88 Sport Low N Slow

[Flexj]

Started cutting to fit the shift tower. Experimented a bit with how I was going to close it up and started cleaning up the interior. Pressure washed the carpet and cleaned up the floor pans before they started to rust for real. 

[Flexj]

Floorboards before and after. Yes I wire wheels all the rust out, vacuumed, cleaned with alcohol then painted. 

[Flexj]

I went to bleed my brakes and my stock master cylinder @#$%in exploded brake fluid all over the engine bay… decided to upgrade to a wj booster and master cylinder. I used some spacers to get the brake pedal close to the stock location as far as pedal depth, but make sure you bleed the brakes before sliding those spacers in and mounting otherwise you won’t be able to press the pedal down 100% to get them bubbles out. Grinded down the round spot on the end a wee bit for the brake light switch. 

[Flexj]

And here we go with a mostly completed look. Need to wire up the windows, pulled all the tape and installed all the trims already. 

[Flexj]

Mounted the computer in the stock mj location. Had to modify the throttle cable bracket to be able to get 100% of the throttle from the pedal. After this I saw another person that used a mixture of the f body mount I used and the stock Comanche mount. I definitely think that was the better route to go, I may change it up and copy him down the road. I would give him credit but I don’t remember where I saw it. Also replaced my dome lights with the euramtec lights. First time I’ve ever had interior lighting! It’s so nice who would have thought?? 

[Flexj]

And that’s where I'm at in this point in time. The truck is driveable now but I have odds and ends I want done before I take it out for real. I need to finish moving the shifter assembly back with a remote rod linkage, finish the wiring for my e fans, finish the VSS signal for the LS, I have a connection on my exhaust I need to redo, etc. I’ll make sure to get updates posted as I go thank you all for reading! I am going to work on a parts list for everything I used for the swap, check back in if you would like to see that 

[Salvagedcircuit]

Woah boy that's a whole lotta work!

Nice job

[Flexj]

Had a few minutes of free time and put the winch on along with the fairlead. I’ll work on wiring it up soonish.. 

[Flexj]

Thank you @500 MJ! He really hooked me up with the last hood prop clip he had... It truly is the little things that finish off projects for me, not to mention the awesome magnet he sent me!! 

[Flexj]

Got my wiring harness 100% where I want it, well 100% minus the two leads on the right hand side for my electric fan relays.. Those will be done soon tho! Besides that I just need to get the storm port tapped into the water pump. I might move the blue amp wire so you can't see it as well... I feel like it sticks out way to much.. 

[Flexj]

Also swapped the synthetic winch line on my ZXR12000. Not a huge deal but I'm happy about it! Gotta keep them all covered down here in this Texas sun... That winch cover has only been on for maybe a year covering the winch when it was on my Gladiator and it already looks sooo worn down and discolored... Ill have to order a new one soon. 

[Flexj]

Cool little video I did for a friend to show him. Excuse the interior mess I'm still finishing up the radio install. 

[Flexj]

Threw the gas tank skid up to get it out of the way, tired of tripping on it. I sanded and painted everything I would be able to reach on the top side, but I need to do the same on the bottom. Ill get to it eventually, long as I'm not tripping on it I'm happy 

[Flexj]

Did a new rubber boot for the slip section of my t case. Ive been running my driveline like this for over five years with no issues. Its a ranger drive shaft, I used it because it was the proper length and had the 8.8 flange on the driveline already. I attached the u-joint to the xj slip section of the 231j, so yes it has two sections of slip. It works great, zero vibrations, has been reliable for years so I am going to leave it for now, maybe do a SYE in the future not sure, don't really need it with the 97+ 231. 

[Flexj]

And got my VSS for the LS PCM hooked up. Originally I purchased the Novak adaptor for the t case speedo location, but as I was going through the wiring behind the dash I realized that the factory cruise control module is the SAME EXACT THING that novak is selling for like 70 bucks after shipping.. They are both rated at 8k PPR, so either method requires you to change the pulse settings in the LS PCM. I highly recommend saving some money if your planning on using the Novak adaptor and just use the cruise control module. Other benefit is that I have it wired under the dash instead of back at the t case, so I have literally zero wires back of the bellhousing since I'm running a manual. 

[Flexj]

Got the JKS Quicker Disconnects installed. Wasnt terrible but wasnt fun cutting and drilling out the mounts for the axle end either. First time ive ever used them, ive always been cheap in the past and just unbolted them when I got to the trail when I actually ran a sway bar.. Overall happy with the product and would recommend. 

[Flexj]

Rear shocks finally installed. 

[Flexj]

Well I stayed up way to late working on the MJ last night but I did manage to get the Gladiator bumper mounted up

[Flexj]

I'm actually really happy with how it looks on the Comanche. I was hesitant at first but it fits really well. I may end up keeping an eye out for a rubicon version. 

[ghetdjc320]

I must say, that rear Gladiator bumper looks great . 

[Flexj]

On 5/20/2025 at 1:09 AM, ghetdjc320 said:

I must say, that rear Gladiator bumper looks great . 

Thank you! I was super skeptical at first but I'm glad I tried it!

[Flexj]

So, I thought I was done... But I stumbled across some Jeep Gladiator axles that I just couldn't pass up.. 5.13 gears and curry diff covers. Honestly they are not a HUGE upgrade, but I never plan on really wheeling this more so a driver and weekend warrior that I hope to keep semi nice. The JT axles have significantly larger brakes, axle tubes are stronger, ring gears are larger, bearings are larger, shafts are stronger etc etc. Its not a dana 60/14b but its between there and standard 44s. Advantek 210 front and 220 rear. Front ring gear equates to an 8.26" ring gear which is an entire inch larger then the dana 30 and the 220 rear comes out to 8.78" ring gear which compared to the 8.8 I had is obviously ever so slightly smaller, but with better brakes the correct wheel lug pattern for my wheels and obviously the 5.13 gears. 

[Flexj]

The front end is not 100% bolt in, but its really not that far off. I had to drill out the upper control arms to 5/32" to fit the larger hardware for the 210 front axle. The spring perches are also a bit wider, and also sit centered on the axle instead of forward of the axle tube as the stock xj/mj dana 30s do. I cut off the factory spring perches and moved them inward to 36.5" center to center and re welded them back in place, just tac welds for now until everything is fully set up. This landed them super nicely right inside the shock mounts, pushed up against the outter section of the shock mount from the inside as pictured. If I was doing this again I wouldnt even measure I would just set them exactly where I did as pictured. 

[Flexj]

So the lower control arm bolts are also a bit larger. To me it was easier to weld a thick washer to the outside of the control arm mounts and use the stock MJ/XJ hardware. I could have drilled out the sleeve in my long arm kit for the lower control arm but this just seemed better. Especially when considering that the lower control arm holes for some reason are square instead of circles and seem to have a ton of play in them. The trac bar had to have some cutting done, but the width was correct. I just had to trim is a bit to bit the curve of the core4x4 trac bar I'm using. This is also the point where I realized that the stock axles have the spring perch sitting a couple inches in front of the axle tube, not centered like the JT setup.. Thats fine tho, I will be ammending that soon I just need to get it moveable under its own power for now. Ill come back with a spring compressor, drop one side and move the buckets 2" forward to match the MJ/XJ setup. I will also use that oppurtunity to reinforce the trac bar mount where I had to do some cutting to make it all fit correctly. 

[Flexj]

Its mostly in. I need to shorten the trac bar a bit. I am waiting on a reamer from Trailforged to ream out the pitman arm to fit the newer much heavier duty tie rod ends so I can get the drag link installed. I'm thinking I will need to chop the drag link and shorten it about 2" also but that still remains to be seen for sure. I will also need to figure out a mounting solution for my JKS quicker disconnects.