Jess Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Hello everyone, my name is Jess, I'm from Sacramento, CA area. My Dad and I have started fixing up an MJ a family friend gave us and it seems I found this forum in the nick of time! It's in good running condition, body needs paint, seats, a few other odds and ends but overall its in pretty good shape (especially for being free!) I have been reading this forum for a few days now and have found lots of good advice, its great! I have a couple of questions though, if anyone gets a chance. The first is about seats, the scrap yards in the Sac area are picked pretty clean so I'm not having much luck finding seats and may just end up getting my bench repadded, but if I did find good seats, does anyone know if the Passenger bucket can fit in the front seat? I believe I read here that the buckets can fit on the bench mounts, so I should just need the seat correct? It needs new shocks, so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good set - I'm not looking for anything super sonic and I have no plans on going up to the rubicon - Just something all around. Standard? Gas? And lastly, does anyone know of a good set of after market front/rear bumpers that aren't super expensive? Great forum, thanks guys! Jess Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mjeff87 Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Welcome to the club Jess, it's always great to see new faces keeping another MJ on the road :cheers: I'll leave the shock question to the other guys on here running stock setups, but I and many others have swapped XJ buckets into our MJ's. Yes, you can reuse your bench brackets with them (XJ seats up to '96, I think that's the cutoff year but am not 100% on that). Four bolts hold the seat to the bracket/slider, and the slider is spot-welded and bolted to the floor brackets. Remove the seat from the slider and the slider from the floor bracket on both then bolt/weld the XJ slider to the MJ floor pedestal/bracket and bolt on the bucket. Couple words of caution, 4-door XJ buckets do not have any tilt mechanism for the seat back, so if you use them you will have difficulty accessing things behind the seats in the cab (actually it's a real PITA, ask me how I know ;) ). Also, if you use XJ buckets with the curved rocker bases (again, like I did) they will sit a good bit higher in the cab unless you cut the pedestals down some. That can be a problem if you are taller than average as some guys' heads end up on the ceiling. Not an issue for me 'cause I'm short, but you do have to get used to ducking your head when getting in/out to avoid beaning yourself on the doorframe. You only do that a couple times until you learn, though :yes: There's a couple good writeups on here you can search for, or hopefully the authors will chime in with some links to them. Check the projects/buildup section for them. Jeff Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SuperWade2 Posted March 18, 2009 Share Posted March 18, 2009 Hello everyone, my name is Jess, I'm from Sacramento, CA area. My Dad and I have started fixing up an MJ a family friend gave us and it seems I found this forum in the nick of time! It's in good running condition, body needs paint, seats, a few other odds and ends but overall its in pretty good shape (especially for being free!) I have been reading this forum for a few days now and have found lots of good advice, its great! I have a couple of questions though, if anyone gets a chance. The first is about seats, the scrap yards in the Sac area are picked pretty clean so I'm not having much luck finding seats and may just end up getting my bench repadded, but if I did find good seats, does anyone know if the Passenger bucket can fit in the front seat? I believe I read here that the buckets can fit on the bench mounts, so I should just need the seat correct? It needs new shocks, so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good set - I'm not looking for anything super sonic and I have no plans on going up to the rubicon - Just something all around. Standard? Gas? And lastly, does anyone know of a good set of after market front/rear bumpers that aren't super expensive? Great forum, thanks guys! Jess Welcome Jess...good to see another NorCal Wheeler (I'm more central coast actually, but whose counting)... As far as shocks, I got these for my MJ (stock height and now 2" lift) and they seem pretty good... Monroe 37026 Sensa-Trac Truck Shock Absorber http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C53QTA Monroe 37029 Sensa-Trac Light Truck Shock Absorber http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B000C53QSG Not sure of the price range you are looking for for bumpers... Fronts are pretty easy to come by since the XJ Cherokee bumpers work... rears are little more effort to find... I like the JCROffroad, ProtoFab setups .... Many guys are "cheap" (aka know how to weld) and will make their own...there are lots of bumper threads on here... Enjoy! Wade Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drahcir495 Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 if I did find good seats, does anyone know if the Passenger bucket can fit in the front seat? Welcome Jess from Sacramento :cheers: . I hope I am reading you question right. The internal foam and support in the bucket style I used were the same. In fact, I used the internal bottom bucket support from a passenger side (of the same design) in my driver side seat. They are typically in better condition, but the outer seat cover is different in one aspect - the location of the belt support loop. It may not bother you at all, but the seat belt loop would be on the outside. Check out page one of my build-up viewtopic.php?t=8051&start=0&postdays=0&postorder=asc&highlight= for pictures and more in depth detail. A free Comanche is always good :banana: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepdoggydogB Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 Hello everyone, my name is Jess, I'm from Sacramento, CA area. My Dad and I have started fixing up an MJ a family friend gave us and it seems I found this forum in the nick of time! It's in good running condition, body needs paint, seats, a few other odds and ends but overall its in pretty good shape (especially for being free!) I have been reading this forum for a few days now and have found lots of good advice, its great! I have a couple of questions though, if anyone gets a chance. The first is about seats, the scrap yards in the Sac area are picked pretty clean so I'm not having much luck finding seats and may just end up getting my bench repadded, but if I did find good seats, does anyone know if the Passenger bucket can fit in the front seat? I believe I read here that the buckets can fit on the bench mounts, so I should just need the seat correct? It needs new shocks, so I'm wondering if anyone can recommend a good set - I'm not looking for anything super sonic and I have no plans on going up to the rubicon - Just something all around. Standard? Gas? And lastly, does anyone know of a good set of after market front/rear bumpers that aren't super expensive? Great forum, thanks guys! Jess Welcome Jess! There are a few of us here in the Northern California region. I am sure more of them besides Wade and myself will chime in, you can always PM me if you are in need of parts that I might have in my garage that my wife wants out! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted March 19, 2009 Author Share Posted March 19, 2009 Thanks for the warm welcome and the tips! My Dad and I went down to Rocklin/and some other Pick n Pull today, seat scrounging, didn't find anything amazing. We did find a Cherokee with a newish set of gas shocks, they were only like 7 bucks each so we grabbed them. Our right front shock is completely shot so, these will be better than that at least. I have a couple more questions - My Dad says we need new Tie rod ends - I'm looking at these ones on JC Whitney - link - Anyone used these? We're not lifting the MJ or anything. I'm a little confused about the wording, "Front Left Outer" "Front Left Inner" not sure what I need there. My Dad may know, I haven't consulted with him about it yet, and I'm still a little green on mechanical stuff :P Also a while back our E-brake cable snapped just above the pedal (its the step kind) and every Cherokee we've found in the Pick n Pull's (have seen zero MJ's) have the center console one. Any advice on fixing this? Do I need to order a whole new E-brake mechanism, or can I rip out the center console one (asuming we find XJ seats and a good center console) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
summerinmaine Posted March 19, 2009 Share Posted March 19, 2009 The first is about seats, the scrap yards in the Sac area are picked pretty clean so I'm not having much luck finding seats and may just end up getting my bench repadded, but if I did find good seats, does anyone know if the Passenger bucket can fit in the front seat? I believe I read here that the buckets can fit on the bench mounts, so I should just need the seat correct? I've got a set of tan buckets for sale. PM me if you're interested. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mvusse Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Parking brake cables are available from Autozone (I just checked) and I assume most of not all other auto parts stores. They are not very expensive either. If some of your tie rod ends are shot, the other ones are probably close, so you probably should replace all of them. This will get a little expensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
maddzz1 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Front left outer tie-rod means where it connects next to the drivers wheel. Left front inner tie-rod is the other end where it connects to the drag link. Then the drag link will connect near the passenger wheel and the other end of the draglink will connect up to the pitman arm. Hope that helps. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darren Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Jess, are you a dude or a chick? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted March 20, 2009 Share Posted March 20, 2009 Welcome Jess, I'm another one of the NorCal members. There's an '86 MJ at the Pick-N-Pull in Fairfield if that's not too far for you. It's 2WD, 2.5L, 5 speed, bench, red interior, solid rear window. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jess Posted March 20, 2009 Author Share Posted March 20, 2009 @mvusse - Thanks @maddzz1 - While I was changing the shocks I figured it out - thanks! @goblazers_6 - Dude. @fiatslug87 - Hmm, thanks - I'm in Placerville so that's about an hour and a half. I was at the Pick n Pull's in Antelope and Rocklin yesterday, Rancho Cordova last week and we'll probably hit the Sacramento location next week. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MoparMatt77 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 If you need any of these items still?? If any of your tie rods are going out. Check out a local JY or PickNpull for a good V8 93-98 Jeep ZJ grand cherokee steering parts. the V8 drag link is solid HD and interchanges to XJ, MJ, ZJ, TJ steering. I have a spare Ebrake foot pedal mechanism. I am in Sacramento. I like the way the XJ buckets and console look, but need to seat 3 on a regular basis. I have a stock bench seat still in decent condition. I am upgrading to a 1997 Dodge Dakota 40/20/40 seats. They are more ergonomically contoured, confy, + they have intergrated cupholders, and a fold down center console for storage. PM / Email me if you need any of these. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 Welcome to the club.Check Ebay for tie rod ends and just about everything else for XJ and MJ. But compare all prices. Don't order the first part you come to. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
beaterjeep Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 You guys do realize that this thread is over a year old, right? :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dasbulliwagen Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 WOW! I hate it when that happens. Looks like his Last visited: Mon Jan 11, 2010 10:46 pm Maybe he'll update us if he catches it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 It seems we have a gravedigger pulling up some old stuff... Not a bad thing, but it gets confusing for sure. Rob L. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted March 17, 2010 Share Posted March 17, 2010 I didn't. :oops: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one_bad_MJ Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 as for shocks topguncustomz runs rough country sales all the time i got a set of 4-6" lift shocks for my 89 xj last year for 200.00 shipped www.topguncustomz.com Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one_bad_MJ Posted March 18, 2010 Share Posted March 18, 2010 wow sorry there running sale 119.00 for 4 shocks I'm gonna pick up a new set. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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