dfreeman616

wow i'm impressed with how good that chrome looks on that rust pile...

one year i had a spare d35 lying around, so i threw it in the back of my then-2wd MJ, and never got stuck, even when the snow was deep and it took a couple days for all the streets to be cleared by the city trucks...and i pushed/pulled half a dozen people out on the way home.

well it's not quite on the route, but you're welcome to swing up here in grand rapids, but it would ad 130 miles and a couple hours to your trip, unless you swing by pete's then it would be a bit less.

i like cooper tires. the discoverer at/r was a great tire, but they're phasing that line out and replacing with their discoverer at/3. great all around tires with good life, decent cost, good all around traction. if you want more of a mud tire, they have the discoverer stt also.

how much for the complete truck once you're done with it? what is it, 4.0/auto/4x4? year? what rear axle? i know a guy who might transport it for me...but that depends on overall cost. if someone else local to you or on the way up here wants the bed, i have a decent one to use so i would consider letting that go if they want to split the costs...for that matter, i don't really need a header panel or hood, i have spares here.

i've seen a range of problems with the focuses out there, but i've also seen some with pretty high mileage... 200k, 300k...with only minor issues. overall i'm not really impressed with them, but they're decent economy cars. coming from the car you have though, i would see nothing but disappointment. i've seen a few v6 escapes with bad cats on them, which are part of the manifold. the rear one is a PITA to get, you have to pull the driver axle shaft and the alternator to get it out, and they aren't cheap. i want to say the list for 800$ + each. tune ups on the v6 require pulling the intake, too. also watch out for control arm bushings and front wheel bearings, as well as ball joints.

JCR off road in kalamazoo had some they made for production, but didn't get enough orders and stopped. but they do custom work too, so i'm sure they'd work something out for you. i've heard nothing but good about them, and had some rockers from them on my first xj. good stuff, great guys to work with. are you on greatlakes4x4.com also?

I'm not into baseball, so I don't care...but as a friend of mine said on facebook "Apparently we felt the need to give the Rangers batting practice for the World Series. You're welcome, guys."

hmm i could use one of those on a multi-mount...

i have a set of 5 sitting in back of the shop, waiting for some lovin'. the clear is all flaking off

so let me get this straight...you have an 87 MJ in michigan, and there's no floor rot? and you have cab corners? and it only cost $250? i hate you. just kidding. but you should pull carpet up and make sure it's not rotting out under there. where in michigan are you? i'm in grand rapids.

welcome to "active" status! :wrench:

hyndais, in my experience as a mechanic, are harder to find parts for than our MJ's and not friendly to work on. of the cars mentioned, VW's are good only if you find a good one at a steal of a price, they tend to be over priced as a trendy car, and parts tend to not be cheap (as you see looking at salvage parts). the nissan sentra and altima are both good cars without too many issues, knock sensors are one of the most common as well as some cam/crank sensor issues. the corrolla, of course, is a pretty reliable car and parts aren't too bad in cost. as a mechanic though, i haven't seen any ford fusions having problems, just regular maintenance, and i liked the one i drove awhile back as a company car.

nice build, but i have one thought on the oil filter...and no, it's not about the Fram. it looks like the stock set up includes a heat exchanger filled with coolant? will that cause any problems not having it? nice info on the CCD/PCI and SRS adaptation.

the engine computer should be fine from the auto, they have a separate trans computer anyway. also, the park/neutral could be taken care of by hooking up a clutch pedal position switch, or just bypass. your call.

trust me, it's not as clean as it looks. that's a cell phone pic and the grass is covering the rust. the corners and rockers are gone, as are much of the floors. the bed's only clean because it's off another truck, but there's some good dents in it. this truck has seen almost 200k of michigan...and it shows. the paint's not even as good as it looks, it's a spray bomb job that just masks the multi-color body parts. edit/update for anyone who digs this tread up: i changed jobs and lost access to many of the tools an the lifts i was going to use, so this project is on hold.

the hood looks better in pics than in person, but it is functional. i wasn't planning to keep it and was going to throw it up for grabs in the classifieds sometime. you're welcome to come up this way if you want it, then pay whatever you think is fair.

haha glad you like it. my boys are the inspiration for this project. i love my comanche, but with 2 kids and a wife, jeep let me down by not building any trucks with a rear seat...well, aside from the rare as they can get m678 forward controls. which brings up another point: why am i doing this? it's going to serve 3 purposes: [*:ytc24r0a]be a dd. full size trucks don't get good fuel economy, the 4.0 does decent when driven without a lead foot. [*:ytc24r0a]general purpose truck. i move a lot of stuff around, but usually nothing huge. i do some towing, but again, nothing huge or often. i don't need full size capacity. [*:ytc24r0a]and occasional mild off roader. hey, it's fun, need i say more? i also want it to be something my wife can drive if she needs to, hence ditching a stick and going for an auto. of course, having a family and running an auto repair shop doesn't leave a lot of project time, so don't be surprised when the progress is slow. note i said when, not if. but the benefit in running an auto shop is after hours use of the lifts, welder, tube bender, and other various shop tools, as well as my own selection of tools on hand.

since you're from california, there's a good chance your bumper might be solid enough, but do so at your own risk. the truck will be fine though.

done right, you can tow 5000 lbs with a comanche. the only concern i have is that you mention a 2000 lb hitch...the jetta i believe is about 2800lbs.

Yes, I probably have. :nuts: Now that we have that covered, on to the project. Victim..err, I mean patient #1: 87 MJ LWB 4.0, BA10/5, NP231, factory D44 :brows:, rust free bed and tailgate. Seen here pulling around that '83 Monte Carlo shell/frame in a field. It had no wheels and was a pile of rusted junk, now it's scrap. "Patient" #2: 99 XJ 4 door, 4.0/AW4/NP231/ChryCo 8.25 "Patient" #3: 99 XJ 4 door, 4.0/AW4/NP231/ChryCo 8.25, currently my DD. Except now the straps are off the front and I fixed the bumper mounts enough to support itself. So here's the plan: Cheromanche! I'm still playing with the dimensions a bit, but the final result will be either the overall length/wheel base remains the same as the LWB MJ I'm starting with, or perhaps a little extension of the wheel base to provide some extra bed space. I'd like to keep 6 foot bed, but would consider cutting down to around 5 foot. Looking at the dimensions of current Tacoma's with the double cab, they offer both a long and short bed version with the following lengths versus a stock Comanche: ____________Overall______Bed ______Wheelbase____Width LWB MJ______222.9______88(7.3')______131.6______71.7 SWB MJ______207.3______73.0(6.1')____119.6______71.7 LB DC Taco___221.3______73.5(6.1')____140.6______74.6 SB DC Taco___208.3______60.3(5.0')____127.4______74.6 I should be able to maintain a 6' bed without making it too long or having too much wheelbase. I'd like to maintain four full doors, but I'm also keeping an eye out for a good 2-door XJ to make it a bit easier in making everything line up and not having to completely make my own rear doors. Other plans: [*:3gtyddqq]This is going to be a 99 Cheromanche, so full interior/4.0/AW4/wiring/front clip. Patient #2 will be the primary chassis donor for the extension, if I go with a 4-door set up. However, it's not complete anymore, so Patient 3 will be donating most of the drivetrain and wiring, as well as some of the higher trim features it has such as cruise and better seats. [*:3gtyddqq]Keep the D44, swap in full discs, regear either to match 3.55 from one of the 99 XJ's, or possibly 3.73's [*:3gtyddqq]NP242. I live in Michigan, so the selectable all-wheel drive is a plus. [*:3gtyddqq]Full chassis coating in every possible location with POR15 or similar. [*:3gtyddqq]2x6" steel tube rocker replacement. Aside from the obvious structural benefit, it also makes blending rockers much easier as the curve on the rocker seems to be one of the harder body line issues to overcome, seeing what other people have run into. [*:3gtyddqq]Custom front and rear bumpers with integrated 2" receiver. Long term plan includes a multi-mount winch set up. [*:3gtyddqq]Minor lift, looking for 3" [*:3gtyddqq]Metric ton payload capacity. [*:3gtyddqq]I'm still researching what to do for the rear seat, I'd like something that doesn't take as much depth as the XJ rear seat while offering head rests, and hopefully some versatile storage solution. 7/3/12 edit/update for anyone who digs this tread up: i changed jobs and lost access to many of the tools an the lifts i was going to use, so this project is on hold.

congrats on the fine piece of equipment.

rebuilt the front axle in my DD 99xj with all new diff/pinion bearings and seals, 1 new hub, 1 new u-joint (other side is only a year old), and new spider gears. funny thing is it's a 99 truck, with an axle build date in 98, but the outer pinion bearing and race are 96 and older part numbers :hmm: why does this have anything to do with my MJ? this XJ is a future donor...

+2 (wife counts too)

JCR is local to me, they did their first set of production xj rock sliders on my first xj, got it at a great price since they snapped a few pics of it. in fact you can see my red xj on this page http://www.jcroffroad.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=XJSL2&Category_Code=XJSL. great guys, great work, and their prices seem pretty competitive from what i've seen.