HatchetMJ

your a better man than I....I'd have smile and walked out the door

I aware that the wiring harness is different...I'll be changing that over too as I bought the whole xj with everything intact...I'm also switching out the dash too.. I will eventually swap in a stronger axle...but for now I just need to get something in there so I can get it moving again...eventually I plan to go full width and put a dana 60 in the front and a 14 bolt in the rear

that being the case I'll probably just regear the front axle to what my rear has and call it good...after i get the drivetrain in...I can always change the axle...thats easy enough to do....

yep...I'm swapping in the entire drivetrain.. :D 2.5L 4spd manual just wasn't gonna cut it..lol so it will now have 4.0L 242 and auto tranny

its a 91 XJ...the MJ is an 89....and I figured it wouldn't be as easy as just swaping it out....guess I'll be breaking out the welder :D

Alright I bought a donor XJ with a 6cylinder, 242 and AW4 to put into my MJ and make it 4wd from 2wd. I got to looking at it and find that the MJ rear axle is sprung under while the XJ rear axle is sprung over. Is there any reason why I can't take the axle and leafs out of the XJ and just mount it into my MJ already sprung over. This would allow me to just purchase a lift for an XJ in the future. Instead of an add a leaf setup...then I'd be able to get full spring packs. Do the leafs measure the same from center to center of the mounting bolts? The front axle is an easy swap...I would just leave what I have in the rear alone...but I want to make sure the gears are the same in both axles because I can't read them since the tags have rusted off and have really no way of knowing what they are...at least by swapping in that rear I know it will match the front.

This forum is great...I'm a member of several other forums...like bbb.jeepininin.com , bbb.quadratec.com, and www.pirate4x4.com those all have there great aspects....but when I needed information about MJ's I started searching for something that was just for them and ran across the yahoo group and saw that there was a forum and came here...this place is great...and has a lot of information I wouldn't have otherwise found about MJ's on the other forums I visit because they aren't nearly as common as the XJ's and Wranglers....thanks to the creator of this for his time and effort to make it a good place for MJ owners

Changing that stud is a piece of cake....go to your local parts store and pick one up...all you'll have to do is pull the drum off..and put the new one in (after knocking out the old one if broken)...should take less than 15 minutes to do and $10 at the most

I don't see a lot of them around me...actually I saw virtually none until I started working on mine and getting ready to drive it...then i started seeing a few more of them...there is girl around here that drives a Pioneer that is clean...no body damage and no rust...its beautiful...which is rare for them around here...had a buddy that had one with full widths and about 11 inches of lift...but he sold it to someone not around here...but it was a nice rig...still had the rust and stuff...but would walk over anything in its path

I've order from tirerack.com a lot of other tires on other vechiles and always came out better than the local places...I will say that the Liberator AT's are pretty decent tires...had them on a ZJ I had a few years ago and never had a bit of trouble with them...

maybe :D

I'd like for mine to be able to take a little longer...but I have no choice...I'm borrowing garage space at my folks place because my house doesn't have a garage....and that is the amount of time I was given to get in and out so they could have the garage back...lol

shouldn't be that bad...it will only take me about 2 hours to pull the engine at the maximum....thats if i go slow..the biggest part is going to be putting everything back in...but I rarely sleep...so I should have plenty of time to get it done :D

Saturday my roomate and I went to pick a cherokee I'd planned on picking up ad parting out to make money to buy the parts I was going to put into my MJ. So I could convert it to 4wd. The original deal was the guy I was getting it from was going to take the 4.0L of it and I could have the rest. Well he decided that he didn't want the 4.0 because it wasn't H.O. and was going to take the seats out for another XJ he had. Which works out good. So now instead of throwing and AX5 and NP231 behind the 2.5L I have in there. I'm going to pull the 2.5 out (already have it sold) and drop the entire power train out of the XJ in there. So I'll have a 4.0L NP242 t-case, and AW4. The column is out of the XJ because they needed that. But we hot wired the XJ so I could hear the 4.0 run. It runs great and the t-case and trans shift into each position nicely. For the $200 I spent I think I got one hell of a deal. So now I'll have a bigger engine, better t-case and an auto tranny. Is there anything I should be concerned about when swapping this over. I think it will be fairly simple. I have the computer and harness for the XJ to swap into my MJ so that should make it pretty easy too. I'm going to pull the axles out and put them in the MJ as well. Should be an interesting next couple weeks. I've given myself about 3 weeks to get this swap done and all the additional pieces out of my yard. Plus I have an old car I'm parting out to be working on at the same time. So that 3 motors/drivetrains to pulll and one to install.

Never really got into nascar...I have been to the Brickyard 400. But that was only because a friend had a free ticket and I like to party so we went the night before and camped out and partied. Went to the race. It was alright. But as far as sitting in front of a TV every weekend just watching it..I can't do it

My mom has had one for a little over a year. She likes it and servers her purpose. But that doesn't include wheelings. So I don't know how it does in that situation. I do know it does pretty damn good in heavy snow and pulls a boat pretty good. If I was going to buy one I'd be buying one with a diesel.

I haven't found anything that specifically caters to MJ's. But, pretty much anything for and XJ will fit an MJ and there are alot of XJ resources out there.

The AX15 is a stronger more reliable tranny..the synchro's don't go out on them nearly as much as the AX5's do. I will say that I have seen an AX15 converted to be mated up to a 2.5L engine but it was a PITA and not something I would want to do. However if you've got the time, patience, and ability to do so it would be a good swap. And add some strenght and reliablity to you drive train. HTH

I've got a 2wd and am going to be in the next couple weeks getting a donor XJ and doing the swap myself. I'll try and take pictures and do a little write up while I'm at it. However my conversion is going to be with an AX5(replacing the factory AX4) and a NP231. All bolted behind a 2.5L...but its basicaly the same for the 4.0 guys. Just different parts.

Thought I'd poke my head in here and say hello. I found the yahoo group today when looking for information about converting a 2wd MJ to 4wd and when I got there I noticed there was a forum :D I frequent a few other forums and will be adding this one to the list. Hopefully I can add some knowledge and learn some things as well as have a good time. Nice to meet you guys

Hi all. I've got an 89 MJ with a 2.5 that is 2wd. I bought her late last year for dirt cheap. Had been wrecked a bit in the front. Grill is gone and drivers fender is messed up as well as the front bumper. Drivers window was shattered out of it. I got a great deal on it so I'm not complaining. I had to initially rebuild some of the steel brake lines because they had rusted through. After doing that I decided to try and drive her for bit because she ran great. Well that didn't work out so well. The p.o. had removed the thermostat to keep it from over heating (not the brightest crayon in the box) so I blew the engine about 5 miles down the road. Luckily I've been around the Jeeping community for several years and knew someone that had a 2.5 laying around and got that for free and installed it. Runs like a champ. Now I'm about to start getting to work on it like I've been wanting to do the whole time I've had her. I will be getting a donor XJ and doing a converstion to 4wd. After that (when time and money permit) I'll be adding a lift and some tires. The lift will probably something of the "homebrew" variety. I'm leaving the 2.5 in it for now as I don't have the time or money before the snow flies to change the engine. However when I change the engine I will be building either a 327 or 350 to put in it. I'll snap some pics when I get a chance.