Jax MJ Luvr

anyone have details or basic pic of the mounts for the bed? on mine the bed is the only real detraction since it's fairly banged up and the tailgate mounts are also bent. It didn't have a tailgate when I bought it, which leads me to think that if I buy a tailgate, it probably won't mount... I'm considering salvaging a long bed replacement for it with the tailgate I hope.. I just want to see if the swap will be a big pain or not...

My 92 MJ has the bench seat which I don't like.. I haven't taken it out yet, but am curious what seats I can transplant in. I would think that cherokee seats would likely fit, but curious if there's any specific years I have to pick from? I just don't want to go salvage a pair and find out they don't mount properly heh.

yours is clean compared to what I uncovered under the seat covers and floor mats :lol: I uncovered some interesting odors and summarily gutted it quickly, I can't have friends, family, and expecially the hot girlfriend wondering if the smell coming from me hahahaha

so true, my friend Richard versed me on all the benefits of the straight axle d30 as opposed to the disconnect version... one less thing to worry about and 4 less vaccuum hoses to hook up and look after ;) no muss no fuss

yup, that's it's only detracting factor... but you would have to be very gas pedal "unintelligent" to bust it... couple of my hard core 4x4 friends have converted to 8.8 and have yet to bust a clip and they climb some fairly rough stuff that I tend to go around and take pics of and watch the carnage unfold hehehe

sweet, I'll have to go salvage me a new cluster and get that done soon... since I'm trying to make my interior space.... uuuhh... sanitary and asthetically pleasing hehehe

yea, since it's the HO version and all I've seen alludes to the fact that it changed from 21 to 23 for 91 & 92 and on... no biggie, I'll the get a 23 spline input for the xfer case and solve that issue ;) dealer should have the part I need... but I'll check the part stores just in case too... gutted the interior last night, it was so trashed.. took the seat cover off and yanked the floor mats.. prior owner was a pig... I must have tossed at least a 6pack of empty bud bottles, 3 cans of bud and about 20 bud bottle caps... the carpet was caked with who knows what... bench seat was stained with oil and all sorts of stuff... took it all out... gonna salvage some bucket seats saturday and already ordered a replacement carpet kit... I laughed when I found a receipt in the glove compartment for a tow to the impound lot, I bet he was caught DUI or DWI and had it impounded hehehe cost him $152 to get it out... oh well, I'll make her real pretty soon enough and post new pics as I get it all snazzy :D

wow, a little goes a long way... drained all the fluids.. they all came out looking like thick coffee.. put in all new fluids and filters... tranny runs like a dream.. so smooth. hit the salvage yard hard for 2 days.. got 2 replacement doors (complete) with no rust ($45 each) got a dana 30 front axle complete for only $99... np231 xfer case for $80 (21spline) hope to god mine is 21 spline output... if not, i'm sure I can make a trade with the yard and find a 23 heh... now I need to sell my dirtbike (which i never ride) so I can buy my lift kit and really get some progress hehehe... right now I'm gutting the interior, cleaning it all up and such.. I'll get the new doors on soon, new stereo, carpet, and detail the inside all nice.. then I'll start in on the nitty gritty ;) so far so good.

fixed the rear proportioning valve this evening... was also given the rest of the week off for vacation, so now I have a nice 6 day stretch to devote to working on my new addiction ;) my master mechanic friend, Richard, suggests Wednesday be tune up day, so we'll be flushing & refilling every fluid, getting 3 new tires, since 1 is actually good... replacing the majority of the hoses & belts, cap & rotor, spark plugs, etc etc... basically a major tune up... once that's all done... we're going to start hitting the salvage yards and seeing what we find for the 4WD conversion and for a tailgate. He mentioned on my oil change that I add some tranny fluid to it.. says it helps to clean out the engine... never heard of that, but he's a total gear head, so I tend to trust his advice.. curious if you've heard of doing that? Also, any suggestions on possible upgrades for performance ? only one that came to my mind was maybe roller rocker arms... since we're already going to crack the header off and replace several gaskets and seals... any advice would be appreciated, since I have Richard to assist me and he's got every tool for any job and the experience... I figure I should get the most out of this mini vacation and get what I can done while I have the opportunity... since once I get it home, any work on it will probably be cosmetic with my mechanical deficiencies hehe :D

I have a similar curiousity... my MJ has the gigantic fuel meter and speedometer... the others are just the warning lights for oil, temp, etc... I really want to put in the cluster I'm used to, that shows the voltage, oil temp, rpm, speedo.. since mine is a 92, I'm assuming any 91+ from a cherokee would work? would it just be like a plug & play sort of thing, or will I have to change wire harness or change/install sensors ?

I did a VIN search on it, and it says it's an HO.. but since there's no tailgate, which usually has the 4.0 HO emblem, I'm not sure yet.. what do I look for in the engine to know if it's the HO or not?? it seems to have plenty of power.. and with the VIN search saying it's HO... I'm cautiously optomistic ;)

correction, I had a 94 Cherokee prior... and this Comanche is a 92... only 92 I've seen for sale in all my searches, talk about lucky!

Finally bought my comanche with much patience and persistence ;) Here's what I saw initially, looked ok at 1st glance... Image Not Found Checked around it, not much rust... basically all surface rust... thank god! The bed it a little beat up, but nothing I can't have fixed up.. only draw back is that it was missing the tailgate... Image Not Found I'm sure I can salvage one somewhere... looks like it got a bump from behind, but not too much damage... I plan on replacing the bumper with an aftermarket one anyways... and the mounting points for the tailgate are bent, but my master mechanic friend says he has an air ram and the proper tools to align it back... so it looks optomistic. the engine runs great, it's the 6 cyl, automatic, AW4 tranny... it's 2WD, but I'll get it converted soon enough... has a bit over 200k miles, but surprisingly the engine runs GREAT, smoother and quieter than the 84 Cherokee I had a year ago.. so I was quite amazed how the engine has held up. OH, here's the JACKPOT part... look at the beautiful thing I found underneath this puppy... :shock: Image Not Found yes, this sucker has the metric ton package and a beatiful dana 44!!!! Talk about luck! That alone was worth the price of the truck.. which I paid a whopping $990 .... the seller had no idea what he had.. just my luck! 8) oh, and I already took off the ladder rack... I'm actively looking for some goodies for it now.. I'm so excited!

sweet! I already checked out a few other sites online just to double check the process to convert to 4WD, looks very promising and my mechanical experience may be just enough, but I'll still have my master mechanic on call or just looking over my shoulder to be safe.. I plan on heading down Sunday morning with cash in hand and hope to bring the lil' 92 2WD home with me... I'll let you know if it all pans out for me :) got my fingers crossed again :wink: plus I already found a tranny and xfer case locally for $750... but I'm sure I can try to negotiate the price down... I'm just going to concentrate on getting the MJ in my possession 1st :!:

ok, lucked out again, found another MJ real close to home... it's a 92, automatic, 6 cyl... but 2WD... I can ge the truck for $1000 cash.. maybe less if I wave the $100 bills in his face 8) I just need a little reassurance on what I'll need to buy to convert it and how tough will it really be... if I'm not mistaken, I'll need to buy a new transmission, transfer case and a front axle... correct? will the conversion be straight forward bolt on type thing or will I need to recruit my master mechanic and 4 wheeler friends to help make modifications to get any loose ends to work properly? if it's something I can do in a relative short time span, once I get all the parts, then I'm going to try to drive down tonight and snag this puppy... hope to hear some reassurance :wink:

sweet, that helps a ton, since I was doing parts searches and I couldn't make heads or tails of the info being tossed at me... now I'll know what to look for :)

so how can you tell the difference whether the 8.8 rear out of an explorer is a posilok or not? do they all come standard posi ? what are the benefits of posi ? I could probably figure it out in a day or 2 of research, but why not ask you pros 8) and so others can read and understand :idea:

the one I saw 2 days ago in Ft Collins had the AW4 behind the 2.5... it even had a nice button on the dash to select between OD and Economy, for better gas mileage apparently :) wish I had a digi camera, I woulda got underneath and took a pic. also, when I was reasearching, off-road.com's tech area specifically talks about how the AW4 was the tranny for 2.5 and 4.0 from 87 through the 90's on XJ's and MJ's ... just what I read ;)

correction, called and had the guy actually walk out to check out the truck.. was a 5 spd, but was not 4wd.. what a goober.. hate when they don't advertise the vehicle right. Back to my search :)

oddly enough it's a I6 4.0 ... see if that boggles you now hehehe ;)

curious, what's the different with an Olympic edition MJ from '88? Anything special aside from the paint job? I found one that is a 4 speed manual... so what transmission would it be using?

hey found a couple really good web links... for any others interested in the 2wd to 4wd conversion and the Ford 8.8 swap :) http://xjfanatic.com/4wd1.php http://members.cox.net/rough-riders/tec ... rd8_8.html Both seemed to be very informative, even to a mechanically deficient perseon as myself.. saw a bunch of other sites available with tons of info and instructions how do todo this stuff. It's going to help me a ton, hope it helps others :)

curious, how tough would it be if I were to purchase a 2WD and convert to 4WD.. I know I'd have to buy the NP 231 transfer case to start.. I'm sure the center console and lever I could snag at a salvage yard.. how much is really involved? since I'm not overly mechanically inclined, but I know friends that are and can help... let me know what parts I would likely need , cost & time involved.. since I've heard other people do it, but never heard what was really involved.

Alas, the embers of misfortune torched my hopes... I was 1 HOUR too late, the dork I made an appointment with went ahead and told the MJ I was after for $1200... of course, he didn't give me the courtesy of calling me 1 hour prior to save me the house and a half drive to his house... what a swell guy eh... back to the drawing board, have to keep a sharp eye out for another one for the next month or 2... dag nabbit... 2 months of searching, just to miss by an hour... oooooh the humanity heh oh well, wasn't meant to be, am sure I'll find another eventually..

I remember how it was when I had my cherokee, I just kept buying and adding goodies almost each paycheck... 1st it was 31" tires, then the tires were to big for the wells, so in came a 3" lift.. but the rear end looked like it was sagging, so in came the revolver shackles and a repacked leaf spring set... then the tires rubbed on the control arms and tires looked too big... in came nice new BFG 30" tires instead.. then I wanted a full size spare... in came the new bumper and tire carrier... then the shocks started popping, so in came a bar pin eliminator and all new poly bushings with new shocks to boot... then the engine felt a little weak, in came the new high flow exhaust and cat, plus a turbo cities intake.. I expect nothing less when I get the Comanche :lol: