FreeTime MJ - '89 MJ LWB 4x4

[XJGPER]

Hello folks!

 

So i'de thought i would share a little about what brought me to CC, my darling '89 MJ. I've been on many boards from JU to P4x4 to NAXJA. But this is by far the best home of all, and i only have 8 or so posts... Enough about that, onto the MJ.

 

Current Stats:

4.0L Renix

Pugeot 5 speed

NP231

Dana30/Dana35

Long Box

 

I purchased this MJ on father's day 08 as a gift from the kids. It was $360, has a rod thats just waiting to fail, which sounds like a bowling ball in the dryer. Not sure what the PO did to this vehicle but maintenance was not their cup of tea. The window sticker revealed the last oil change was 5 years previous and 8000 miles ago. While i can't say i've seen darker oil out of a motor, i've never seen one with so much copper! The interior was burried in about 1/2" of snot slime and dog hair, thank god it had a seat cover that had been on there a long time, as it revealed a usable bench. The MJ had previously been stolen, the lock plate, turn signal cancel cam, and ignition cylinder had been destroyed. The ebrake cables were broke / rusted beyond all belief. And it was running on 5 cylinders due to a fouled #1 plug.

 

Needless to say, the MJ is getting a motor i picked up from the pick n pull for $145, its .30 over on the top and .20 on the bottom. Its the cleanest motor i've seen in a JY and this is the 5th or 6th i've sourced.

 

So far I've ordered a 5.5" soa kit from rocky-road, that was back on AUG 25th, we're still waiting for it to ship. I picked up a set of 5 canyon rims for $75. I've put in 1.5" AL spacers behind them sourced from ebay for $126. Plans are for 33x10.50x15 BFG AT's. I have a 10k lbs winch arriving tomorrow, and plans for a new front bumper in my head. I have a aussie for the rear axle and the rear ends will be receiving JY 4.10's.

 

This rig will be used to supplement my company owned transportation, an '07 equinox 2wd. I find myself driving between Coeur d'Alene ID and Missoula MT every other week, which in the winter time is the funest drive of your life. Needless to say with record snow, and 2 major passes to traverse 2wd is not your friend when you're surrounded by people who do not know how to drive. Work's response to my request for something AWD at the minimum was, "you do you're own thing on you're own time". So with a budget in mind, and the wishes of maintaining 20MPG while having a vehicle capable of doing whatever ID/MT can through at it i give you my "FreeTime" MJ:

 

Not much to look at, this is when i purchased her, more pics to come. And yes the goofy box rails and tool box are going the way side.

 

Odd thing about this vehicle, is that it is the 10th vehicle i currently have insurance on, as you can see in the pics those are my DD's in the background. My insurance broker never minded vehicles 1-9 but the comanche was the one that made him ask if i was starting a car lot.

 

 

More pics to come when i get "FreeTime" from the boss and family to work on her.

[offroader461]

Looks good and keep us updated :cheers:

 

as far as the Rocky-Road guys..ive heard nothing but bad reviews of the kit and also shipping..theres a couple posts up here about it

[mvusse]

Don't be too hard on the throttle when you have limited traction. A locked Dana 35 with 33s is a grenade waiting to happen.

[Akula69]

Looks good, but sounds like you have a lot of cleaning to do (hair and snot?!?).