

I've ran 31's, 32's & 33's all on a '97 XJ with lift height going from 4" up to just over 6". It has RE 3.5" coils that netted 4" and then I added ACOS. Using the ACOS, I have been able to adjust the front height to compensate for larger tires, changing bumpers, adding winch, etc. I'm pretty anal about how my rigs sit as well as things like rubbing. Like you, I like factory flares and I don't like rubbing. 32's will rub on in front of your front tires at the bottom edges of the '97-up factory bumper/spoiler. It can be remedied with very minor trimming on the lower corner, so little that no one would notice if you didn't tell them. 33's with the factory bumper is not a good idea, unless you remove a significant portion of material and go crazy with your bump stops. Since you are planning on long arms, which gives crazy articulation, I assume you don't want to limit the travel you just paid dearly for. If you don't plan to change your bumper, then you will be much better off with 32's. When I dumped my front bumper for a RigidCo., the front bumper clearance issues went away. With adjustable upper & lower control arms, I was able to move the front axle forward which gave more clearance at the back of the tire. That is how I managed to clear 33's with factory flares, along with slightly longer bump stops. As far as trac bar choices, I have a JKS on my XJ and it is a very nice piece, but they tend to be pricey. For the MJ, I got a RK. It's not been on the road yet but the construction seems to be very high quality. Go with 15x8's with either the 32x11.50's or 33x12.50's. You'll get better pressure against the bead when you air down and also more sidewall bulge...helping to protect your wheels a little bit. I've used JKS & RE sway bar disconnects. The JKS are tons better imo. They both do the same job, but the RE's eventually get noisy and the JKS are quiet. Personally, I wouldn't fool with any type of limited slip. You are not going to get the traction you need. I went lunchbox on both of mine and hardly notice it's there. Some brands are louder than others. After a fair amount of research, I got the Powertrax and it is so quiet my wife doesn't even notice it's there when she drives the Jeep. If I had a limitless supply of $$, I would like an ARB setup with a compressor and tank capable of using air tools, etc. If you are stock geared at the moment, you will definitely want a regear for either 32's or 33's. Also, I haven't forgotten about the 15x8 3.75" backspaced pics on 33's w/ what is now right at 5.75" of lift. Like everything I do, and 1 hour project takes 5, but it should be back on the ground in just a few days.

Wife gave me a pass to work on the MJ all day. I was hoping to get more done than I did, but it always seems that stuff takes about 4 x's as long as I plan. I didn't realize it, but 1991 2wd dirve calipers & caliper brackets are different from 1996 4wd calipers & brackets. At 1st, I thought I would redrill the caliper '96 brackets for the larger caliper bolts, but the calipers rubbed (barely) on the rotor. So, I removed a little material from the calipers to clear the rotors. Even still, the calipers we a tad thin (I think they were designed for a rotor that is not as thick). I just about had the driver's side done when I stripped the bolt hole where the caliper bolts to the bracket. Anyway, a trip to the pull a part for a new caliper bracket (and a front driveshaft I needed anyway) and I was good to go. I picked up a couple of reman proper '96 calipers and all is well. Gravity bled all four corners forever to get fresh fluid in the whole system and the brake pedal is rock hard. Cleaned the front driveshaft, installed a new front u-joint, painted it and got it installed as well. All I need to do now to get it on the road is install the drag link & tie rod, finish the tansfer case cable linkage install and do the header swap and exhaust installation.

I haven't spent as much as some on my truck, but I'm sorry that saving a little money is such a problem. If I buy spacers that's $200. If I buy new wheels I can sell the Ravines for a difference of about $200. I paid money for the lifetime balancing and I don't know about you but I like to save money where I can. The Ravines have a back spacing of 5.5 and the spacers will effectively put them at 4.25. The AR23s are 3.75, so that would give me an extra half inch. Given the choice I'd rather have the spacing with the wheels instead of with spacers. I haven't made a decision yet so we'll see. How bad do you rub right now and how much bigger of a tire are you wanting to run? My XJ has 15x8 AR wheels with 3.75" backspacing on 33x12.50's and it doesn't rub. One thing to pay close attention to is the actual width of the tire vs advertised width. For example, my Cooper STT's are actually only 12.08" wide, which is pretty narrow for a 33x12.50 and one of the reasons I chose them. While I really like the 3.75" backspacing and how they make my tires stick out on the XJ, your "tucked in" Ravines inspired me to go a different route with my MJ build. Ravines with 33's will definitely have to run a spacer, but I'm hoping a 1.25" spacer giving a total 4.25" will give enough clearance for rubbing while not sticking out as much as the XJ. I may have a bit more info for you this week as I am just about to get my MJ back drivable. For the purpose of making sure I have enough lift for 33's and just to see how it looks, I plan to swap the XJ wheels & tires to the MJ and drive it for a week or so. I'll post some pics and you can see 1st hand how 3.75" backspaced wheels look with 33's.