ChiefJosh

Offroader461- Nice Chief by the way :cheers: I say we start a "CCC" - That's "Comanche Chief Club" for the rest of you..... We can be the founding fathers..... Anyway, IIRC, you just finished your SOA right? Have you been driving it much with the steering set up as you described? Any highway driving? I just pulled a ZJ pitman from the junkyard today - cost me all of $5 - no tie rods though, they were all gone. I've got an adjustable trackbar from the PO, so I'm gonna try to find a bracket and rod end that will fit it. Right now it has the TRE on it. I'm hoping TnT, maybe Rockkrawler, and possibly Rusty's if nothing else works out.

No heims for me - thanks. Dirty- Are you speaking all of this hypothetically, or from experience? Right now, I'm leaning toward the track bar bracket and a ZJ pitman arm, maybe upgrading to the ZJ tie rod while I'm at it, cause I'll source it from the junkyard. BTW, for the flip inserts, I don't think you are supposed to taper it, they have a taper on the inside, you just have to drill out the knuckle straight through. I'm going to go look at my truck today, and see what looks possible, what looks like I'd have to change to get it all to iron out.

No, it doesn't make you run a smaller TRE, because you drill out the knuckle to 3/4", then drop the flip insert in and tack it in place. I found the link for the TRE flip inserts, once I spelled Go-Fer-It "correctly." Here's the page: http://www.goferitoffroad.com/products.htm I also read Go-Jeep's write up on his setup, which utilizes these TRE flip inserts. Here's the write up: http://gojeep.willyshotrod.com/HowtoOTKSteeringLinks.htm Here's my beef with the whole thing: It all seems like a great idea, but I don't like all the fabrication that Go-Jeep had to do to get it all to work. Has anyone done something similar to this without all of the work? I know, I'm probably looking for corners to cut, but I guess what I'm asking is there an easier way to do OTK with the TRE flip inserts? jared: How much lift are you running, and how is that all working out for you so far? Do you drive your XJ on the road much? How is it?

What are these magic "goforit flip inserts" that you speak of?

Geeez! It really doesn't ever end, does it????? Once you touch one thing on one of these trucks, it breaks- So you figure, okay, it broke, so instead of replace it- upgrade it. It seems like every week I learn in a new more real way - JEEP - Just Empty Every Pocket. Okay, so here's where I'm at: I replaced all of the stock steering stuff when I first bought the truck- tie rod, drag link, all the ends. Then my D35 went, so I decided to go SOA. So I'm trying to finish all of that up without having to sell the rights to my firstborn child in order to afford it. When it is all said and done, I'll be at about 6" lift, with drop brackets on the control arms, and an adjustable track bar. What should I do with the steering? Keep in mind that I also have a leaky front and rear windsheilds to take care of, so cost is of utmost importance. What are my options?

I just finished this on my 88 MJ, I can give you a wiring "diagram" to save you the hassle I had of trying to sort out all of those wires. There's 10 wires on the new harness, and like 6 or 7 on the old one. So far, everything seems to work.....

Why do I need to drop the track bar as well? I've got an adjustable track bar, can't I just adjust it to make up the difference?

At what lift height do I need a drop pitman arm, and what happens if I don't get one?

Yeah, what he said. With no air tools, the usual minor setbacks, I did mine in an afternoon, by myself.

So far, I'd highly recommend the 8.25, though I'm a little partial because that's what I did. Some of it depends on what trans you're running. Auto and 33's, you'll want at least 4.10 - In that case the Ford 8.8 is probably easier to find, than a Chryco 8.25 with 4.10s. I'm running a 5spd, so 3.55 gears will be good for 33's, especially because my MJ will see a lot more street driving than trail. 3.55 was the "standard" gear ratio for XJ's with the 4.0/auto combination - that means in the 96+ time frame, there's about 3 million XJ's out there with the axles you can use, and it means they're cheap. My MJ had 3.07s with the 5spd, I bought both axles out from under a 99 at the junkyard for $200. The front was an easy swap, and saved a ton over having my old axle regeared, plus the fact that it is 10 years younger. I bought new leaf spring perches and shock mounts for the rear, welded them up and bolted it in. I've only put about 20 miles on it since, but so far so good. Another plus side of using the 8.25 over the 8.8, especially if you have a 5spd, is that the e-brake cables from your D35 will fit right into the 8.25. That is not the case with the 8.8. From what I hear it's not too dificult, but it is one more thing to deal with. Hope that helps- Good luck :cheers:

I think I'm gonna change my transfer case fluid this afternoon or this week, but I'm not sure what to put in it. I thought I remembered somebody saying something about 5w30, but I don't remember exactly. What am I supposed to put in it? Can I put synthetic in?

That ad was great! I'd have bought it too after reading that! Nice find - good luck with it

I'm currently running 31x10.50's on an 8" wide wheel, if I upgrade to 33x12.50's, can I run them on my current wheels, or should I try to go with 33x10.50's if I can? What are the pros and cons? When these go on, I'll be running SOA at about 6" lift, my current wheels I think are 3.75 backspacing.

The proportioning valve I'm refering to is one out of a 96 XJ, and it's the one that sits up front by the master cylinder. I removed the load sensing proportioning valve in the rear.

As far as I've found so far, they aren't metric fittings. Basically, on the prop valve, you have one hole that is a normal 3/16" line fitting threading, there is one hole with a 1/4" line fitting threading, and there are 2-3 holes with a 5/16" line fitting threading (in other words, a standard 5/16" line fitting will thread into it). Here's the tricky part. You can buy, from Napa, or wherever, premade straight lines in various lengths, flared, with fittings. You can get these lines in whatever diameter you desire, 3/16, 1/4, or 5/16. You can also get them with whatever threading you desire on either end. The b***h about it is, you can't buy just the dang fittings. I, apparently mistakenly, bought a roll of 3/16" line, ran my rough lines in the truck, assuming I could then figure out what fittings I needed, go buy them, put them on, then flare the ends. Not so. One option for me now would be to throw out what I've already done and buy premade lines, as I described above. What I think I am going to try instead, is use some reducer fittings. You can buy, say, a 5/16 threaded fitting that is tapped so a standard size 3/16" line threaded fitting threads into it. Basically, you have one fitting, then another threads into the back of it. I think that's what I'm going to try before I go buy all new lines. Hope that helps....

Two questions: If I'm running all new hard lines, all the way around my truck, should I stick with the standard 3/16" line, or is there a benefit to upgrading to 1/4" or 5/16" line? Second, has anyone else had a problem coming up with new correct flare fittings that will thread into the master cylinder and proportioning valve? What solutions have you found?

Pete- Yeah, sorry bout that, I didn't really specify what I was talking about did I? That's what I get for trying to do that while nearly falling asleep... Anyway, what I was refering to was swaping an AX-15 into a BA-10 truck.....

Pete- Other than the clocking issues, how difficult overall was the swap? How would you compare it to your full-width axle upgrade as far as difficulty? Any other issues that you ran into? What are the little things we'd likely forget to pick up in order to do this swap?

Thanks for the help, I don't know why I wasn't thinking of all of that - slight brain fart today. :nuts: I even knew the fender flare measurement.... Eagle, thanks for reminding us of the obvious - Sometimes that's more needed than it should be.

I've got a set of coil springs in my truck that I'm not sure what the lift on them is, is there anyway to figure it out? I think they're about 22" tall with 12 wraps of coil.

Does he have any lift on his truck? I've heard that sometimes that makes a difference in clearance for the header.

Doubtful....it doesn't look like it's working for him.....

Just realized today, after I had one of the shock mounts welded up, that they won't work becase they are perpendicular to the axle, and they need to be parallel. I forgot to check that one :nuts: . Oh well, guess I'll order up some of those too.... I did manage to get both new axles in yesterday, SOA in the back, added a spacer in the front, not sure yet how level it sits right now. Installed some JKS discos along the way. I decided to run all new brake lines since everything was rusted tight. I cut that all out, swapped in a master cylinder and booster from an 02 WJ (found a couple good writeups on NAXJA), an XJ proportioning valve, Chevy lines for the front, Dakota for the back. Not the prettiest welds in the world, but not bad either. As you can see, I'll be picking up some new U-bolts this week as well.... Here's how The Chief sat while I turned it around in the driveway so I could work on the front axle. It's a bit tall for 31's, but that's all I've got right now, so they'll have to do. I did almost get stuck in the driveway though. It was kinda funny, I don't have any shocks in the rear, so it was hopping all over the place; my idle is really high right now, so I had to feather the clutch; I didn't want to put it in 4wd, because I was running two different gear ratios; I only had front brakes and the rear lines were just crimped, so I was losing fluid.....I thought I was done for, I was all over the place. I toughed it out though..... I measured up the rear as I held the old fender flare in place, and I think I'm right at about 25.5" from hub to bottom of flare, not sure about the front yet, it's still on the jackstands so I can finish the brakes this week. Then I'll be able to measure up for some shocks.

What's a "stover"? You mean like a nylon lock nut? Another question, on the subject of track bars, how do you figure out what length to adjust it to? That is the step I'm on with my MJ. Help would be appreciated.

Both Blue Torch Fab and Ruff Stuff Specialties have DIY kits. They send you the pieces, you weld it up. The one from Ruff Stuff is stupid strong, it's freakin 3/8" steel - for like $70. Check it out: http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/cat ... 7a599f6b8d