neohic

Looking like somewhere between the Springs area and Denver... maybe even as close as the south western side of Denver. For what I'm looking for as far as work, the Denver area is the front runner. She seems excited about looking at culinary options in Denver. :shake: As far as other options, I've got some "issues" that the Denver area seems to be prominent in. Right now I drive 80 miles for a specialist... a drive I will not be okay with making when we relocate. Automotive fab shops seem to be more focused around Denver. Any good ones I should be looking more into?

Been waiting for this one to pop up. It's being sold by John up at Archer Racing.

Still a cool truck. :cheers:

This bumper is for a XJ/MJ, yes? Come one, Pete... nobody likes ads that are missing vital information. :smart:

Nice! I've never seen a flip top WilderNest on an MJ before! Any interior pictures?

Seem to remember them asking a pretty penny for that on CL. Beautiful truck! I'd do nothing to it but carry on how it was cared for and keep enjoying it... and put the grill on right side up. :thumbsup:

Another year has come and gone already. What a trip, right?! Take a second and think back at everything that you've accomplished on your MJ over the entire year... probably not near as much as you would've liked to have gotten done, right? I'm in the same boat. What if you had more time? How about 26 years or so? Say, WHA'?! Yup... we've gone into original owner territory! It's December and this month we celebrate... SLORIDE'S 1988 BASE!!! YEAR/MODEL ● 1988, Base, 2wd originally Purchased new. Overland Park Jeep Eagle, Overland Park, KS ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● 4.0 / 6 cylinder DRIVETRAIN ● Was BA10/5 - 3.07 rear axle Now AX-15 /NP231 (‘96XJ) 3.55 rear and front axles (98 XJ) COOLING ● Stock original radiator with closed system on 3rd pressure bottle Original two fan stock set up Has A/C that’s recently been converted to R134 Replaced all hoses and ‘hard’ components except evaporator Evaporator flushed because a suitable replacement that would fit heater box was nowhere to be found ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● Pretty much stock from the factory Idiot lights on dash swapped with gauge cluster SUSPENSION/STEERING ● New springs at four corners along with new shocks Suspension parts and steering you’d typically find on a stock ’98 XJ INTERIOR ● Charcoal grey colored buckets and carpet Full center console On its second headliner Manual windows Tilt wheel with cruise (Couldn’t get one without the other.) Came without radio or cigar lighter Currently has Pioneer head unit and Kicker speakers, front and back BRAKES ● ’98 discs rolling up front ’94 ZJ discs rolling back on the 8.25 Load sensing valve replaced with an adjustable version New hoses all around LIGHTING ● Stock lights at the corners, front and back Headlight up grade on the to-do list Interior lights converted to LED Dash lights, courtesy, B-pillar are all LED Adding LEDS to inside and outside console, specifically the back of the console – ash tray is out of there! Added LEDS in select spots elsewhere in cab EXTERIOR ● The MJ is rolling with the original, but since faded, Colorado red paint One minor mishap back in ‘96 when the then wife tried moving a concrete pole with the left front fender There’s a couple of dings with a few rust spots but no major cancer WHEELS/TIRES ● Truck came with stock steel wheels. Current aluminum rims added back in ’97 Tires are Firestone Destination A/T P235/75R15 MISCELLANEOUS ● Now, you might wonder how a base MJ came with buckets, console, carpet, tilt with cruise, A/C, 5spd and 4.0. Well, I ordered the truck from the factory that way. This was to be my DD doing 100 miles a day, all highway. Did I want all the bells and whistles? Yep, you bet I did. But this truck fit my budget at the time. To be honest, I never thought I’d keep it past five years. Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● If I had to pick one, it would be the first snow storm I encountered while driving that truck. With 4 tubes of sand in the back and a good set of snow tires, that 2wd drive 5 speed pickup would practically go anywhere. You’d have a blast doing it, too. CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● For me, what started out as a casual one time search for tips on dropping a transmission out of an MJ has turned into a daily obsession of reading CC. The information on this site is priceless. Every day you learn something new. This site Pete started is truly awesome. The admins and moderators, as well as those others that keep this site functioning while offering advice and insight, cannot be thanked enough. This site, unlike some others on the web, makes you feel welcome. Congrats! And thanks. ●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●●● I can't even imagine if I had the opportunity to have my '88 since it was new. I love the simplicity of this truck and how it's another perfect example of making these trucks into what you want it to be! Have a look at everything that you've done since day one and the best part about it is that it's clearly still the same truck only better. It was beautiful then and it's beautiful now! Thanks for keeping it that way, Jay! Congratulations! -Ben This post has been promoted to an article

Funny to see someone bring this up as I was recently "gifted" a set of 33x14 boggers. A couple of them have already been grooved out in the middle and the other two need it. Not sure what to do with them but I can also attest to them being terrible on the road when they were mounted on a Cherokee. Going down the road and hearing nothing but "WHAAAAAAAAAA" roaring away from the tires and then the annoying back massage at every stop. Definitely not ideal for street use.

Not sure if I want another education job after my current position. I used to really enjoy it but all too often I catch myself giving the "back in my day" speech on how none of them know how to work... that's only a difference of 10 years too! Not sure if I have the patience for it anymore. PM sent. :thumbsup:

I've decided that I hate living in MN! :D My wife and I have kicked around the idea of picking up and relocating to CO for a few years now and things are starting to look real. Not exactly looking to start loading up the truck tomorrow or anything, but we are looking to start aligning some stars. Currently, she has another year and a half of school to finish while I am trying to change jobs for something that I'm happy enough doing for now. I've worked in custom metal fabrication and welding education and she is currently working in a small accounting office while also going to school for accounting. We're both 28 so I would put us in the category of knowing what we want while still having plenty of time to accomplish things. Here's where we'd like to be: East of the mountains, but relatively close to them We'd like to build a permanent tiny house as it's just the two of us so somewhat secluded land is a plus Somewhat close to some kind of civilization (We live about ten miles out of town right now and that's about right... not too far... not too close.) Obviously we'll need jobs but she can do some kind of accounting just about anywhere (and hopefully get some good benefits) and I'd really like to get back into fabrication... Jeep/automotive is a huge plus I like simplicity. She likes having lots of options for things to do. For example, a few years ago we were in CO and went down to visit Jim in Pueblo. I loved that area! She preferred Denver down to the Springs area for the obvious reason of more people/options on activities. I've already PMed Jim about it and got some good advice from him. Did some more researching and pretty much set it in stone that eastern/south eastern CO is the kind of place that we'd like to be. So, by painting with very broad brush strokes, where should we go and what kind of cool job could I get there? We're probably a few years away from moving as she needs to finish her school and I'd honestly like at least one good year of not working on our house and just enjoying it. Thoughts? Opinions? Reasons not to go there either? 1... 2... 3... go! :popcorn:

This is what I ended up doing when I did my wheels. Many, many hours but I think they came out okay and still look good years later. For the majority of the face, I used finer and finer sand paper then on to scotch brite pads that were also in finer grits. Good luck with it but the best results really come from time and elbow grease. :thumbsup:

Looks like it. If I had to replace a fuse block and clean up wires, I'd probably go that route and get new terminals instead of cutting, splicing, and soldering everything.

Here you go... fresh off the printer. :thumbsup:

I went looking around for pictures on how to take apart a fuse block (box?) and came up with a bunch of information on how to do it... but we all love pictures so I wasn't satisfied with what I was coming up with. Fuse block front: Fuse block bare chassis: Back of fuse block: Back of bulkhead connection showing the elusive 8mm head (however apparently sometimes 7mm, 6mm, or 1/4") bolt: Here's the extraction tool I made using a piece of stainless TIG filler. It's roughly 1/4" from tip to tip and I tapered the ends so it would fit nicely around the female fuse terminals: Shown in fuse block: The extraction tool fits snugly vertically above and below where the fuse would seat into. Keep pushing it in until the wire starts to slide out the back. When the terminal comes lose, it simply pulls out the remainder of the way. Terminal: The two angles "wings" on the terminal is what is being pushed together by the extraction tool. Before putting the terminal back in, it;s a good time to tighten up the fuse seat. Gently bend the "wings" out so the terminal stays tight when inserted back into the block.

Another for "flash red".

With the gold under the hood and the black exterior, there has obviously been a repaint at some point. Any filler that you know of? That'll determine how big of a job the rockers could potentially be. As for the floors... eh :dunno: ... looks like a typical MJ floor to me. The frame is what's kind of important there. It's really too bad that most of the time these trucks rust from the inside out. How bad you figure the frame is if that's what the floor looks like? For $400, if it runs and drives and everything works, I'd be all over it. Keep the thing running as cheaply and as long as you can as long as it's safe. :thumbsup:

Anything new on this one?

Looks like a couple nice little shears there too. Those free also?... I would've been all about them.

Don't forget the six speed. :driving:

What makes you say that? The badge on the left side of the tailgate? Or have you checked the vin?

Can't believe I missed that. :doh:

'91/'92 Eliminator trim changed. Also the header panel that's sitting on the hood has the '90 and older grill and headlight trim.

Something like this... Let me know if you'd like to trade for the flares.

I'd either ditch them or move them over to the door at the bottom belt line similar to how the later model Cherokees were. Did you keep the original flares?