UNL1MTD

any reason you went with that much lift for 31s? I'm just curious.

What did you get sore muscles from.....it's not that hard of work :roll: haha, fighting brake springs is hard work. actually most of the soreness is from doing the axle swap saturday and attempted swap sunday, that just became a suspension project. My mind hurts though from thinking about this so damn much. I can under stand you putting it back togetter, but the plan would be to take it all apart, do all of the repairs, and put it back togetter for the final time when done. I have a unique parking situation at my house with my 2 roommates. Evidently we can get ticketed if we park on the street, so MJ gets dirt duty. Which means its got to be rolling everynight. Thankfully I have been able to leave it on stands last night and tonight. I opted to be halfway intelligent and just not work in the rain. I did get my new shift boot on and hurst shift knob. Really cleaned up the interior without the big hole into the trans/ground, also quickly put the anti-sway bar back on after its coat of rustoleum. Yup, replacing it all (minus the driver's wheel cylinder ... flame me later). Going to have new ebrake cables here tomorrow thanks to Napa. 13 each. Advanced wanted 18 each and 1 month delivery time (insane), delear wanted 35 each and 5 days delivery time. Napa really has done me right throughout this process. I got brake shoes today, but the guy behind the counter at Advanced gave me the parts for the D44. So got to go back there again.

that is a good tip and I'll put it to good use tonight/tomorrow, when ever I get the parts to put this all back together. Got any tips for getting the adjuster cable onto the adjust lever? This is the last step to putting the drums together(or so I read) and the adjuster lever spring really makes this a PITA. I have been using a screw driver for leverage, but it doesn't really work to well.

I think that makes sense to me. I am going to replace them. Once again I slept on it and the aching muscles was enough to not want to have to do this again. I am replacing the pass side with the broken bleeder. Its already out. I wasn't going to replace the other till I read this. Still don't 100% follow why to do this other than I should cause I'm in there. I think that the hardline attached to this one will be a lot more stubborn, so since it looked fine I was just going to leave it. I'm sure you can talk me into it, just try harder. ;) I wish I listened the first time. This is going to make for 3 times taking apart the drums. Calling for rain today, its going to suck sitting in the rain doing this tonight. Jeeps have a way of making you work on them. They need attention or something. A quote from my other board (NovaJeepers.com) "If its got tits or tires it will cause you a problem" I actually have two trucks. The rear brakes came off of the truck that has been parked for 3 years. Now under persuassion, I'm replacing everything in the rear brakes (save maybe that wheel cylinder on the driver's side ... talk me into it). The front braking system is original to the project truck (2wd axle) it has decent pads left on it and the rotors are in good shape. This truck was inspected 2 years ago. Inspection expired in '06. It was parked for a year without inspection and only driven once a month. I wasn't planning on replacing the pads or rotors on the front, because they look to be in good shape. ps - you got a dulley ... I'm jealous

How can a cable go bad? Other than it snapping I'm clueless. But I'll definitely turn some attention to this when I go back at the project tomorrow. Something of note here is that yesterday when I was futzing with it the neighbor came over and pressed in the ebrake while I watched the drums. On the driver's side the ebrake lever barely moved, but it did move. On the passenger's side there was no movement. I've been chalking this up to things just not being adjusted right, but maybe its a sign. Good info, again I'll be looking at this tomorrow. I was playing with these today and they are definitely hooked up right and working as best they can. I did buy a new cylinder today, but I got the wrong side. As a note, the left is the driver's side. The right is the passenger's side. I definitely should have went back to drama class with the whole stage right, stage left thing when picking this up. Great info. Its what I assumed originally, but was beginining to think the opposite for while. Today I bought new springs/hardware, adjuster screws, and a wheel cylinder for the driver's side :headpop: The wrong side. I removed the passenger side wheel cylinder without having the hardline getting stuborn. Just turned right out, I almost pissed myself I was so happy. The wheel cylinder had a fair share of rust all over it and inside the rubber grommet which holds the rods on each side. I was surprised, so I decided that I would inspect the other side. I took the driver's side all apart and the wheel clyinder there is 'brand newish' on the inside. Shinny metal, so I opted to just leave it and exchange the wheel cylinder for the correct side tomorrow. When reassembling the driver's side I put all the new springs and hardware in. I opted to not get new pads. I honestly feel like the current pads have more than 50% of their life left. Tomorrow (weather permitting) I will button everything up inside the install the wheel cylinder, put together the drums, manually adjust the drums, bleed the brakes, then check the auto adjust, and last check the parking brake. In that order. Hopefully the parking brake cables are good and I don't have to take everything apart again. Hell I might just get new shoes and ebrake cables tomorrow to avoid having to do this again, ever. Or I'll pull the cables from the parts MJ. I'm getting quick. If i could just get that last step of conencting the adjuster cable to the lever to go quicker. ;)

the trackbar does play a very large job in tight steering. if there is any side to side play in it, most likely it is the primary culpret in your sloopy steering. The balljoints in the linkages you pulled are all greasable, the trackbar's isn't (atleast this is the case on my '87 and '89). The greasable joints have a much likelier chance in having a long life. While working on my '89 the front track bar literally fell out from the frame side while I was removing the steering stabilizer. It had zero grease in it and the joint was covered in rust. I'm digging the 6-pack of miller lite mod. I out to do one of those to my MJ. :cheers:

Thanks for the photos jeff. Only thing I see that is different in my setup is that the parking break lever, just right of the purple spring in the bottom pic is further away from the shoe. I can get a screwdriver in the space easily. But I think this is because there is air in the lines and the wheel cylinder is not expanding to push it back. This is the passenger side. On the driver's side is the adjuster wheel suspose to be towards the rear of the vehicle aswell?

Are those Truxus? You running any lift to clear those? I got a deal brewing for 150 for a set of these, might just keep the wheels I have and paint them to save some coin.

Are the wheel cables the small cables inside the drums that connect the adjuster lever to the top retainer stud? Or the parking brake cables that go to each wheel? The springs that hold the adjuster levers are extremely tight, not sure if thats a good thing or not. I will have to look when I get home today, but I'm honestly not sure. Besides bonding surface are there any other ways to distinguish the shoes? Actually his doesnt have anit-lock brakes, but I agree that was a mistake. After sleeping on it, I'm thinking of just buying all new shoes, springs and hardware. Rather than fighting with old stuff which I'm not certain of the history, other than its been sitting in a field for 3ish years, I think I'm just going to pony up the cash and replace it all. Be worth the peice of mind alone. Are they labled R and L? On both sides the adjuster wheel is towards the back of the MJ, does that sound right? So is the parking brake dependent on a good bleed of the brakes? This would make a lot of sense to me, but just want to get a clear consensus.

never hesitate to state the obvious when I ask a question, especially about drums. But I did know about adjusting the star wheel to expand the shoes out. On my passenger side there is always too much drag. So much that I can not turn the drum towards the front of the vehicle, even with the additional leverage of installing a tire it still is locked up. I can turn the drum by hand towards the back of the vehicle. I can drive the MJ and it moves without feeling like there is resistance, but without firm brakes I haven't really driven it on a substaintial test drive. My gut is telling me its all connected to bleeding, adjusting the star wheel, and adjusting the ebrake, but I sorta have the feeling that maybe a return spring isn't working for the secondary shoe or something.

yea I think I'm going that route for tomorrow. I did manage to get one out though. I beat on a 9mm deep socket (12 point) and it bit into what was left and it turned out. The other side is completely fed up. Looks like the PO snapped it off at the threads. :roll: I'm so close to having this thing road worthy. Just keep hitting these stumbling blocks.

Ok, I spent the last hour or so outside futzing with it and still am In the same position. Evidently they changed some things on how the drums work over the corse of 10 years and my friends 97 tj, of which I was doing the mental comparison has a slighty different setup. I compared my drums to those in the haynes manual and they appear to be setup correctly. The self adujustment lever is held in place by two spring on the later drums, and just one on the early drums. I'm thinking the brake bleeding is what is missing here. Its about the only thing that makes any sense of which I know that needs to be done. I just can't get those little friggin bleeders out. I'm really thinking about dissembling the entire drum and replacing it with the other set I have. This can be done right? At first I thought there might be enough room to weld a nut to something, but I'm now very doubtful. Anybody have any suggestions for removing bleeders?

Well, I installed the parking brake main cable in the MJ and it worked good. Then I swapped axles and now I can't get it to hold on a flat surface. It doesn't chagne the resistance in the drums at all. Anyways i followed the instructions in the haynes manual. 10 forward reverse stops 5 sets and releases of the parking brake lever set the parking brake at the fifth click place MJ on stands tighten adjustment until cables are taught set and release, set then test Its not working for me, i have tried tightening the nut more, but it has no affect. I popped off the drums and all the cables are connected for the parking brake, however I can't honestly tell the difference when looking at the drums when the ebrake is set or not. Couple Notes: -The ebrake cables are slightly uneven, off by .5 inch at most, pass side is shorter. - The brakes need to be bleed (does this affect the parking brake?) But the bleeders are torn off, so I can't bleed right now. -The long spring/lever that holds the adjuster level firmly against the adjustment wheel is missing on both drums. I think this might be the root cause. Any help is appreciated, I'm getting frustrated. I got my new windshield and shock bolts installed. The rear brakes are holding it back from getting inspected.

i was, i have done a couple TJ suspension lifts so I'm familiar with the set up on a modern jeep front axle. Which is also why I was so pissed when the rust got the better of me. But the lower nuts just flaked away when any force was applied to them. Could probably burn them out/drill them out, not exaclty a clean way to do it. I was trying to figure out a way to get my cut off wheel in there and couldn't. I'm sorta coming to terms witha 2wd MJ for the time being. Might throw in a lunch box locker in the rear and call it a summer. With 30/31s the D35 will be relatively safe, but not really. I sorta want to blow one up just to say that I did. :D

Most likely will be 10.50s or smaller metric size that right around 10. And I'll just adjust my steering stops like I did on my TJ. Not that much is lost doing it that way. Hell I might even go so far as to adjust my bumpstops.

wow ... swapping rears = cake swapping fronts = hell I guess three cans of PB blaster really wasn't enough. One caliper bolt made the day go from flying to crawling and really killed me. Then once I decided to move past it and just keep on going all 4 lower shock bolts stripped right around on me. Just to confirm those are hex 13 mm nuts right? Lots of cussing, some drinking, then just said screw it and put it back together the best I could. Today wasnt the day for the front axle to come out. So I just did my front suspension upgrade and called it a day. (up country coils, 1 inch spacer, new rubber isolators, rubicon shocks, tj greasable trackbar) A real bummer though. All in all this weekend was productive, but I'm definitely 2 steps back and only 1 forward. Suspension and axle are in, but brakes need to be bleed again and both bleeder screws are fubared (gonna need a nut welded to them for removal), and I have to replace some shock bolts. I get my new windshield tomorrow.

This is basically what I'm shooting for. The truck won't be wheeled on anything hardcore (mostly some woods behind the house), so I was just gauging if they would fit well enough to run the street well enough and not be rubbing continuosly on the fenders. I got a lead on stock canyon wheels and some mtrs. Sorta overkill for the project, but hey it'll look nice.

I'm new to the comanche world and I'm wondering what 31s looks like on most MJs. So post up your pics of MJs sitting on 31s. I'm wanting to squeeze on a set with little to no lift, so mention what suspension work has been done too. Thanks, Sean

Swapped rears today, got it done on schedule .. just under 4 hours of labor. Air tools really helped out a lot. Truck seems to have gotten about 1-2 inches in the rear going from 2wd to 4wd leafs. Makes me think I can clear 31s without issue. But tires are way down the road. Big bonus is when I popped the drums and saw shoes with atleast half of there life left. Big negative was another stripped bleeder screw. Just need to get that done and she'll be rolling again. I'm in a moral dilemma right now if I want to do the front at all. Been thinking about what I need and if a 4wd is really needed. I mean I already got my TJ which is my wheeler (lockrite and alloys waiting for its front end). So why bother with 2 4wds? Could be done with the project tomorrow if I leave it 2wd. My big arguement to myself is if I do put in the HP30 but don't get a new tcase or tranny what harm will it do? I can't think of any except for wasting my time. I have the axle, might as well. Otherside of me says just throw in the new springs and get it inspected, done and done enjoy the MJ. Maybe throw a quick lock in the back for solid 2wd traction. I'll probably hold off on swapping fronts and just do some otherstuff tomorrow. So this decision can fester awhile.

Got the MJ insured, titled, and registered yesterday. All thats left is the inspection. Just need the windshield done for it to pass ... i hope. Finished the ebrake install. NAPA came through and their computer has the right PN. It fit like factory with the exception of the grommet, which was a bit small but nothing to really care about. Interior got cleaned a bit more. I was shocked when I looked at the floor boards and saw well ... floor boards. This MJ doesn't even have a sign of rust starting on the floors. :D I was removing my sway bar and the links snapped on me. Kinda a bummer, but ohwell, hopefully the parts jeep's fair better. I took my project jeep for a spin today. Hit 60 mph. The ride is a bit loose, but not all too scary. Steering stabilizer is shot and the sway bar is out, tires look a bit chewed up, so I bet all those things added to the random shakes I got, nothing worse then my TJ. Trans shifted a bit hard, what kind of fluid is recommend for a 2wd 5 speed? First time using 4th and 5th gears. Getting ready for my axle swap. Going to go down this Saturday and Sunday at 8am in King George County, VA. If you want to turn wrenches let me know. I'm doing the rear Saturday and front Sunday. -Sean

It wasn't the terminals for me, but actually the cables. PO put on aftermarket cable crimps for the battery and the cables themselves turned green. Had to dissemble them and clean the actual exposed cable, about 1 inch. Then she cranked over.

Try cleaning your battery cables, my '89 did that to me ... it was corrosion on the cables themselves. Little stiff brush and baking soda solution worked wonders. edit - wow you got a lot of wires, could be anything draining it I suppose.

After reading the post "OME shocks on a MJ" it looks like the standard TJ rear shocks are going to be way short for an MJ. Looks like I might keep the gasmatics just to have a matching set of shocks, might help the ride, might not ... really doesn't matter I guess on the truck.

Any way to make TJ shocks work on an MJ? I know the fronts will work and probably be just about the right lengths. What about the rear? If I press out the bar pin, will the eye to eye be even close? No lift on the Mj, going to be running 4wd leaf springs. I read that XJ shocks are too short, but not sure of TJ shocks are longer or not. I got a set of TJ shocks for free coming to be later on next week and I bought a set of crapmatic Monroes today to put on when I do my axle swap this weekend. Just thinking of taking the monroes back and saving myself 100 bucks.

This panned out. Online qutoe was 175. Talking to the guy I got it for 144, just have to wait until Monday. I was hoping to have the Comanche inspected and on the road by Saturday, but saving money is more important then time right now. Highest quote I got was 247. That's just crazy high.