neohic

It is March! The seasons are changing (I hear), the snow is melting (for those of us who have it), and it's time for a new month of MJOTM (that's why we're really here, right?). This month is another one of those way overdue type members who currently has a lot on his plate. All this after a huge swap on his truck, anyhow. This one really goes without saying... YEAR/MODEL ● 1991 Pioneer 4x4 ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● 3.3L Cummins 85hp-215ft/lbs DRIVETRAIN ● "Stock" Swapped in an AX15 COOLING ● Stock radiator 2 electric fans (switch/thermostat) ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● Stock SUSPENSION/STEERING ● 4.5" Rusty's lift INTERIOR ● Stock Reupholstered swapped in bench seat Hand made gauge cluster A-pillar gauge pod BRAKES ● Stock LIGHTING ● Putco wiring harness Delta H4 conversion housings 130 watt Narva off-road motorcycle bulbs LED plate lights EXTERIOR ● 97+ doors, fenders, front clip Freshly repainted to original midnight blue WHEELS/TIRES ● Powdercoated Silver Turbines! 235s but 33s coming soon MISCELLANEOUS ● Factory roll bar Built my own factory looking rear bumper "krustyballer" hitch FULL BUILD THREAD HERE Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● I don't really have a best story. But its always nice to hear people tell me that i have a nice truck. Its even better when people get in it (tire shop workers, windshield installers) and start it up and "freak" out from the rumble and noise of the little Cummins. It can even put smiles on other diesel owners when i "smoke them out". Its just something most people don't expect! CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● When i first got my MJ the site was a GREAT source of information and now its helping me grow my "business" as I'm selling hitches, sliders and bumpers on the site! Oh, Brandon... there are so many of us around here who dream of a diesel MJ and you just went and made one for yourself. Very cool to watch your progress and see the production of all the custom parts! Congratulations and good luck with your future endeavors in fabrication. Here's to you! -Ben This post has been promoted to an article

Saturday was nice. Spent about seven hours watching a frozen hole. Beautiful weather... well enough fishing... whiskey IN the rocks... :)

Seat belts came in super quick! I had them earlier in the week and found the time this morning to make up some mounts. Pretty straight forward... tab at the top and a bigger tab at the bottom. The belts and mechanisms themselves are a nice quality. Everything around the belt spool at the bottom is covered nicely without any of the rotating assembly exposed. That's really what I wanted... no risk of anything getting snagged in there should anything be stowed behind the seats. The female end of the belts have a large plastic cover on them that's kind of stiff though and makes for a goofy kink when wrapping around a seat. I would bet a hair dryer would make short work of getting them the right shape. Anyhow... Then I took it all apart to the point that I could flip the chassis over for final finishing on the bottom. Feels really good to finally be at this point! :D ... and it wasn't super sketchy at all getting things to this point by myself. :shake:

Might be able to help you out with this. Let me have a look at what I have up in the rafters in the morning.

Wow... I was thinking about the last time I put tires on this truck and it was 10 years ago. What's sad is that I still had the old receipt from them and the price was $461.13 for just the tires. Just ordered up a set of Treadwright Wardens and never would I have ever thought that I would've purchased tires for this truck for cheaper than I did 10 years ago! How much you might ask?... $455.81 after shipping! :banana:

I don't know, Don. Any plans for more than just the black glove box cover. :hmm:

Looks like this little truck is getting a set of Treadwright Wardens. Been doing a lot of looking around for who's got a better deal on BFG ATs, and 4 Wheel Parts was the best I found at about $600/set. Treadwright is having a sale on their Wardens right now that'll put a set on my doorstep for about $460. Slightly bummed that they don't have a raised white letter, but I guess it'll be better than the current look of advertising for my no-name cheap-@$$ tires. :oops:

Ordered: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Universal-Retractable-Front-Shoulder-Seat-Belt-3-Point/252276368896?_trksid=p2047675.c100005.m1851&_trkparms=aid%3D222007%26algo%3DSIC.MBE%26ao%3D1%26asc%3D20131003132420%26meid%3Dcb3c8988c7d34f22ae7762d1f72186d4%26pid%3D100005%26rk%3D1%26rkt%3D6%26sd%3D221039320884&rmvSB=true

I've got a huge pile of chassis parts in the basement right now. Disks will be going on front and rear. :wrench:

Side crash bars done. Filled holes in the floor and added more where they needed to be. Scratched off a few other small things on the list too. Went to the local salvage yard in search for some seat belts too without any luck. Right now I'm leaning towards just ordering up a set of three point belts and being done with it: http://carcraftstore.com/3-pointretractableseatbeltsharnessset.aspx. I like the idea that they'd be fresh and new, but I'm sure a cheap used set would work just the same. We'll see. I'd like to find something soon so I can get the cage 100% finished and out of the way so I can get working on the chassis.

Everytime I see this thread... ... sorry, Bo. Been sitting on that one for a while now. :rotf:

Does this mean that a 4x4 swap is in order, Don?

Not exactly an abundance of fiberglass leaf springs around though... that I know of, anyhow. If I were to want to go SOA without a mile of lift, I'd go with Waggy springs and then play around with removing/adding in other leafs to dial it in.

The fiberglass leafs were intended to have a non-progressive spring rate. They lowered the rear of the Comanche's about 2", but the Archers also used a 1" block and XJ shackles. As far as durability, I was told that these things are pretty tough. So... 2" drop, plus a SOA, equals 2.5" lift? :dunno: Then there's the real question, Don... WHY? :hmm:

Picking away at the list. Body is off, main cage is welded, and I added more to the list. :wrench: Winter slumber. I'm going to have to drive it like this at least once! :driving: Ran around with blue tape to make reminders of holes to fill, holes to make, and other such things to remove.

She seems to always be the "go-to" out there. :yes: Each year people post up pictures of them and Jessi... not that I'm complaining. Just an observation. :peek:

I... love... my... boots!!! :rotf: If I had to choose one pair of shoes to wear for the rest of my life, it'd be those boots. I've had a half dozen or so pairs of the same Redwing boots now and they all get the same toe-guard treatment. Awesome ankle support. Beautiful arches right out of the box too. They used to be my everyday boots but the new job requires metatarsal protection. I really don't care for the stiffness of them so when I work in my shop at home, the old faithful "coneheads" come back out. It's nice, really... spend all week in my "work" boots that's followed up with my "home" boots. Kind of like waiting for the weekend to see an old friend! :yes:

They are!... I hear. I've had the body for the better part of 12 years now. :doh: Back at it today! Redid the rear of the cage and I'm happy with it again. Not sure if I really need to add a spreader bar behind the seats again or not now... thoughts? I found the couple inches of headroom that I needed too. Can't believe I didn't do this in the first place, but I've got no problem redoing something for the better. Finally a comfortable seating position! Very happy I can use the bigger steering wheel too. It's a little more cumbersome to get in and out of the car with it, but it's a lot more comfortable with it than the 13". Yay!... the white wheel can go back to clock duty! Then there's the gauge layout... not sure what to do here. Granted, I knew this was coming, but I can only see the top and bottom half of the speedometer. On the other hand, I've got my priorities set with the tach front and center. The steering column is finally securely mounted too. ... as is the front of the body and the fuel tank. At this point, I just sat and thought about things. I'm pretty sure I'm done mocking up the cage other than the seat belts. Plenty of room for mounts though and it'll be easier to work on those without the body in the way. The hood came off to shed some light on some comfort features up front. Foot rests! I had my wife come out and have a seat in the buggy with me. What I really wanted to see was where she was comfortable at with her feet and legs and what her thoughts were on what would make it come comfortable on a road trip. She's comes up to 4'10" so of course her feet came nowhere near the foot rest on the passenger side. She really liked the seat placement though and really didn't feel a need for it. Should I find my way to the right side of the car, I'll be happy it's there. Both seats are comfortable for me to sit in now! Interior space sure shrank for a 6' guy after adding about 60' of tube! This will probably be the last time it'll look like this for a while. Next on the list is to blow it all apart so I can fully weld the cage and then work on the chassis. Really happy with how everything came out. ... as for the list...

Good to see this truck, BJ. :thumbsup: Just a heads up too, I've got a wedding to go to in June this year that's out your way. Somewhere in PA?... I understand it's a big state. :laughin:

I've got a ceramic coated header on my Eliminator and I like it. No issues with fit up but I always wanted to get a couple nice band clamps for the Y section. The supplied exhaust clamps sealed up fine, but it seemed like each year I'd have to loosen them to push the Y back together. Last spring I was changing the oil and the welder was sitting just a little too close to the truck... sure was an itch just too deep not to scratch. Couple stitch welds later and I don't need band clamps anymore. Next time I have an excuse to pull it out, I'll add a couple nice unions in there instead... probably.

The entire thread?! Pretty sure I was honest as far as I can remember.

Right?

I think every month makes me smile for one reason or another based off of who the member is for MJOTM. Usually, it's Comanche related. Don't get me wrong! This month is no different that it's one hell of a truck! But... I'm going to be blunt here... that avatar. Right?... RIGHT?... YEAR/MODEL ● 1991 Pioneer. Long bed 4wd 230k miles runs like new. :) ENGINE/PERFORMANCE ● Stock 4.0L ho engine. No performance stuff yet. Has all maint done. new plugs/cap/rotor/wires/02 sensor/TPS/IAC valve. valve cover/oil pan/rear main resealed. New Tchain and harmonic balancer. Brown dog motor mounts. DRIVETRAIN ● AX15 trans, fresh clutch 2 weeks ago, new output seal and filled with redline trans fluid. NP231 Tcase,new input seal and output seal and fresh fluid. Dana 30 front with 4.11s. Dana 44 rear with 4.11s and aussie locker. COOLING ● Stock late model cherokee alum radiator. New Elec fan, all new hoses/coolant T stat. New AC condenser and fresh R12. ELECTRICAL/IGNITION ● All stock at current. New ign switch and tumbler SUSPENSION/STEERING ● Clayton short arms upper and lower with johnny joints. Clayton 6.5" springs. Clayton Track bar and drop bracket. Clayton drop pitman arm. JKS quicker disconnects. JKS stem eliminators. Ruffstuff SOA kit in the rear. New moog leaf bushings. Bilstein 5150 shocks front and rear. INTERIOR ● All stock, bench seat. BRAKES ● Stock up front. Rear used to have 9 inch drums on D35. Now has 10.5x2.5 drums. Noticeable difference LIGHTING ● Stock for now. Rock lights and light bar coming soon. EXTERIOR ● Stock with fenders cut. Original long bed rubber mat. WHEELS/TIRES ● American racing D window style. 15x8" 35x12.5BFG KM2 MISCELLANEOUS ● Coming Soon: rock sliders, also rear bumper with sliders. Then front bumper and winch. Spare with mounts and nitrogen tank for airing up. FULL BUILD THREAD Remember That One Time?... Tell Us Your Best MJ Story ● I was heading to emmigrant gap about 3 years ago on highway 80 for a campout i do every year. Truck was bone stock. I had the cap on back and it was loaded heavy with camping equipment/antiques. I came over a knoll and changed lanes to get off at my off ramp, the road was a mess from road work(2 diff levels). It sent the front end into the most violent death wobble ive ever experienced. I pulled it out of gear to wrestle the wheel and get off the road. My offramp was right there. Well it shook so hard it dies... engine is dead. Ive got no power steering and no vac assist on the brakes. I get aimed at the offramp just before it died. Well i hit the brakes and it isnt slowing down... WTF!!! i push them again... near floor and only slowing maybe 50%. pump again... both feet on tiny pedal.... not gonna stop in time. Thank goodness this was an intersection in BFE. rolled right through it and up the onramp on other side. got out, pissed off cause i hate death wobble but laughing cause i was alive and nobody saw the event. look under hood.... Crank sender disconnected. no biggie. recon and started right up. Hmmm.... why couldnt i stop.... touch front wheels....broiling... rears...cold. Look underneath...the rod for the brake valve was off the axle and hanging. So i had no rear brakes at all. JEEZUS!!!! CC is Awesome!... Why Do You Think So? ● Cause Its an MJ only page and all the people are really helpful. Dave... Dave... Dave... you know you can never change that avatar of yours, right? Pretty sure it's kind of a staple around here. Anyhow... the truck, right?! Huge fan if this one! I'm definitely a sucker for a clean, white MJ. Not only that but it sure looks like it gets out there to be used. Real nice, man! -Ben This post has been promoted to an article

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