George

I got the lowers boxed in and made some stubby swaybar links.

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I also threw a coat of primer on it tonight. The next two days I'm going to put a new rear main seal in while the axle is out, then get everything put back together. Hopefully, I'm ready for this thing to be back on the road.
 
Got the new rear main and oil pan put in. If you have a stock height (or in my case lowered) XJ or MJ it's so much easier to do with the front end removed.

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I also bought some new shocks at NAPA 11" collapsed and like 17" extended.

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Everything in place
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I was so excited to drive it but when I turned the key it was dead. I had left it in the on position when I was checking clearances.

Getting a jump from the Brendamobile.
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Then I finally got to take it for a spin.
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Drove great an handled great! No clunks or rubbing from the suspension that I can tell. I am very happy with how it turned out. My only complaint is that I don't think anyone will notice it's lowered. Maybe that's just because I'm running a stock tire still. Overall I got this done for less than $100, most of that was the shocks.

The only thing that went wrong on my test drive wasn't suspension related. I'm writing this from the side of the road waiting for my motor to cool. My thermostat failed, lol.
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That looks good. I know you're glad to get to drive it again. Nice work and way to keep the cost down.
 
Looks good. Yeah, you have more tire on there than typically comes on a factory XJ. If you find a set of the later model 16's and put some 245-50-16's or something similar in size, it will look lowered then.
 
damn, and i just sold the old wheels and tires from the sex palace too!

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Off to a good start.....but I say its time to quit pussyfootin around....
If you're gonna dump this thing....PUT IT IN THE WEEEEEEDS!!!
(u know u wanna)
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Okay, so I put a new thermostat in as well as a new idler pulley and harmonic balancer because the old one was starting to spit the seal out. While it was down I also scored some parts.

I picked up a set of Crown Vic Police interceptor wheels and tires. 235/55/R17. Got the set for $140.

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The bolt pattern is the same but the Crown Vic has a smaller hub, about 2mm smaller so I had to open up the center of the wheels a little. Then I painted them because it's hard to pick up chicks if your rims aren't shining.

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The fronts cleared everything fine but the rear didn't clear the MJ frame rail so I needed spacers. The Gresham Boys happened to have some they were willing to part with.

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While I was in Gresham I also traded NW-ZJ-SCOTT my MJ shackles for a 5.9 ZJ swaybar and poly bushings.

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A big thanks to the Gresham Boys for all the help and the parts. Even though they are completely evil and total jerks, they've been a big help getting my truck squared away.

Sitting on its new shoes. A before and after.

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Then I loaded up the only girl that will ride in the pile and took it for a spin to try out the new parts.

The truck handled awesome and the thicker swaybar sure helped keep the front level. Ride quality is as good as stock which is what I was going for. After driving it, I'm really happy with how well the truck works. I went a little easy on it though because it was wet out and I had my daughter in the truck, but I can't wait to take it for a spin when it's dry so I can push it a little harder.

Some pictures from our drive today.

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I searched the ends of the earth for a decent bench seat, but no luck. So I picked up some XJ seats from Roy aka blue2824 up in Auburn. They're a little dirty but I think they'll clean up pretty good. I took the covers off to run them in the washing machine. Then I got started with the process of removing the seat brackets from the sliders on the XJ seats and the MJ bench. Then put the MJ bench brackets onto the XJ sliders. I figured it would take me about 2 hours. Ended up taking about 4. What a Pain in the ass.

Everything had to be completely disassembled.
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The MJ brackets on the XJ sliders.
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My assistant
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While I was banned I didn't get much done on this because I was trying to get my LJ ready for NWFest. I did get the seats finished and installed though.

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While I was getting my LJ ready my friend was having some motor issues and asked if he could borrow a few sensors on my MJ to test against his. Being a nice guy I said yes. This is literally how he left my engine bay.

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So my goal for today is to get this thing fired up, if I have all the parts.
 
With friends like that.....well, you know the rest. Hopefully you can get it back together and running again.
 
I was able to get it running again pretty quick. It wouldn't start at first, but before I got into any real troubleshooting I discovered he had yanked my ASD relay too. Once I had a new one in, it was good to go.

But yes, I do need new friends. Would either of you two like to be my new best friend?
 
Gold Cobra said:
I was able to get it running again pretty quick. It wouldn't start at first, but before I got into any real troubleshooting I discovered he had yanked my ASD relay too. Once I had a new one in, it was good to go.

But yes, I do need new friends. Would either of you two like to be my new best friend?
Click to expand...

Sure but i cant steal from you since I'm on the "right" coast so I'm not sure you would appreciate our friendship LOL!

I like the truck, looks great!
 
Gold Cobra said:
I was able to get it running again pretty quick. It wouldn't start at first, but before I got into any real troubleshooting I discovered he had yanked my ASD relay too. Once I had a new one in, it was good to go.

But yes, I do need new friends. Would either of you two like to be my new best friend?
Click to expand...
I'll volunteer, I do things like adding parts to people's jeeps without asking them instead of "borrowing" parts after asking them.

By "parts" I mean that I might wire an extra horn to your turn signal or brake lights, or put hoseclamps on your driveshafts or zipties on your axleshafts :eyes:
 
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