JeepcoMJ

I like the paint, but how long would it have taken to remove the trim pieces?

cops don't like my music. and my driver's liscense doesn't like points being added.

looks don't outweigh performance. I agree that 12.5's are not ideal, but price is my savior here and I gotta do what I gotta do...even if I buy a set of cragars, my investment will be a mere 4-5 hundred dollars for BRAND NEW tires on rims. that's a deal one can't pass up, especially when it's the tire size desired.

I vacuumed the crap outta it yesterday...and found some small mouse turds in it just now. yay, time for mousetraps and disassembly of the lower half of the heaterbox.

haha, it'd look bad. to me. I'm all about sound deadening, and being able to bring a date with me in my truck.... fit and finish is what I'm all about...if y'all haven't noticed :D I'm pretty stubborn too... example, a stereo on an offroad vehicle is completely unnecessary. the stereo on this sucker will be a pioneer head, a pyramid 800w amplifier, and two 10" sony xplod subs, with some pioneer 4x3's behind the b-pillars, and some 6" pioneers in the door (yes, they DO fit with some trimming). when I build my half-doors I will probably have to remove the 6" from the door and mount them behind the knee-board or something.

haha, f* that this thing is gettin STOCK seats. i hate racing seats, I hate conversion van seats in things they don't belong in. gotta be stock with some sort of seperate center console/armrest thing. I may just do my original idea with the bench seat :P

just picked up 2 quarts of por15 and some hardener so I can do the floor and the rocker panels when I get to them...anyone have any opinions on application? I'm leaning towards my gravity-feed spray gun, but I know that when I start spraying I need to keep going til i'm done...por15 hardens in air extremely quick. def. not brush on, maybe roll-on is best? I like spray tho... ideas?

I'll let ya all know. I'm leanin towards retrofitting something out of a car, or chopping down a bench seat and recovering it myself....to be only a foot wide. but then it wouldn't serve as a center console :(

That's my Harbor Freight special. :P It comes in handy for my trips to Home Depot. Plus not all of us have a big @ss garage like you. :D oh, haha, wait. you think I get to store my stuff in the shop? NOPE. my stuff is in the milkhouse attic, behind the barn, or sitting as you see it in pictures. my 2 hauler snowmobile trailer tho, is in the shop...just sandblasted now waiting for me to paint it and deck it. payed $10 for it with a new lift on it and bent axle, nothing wrong but surface rust and bad decking other than that...now time for AC2 4x8 plywood! but yours is a good trailer for your application, you're right

you have a menards fold-up trailer. I assembled one at work the other day, it was easy but a waste of time.

HAHA. sure the floors are nice, but u don't wanna know the deal with the rockers...damned side-steps. aluminum + steel = wierd oxidization. so the rockers appear nice, but they really aren't. check the Project Project thread in projects...that's it. it shows most if not all of the rust. anyways, the only rust on the floor (inside) is on 2 of the 4 main drain plugs, one is rusted out 1/4 inch all the way around, the rest arejust small surface rust. i found a dead mouse and a mouse nest with babies when i was cleaning it...the babies and the mother went to the chickens (yay carnivorous chickens!)

removed the sidesteps today...they're intact and for sale if anyone wants them. here's the damage underneath from washes not getting to the spots... kinda a bit rustier than I thought...which inspired me to remove the seats, lower trim, and carpet cause i didn't wanna waste my time. what i found left me in AWE. (besides the one dry mouse) even the shifter link mount bolts are still GOLD! e-brake cable is still shiny new carpet's really clean too... and i removed the rubber side guards...they're also intact if anyone wants to purchase them. and a shot of the bedliner next is to bedline the floor for safety measure, reinstall carpet and trim, decide on buckets or bench (thinking buckets and a fold-down 3rd seat in the middle) then remove the pioneer stripe but leave it saying pioneer. after that, I'm cleaning up rust, undercoating, replacing the rockers (thinking of stock, with Pete's rocker-guards), and installing 4 TJ flares and the heavy duty front and rear bumpers. I'm getting some HEAVY HEAVY tube bumpers from a cherokee for $50 so that's what's going on it...front has a baja hoop on it. should look good. after all that, it's save $$$ time and then SOA and TNT longarms with 6.5" coils, adjustable track bar, new shocks, new brake lines, re-adjust e-brake, xj prop valve, and 15x9 black rims with 33x12.50's on it.

anyone ever seen a MINT floor inside a comanche? I have. and yes, i'm rubbing this in. even the shifter link mount bolts are still GOLD! e-brake cable is still shiny new

your points are well-taken and I will consider them...but for now, this is what I can do. I have 15x8's so that's what I'll run for now, i just don't want it to round the tread, and also don't wish to run too low of pressure as i hate feeling bouncy.

road trip is in my vocabulary...

bed's worth $250+ and I need one ;)

yeah, idk how much I'd gain in the process though? and I really like the 33x12.50 look. I wanted TJ rear flares all around anyways...and my truck is gonna be higher than yours, so i figure I'll give it a try, and if it decides not to work, i'll run it on the road til they wear, and buy the right ones, OR i'll sell them. either way, right now, these tires are what i'll be running in the badlands in august... basically, I just don't have money to spend on new tires right now. I really wanted 11.50s but these will do. after looking at my rear flares (and the un-apparent rust underneath), they're getting cut out anyways. plus the front fenders are replaceable if i ever decide to go back to stock fenders.

any links to the TNT one? If I can buy the longarm kit for $800 or so, some 6.5" front springs for $100 or so, and a trackbar for $150 or so, i'm good. shocks don't matter, I will be spending a bit on them. I just want the lift kit to be under $1100 and i don't want to buy a kit that has parts I don't need (sway-bar links, brake lines, rear components, prop.valve extension etc.) because I am going to use other parts for the rear and such. I guess I need to build a kit that looks like it's a kit on the market, or buy one, so that it's "streetable"

I already have the tires cause they are nice and cheap, so them are what i'm goin with. 9" rim is what I'll do as that seems to be a compromise between 10 and 8 for road and off-road driving. this is a offroad truck that will be street-driven in the winter and bad weather, the 3800 is for nice weather (no more salt desired on that truck) SO I am gonna be chopping the front fender like the 98 xj's, and putting 4 TJ rear flares on the truck...I already have two. when I do that, i will trim both front and rear flares as much as possible. making ridiculous bumpstops isn't really an option i think b/c it's gotta flex. hence the desired 6.5" of lift. it's dana 44 rear so with the stock 4wd springs and spring-over, i figure about 6" of lift there, meaning 6.5 to 7 in front to even it out. gonna build my own lower control arms (longarm style) and remove stock lower mounts, then temporarily at least, i will be running some normal adjustable UCA's with 6.5" springs, an adjustable track bar, home-made sway bar disconnects (stock trackbar location is desired to retain the skid plate), some YJ front brake lines (I hope), and a dodge dakota rear brake line (I hope). ebrake will be modified to function, and I will probably have to get an SYE and longer driveshaft OR drop the tranny (it's a swb) to make this work out correctly.

I considered what I could get new for cheap...I HAVE 33x12.50's with 95% tread left that I got for $200. refuse to pass up that deal so they're mine now and that's what I got to work with...any money I have is going towards lifting this sucker and paying for it.

that suspension better have new control arms. and you may end up needing an extra inch of lift up front to level it out. spacers suck

smart-@$$ ;) i knew the 15" dia. part :D 9" is what i'm gonna do for rims i think, if it's available. possibly 10's. like i said, it's my DD too so i want the tires to wear evenly without constant pressure checks (in my dreams right?) anyone suggest a cheap steel rim? figure on 4" bs and TJ flares with a 6.5" or 7" lift will allow for good operatioin

we shall see. the bumper is temporary anyways....gonna finish buildin the one for offroad, and the new rims will be black too. less chrome will be ther eonce the running boards are gone

thanks. yeah, i cut the harness behind the connecter when i pulled this at the jy (and saved the original factory fog light harness too) but someone else had accidently cut the wiring when they removed the radiator, so I took the hi-low wires and grounds and used connectors to adapt them to the normal headlight connector, so everything in this swap is totally reversible. even the turn signal connectors only required minimal work to fit in the turn signal lenses. that's one thing of this project...wanted that part to be reversible if it ever gets fubar. also, i have a chrome front bumper, and the brush guard to put on it.

well, the plan is TJ flares so hopefully i can make it work with that. minimal of 3.5" back spacing? i don't understand how backspacing works, care to shed some light?