poppatello Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I know this is a funny question. I now own a 84 Cj. I friend of mine wants to trade me his 92 Mj for it. His Mj has a 14" SOA lift. Yes you read that correctly. It is a Custom SOA lift and it looks, runs and flex great. He just painted it the original Dark Green Metallic. I think the color is great. It has the 4.0 H.O. with 4 speed auto O/D. Tom Woods drive shaft, 38 tires, ect, ect. I took it for a test drive tonight and it doesn't feel stiff at all. No more then my Cj. Just wondering what you guys think about these things? Are they really good on the trail? I don't plan on doing any rock crawling, but just off road trails and surf fishing. It has the 35 diff, but he supposedly rebuilt them. Do they make after market stuff for the Mj's? Like bumpers and steps and such? Any help would be great. Just started my research on these little things and like what I see so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JeepcoMJ Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I know this is a funny question. I now own a 84 Cj. I friend of mine wants to trade me his 92 Mj for it. His Mj has a 14" SOA lift. Yes you read that correctly. It is a Custom SOA lift and it looks, runs and flex great. He just painted it the original Dark Green Metallic. I think the color is great. It has the 4.0 H.O. with 4 speed auto O/D. Tom Woods drive shaft, 38 tires, ect, ect. I took it for a test drive tonight and it doesn't feel stiff at all. No more then my Cj. Just wondering what you guys think about these things? Are they really good on the trail? I don't plan on doing any rock crawling, but just off road trails and surf fishing. It has the 35 diff, but he supposedly rebuilt them. Do they make after market stuff for the Mj's? Like bumpers and steps and such? Any help would be great. Just started my research on these little things and like what I see so far. is a comanche trail capable? yes. but not that one. 14" of lift is alltogether TOO MUCH to be safe. the center of gravity is nowhere NEAR close enough to the ground to be safe. I hope to God it's got a full roll cage and 5 point harnesses. 38" tires...those can be fit on 8" of lift with proper trimming. the tires are probably too wide as well. aftermarket parts...anything from the front half of a cherokee bolts on, and only a select few people make rear bumpers and sliders (motion offroad, JCR) for them. you better yank that dana 35 right out of it and scrap it. go get some full width dana 60's or so in it so you widen out the stance with that much lift to lower the center of gravity. I sincerely apologize for coming off like an @$$ if I have. I just REALLY don't want you to be risking your life on the trails with something like that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mfpdm Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'll have to agree with Pat. That's way up there for standard width axles. 38's on a 30 and 35 are really pushing it. SOA on a stock 4wd will get you about 5-6 inches of lift with good leafs so I'm thinking he has lifted leaf packs and probably longer shackles. I would pray that there is not blocks on it. Is the front converted to leafs with an SOA? Pictures would be great. Thing you may consider is why does he want to trade. MJ's are not too hard to find and can be had in a lot places for under a $1000. How much do you have invested in your cj and would it be a fair trade? For what you plan on doing offroad, I personnally think that's more lift than needed. By the way, Welcome to the Club. :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 :agree: Like my girl says, "Bigger is not always better, sometimes it will hurt in the end!" :thumbsup: 38's on a 35? MAkes you question things a bit, with us all knowing how realiable a 35 is, but then again I have 37's on a stock small jointed D30, so ummm :hmm: I say go for it if the whole body is there and not all hacked where you cannot really bring it back down to a decent stance. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bigd44889 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 :agree: ps is down cheeper than up :hmm: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I'm going to need pictures of this supposedly too-tall MJ. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
project88mj Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 :needpics: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppatello Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Ok, I will try to post pictures today. He converted the front springs to leafs with blocks. It seems pretty stable. He put 16x12 wheels on it with 38.5. Hey has 3.5 blocks on the back and none up front... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppatello Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 here is the only picture I have at the moment. the guy will take some suspension pictures later when it gets daylight out. I will post them then... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 It is workable, but I agree with lowering it a bit and DEFINITELY replacing the axles if you want to continue running tires that big. The D35 rears will break with 31" tires on them if you are too hard on the throttle, so even if he did "rebuild" it...that means nothing but he rebuilt a weak piece of junk that is going to break easily with those tires when any stress is put on them. I'm definitely not saying don't so it, but consider the amount of money you are going to need to spend to make it safe and dependable when making the deal. The 1992 MJ's are quite rare as there were only about 950 of them ever made :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppatello Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 thanks for the tip, I just got off the phone with him and he told me that it can be easily lowered. I can put on smaller front shackles and remove the rear spring block. I think that would make a world of a difference. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brdhntr Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 i'm a cj guy to, as many of us are. i think we really need to know a bit about the cj before we say trade or not. :dunno: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Dang I like that MJ! Not how I pictured it, looks real nice but a must on block removal and shorter shackle to lower it and axle swap to give it more functionality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 i'm a cj guy to, as many of us are. i think we really need to know a bit about the cj before we say trade or not. :dunno: :yes: :agree: . Like MiNiB said, the MJ is not what I had pictured. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tazjeeper Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Dang I like that MJ! Not how I pictured it, looks real nice but a must on block removal and shorter shackle to lower it and axle swap to give it more functionality. :agree: :agree: :agree: what a great looking MJ.. love the look with the Bushwackers.... find out how much your are going to spend on axles before you swap like others have said. driving that beast on the street will rip that rearend out fast. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppatello Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 Here are some of the pictures of my Cj. It's an 84 Cj 7 with a 150, 4 speed T176. 30 front and 20 rear. 33,000 orignal miles. I got it without the top and doors. I put a 4" BDS HD lift kit with 1/2 HD BDS shackles. BDS gas shocks. Front sway bar disconnects. Trans drop kit. BDS steering damper. I have 15x8.5 turbine wheels with 32's. I herclined the floor and installed a motorcraft 2100 carb. She runs like a dream. I do like the 150 motor. I had plan to add maybe 34x9.5's when the 32's used up. I planed to line-x the body orange and leave the hood and windshield frame black. I was going to put the confed flag on the hood like the General Lee. Which is why I bought the wheels.... It also has a manual steering setup and bought a used one from an 86 Cj with a 258. So, with that all said, let me know what you think now... I also added LED tail lights... This is how it looked the day I bought it home! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppatello Posted February 3, 2009 Author Share Posted February 3, 2009 what rear should I drop in it? 44's? plus about how much would that run and is it hard? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pilotblake Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 I love the look of that truck. If it was going to be a mall crawler and not used on the highway or at speed I would leave it alone. I personally would trade, but I am biased to MJs. The explorer from 95-01 has an 8.8 that would work and has disk brakes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Your crazy if you trade that CJ for that MJ..... I know opinions are like buttholes everyone has one and they all stink, but you will regret it I promise. Save up for you a MJ and buy one.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TNT Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 Here is the only picture I have at the moment. the guy will take some suspension pictures later when it gets daylight out. I will post them then... Thats a great find. :D Only it's way too tall. :nuts: I could stuff 38" tires with 6-8 inches of lift. ;) You just need to get creative. :brows: I'll give you a quick rundown of what I would do wheel it and make it last Front 1) Remove the upper shackle mount and use a big peice of 4"x6"angle this would raise the shackles to the correct height. 2) Next I would correct the shackle angle so it angles about 50 degrees toward the rear on the new shackle mount. This will improve ride and flex. 3) I would take the rear spring mount and and build a custom mount to french it into the frame rails.This will lower it even more. 4) I would sell the Bushwackers to someone running 33"-35" tires. Sell them and get some stock wheel flares. 5) Now would be the time to open the wheelwell up a ton. I'll post a picture of my latest work and my 5" raised and reworked later. 6) After that I would plate the front frame since it was never designed to take the stress leaf springs add to them. 7) Swap in a HP D60 with 5.13 gears and a locker. Rear 1) Get rid the rear spring blocks 2) Cut the rear fenders and inner wheelwell. 3) Swap in a shaved 5.13 geared 14bolt axle with a locker. I've got more but I that will keep you busy. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oldrusty Posted February 3, 2009 Share Posted February 3, 2009 The D35 rears will break with 31" tires on them if you are too hard on the throttle, so even if he did "rebuild" it...that means nothing but he rebuilt a weak piece of junk that is going to break easily with those tires when any stress is put on them. :agree: :agree: :agree: :agree: excessive application of throttle with ample available traction will completely destroy a d35 in a matter of seconds even with puny little p235 75 5 15's....... :mad: :mad: on a side note old rusty now sports a chrysler 8.25 :clapping: :clapping: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppatello Posted February 4, 2009 Author Share Posted February 4, 2009 Thanks guys, I have enjoyed every bit of the chit chats. I have decided to hold on to the Cj for now. I put a lot of my time into it so I guess you can say it put a little bit of my love and soul into her. So she's kinda part of the family and when my wife told me she would rather me keep the Cj, it felt like a big weight was lifted off my chest. I have always wanted a Cj and just got her two summers ago. To let her go now before I even got a chance to wheel her would be insane. Thanks again to all of the kind tips and advice. Look for me though cause I like the one idea "to save up and get another one". That next one will be a Mj!!! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BLHTAZ Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I think you made a wise choice. You know you are still more than welcome to hang out here even without an MJ...right?? :cheers: :thumbsup: You'll have one before you know it anyway now that you have been here :clapping: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I think you made a wise choice. You know you are still more than welcome to hang out here even without an MJ...right?? :cheers: :thumbsup: You'll have one before you know it anyway now that you have been here :clapping: Oh sure welcome him with a beer and a "CJ", but cause I have an XJ I get it all day. I see how it is :cry: :rotfl2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtdesigns Posted February 4, 2009 Share Posted February 4, 2009 I think you made a wise choice. You know you are still more than welcome to hang out here even without an MJ...right?? :cheers: :thumbsup: You'll have one before you know it anyway now that you have been here :clapping: Oh sure welcome him with a beer and a "CJ", but cause I have an XJ I get it all day. I see how it is :cry: But... The longer you keep driving that XJ(the way you drive) Its going to turn into an MJ in time... :yes: :rotfl2: :rotfl2: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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