neohic

Not sure. It isn't super low though. This truck is on the same suspension that mine will be: Easily speed bump able.

Floor patch it done. While I’m waiting on brackets I decided to start mocking the new suspension in. I’ve got a track bar to make along with modifying my current control arms. Believe it or not, there’s actually room for the differential to go all the way up to full bump! Granted, not much space, but just enough. Ka-chow!

Lightly snowing this morning.

Well, shoot. So… the floor isn’t quite as fresh as it was last I saw it in 2010. I was crawling around under the truck today and noticed the nasty “R” word that never sleeps. I decided to bite the bullet since I was undecided if I wanted to swap to a hand brake lever or go back to the pedal. Truth be told… I never put the parking brake together after the last major makeover in 2010. I like that I can fit a Nalgene bottle in the console, so the pedal went back in. The seat came out. The carpet came up. And then?… Oh no! Not quite as bad after some cleanup, but it definitely needs to get cut out. This was the only Comanche I’ve owned that I hadn’t needed to patch the floor right there. I’ve got a plan but I absolutely despise welding on these trucks. Let’s move on for now. The exhaust between the header and the transmission cross member has always been an issue also. A while ago I added a flange that turned out to be a huge mistake. I put it in there without thinking about the front driveshaft. It’s close but only just came in contact with it probably while going around corners. That came out and a v-band went in to make a ton of room. The angle looks a bit weird, but when you figure where the driveshaft is about to live, the clearance gets better. Again, tough to see but I can fit a hand around the u-joint and the header. It’s probably fine. Lastly, I started looking at the rear sway bar from the ZJ. There’s no way it’s going to work. The new plan is to reuse the current front sway bar on the rear. It fits great where I want it to! The bar will get mounted to the axle and I’ll make up some stud brackets that bolt on with the bump stops. Stay tuned.

I was at my buddy’s shop today so I grabbed more Toyota content. Still an awesome truck but with slightly more body damage than the last time I saw it. It has a front bumper that currently off of it for repairing the front crossmember. Anyhow… back in street truck land… apparently this is what people with lowered vehicles do? WAY easier to get a better idea of what’s going on under there.

That is a SHARP car!

I almost ordered through Barnes but RS was a better deal (hindsight ) and they had the lower control arm brackets that don’t require extra cam lockout washers. I know I can just get the extra bits and weld everything solid to leave the caster adjustment to my control arms themselves, but I prefer to not have nothing more than I need.

Think of it as a “best-of album”.

You’re not the first to tell me they’ve been waiting for a while. No one else is getting replies to emails or calls either.

Thanks dude! Open your fuel tank!! If you’re stumbling you might have the dreaded rubber line that’s failing. The ZJ came from my buddy’s shop, Pine Metal Fabrication. The Toyota is on tons and 40s. It was originally a 2wd truck and they’re way easier to build into something like this because of the lack of most speed sensors. It’s an awesome truck! Everything that comes out of the shop is super nice. Hoping to have some kind of updates on my truck sooner than later.

Came across a later XJ 10 blade electric fan. Of course it just dropped right in but I wired it to the fan harness I added years ago. The switches are still on the side of the console. First switch turns on the system. The second is an override if I want to manually turn it on. Don’t ask about those extra holes. Keep in mind, this truck has lived a few lives already.

Welp… finally that time of year.

I can’t believe the three fan shroud has been in there since 2013, but it came out today. Just going back to simplicity and undoing some wiring that 19 year old me would’ve done even before the fans. It never overheated with either fan setup. I cleaned up and kept the harness I added for the fans so I can add an auxiliary again with an override switch. For now, it’s back to basics.

I used to have the mentality that I had to keep all of my vehicles. The reality is that you can only drive one at a time, and the more you have the less that they all get driven. Worst thing you can do to a vehicle is let it sit. More vehicles equals more sitting. My vote would be to sell it, finish your projects, and enjoy driving them.

Same! Here’s to ‘26

I spent the day cleaning axles. The rear needed all of the brackets cut off, and the front needed some attention too. Probably the cleanest Dana 35 on the planet right now. As for the 30, the lower control arm mounts needed to get cut off also. One side was booger welded back on while the other was well on its way to falling off. The story was that the ZJ was a northern rig before it was in Colorado. That checks out with the amount of rust I scaled off and the blown out control arms. Then I popped the cover. Poor thing has seen some things! The ZJ came with a pile or receipts for the front axle getting rebuilt. Everything looks and feels good, but obviously the old carrier was kept with the new gears. Still waiting on Ruff Stuff brackets.

Keep it coming, Joe! I really enjoy your blog style story time updates.

Hell yeah! CJ content!!

You kids need a role model.

I’ve been looking at the rear sway bar that came out of the donor ZJ. In the ZJs, they fit above the upper control arms in a very compact space. I think it’d fit in a similar spot above the axle in an MJ but either moved rearward or turned around backwards from how it mounts in the ZJ. I’m yet to crawl under my truck to see for sure but I know that packaging will be tight being I’d like to continue carrying a spare tire.

Yup. Haven’t looked around yet but it’s an option I was considering. As far as cost, I really just have time invested in the ZJ.

Welp… I gambled and lost. Not 100% lost, but I had a bit of a bummer surprise. Yup. Not to say that a Dana 35 wasn’t possible in a V8 ZJ, but I can’t think of one that I’ve ever found. Of course this would be the first! The reality is that I should’ve paid closer attention, but here we are. Also, these have 3.73 instead of the assumed 3.55s. Not a huge deal, but between that surprise and the rear axle I almost walked away from the set. Is the rear axle going to be fine?… probably. Feels odd going from a Dana 35 to a Chrysler 8.25 and then back to a Dana 35 though.

I voted for the Dana 18 also. The offset outputs is perfect if you want to keep the suspension low. Dana 20 with 18 internals makes for a sweet setup too.

Sounds like you already know it.