New to Jeeps

[billysjeep]

Hey guys, I'm new to the jeep world but not 4x4. A friend of mine at work gave me his 89 MJ 2wd. I have done alot of research on this site and learned alot about these trucks. Most of the suspention is about the same besides the front end with coil springs, used to the leaf front.. But anyhow I'm going to convert her over to a 4x4. as far as i know what i need is:

1. front dana 30 with upper/lower control arms and all those goodies

2. 5 speed 4x4 trans auto or manual, not sure if its easy to make into auto

3. t-case

4. front drive shaft and get mine shortened or a new one made

5. cross members that are needed

if anything else i can't think of plz let me know this is what i gathered

 

2nd thing is sence its a 2wd i have read that if i did a SOA that it will sit 1" lower so I'm guessing like 4" lift, correct me if I'm wrong, anyhow would it be to much to lift the front end 3" without messing with the control arms or trac bar? or would i be better off getting a 4.4" lift from rustys or wrough country?

Anyhow i just wana know whats best to do to be able to run 30 or 31" under my truck without rubbing at all or much and still have ground clearance for some 4x4 fun.

 

Thx guys gals

Billy

[ridenlow12]

if you want to run 31's for cheap I would try spacers for the coils and maybe a "aal" for the rear and you should be gravy. As long as you are only doing light wheeling. This is my rig with 4 inch drop brackets and "aal" on the rear with 31's

Image Not Found

[feerocknok]

1. front dana 30 with upper/lower control arms and all those goodies

2. 5 speed 4x4 trans auto or manual, not sure if its easy to make into auto

3. t-case

4. front drive shaft and get mine shortened or a new one made

5. cross members that are needed

if anything else i can't think of plz let me know this is what i gathered

1. Get a Dana 30 that matches the gears of your rear end. You don't need the control arms.

2. The swap's possible, but seems like a Major pain from the perspective of someone that hasn't done it before (me).

3. Yeah, the t-case isn't divorced so get one attached to the tranny.

4. Correct.

5. <- Don't know this one.

6. T-case shift linkage.

Sounds like you've done your research well!

 

As far as the lift, 3" coils are cheap, so that's a good route. You can run your stock control arms, but you'll be lacking down travel. It's best to get new lower control arms that have a bend in them so that they clear the bracket.

When lifting the front end, the panhard (track bar) will pull the axle to the drivers side. The ways to fix this are to drill the hole that the panhard mounts to (on the axle side) further towards the driverside to relocate it, or buy an adjustable track bar. Either is accectable at 3" of lift.

 

At 4+" you will need new lowers, a new track bar, and brake lines. You should also look into uppers, but that is another spot that you can decide on.

 

For the rear, a spring over axle lift height is dependent on the condition of your leaf springs. You will get as much lift as the thickness of your leaf packs plus the thickness of your axle tubes. If your current leaf packs are sagged to death (like many on this board), flipping it to SOA may only net you to a 3" lift compared to a stock 4x4.

Common SOA lift tends to be about 4-6" depending on the condition.

[billysjeep]

for the aal i heard the ride gets rougher, not sure if thats true. I wana go cheap for a lift for now and then after my wife has our 2nd child i wana get a 6"+ lift, prob go with the long arm setup and new springs in the back.

 

Has anyone heard of home made longarm setup? ive seen pics and seems quite easy to make, i got acess to 2 machine shops.

[Oizarod115]

for the aal i heard the ride gets rougher, not sure if thats true. I wana go cheap for a lift for now and then after my wife has our 2nd child i wana get a 6"+ lift, prob go with the long arm setup and new springs in the back.

 

Has anyone heard of home made longarm setup? ive seen pics and seems quite easy to make, i got acess to 2 machine shops.

 

if you get a long aal its not bad, the ride will stiffen up a bit cause that one leaf is making the pack 3" taller so its taking most of the load, but a short AAL will be bad for the springs

 

homemade LAs is ok just check out all the ones online and try to copy someones setup pretty closely

[billysjeep]

this is one i found on rustys website

 

 

i don't know if this is the tipical setup, but this is how i was thinking of making it

[Oizarod115]

this is one i found on rustys website

 

 

i don't know if this is the tipical setup, but this is how i was thinking of making it

 

thats not a true 4link its a radius arm style setup (kinda like some FS fords)

 

i think full traction's kit is a true 4link like the stock setup is

[Eagle]

1) You will probably need a 4WD rear driveshaft. I don't think the 2WD tailshaft is as long as the transfer case in a 4WD truck. Measure before buying.

 

2) You don't need the control arms with the new axle, because the 2WD uses the exact same control arms as the 4WD vehicles.

 

3) As to lift, a SOA is going to lift your truck 5 inches higher than it is regardless of what springs are in it. If it's an inch lower than a 4WD now, it'll be an inch lower than a converted 4WD but it'll still be 5 inches higher than where you started.

 

4) You can run 31s on a stock MJ with no lift. If you only want to run 31x10.50s, I would either keep it at stock height or maybe just do a 2" budget boost using an AAL in the rear and coil spacers in the front. Keep it simple.

[Eagle]

Has anyone heard of home made longarm setup? ive seen pics and seems quite easy to make, i got acess to 2 machine shops.

I have seen some home-made long arms.

 

I won't go on the same trail with them. BAAAAAD ju-ju. I also live right down the road from Clayton's Off-Road, one of the originators of XJ/MJ long arm kits. I have been in his shop and seen how the kits are fabricated. Keep in mind that Clayton himself is, by profession, an industrial engineer. The kits are NOT easy to make, and doing them right requires engineering skills as well as fabrication skills -- I don't know if you are a professional engineer or not, but if not I suggest that for the sake of your wife and kids you leave the engineering to the engineers and not try to booty fab your own.