Regger

Yeah, they were installed the next weekend after I got back! I actually had them in the back toolbox on that trip, but had no way to install them. I also installed longer coils and removed the spacers so I have even less of a chance of losing a coil again. I didn't get a chance to test/flex the truck before the trip, but I was hoping I wouldn't have that much flex.... boy was I wrong. Thanks Ryan

Yeah, that was a few guys in the club bugging me about not having wheeled the MJ since 2003. They figured I was a learner again. I've have had, and been wheeling, my MJ since '95 (well except for the 8yrs it was getting built, where I drove the Wife's SAS'd S-15 Jimmy). but they still figured I was a Newbie!!! Ryan

Thanks Ryan

No bushings on the upper control arms? Are you relying upon the races in the joints to eliminate the binding? Willy Actually, I was hoping the binding would limit some of the articulation... but I was wrong.. It still articulates way more than I had expected. I would leave it like this, but having flex joints on both ends of the lower arm, causes the arms to twist back and forth from the force caused by the upper arms. So I'm thinking early next year, I'm going to remove the flex joints on the axle end and replace them with bushings just to prevent the twisting. Cause it sure sounds like help when flexing from one side to the other and your constantly hearing and feeling the bang as the arm twists over. Ryan

Yeah, after watching that vid, I thought the same thing... Back when I was still in school or just out of school running with all my friends of similar vintage, the jeep looked pretty good. But now that we are all older and making more money, their rigs got nicer, and mine stayed the same.. A guess a house and 4 other vehicles don't help.. But it was still pretty cool to see it have no problems walking through everything on that trail its first time out. A paint job is in the future for her.. Ryan

here's some more vids of the MJ on the trails, and then a couple compilation vids from the whole club run. sbKzDd5SFjw 7FPE2SlcHOs aVX6o0n0g-E 3RR4V0Bg6bA Part 1, of the whole trip video. cMkjtvOTPCU All our trucks on the Golden Crack nxNBPf4eUlQ Ryan

Hey Folks, Here's a bit more info on my MJ. My club website is back up and running (hopefully for good now) and so I've uploaded a bunch more recent pictures. Theres not a lot of pictures during the build. I was more focused on getting it done, and completely forgot to take some in-process shots. But there are a few. Anyways, give this link a try for all the pics. http://hot4x4.ca/gallery2/v/RyanEgger/albun80/ Some of the specs: 88 MJ Pioneer 4.0L 5spd AX-15 with External Slave Box-4-Rocks Dual T-Case setup using NP-231's and SYE CV Joint front and rear Driveshafts D44's from a Grand Wagoneer 5.89's that have been Cyro'd Front Axle: Detroit Locker Custom made mounts that are raised 2". Nothing hanging below the axle tube 10" Lift from 8"Skyjacker Coils and 2" raised spring perches Radius Arm Setup similar to Rubicon Express's With Limit Straps 37" Lower arm, 16" Upper Arm using 2"OD, 1/4"wall DOM RE Flex Joints and all ends, with 1-1/4" threads Chevy Flat Top knuckles with Hi-Steer using Chevy TRE's with 1-1/2"OD, 1/4"wall DOM Knuckles have been cut and turned for proper pinion angle and 5.5* castor 5/8" Heim Joints on each end of the Track Bar. Rancho 5012 shocks with Bar Pin Eliminators up top Warn Premium Hubs Rear Axle: Spooled 11" lift from a SOA with 4" Lift Springs (re-arched with 2 AAL's) and 2" Lift Shackles Rear Disc brake swap using Chevy 1500 rotors and Cadillac Calipers and Proportioning Valve Stock length shocks by using the stock spring plate on top of the pack '86 MJ rear e-brake cables Running on 36"x12.5-15" TSL Swampers on Chevy Rally 8" wide wheels Thats about the basics of it. I've done a few other minor things like OBA and hand throttle and swapped in XJ swivel seats. The future mods list is big and lengthy (Buts whos isn't?) The bulk of it will be rock sliders, front and rear bumpers with winch mounts in each. I have weld-on bead locks to go on over the winter on a set of stock toyota rims. Partial exo-cage (will just do the corners and along the flares for now and tie the bumpers into the rock sliders) and replace the XJ seats with aftermarket suspension seats. Still need to a new HAM radio and some rock lights. And then of course a new paint job will get rid of some of the rust on the rear quarters. I'm still undecided if I want to BOB the rear of the box or not. When I add the rear bumper I'm going to cut the bottoms of the rockers up to the body line and run a slider to the rear of the flare. With it being so tall, I don't think I'll get really hung up on the rear bumper. BUt if I do, then I'll consider the bobbing then. But for now, I had no issues of it hanging me up in Moab, so I'll keep it a long bed. More room to carry my gear and tools. Anyways, here's some pics so you don't have to go hunting through the website link above...: (The flex shots are when I had my old 3" springs and 4" of spacers. They have been swapped for the Skyjacker 8" now) Well that about covers it.. What I had hoped to be a couple month build back in 2003, ended up being an 8.5yr build with the bulk of the work coming in the last 1month before I went to Moab. But its at least done and moving. And I'm able to have fun with it now. If you have any questions about any part of the build or design, I'll be happy to answer them. As well, if you need some more pictures of certain parts, no problem. Thanks, Ryan

The rear springs are just the stock 4-pack, re-arched with two add-a-leafs mixed into the pack that actually only gives me 4". The other 2" come from an 2" lift shackle. I did the re-arch about 13yrs ago and its still holding steady with no sag and still great flex. And I think it only cost me a $150 bucks. A lot cheaper than buying a whole new pack at the time. I'm going to try and get out into the shop this Friday take a whole bunch more pics. My clubs website is back up so I re-linked all the previous posts photos and will add a bunch more. HTH Ryan

I did this swap in my MJ, and regret it... GJeep mentioned, you sit way too high.. I'm 6'0", and I have barely two inches from my head to the roof. Its great for the long legs, but sucks for trying to look out the windshield. I have to duck down to look up at the stop lights. The seat themselves are so much more comfortable than the bench, that I'm keeping them in there until I can afford some new offroad suspension seats. here's a couple pics of what I did to make them fit. You'll notice that they sit off-center to the MJ floor bracket, but only for the Drivers Side. The passenger side bolted directly to the MJ bracket. The rear MJ bracket of mine will be slightly different than yours, because I had to move the inner floor mount outward to make room for my dual t-case setup. But the idea is the same. The other issue I have with these seats, is that they sit further back than stock MJ buckets, and the headrest rubs on my rear window. For most it won't be a problem, but for me, my rear window is tinted, so its starting to rub the tint off.... HTH Ryan

can't say much about the wall mount units, as I've never used them before. But I do have tube style heater. I can't remember the size, but its meant for the standard BBQ size bottles (20lbs). Its about a foot in diameter, and about 2-3feet long. It has a plug in fan that must be on before you turn on the propane. The unit works good. Heats up the shop pretty good, so that I can get away with just wearing a sweater and being comfortable. For my garage, (20'x20') I think I have it on for about 15mins at a time. otherwise it gets too hot in there. For my shop (24'x30'x11' ceiling) I'll have it on for about 30mins before turning it off. Each place I have it off for about 30mins before turning it back on. The only real downside I have with it, is that it is real loud!!! It gets a little annoying after a while. Especially if your just wrenching and not using any power tools. You'll get used to it after a while. One thing to be careful of though, is I was working under my jeep one winter in the garage, and had it aimed under the jeep about 5' away. Well after about 20-30mins of it on, the garage was nice, but I couldn't touch anything metal on the jeep as it heated the frame up so much that I could barely touch them with my bare hands. So watch where you point it, as it does it metal up fast. I would the nice thing about the portable units compared to wall mounts, is that they are portable. So you can move it around the shop to where you need it the most, or where you can muffle the noise the most. Either way you can't go wrong with having some heat in the garage during the winter months. HTH Ryan

At its current state in the pictures, its roughly 9" up front (3" springs, 4" spacer, 2" raised spring perch) and about 11" out back (6" SUA lift spring, mounted SOA). But at the moment I'm swapping out the front springs and spacers for a set of 8" springs. So that 8" spring plus the 2" raised spring perch should get about 10" lift in the front. Which should level me out a little more. That 8" spring will also allow my front axle to drop another 3-4"more before the spring comes unseated from the bumpstop. I'm not going to let it droop that far, so I'll let it drop say about 2" and then use limiting straps to keep the spring seated. HTH Ryan

Hey Folks, Just checking to see if i can post pictures from Facebook on here. My photo server is still not up, and I don't know when it will be up. So I'm Looking for other options.. What do you guys use to host and post pictures? Thanks, Ryan

Wow, Its finally DONE!!! Yeah it was a 4yr project when I started this thread, but it ended up being 8.5yrs!!!! I just finished it on Friday Sept. 30, then I loaded it onto my trailer and dragged it to Moab Utah, where I gave it the ultimate shakedown run... ixgHQa_PMp4 Poison Spider Golden Spike - Golden Crack Metal Masher Hells Revenge Fins 'n Things And it did well for being just days old... It still needs some more work based on the trip. As you can see from the video, it flexes Good!!! Too good... I need to add limit straps to keep from dropping the coil springs when it flexes. It also needs a different lower shock mount location I'll try and post some more pics and vids later on. (my club website is down, that is why all the previously posted pics are broken links. Hopefully it will be fixed soon a can post more pics) Thanks, Ryan

No Pete, it wasn't even re-sealed.. It looks like someone took a pen, and ripped the tape holding the lid flap closed. its no big deal, everything is there and good condition.. Thanks again for the hard work and awesome hats!!! Ryan

Mine just came in.. And it had been opened :eek: .. I guess they wanted to have a peek.. Maybe a bit more tape on the box holding the lid down would have helped.... Anyways, everything seems to be in there and in good condition... Thanks Ryan

Yeah its a waggy front axle. I cut that cast in spring pad off, because it would have interfered with my coil bucket brackets and lower control arm mount locations. as it is, I think I had to move those locations about 1" further out from center. I basically cut it within about 3/8" of the factory spot welds. And any strength that I lost in removing that chunk of housing, I would make up with adding the truss over the top. Ryan

No, I havent really done much of significance... Been super busy with work and some schooling I was doing, as well, I'm rebuilding and re-gearing the wifes front axle, so thats taken up all of my wrenching time... but I have cleaned up the frame and some of the axle mounts, and then have been acquiring steal to sleeve the frame with angle iron, of which I will mount my lower control arms to, as well as my rock sliders, and tranny and transfer case x-members to... Oh, and I've been mocking up the hi-steer arms and rods... Oh and I found my coil buckets in the shed too.. So really not much.. I'm hoping once this last course I'm taking is over in May, I'll hit it hard and get it done for some summer wheeling!!! Ryan

Just unbolt the center section. Tranny comes out, and you don't have to worry about your control arm mounts Ryan

The mark is a scribed mark on the face of the pinion gear. No, you either have a crush sleeve, or a spacer, but all pinions need shims. As that is how you adjust the pinion depth. The crush sleeve is there to maintain pressure/preload on the bearings. I believe the nut socket size is 1-1/8" HTH Ryan

I've been thinking of getting some new injectors, and have thought of the ford replacements... But I just read in a mag.(of course I can't find it now) but they had injectors specifically made for us wheelers.. In that, the stock ford injectors only give you maximum fuel at WOT., but these new injectors gave you more fuel than stock or the ford ones, at the lower RPM's in order to gain more power while crawling... Anyone ever heard or seen these type of injectors?.. Are they worth looking into? Thanks, Ryan

I can't remember where I saw it, but somewhere on the great wide open net, there was a guy that used rubberized rockergaurd. He basically prepped the steel as you would normally do, and then he applied a quick coat of paint. He then sprayed on the rockergaurd coating standing about 2' back and shooting form the hip type thing. Looks real good, has the textured finish, and resists chipping being rubberized. Plus, if you do chip it, just a quick shot from the can, and your good as new... HTH Ryan

My.02 on the subject... and my plan for my own long arm build up Is to use some large angle iron(like 1/4"thk 2x3 or 3x3, etc.) and totally plate the bottom and outside of the frame rails. Using every single threaded hole on the bottom of the frame, and then bolting through the frame rather than welding. I say to bolt to the frame, only because those uni-body frames are as thin as paper, and unless your are an absolute solid welder, you run the risk of making the frame weak, and causing heat affected zones that could easily tear under minimal force. Then you'll be in a real pickle at that point. And when bolting through the frame, sleeve it so as not to crush the frame. Now you have a very strong and easily weldable mounting face as well, it acts as frame stiffener and protects the bottom of the frame from wheeling damage. HTH Ryan

Okay, how much newer are you thinking?.. Because (correct me if I'm wrong) the new rubicon axles use different gear sets than the old common D44's.. But yes, you can use used gears in your setup. But when using used gears, its best to use all the old shims and basically match the old setup to your new setup... Because, the actual axle housings are pretty easy to machine from the factory, so their tolerance are usually pretty consistent from one axle to the next. Whereas, R&P machining is a lot more difficult, as well as matching the pinion to each ring gear has some room for dimension variations. So start with the old setup as your starting point and then make slight adjustments from there. Also, I just remembered, when setting up the pattern for the used gears, you want to be concerned with the coast side of the gear rather than the drive side for new gears. HTH Ryan

Well, (as I remember) the MJ D35 will not be C-Clip. As for pinion bearing pre-load. From my informational experience, - As TNT said, Completely assemble the pinion with new bearings and shims for the correct depth, and new crush sleeve, minus the seal - Then install the old pinion nut, and torque to the required 250 ft-lbs to crush the sleeve. Once crushed, remove the old nut and install the new nut with loctite and seal. - I would say torque the new nut to about 200ft-lbs and then using your dial torque wrench, rotate the pinion and read the in-lbs required to keep the pinion turning (do not count the initial reading as you also have to overcome the initial friction to turn the pinion) -Then keep torquing the pinion nut in 10-15ft-lb increments and measuring the in-lbs it requires to turn the pinion each time . Keep doing this until you reach the 8-14 in-lbs range. -Then your pretty much done. For some added security, you can also stake the pinion nut into the pinion as well (only if it has the thin flange that would allow for staking) HTH Ryan

Thats funny, cause I heard Yukon wasn't actually a manufacturer of gears, but more of a packager. In that, they get gears and bearings, etc. from a couple different sources, and just package it in kits under their name. But rumours are like A-holes.. everyone has one.. :eek: I would say, while in your in there, replace everything!!!.. don't skimp out to save a few bucks, as it will just come back to bite you down the road at the worst possible time. And yeah RTV works just fine.. But usually, if you get a master install kit, it will come with a gasket already. HTH Ryan