Meet Baby (my 88 MJ)

Well, I went and got some better pics of my 88's front end, and I can't begin to see where $800 of repair was done. So, me and Jeepco are going to be swapping another front axle into it sometime in the near future here. See if you can spot any major wrongs with the pics.

Sorry for so many pics, and the quality, but, hopefully these do the trick for you guys.

it does, in fact, appear bent...the bottom of the tires appear to be towing outwards a bit.

we shall see. a pic of the entire front of the truck would have been best to tell what's bent, but these tell me something isn't right as it is.

Since I did forget to get a STRAIGHT ON shot of it, this is the best one I have for now.

Probably isn't bent, probably just ball joints, but I don't know the integrity of the straight axle...

he took it off a huge jump at high speeds.

I don't know if it's just the angle of the pictur or not, but the passenger side inner C looks fubar.

edit. I looked at it again, I'm just not sure. if it was bent you'd think the balljoints would look funny in it, but they look ok.

indeed

Yea, I was dumb and decided to take it off of an about 3 1/2 foot high dirt mound at about 45 MPH. Ended up nose diving it pretty hard, leaving about a foot or more deep divot in the ground, about 30 or so feet after the mound. After looking at a few other front end pics, I have to say that even I think the PS inner C is out of whack. NOW, after it all, I remember that I shoulda grabbed ahold of everything under there and checked for any play in anything.

perhaps

That C looks bent at the axle tube to me too.

I have to agree on that C. But they're both splayd out. I'd say she's FUBAR.

The JeepSpeed guys weld gussets onto the C/tube to prevent that.

besides all the rust? i am glad to live in az! you guys got it rought up there

besides all the rust? i am glad to live in az! you guys got it rought up there

Thank you for bringing this thread back to the first page. I am about a week and a half from getting the new axle under it. And you say rust? That what you see is what the "mechanic" (ASE certified working out of his home garage. Now because of me out of business with a huge fine and loss of certification) said was all new parts. He says he replaced the tracbar, tie rod and ends, sway bar, and a few other parts. :roll: New parts my arse.

Today is the day that Joe comes down, and we do this project up!

I have the axle here needing a bit of cleaning.

there's a couple choices for springs...one being the heavy duty ones that came off of the 89

gotta drop his front end

then simply bolt this one in

and then all that is left is to put on the racerback, fix one door lock, and a few little things like that.

axle was fine but the trackbar bolts were loose as heck.

doing more stuff...

end result, we didn't have to do anything with the front end but bolt the trackbar mount down.

we put on a set of tires that came with one of my trucks...all matching and with half tread left which were better than his "slicks". painted the rims black and added chrome center caps. and a matching spare tire.

his heater/ac system wiring has been hacked up. really bad. so I went over what he had and decided the dash needs to come out to fix it, so I simply wired a relay to a switch for an on/off for defrost and heat and he can control hot/cold it works as good as can be with the wiring that was in there.

wired in a stock radio and "retrieved" his antenna from the inner fender well.

solid mounted his bedliner, added the racerback, replaced the driver's side door handle. vacuumed and cleaned the interior.

put on a good grille

strapped exhaust to tranny crossmember.

And the $#!& deal of it all, is that only one of my pics turned out. And it just so happens to be the one that I took on my way back home, a lil after she turned 169. The front end had no wobbles in it at all on the 4 1/2 hour drive home. Oh, we also found out I need an O2 sensor, as mine appears to be MIA. I'm gonna have to let Jeepco supply the pics as mine are all blurry (crappy camera). Here's the one of mine that did turn out though.

EDIT: Since the front axle wasn't used in my project it is currently for sale. Contact JeepcoMJ for the information and details.

new door handle plus adjustable mirror

Joe and his new grille on the 88

racerback installed

new rims plus tires

Joe is 6'1". the 89 is higher than him almost. compare that, the 88, and my 89

cleaned the inside, put in floormats, matching center console, and the seat bra that was in the 89

I like it. it covers tears

added radio and black bezel.

done but needs new rear bumper

that pic also gives you a good idea on height of my 89.

all in all, I think Joe's project turned out very well.

Thanks for posting them for me Pat. I have gone out and installed the clear corners on my 88 and the grille, headlight bezels, and regular corners on the 86. I took a few more pics, but same result, crappy pics. I'm going to be installing the final piece on the 88 on monday, then I'll give my camera ONE MORE CHANCE to create good pics, or I'll break the damn thing. If by some miracle my camera gives me good pics, I will be updating this thread as well as my 86's thread. Thanks all for the inspirations/comments. And I agree with Jeepco, it did turn out very well.

New pics of the new grille, headlight bezels, and clear corners installed will be up today. Once again, as soon as I get to my storage unit so I can get pics of my 2 MJ's together. Oh, there is a surprise install that happened today too. I think this one really added to the old baby. I'm also in the near future going to be adding yet another surprise into the mix, let's just say it'll tie the 2 MJ's together, all while helping to the look I'm going for with it. :brows:

PICS ARE IN. And I don't even know where to start with them.

Clear corners installed.

Front view of both MJ's.

I don't know, I just liked this one.

The surprise install is finally revealed.

Pic of the visor from the other side.

And to end it the same way I did in my 86 X thread, the pic of the ComancheClub.com sticker. On my racerback.

There y'alls have it, baby, as she sits now. Keep in mind in the near future, more updates will be coming. As well as an original idea that'll add a lot more to her. Let me know what ya think, good or bad, I don't care.

wow, i opened my mouth too soon in the x thread. that's AMAZING. :D :eek: :cheers: 8) :brows: :beerhead: :clapping: :jump:

thanks for accepting that gift, it looks great on there and I'm glad you could use it...I know I couldn't have pulled it off on either of my rigs.

so, as much as I like that blue....I'm thinking we could do with seeing some twins here in the near future.... :brows:

I'm happy for you.

now the 86 just needs her TBI and new rear main, and the 88 needs a new heater system, and you are GOOD TO GO!

thanks for accepting that gift, it looks great on there and I'm glad you could use it...I know I couldn't have pulled it off on either of my rigs.

 

 

so, as much as I like that blue....I'm thinking we could do with seeing some twins here in the near future.... :brows:

 

I'm happy for you.

 

now the 86 just needs her TBI and new rear main, and the 88 needs a new heater system, and you are GOOD TO GO!

Hey, no problem. I like the way it looks on there too. Hhmm.... twins... that may be a possibility in the future. Yep, TBI and seals and gaskets on the 86, and I'm beyond set.

thanks for accepting that gift, it looks great on there and I'm glad you could use it...I know I couldn't have pulled it off on either of my rigs.

 

 

so, as much as I like that blue....I'm thinking we could do with seeing some twins here in the near future.... :brows:

 

I'm happy for you.

 

now the 86 just needs her TBI and new rear main, and the 88 needs a new heater system, and you are GOOD TO GO!

 

Hey, no problem. I like the way it looks on there too. Hhmm.... twins... that may be a possibility in the future. Yep, TBI and seals and gaskets on the 86, and I'm beyond set.

:D

Bringing it back from the dead again. Since minydigger's thread about his lowered eliminator, it has inspired me to get my backside in gear on dropping this thing. I am currently on the hunt for a set of ZJ rear coils and waggy leafs. Since her back end sits higher than the front, I think I can pull off the waggy leafs. I've had more than one lead on a large displacement motor, but all have fell through; in fact one of them (a 327 from a 69 'vette, that was in a '77 Vega wagon) sent the #2 piston right through the hood. No joke, I seen the carnage, it wasn't pretty. So now the hunt begins for a Chevy LSx or an LT1.