J20 Owner Here

[relyt120]

I can dig it :dunno:

 

[mzairboy]

Although the last J-trucks were built in the 1987 calendar year they were offered as 88's as well as the model year began in 1987. Reports that "production ceased in 1987" are accurate but it does not limit the trucks to being in the '87 model year. I can find no accurate numbers between '88 J10 & J20 sales. 

 

I am a firm believer that you can do anything you want with a vehicle that you own. However if that truck is as rare as claimed ( again, I can't confirm or contest that claim) it seems a shame to butcher it up with a CTD conversion. There are many factory CTD configurations that would exceed that J20 as a starting point without needing a major fab swap and they would retain a rare truck if it is indeed rare. Conversely there are other years of J20's that could have formed the base that are not very rare. To most folks any value & interest it had as a rare low production number truck ended as soon as it went under the knife.

 

EDIT:  Web searching shows that this truck, if it was the one purchased from Mt. Zion, is a J20 body swapped onto a '93 Dodge W250 CTD chassis. It appears that it is only cosmetically a Jeep even if it retained Jeep registration due to the J20 cab having the VIN tag. It was said to have been pretty much a junk J20 purchased out of a field. It was heavily rusted and had some pretty bad wreck damage on the driver's side. It must have undergone some extensive body work if the teasers pics are accurate.

 

Scroll down for some info & pics after the swap from one post:

http://www.ifsja.org/forums/vb/showthread.php?t=114603&page=9

 

When I said only 50 or so were made, I was going off info supplied to me by the previous owner of the truck. This may or may not be accurate, but it would be interesting to track down and figure out how many were produced. The previous owner mentioned some type of registry? The truck does have 88 stickers on it as well, but as someone mentioned earlier, it may well be a leftover from 87.

 

I discovered this truck at the York Jeep show last year. It is truly a work of art, I wouldn't say it was butchered at all, but that is purely my opinion.  

 

The only vehicles I drive are Jeeps. I have a Wrangler, and then I purchased my Comanche. Soon after I decided I wanted a diesel in it. When I took the Comanche to Mount Zion Offroad, I saw this truck parked out front. It was everything I wanted to do to my truck, except on steroids. Yes it is a Jeep body on a Dodge frame. Does that bother me? No, at least they kept it Mopar. Are a lot of parts borrowed from other model/style Jeeps? Yes, but that doesn't bother me either. 

 

I have dealt with Mount Zion Offroad before, and always came away satisfied. Great guys, great customer service, great work! The J20 is still at Mount Zion Offroad. I am having some additional work done to it before I bring it home, but when I do, I'll post some more photos if people are still interested.

 

Thanks for digging up that information. I just learned a lot more about my new purchase! That also a big part about what I enjoy about owning a Jeep, and being part of this group of people. Everyone is helpful, and it is always a learning experience!

[mzairboy]

Located a pic taken after the body was swapped onto the Dodge:

 

I noted the incomplete front end and mangled core support. Others who have tried to swap a 6BT into a FSJ have run into issues with having enough room for the intercooler. the 6bt/radiator/intercooler combo is just too long. The only one that I know of that was able to retain the stock jeep sheet metal had to just go without the intercooler to make it work but they still had to fab a core support.The first 2.5 years of the CTD weren't intercooled anyway. The '93 was.

 

Here is the finished product. They either resolved the intercooler issue or removed it. Hopefully it has some sort of core support under there.

Image Not Found

 

To answer a few questions:

1. It is a Cummins 5.9 liter 2500 Turbo.

2. It is an intercooled engine, but the intercooler is not currently hooked up. That is my current project.

3. Core support looks good to me. I will be fabricating some brackets for additional goodies beneath the hood in the near future.

[mzairboy]

Here is an additional photo of the truck, since some of you guys are super sleuths and already uncovered a few photos.  :thumbsup:

 

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[Minuit]

Beautiful truck even though it's not what it looks like. What matters is how you feel, and I'm sure you'll love every minute of it. I love me some FSJs, especially if they have some power to them.

[92tanMJ]

And you traded your MJ for that?? How nice was your MJ????

[GirsMJ86]

Ah, so it's actually a Dodge just with a much better looking body. I can dig that. If I had the funds I know I'd swap a J-Truck body onto a Cummins rig. Would love to see some of the technical aspects of this thing in pics, but then again any pics would be great. J-Trucks just scream "ultimate truck" to me because of the styling (I just love the lines, older grilles, and the brow on the older trucks). Not fond of the square headlight grilles, but overall still awesome. Needs some better mirrors though IMO, some like my J10 had rather than those tiny things. So glad to see those awful chrome rims are gone.

[carnuck]

No sense mentioning all the FSJ and AMC boards and lists since only the body is Jeep. I'm on about 20 of them at last count. ;)

[Incommando]

 

Located a pic taken after the body was swapped onto the Dodge:

 

I noted the incomplete front end and mangled core support. Others who have tried to swap a 6BT into a FSJ have run into issues with having enough room for the intercooler. the 6bt/radiator/intercooler combo is just too long. The only one that I know of that was able to retain the stock jeep sheet metal had to just go without the intercooler to make it work but they still had to fab a core support.The first 2.5 years of the CTD weren't intercooled anyway. The '93 was.

 

Here is the finished product. They either resolved the intercooler issue or removed it. Hopefully it has some sort of core support under there.

Image Not Found

 

To answer a few questions:

1. It is a Cummins 5.9 liter 2500 Turbo.

2. It is an intercooled engine, but the intercooler is not currently hooked up. That is my current project.

3. Core support looks good to me. I will be fabricating some brackets for additional goodies beneath the hood in the near future.

I did not mean to imply the truck was cobbled up. In fact it looks like they did a great job on the body. I figured the intercooler was an issue. Everyone I know of who has done this had to ditch the intercooler unless they cut a hole on the hood and they couldn't run a grill or stock core support as the intercooler sat that far forward. The early CTD's were not intercooled,anyway. The intercooler made no real difference in the power ratings ( the '93 had 160 hp and 400 #'s stock. I bought a '93 CTD dually new and kept it for 230,000 miles) but did aid in an over heating issue when pulling a heavy trailer up steeps grades, for example. You may or may not care but the "2500" designation did not start until the '94 re-design. Prior to that they used 100-350. The 3/4 ton was a 250 in '93. You would add "W" in front for a 4wd and "D" in front for 2 wheel drive. '93 W250 CTD. The did make '88 j-truck. I just couldn't find out how many were J10's vs j20's. 

[ComancheKid45]

I have plans to tackle a feat like this myself hopefully sooner than later :)

[mzairboy]

Picked the truck up yesterday evening and trailered it home. Today I went out and taught myself how to drive stick. I've always driven auto, so this was quite a learning experience. After about an hour I'm comfortable enough that I think I can get myself to work tomorrow. Watch for a new topic about this truck under "Other Ongoing Projects"

 

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[hassyfoto]

Nice lookin J20 so far. Now stop with the teasers and show us the PICS !!!!!!

 

:bowdown:

[hassyfoto]

Kooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooool !!!!!

 

                                                      :thumbsup:   :thumbsup:

[MancheKid86]

i don't see no 5.9l cummins?  :brows:

[Incommando]

I was hoping to hear it was the A518. Get real familiar with the Getrag 360 5-speed repair manual...

[mzairboy]

i don't see no 5.9l cummins?  :brows:

 

You can see it here.   :thumbsup:

 

http://comancheclub.com/topic/41090-88-j20-turbo-diesel/