1990 Rebirth ('97 Conversion)

[knever3]

I like the color too. The flat style wheels go so good with the flat crisp body and the color just makes it a jeep. To bad the Military didn't get the idea, and if they did they wouldn't pull it off right anyway.

 

You should start a paint fund, lemonade anyone?

[mrsinister]

I say go for it, good color, love the wheel match

[Rymanrph]

I passed a grand cherokee today in dark khaki and my color is off in the photoshop. Here's a pic of the color:

 

 

I might switch it up and do light khaki, I don't know. Paint fund.. yeah who wants lemondade? How much should i budget for this? My last car I painted was a sedan and I paid right around $5k (expensive, but it turned out great), but I can't see it being that much for a little pickup.

 

 

Been looking for some Rubicon Moabs, but everyone seems to want $100/wheel. That seems really high to me. And then 245/75/16s cost more than 31/10.50/15s to begin with, so I'm not sure on those yet either.

 

I got my axles today ('97 Dana 30 and '01 Chrysler 8.25); pictures soon.

[Rymanrph]

Here's the new Dana 30. It came with all 4 control arms, shocks, springs, track bar, steering linkage, brake rotors and I assume those are abs sensors (even though I asked for no abs, no big deal).

And here is the 8.25. I cut the old spring perches and shock mounts off last night. New spring perches are on the way.

The swap shouldn't be too bad. I've never dealt with drum brakes before, so I've got a little reading to do to get the cut e-brake cables out. I'm hoping I can just use the ones already in the truck. Any reason why I shouldn't be able to?

[Pete M]

what did you do for your foot heater? doesnt that center console cover up where it blows out?

 

Haven't figured that one out yet. But I think you're right.

 

 

ask in the tech forum and someone should be able to fill in on the details, but i think you'll need to swap out the little diverter in the dash or something like that.

[Rymanrph]

New spring perches came today and they are only an 1/8" taller if that. I also bit the bullet and ordered my 3" Hell Creek suspension kit today. I was going to take my axle to the shop tomorrow to have the new perches welded on, but forgot to borrow an angle finder, so that will have to wait till next week.

 

Still haven't made a decision on wheels and tires. I really want a set of Rubicon Moabs, but I really don't want to pay $400 for used wheels. I'm in the same boat with tires. This will pretty much be a daily driver, but I still want an aggressive all terrain or mud terrain. I don't want anything too loud and I've been very happy with the KM2s on my TJ, but I've heard good things about the Goodyear DuraTracs, so I don't know. I don't want to stress about it too much, but this will be the last set of tires I buy for it for probably 5 years, so I want to make sure I get something I'll be happy with.

[-600JeepMJ]

on one of your pictures of the passenger side floor it looks like paint got a little discolored from heat. you may want to check if the cat heat shield is still there.

 

Good call. I checked last night and no, I don't have one, but I can't see any evidence of one ever being there. I guess I'll have to figure something out there. What does it look like?

 

Gojeep has a great short write up on making a Heat Shields. It is near the bottom of the page.

 

:typing: http://jeep-xj.info/Exterior.htm

[Rymanrph]

Well, progress has been made.

 

I got the front 2wd axle out:

 

Got the new Dana 30 in with new rotors, calipers, pads, coils, shocks, steering from the donor and a ZJ sway bar:

I'll disconnect the old caliper when I'm ready to bleed the brakes.

 

Got the old Dana 35 out too:

 

I got the 8.25 mocked into place, but forgot to borrow an angle finder, so I haven't set the pinion angle yet. I decided to put it on all fours to see how the lift looks:

 

Hopefully I can get the pinion angle set and get the perches welded on tomorrow. Then once I get it bolted back in, I'll have to do the rear brakes. I'll do a shake down run with the current transmission to make sure the lift and axles are good and then I'll tackle the 4wd transmission and transfer case.

[Rymanrph]

Well, the axle swap and lift is done. Here is the result:

 

I picked out the tires I wanted (Goodyear Duratracs), but couldn't decide on an alloy wheel that I really wanted to spend $350-400 on, so I think I'm going with some steel wheels for now; I might paint them gunmetal, we'll see. I'll order tomorrow and hopefully I can have them the first of next week.

[High2by]

That looks nice. I like the height on it.

 

Is that console from an early 90's XJ? I can't tell in the pic, but does it fit the floor contour well? Also, what tire size will you end up running? If I missed it in the posts, sorry. :cheers:

[Rymanrph]

It is a Cherokee console and I plan on running 31x10.50 tires.

[Dirteatr717]

I'm diggin the Jeep khaki green and how much lift are u sittin on? looks great keep it up :thumbsup:

[Rymanrph]

For the post above, I have the Hell Creek 3" lift.

 

Here are the new wheels and tires!

 

After the 4wd axle swap I have a vibration at anything over 50mph (before and after the new tires). I just had it aligned too, so I know it isn't that. I'm going to try replacing the driveshaft u-joint this evening and hopefully that will cure it.

[88pioneer]

I like the looks of that thing, all black . And for the front end shake, it was the universals on my front drive shaft, now i have no front end shake at all :banana: . Hopefully thats what yours is too

[Rymanrph]

I like the looks of that thing, all black . And for the front end shake, it was the universals on my front drive shaft, now i have no front end shake at all :banana: . Hopefully thats what yours is too

 

Unfortunately, I know that's not it. I haven't done my transmission/transfer case swap yet, so there is no front drive shaft at the moment. I had planned on painting the truck something other than black, but I have to admit, I'm really liking this combo.

[High2by]

It looks great!! :thumbsup:

 

On the vibration, how are the axle end bushings on the control arms? It could be one of them is bad. Also, it could be a unit bearing. I've had those give a vibration before.

[Rymanrph]

The vibes are gone. I replaced the drive shaft u-joint (it needed it), but after I was done I found that the axle side mount on the track bar was loose, so I'm sure that was causing a problem as well. I took it up the highway and it ran great. I can't wait to finish the 4wd swap, but I'm really anxious to finish the floor so I can reassemble the interior. I'm probably going to take a break for the rest of the week, but I've got one more surprise that I'm hoping pans out. We'll see :D

[Rymanrph]

Ok, I got some new lenses for the front. I really like the front markers; they're so much better than the worn out ones I had. The side ones... I'm not so sure about yet. I kinda like them, but they're a tad ricey. They'll stay for now.

And here is the suprise. I drove 350 miles round trip to pick this up (roll bar):

 

I've got some other pictures and I'll try to do some edits on them this week. I just auto mode on my point and shoot, so they didn't come out too good. The lights on the bar are kinda big, so I might swap those out. Its not bolted down yet; the mounting flanges need a little bit of tweaking, but overall, I'm very happy with the fit.

[88pioneer]

:drool:

[ComancheKid45]

What a Sweet Truck! :clapping: :thumbsup:

[neohic]

Nice score on the roll bar! Really gives it that "Tonka" look!

[zzze]

any idea who manufactures that roll bar and is a bolt in or weld set up?

[Rymanrph]

any idea who manufactures that roll bar and is a bolt in or weld set up?

 

Pretty sure its out of an older Dakota. It is a bolt in bar. The mounting plates do require some massaging. I'm working on that now and will post the final product. The person who installed it originally already tweaked and bent the plates, so I don't have pictures of the plates as they came stock. I'm mounting it a little further forward than the PO, so I'm having to trim the plates at the front corners and flatten out the sections that are currently bent out of the way. Doesn't make much sense to talk about, but I'll post pics when I'm done. The powder coating or paint of whatever is on it is chipping, so I'll have to repaint it too.

 

I want to put some smaller lights on it as well and I'm trying to figure out the best way to run the wires. I guess I could just drill a hole under where the bar mounts and run the wires under the cab and back up the firewall. We'll see.

[Sir_Brando]

really diggin your truck. tryin to get a few things done with mine. you said the cluster and the console were out of a 90 cherokee? the temp and oil sens units just needed to be replaced or did you need different ones for the cluster. Other than that was the cluster swap just a remove and replace. One last thing, where did the lenses and clear side markers come from. I'm swapping everything out for LED and I'm looking for clear all around. Looking forward to seeing the end product :thumbsup:

[Rymanrph]

You do need the two senders, but otherwise its plug and play. I got the lenses from a guy selling them on craigslist, so I can't be much help there.