ilovemybike Posted January 22, 2012 Posted January 22, 2012 Hello all, I just acquired an MJ. My two door XJ is getting rusty and I stumbled upon a solid Comanche for the right price so I plan on swapping my good parts into the truck. I have an AX15 with a Novak adapter and a Chevy bellhousing to use a 5.3L. I have a RX7 that I swapped a 5.3 into and I love the motors. Nothing wrong with the 4.0, but the truck came without a motor and if I am going to swap something in, might as well lose some weight in the process. Here is the XJ in action. Waggy's RK long arm, blaa blaaa... I want to do a prerunnerish build on the MJ with good street driveability.
ilovemybike Posted January 22, 2012 Author Posted January 22, 2012 Some questions, does anyone make replacement lower bed panels? Will a spring over in the rear, with longer shackles of course, match a 6" lift in the front? Are any of you guys running your rear shocks into the bed?
Naterenfo1 Posted January 24, 2012 Posted January 24, 2012 A Spring over axle in the rear will ROUGHLY net you 6" of lift, ive seen as little as 4.5 and as much as almost 7" I used a 6" lift in the front of my MJ, and did an SOA on the rear, and it matches perfect. 4wd springs will get you almost perfect 6", and 2wd springs will give you less. Stick with stock shackles if you want 6", chevy drop shackles add another 2" of lift
mvusse Posted January 24, 2012 Posted January 24, 2012 Chevy drop shackles give you a little less than 1". They give a Cherokee 2".
Exxon Valdez Jeep Posted January 24, 2012 Posted January 24, 2012 I have my shocks through the bed. Build link in my sig has pics.
Dirteatr717 Posted January 24, 2012 Posted January 24, 2012 Post some pics of the Manche! Sweet skydriving
ilovemybike Posted January 24, 2012 Author Posted January 24, 2012 I have my shocks through the bed. Build link in my sig has pics. I checked that out, looks sweet. :thumbsup: How do you like it? I have the shocks running inside the XJ and I wish I had used 16" just for the extra volume so they wouldn't overheat as easily. A Spring over axle in the rear will ROUGHLY net you 6" of lift, ive seen as little as 4.5 and as much as almost 7" I used a 6" lift in the front of my MJ, and did an SOA on the rear, and it matches perfect. 4wd springs will get you almost perfect 6", and 2wd springs will give you less. Stick with stock shackles if you want 6", chevy drop shackles add another 2" of lift That makes sense, I hope mine are sagged out so I won't have too much lift. I was hoping to use my lift shackles to let the springs flex out fully, but it sounds like it might be a bit tall. I guess the only way to know is to do it. Post some pics of the Manche! Sweet skydriving Thanks man, I have a few pics I can share, many more to come. :D
ilovemybike Posted February 13, 2012 Author Posted February 13, 2012 :wrench: Homemade press brake I hate fixing rotted floors. :mad:
jeepjerry Posted February 17, 2012 Posted February 17, 2012 Is that the nose of an Eagle behind the MJ in the last pic???.... :cheers:
RockMJ Posted February 18, 2012 Posted February 18, 2012 I'm doing a V8 swap in mine in the near future and ive tossed around the idea of doing the 5.3. Ive known a few guys who have put them in Wrangler's and loved it. Being as I have the BA10-5 ill certainly be doing the 4L60E. Welcome aboard and I look forward to seeing the V8 swap progress RockMJ
ilovemybike Posted February 19, 2012 Author Posted February 19, 2012 Is that the nose of an Eagle behind the MJ in the last pic???.... :cheers: That is a lifted AMC Eagle, haha. It's a hot mess. I'm doing a V8 swap in mine in the near future and ive tossed around the idea of doing the 5.3. Ive known a few guys who have put them in Wrangler's and loved it. Being as I have the BA10-5 ill certainly be doing the 4L60E. Welcome aboard and I look forward to seeing the V8 swap progress RockMJ Thanks! People have been saying that it's a tight fit and it's a real pain, but from what I have read it doesn't seem very hard. Famous last words I guess. :roll: I have done a 5.3 swap before though, so I'm not going into it blind. I wouldn't mind a 4L60E, but I got a great deal on the AX so I'm sticking with the three pedal route. Look at that ugly mug. Cut fenders and some rocker action. LS me! More floor welding. Blaaaaa AX15 to Chevy.
ilovemybike Posted February 19, 2012 Author Posted February 19, 2012 Squint and pretend it's an MJ. I took her out last night and I am going to miss her when she's gone.
ilovemybike Posted February 29, 2012 Author Posted February 29, 2012 Hung a junk 5.3 tonight. :) Built some motor mounts off of Jeep's handiwork. Trimmed truck manifolds to fit. Looks like a car manifold is in order. Any tips for welding on the truck exhaust manifolds?
ilovemybike Posted March 2, 2012 Author Posted March 2, 2012 Work is slow, so I have more time to work on the ol MJ. Can't resist a dimple die. Welded a plate onto the end of the cut framerail. I use the term frame loosely. Artsy junk photo Welded up the driver's motor mount and powdered them. Threw the bed back on to see how much I am going to cut. Looks like plenty.
lostissues Posted March 2, 2012 Posted March 2, 2012 Is that at bolder bash? and welcome to another NH Comanche owner.
ilovemybike Posted March 2, 2012 Author Posted March 2, 2012 Is that at bolder bash? and welcome to another NH Comanche owner. It sure is! :D Drove it there and back.
ilovemybike Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 I have a few questions, will my Rock Krawler three link brackets bolt onto the MJ "frame" rails? Is the interior roofline similar to that of an XJ? I was thinking of throwing the main hoop from my Cherokee in if they are the same size
Comanche County Posted March 6, 2012 Posted March 6, 2012 I believe they should bolt on,,,this is the set up on the XJ right? The RK 3 link uses a crush sleeve through the frame rail, you have to drill a 5/8" hole on one side and it "crushes" against the other side. Really easy since the control arm brackets align off the TC holes and there's no crossmember which makes accessing the transmission a lot easier too. You must cut off the MJ lower control arm brackets though. Nice beard btw! :cheers:
ilovemybike Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 Thanks! It just looks funky with the the control arms still on. I'm going to measure my XJ main hoop and see how close it will be
ilovemybike Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 Thanks! It just looks funky with the the control arms still on. I'm going to measure my XJ main hoop and see how close it will be
ilovemybike Posted March 6, 2012 Author Posted March 6, 2012 The hangover seems similar enough to not matter much. Interior of the XJ. I hope to salvage the main hoop with the harness bar.
ilovemybike Posted March 21, 2012 Author Posted March 21, 2012 Putting some work in on the bed. Did a half @$$ job of gluing it back together and then brought it over to my cousin's shop for some more bodywork. More to come tomorrow. :yay:
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