adam518

The cost of occasional balancing versus free balancing plus the cost of wheels doesn't make sense to me. Say you cough up 20% tire life expectancy just because you forgo balancing just because it isn't free. That 1/5th tire life is still cheaper than wheels. You can still have the tires balanced at a nominal fee anyway. Besides...even if it did make economic sense, when did economy take the front seat to either function or looks when it comes to such a pretty MJ. It will look great with any of the aftermarket wheels, but those Ravines kick-a. To me, you truck looks like something that Jeep should have built and the Ravines work well with your overall look.

Personally, I like your Ravines. Run a spacer if necessary and trim the end caps if you have to, but they look great on your rig. Don't get me wrong...I dig my AR Bajas on my XJ, but your truck has a "factory" appearance that work well with the Ravines...just my opinion. BTW, when I went to 32x11.50's at right at 4.5" of lift on the XJ, I only trimmed the end caps on my bumpers by a small amount...so little that you would never notice. The Baja's are 15x8 w/ 3.75" of backspacing.

Had to run by the office today, so I quickly installed my Tom Woods cv driveshaft...not much to take a pic of but I thought it looked pretty.

I was able to stay a little late tonight and get my CAD installed. :banana: I also added a 3/4" spacer to the driver's side coil spring as it had settled more than the passenger's side. It was enough that it was bugging me. Now, it sits within 1/8" from side to side measuring from axle tube to the frame rail. After the install, the control arm angles look tons better. After getting home, I noticed the pics could have been better...the calipers are hanging right in front of the CAD.

I wasn't able to take any pics tonight before leaving work, but decided that it wasn't going to settle enough to truly help the control arm angles, so I ordered the CAD kit from Rocky-Road tonight. This is the point at which most other forums explode into the long arm vs short arm debate and that CAD kits will fall off in a stiff crosswind, 3-link set-ups have been known to prey after small children in the night and that radius arms & y-link designs are likely to run off with your wife. :dunno: For me...I have used their CAD before on my XJ. It's well designed, tough, rides good and allows me to use the components I already have, so it kind of comes down to $$. If dirt were dollars, I do still like the Rock Krawler 3-link design if for no reason than to do something a little different with this build. Oh well, the CAD will work well for my purposes.

Those were taken when they were just installed. It settled and inch and a half or so...coils are now straight, however I am still concerned about the control arm angles. They are steep...just not as steep as you seen in the pics. I'll try to get some updated pics posted.

Hey Bob. The wheels have 5.5" of backspacing, so I am sure it will need spacers. I don't know just how much spacer yet. How high this thing actually sits will determine my tire choice and that will dictate just how much spacer will be required/needed. It's funny how we used the same parts with such different results. Mine still appears to be relatively level. The front has actually settled a decent amount with just the weight on the spring and sitting on jack stands. My last measurements are on my desk at work, but if memory serves, it has about 5.25" in the front and just over 5" in the rear.

I figured that I would install them first and then see what it needs. The wheels should be here this week, but before buying tires, I plan to test fit my current XJ wheels and tires to see how they fit. My XJ has 33x12.50 Cooper STT's on 15x8 AR Bajas. The Bajas have 3.75" of backspacing. I really like the way your truck looks with the tires tucked in under the flares. I like that my wheels stick out on my XJ, but am hoping for a little different look with the MJ. It may end up riding on 32x11.50's to keep the extra width from being an issue and maybe I could run a small spacer and still keep the tires tucked in a bit. There's always 33x10.50, but that's too narrow, imo. Anyway, I have always felt the most useful tire size that doesn't exist would be a 33x11.50 R15. BTW, I think the brighter silver wheel you have work better with you color choice. With a medium/dark shade of green and all black trim, the silver gives a nice contrast.

OK, so I was able to sneak an hour or two with the MJ yesterday. Got the axles & drum brakes all set up. All that is left to do with the rear is hook up the brake lines. Oh...I ordered a rear driveshaft today from Tom Woods and a new inner axle shaft for the driver's side from Superior to replace the one I mucked up...this thing may actually make it back on the road one of these days. Take a look at the shackle angle in this last pic...I'm not overly thrilled. The rear shackles are leaning back toward the front. Before I finished up, I loaded about 700 lbs of catalogs in the bed. Hopefully, that may help it settle a bit. With the catalogs in the bed, the shackles are leaning ever so slightly toward the rear, kind of like the should be when unloaded. I was thinking if it doesn't settle enough to correct the shackle angle, maybe I could redrill the shackle bracket to get the angle perfect. Any opinions?

A bad check valve can cause the same issue under load/acceleration. Mine would blow fine normally but default to the defrost vent when accelerating or going up a hill. It turned out both the vacuum check valves were bad.

Just in case anyone out there didn't know...I'm a total dumb-a**. Tonight, I thought that it would be quick and easy to press my old u-joints out of the front axle shafts so that I could finish up the front end this weekend. I have no idea what the issue is with my frigging u-joints, but every single one of the joints pushed through the cap. It was a major pita. I cannot say I've done 100's of u-joints in my life, but have certainly pressed out several dozen and not even one time have I blown out a cap...now every one? :dunno: Gees...and when it was all said and done, the driver's side inner shaft flange looked a little off to me. I grabbed the calipers and it turns out 'ole genius me collapsed the ears about .040, definitely enough that it is now garbage. All is well now...I am home and after about 4 or 5 beers I remembered that my Comanche is supposed to be all about fun...and that it is. So to heck with the shaft, here's to good friends, tonight is kinda special

After seeing Rymanrph's rescue green truck, I decided that my MJ must have Ravine wheels. Since the Jeep will likely be a relatively light shade of silver metallic, I wanted a darker wheel to contrast the truck's color. I ordered a set of 5 hyper black Ravines today. Here's what I have coming: Hyper black is more or less a pewter or gunmetal look. Basically, they finish the wheels in black and then a translucent silver is applied on top of it to give it the look it has.

Thanks. The rear suspension was installed yesterday. The Comanche is now sitting on it's own suspension...granted it's on jack stands instead of wheels, but at least it has it has it's weight on the new springs. After measuring, it seems as though I ended up with more than the amount of lift I was shooting for. The front was initially right at 6 1/4" of lift. I know it will settle, but I'd bet it will still end up being well over 5". I called Rubicon Express to make sure I didn't end up with 5 1/2" springs, but the confirmed that they are definitely the 4 1/2" springs. The guy told me that the would settle to 16" - 16 1/2" of compressed height. If that's true, my actual lift height with the front coils will be 5 1/4". I measured again today. The weight has been on the coils for 4 days and it has settles to 5 1/4" of lift. I measured the lift by measuring from the top of the axle tube to the bottom of the frame rail immediately above the tube. Factory should be 6 3/4" +/- 1/2" and I am getting right at 12" on both sides. Because of all the lift from the front coils, I was afraid that the rear would look too low with Hell Creek 4 1/2" rear leafs. While I haven't measured it exactly, the rear appears to have about the same amount of lift as the front. The Jeep sits almost perfectly level with jack stands set at the same height and under each axle. If it ends up somewhere in the 5" range, I may run 33's instead of the intended 32's...who knows, but I do have one concern. The height has my control arms at a more dramatic angle than I had anticipated. Once you go over 4" to 4 1/2", every little bit of additional lift makes a big difference with short arms. I am considering a CAD or possibly even a long arm kit to get a better ride. With my XJ, I went with the Rock Road CAD kit. I know they have terrible press for customer service and lead times, but I can say that after looking at all the other CAD kits out there, that I am more than pleased with the Rocky Road construction & design. The XJ flexes like crazy and rides like a champ. I've had several people tell me they couldn't believe how good it rides with mud tires and as much lift as it has. My other consideration is the Rock Krawler X Factor 3-link set up. I'v read good things about their kit, but do not have any personal experience. The only downside is that I have good RE fixed length super-flex arms from an old 3 1/3" XJ lift that will work fine with a CAD kit and brand new Rock Krawler adjustable upper control arms. If they will let me swap the new uppers toward credit for the long arm kit, I may pull the trigger, but if not, I'll probably just order the CAD and use what I have. ...will post more pics this evening of the slightly settled front and rear. BTW, anyone here have any experience regarding how much lift my Hell Creek 4 1/2" rear springs will give me after they settle?

Got the front axle installed today. No driveshaft yet...but I have a transfer case and a front axle installed...to me that makes it a 4wd.

Wahooooo...tranny installed!!! Yesterday, I was able to get the clutch and new pilot busing installed, the transfer case shifter installed, and painted my axles, leaf spring, shifter handle and a bunch of misc parts. Today I was able to get the trans all bolted up. It's been few years since I bench pressed a transmission in place...about twelve to be exact. At that time I swore to never go alone again...oh well. It is bolted up and all torqued down. I know it's slow going, but remember, I get 2-3 hours here and there...try to post pics tomorrow.

My axles are back and just about ready to install. I decided to keep the drums on the rear, but I still have to sandblast and paint the backing plates. The front is waiting on new Spicer ball joints that should be here any day. While waiting on parts, I went ahead & installed the JB Conversions sye kit. It was straight forward and the instructions were good. I do say more power :bowdown: to anyone who has done this without removing the case from the vehicle. My Cherokee has a hack-n-tap sye, which I did in the driveway. Having done both, I would recommend the hack-n-tap if you don't want to remove the transfer case, but the full conversion is really no big deal on a work bench...just get a nice set of split ring pliers. Mine weren't really as big as needed and getting the split rings in place was a major pita. If you look behind my rear axle, you can see my old shafts. They were kind of pitted at the seals and I was afraid they would leak, so I got new Ten Factory shafts. We put new bearings, seals & retainers on my old shafts so that I have spares. After slowly taking it apart for 6 weeks an hour here and an hour there, it will start going back together this weekend!

Moving slow...slower than I would like. It been almost two weeks since I have been able to turn a wrench on the MJ. Yesterday, I had a couple of hours and got the trans and exhaust out.

I was looking for something with clean & simple design and a good mounting system...I wasn't disappointed. The price was very reasonable compared to big name production line bumpers. Plus, I was a little anal about the length of my side protection as I didn't want a gap from where the bumper stopped and the flare started and Terry worked with me getting what he called the "wings" the exact length I was looking for. Also, check out jcroffroad bumpers. I like the looks of their new Crusader bumpers. The MJ will probably go winchless and I like the XJFD front bumper with built-in lights.

It is a Rigidco bumper. Their website stinks, but the bumpers kick-a. Terry makes several bumpers that aren't on their website. Mine is called a FbW2 (Front Bumper, Winch, 2nd design)

BTW, your rig has been the inspiration for my build...very beautiful truck! I hope I end up with something as nice as yours.

My XJ went up in steps. You could say I got "inchitis". 1.) RE 3.5" superflex lift with 31x10.50's. 2.) Added ACOS to the front & shackle relocation to the rear, netting right at 5.25" and swapped in 32x11.50's. 3.) I wanted to got to 33x12.50's, but the back tires would rub the front of the rear flares. I made a .25" spacer to add to the rear leaf...basically like another short leaf that had a locating hole for the spring center pin and an allen head bolt inserted .75" to the rear. The allen head now goes in the spring perch, moving my axle back .75" to the rear. Anyway, the spacer added another 1/4" of lift, so the front ACOS were adjusted to match. It now sits at 5.75" and rides on 33x12.50's. The XJ went from stock 3.55 gears on 31's, to 4.10's on 31's, to 4.10's on 32's, to 4.56's on 32's, to 4.56 gears on 33's. I drive about 10 miles each direction to and from work. About half of it stop and go from redlight to redlight and half on a 5.5 mile stretch of open highway that is up and down long hilly grades. For my needs, the 4.56 gears and 32's were optimum. FWIW, the XJ does have an AW4 which is a little bit of a power-robber. IMHO, my XJ was best all-around on 32's. I like the look of the 33's & probably won't go backwards, but I really want to make the MJ a good looking, good wheeling, good driving rig that is somewhat practical. Besides, the wife was sold on the MJ because of its utility, like picking up a load or two of mulch, etc. I could still do that lifted to the moon, but who wants to be shoveling mulch out of a bed over your head. lol

So far I've spent about an hour or so a night, from 5:00 to 6:00 or 6:30, working on my rig. The wife hasn't complained...too much. Anyway, I feel as long as I keep moving forward I'll get it done in a reasonable timeframe. No new pics the last few days because I have basically been tearing down the axles. There's not really a whole lot to show there. I have to go out of town from the middle of this week to the middle of next, but hopefully I'll be putting the suspension back in at that point.

I have used Rusty's suspension parts on my XJ without issue, but I have read about a fair amount of problems other people have had...sagging springs, broken welds on trac bars, etc. I am in the process of building my MJ now. For my springs, I decided to use Rubicon Express front coils and the Hell Creek rear springs, both for 4.5" lift. My XJ is lifted 5.5"-6" now, but my initial lift was the Rubicon Express 3.5" superflex lift and it worked great. If I was looking for enough lift to clear 31's, I wouldn't hesitate to get the same lift again. I know it is an XJ, but here is how 3.5" sat rifing on 31x10.50's:

Do you know if your rear diff is open or has a limited slip? If it is limited slip, jack the rear end up...both tires...and shift trans into neutral. Put a grease mark on driveshaft and also one on the inside of either rear tire at the 6 o'clock position. Now, spin the driveshaft and count the number of driveshaft turns it requires to turn the tire one full revolution. Stock gearing will be far enough apart that it should be easy to tell. A tad over 3 turns would be 3.07, right past 3 1/2 turns will be 3.55, slightly past 4 turns would be 4.10, etc. If your diff is open, jack up one rear tire. Do the same thing but you will have to multiply the number of driveshaft revolutions by two to get the gearing. In an open diff, the ring gear spins at he average of the two wheels. In a straight line, both rear tires are turning at the same speed as the ring gear...lh tire spinning at 100 prm plus rh tire spinning at 100 rpm equals average speed of ring gear at 100 rpm. If you force one tire to stop, the turning tire will spin at twice the speed of the ring gear. So, one tire on the ground with the ring gear still tuning 100 rpm would force the tire in the air to turn 200 rpm. So the average of zero rpm plus 200 rpm would still equal a ring gear speed of 100 rpm. Therefore, right at 1.5 turns would be a 3.07 and 1.75 turns would be a 5.55, as long as one tire was completely stationary.