YELLAHEEP
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Littleton, Colorado
When envisioning the build for this project, I'd hoped to find an'89 - '90 2wd 5spd Eliminator truck as a base. Pretty few and far between out in this part of the country (In the eastern states they're plentiful but all I'd found were VERY used, beaten and rusty..... and shipping them was $$$) but the idea was that it'd already have the AX15 and a D44 and buckets......
This truck wasn't exactly what I'd hoped to find specifically, but this is a real solid truck to build on. Short of the D44..... it's almost an Eliminator..... so here we go.
'88 MJ short bed, 4x4, 5spd, non-A/C truck. Absolutely rust free. 270K miles.
-Rebuilt 4.0 with unknown miles since rebuilt was installed 2 owners ago.
-Late model AX15 with external slave bell housing swapped in with new clutch.
-Runs and drives beautifully.
-Bonus: this truck already has the bucket seat interior and full gauge cluster. Also nice newer tires, a custom off road rear bumper and bed mounted tire carrier I can use for other projects or sell.
Biggest mental hurdle with this truck was coming to terms that I'd have to remove the 4x4 parts. What helped me with that hurdle was a ComancheClub member in Pueblo who's an even bigger parts hoarder than I am, was willing to sell me all the bits I need to go 2wd. So, next week I'll be hauling off to Pueblo to get these things.
The bigger challenge will be the suspension. Ideally it'd be great if I could source the parts to duplicate the SCCA trucks the Archer Brothers used for their trucks - custom front coils and fiberglass mono-leaf rears. Dunno how successful I'll be in coming up with those or items similar. Rumor has it that certain years of the Astro van used similar fiberglass mono-leaf rears that are the right length...... For now, I have several sets of off-road front coils that I can cut down to see if they provide the stiffness and drop I'm looking for up front. The rear may just see the removal of the overload leaf and one additional leaf from the middle. :dunno:
The 2wd front axle will get outfitted with WJ knuckles and brakes. I have 16" wheels already to clear those brakes. I'll have to see if the WJ steering will work with the lowered suspension..... may end up going to a simple heim setup for steering and track bar.
Rear axle thoughts: Since I won't have D44, I can do one of two other builds....
-Keep the D35 and do the Liberty rear disc swap
-Get an Explorer 8.8 with the discs.
The 8.8 might be a bit on the heavy side but I wonder how a D35 would stand up to all the throttle work and up/down shifting abuse........ I believe the Archer trucks used D44's but those trucks were running the 2.5 4cyl engine........
I'll put a cage in it, move the fuel tank and battery into the bed and use a YJ Hurst shifter for the trans.
Anyway........ the truck:
I'm using their photos as the truck is currently filthy and frozen.....
John and Brad were so concerned with the upkeep of this truck that when they went to replace the doors (had minor rust along the bottom from rotten window seals) they held out until they found red doors..... and got lucky to find another Pioneer so the doors even had the stripes!
The rear bumper may look familiar to some of you....... It's a Custom 4x4 Fab rear bumper for the '97-'01 XJ and it fits the truck perfectly. John and Brad made custom brackets to mount it up but it looks like it's made for it!
This truck wasn't exactly what I'd hoped to find specifically, but this is a real solid truck to build on. Short of the D44..... it's almost an Eliminator..... so here we go.
'88 MJ short bed, 4x4, 5spd, non-A/C truck. Absolutely rust free. 270K miles.
-Rebuilt 4.0 with unknown miles since rebuilt was installed 2 owners ago.
-Late model AX15 with external slave bell housing swapped in with new clutch.
-Runs and drives beautifully.
-Bonus: this truck already has the bucket seat interior and full gauge cluster. Also nice newer tires, a custom off road rear bumper and bed mounted tire carrier I can use for other projects or sell.
Biggest mental hurdle with this truck was coming to terms that I'd have to remove the 4x4 parts. What helped me with that hurdle was a ComancheClub member in Pueblo who's an even bigger parts hoarder than I am, was willing to sell me all the bits I need to go 2wd. So, next week I'll be hauling off to Pueblo to get these things.
The bigger challenge will be the suspension. Ideally it'd be great if I could source the parts to duplicate the SCCA trucks the Archer Brothers used for their trucks - custom front coils and fiberglass mono-leaf rears. Dunno how successful I'll be in coming up with those or items similar. Rumor has it that certain years of the Astro van used similar fiberglass mono-leaf rears that are the right length...... For now, I have several sets of off-road front coils that I can cut down to see if they provide the stiffness and drop I'm looking for up front. The rear may just see the removal of the overload leaf and one additional leaf from the middle. :dunno:
The 2wd front axle will get outfitted with WJ knuckles and brakes. I have 16" wheels already to clear those brakes. I'll have to see if the WJ steering will work with the lowered suspension..... may end up going to a simple heim setup for steering and track bar.
Rear axle thoughts: Since I won't have D44, I can do one of two other builds....
-Keep the D35 and do the Liberty rear disc swap
-Get an Explorer 8.8 with the discs.
The 8.8 might be a bit on the heavy side but I wonder how a D35 would stand up to all the throttle work and up/down shifting abuse........ I believe the Archer trucks used D44's but those trucks were running the 2.5 4cyl engine........
I'll put a cage in it, move the fuel tank and battery into the bed and use a YJ Hurst shifter for the trans.
Anyway........ the truck:
I'm using their photos as the truck is currently filthy and frozen.....
John and Brad were so concerned with the upkeep of this truck that when they went to replace the doors (had minor rust along the bottom from rotten window seals) they held out until they found red doors..... and got lucky to find another Pioneer so the doors even had the stripes!
The rear bumper may look familiar to some of you....... It's a Custom 4x4 Fab rear bumper for the '97-'01 XJ and it fits the truck perfectly. John and Brad made custom brackets to mount it up but it looks like it's made for it!
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. My best drifter was the Datsun 1600, with a perfect 50/50 weight distribution and rear wheel drive. The WJ with the 242 was great in the snow, the XJ slides real nice on dirt roads in 4WD.
