My 89' MJ, "The Beast"

[TrailReadyMJ]

1989 MJ, 4x4, 4.0, AW4, D30/35 , NP231.

The day I brought it home.



The PO decided to shoot it OD green, but ran out of paint before hitting the roof and in the bed.
Needless to say, I will be redoing some bodywork. I am going to keep the color though.

I cleaned it up a bit, rattle canned the inside of the bed for now, and primered the roof.

I needed to get this thing on the road ASAP, and as cheap as possible! It needed several things to be road worthy. A couple tires, both unit bearings, and the shocks were totally shot. It also has a rod knock, and had no power with tons of hesitation! The heater didn't work, and the blower would only kick on every once and a while. I can't complain, I didn't expect much from a $500 truck!

I have wanted one of these for years now, and my XJ had seen better days! My plan is to swap the lift, wheels and tires, and engine from the XJ.

So, I got to work! Unfortunately I had to work on it in my gravel/grass driveway due to a friends XJ occupying my small garage.

[TrailReadyMJ]

I mixed and matched until I had everything I needed to replace the necessary parts. I pulled the front springs, trackbar and CAs from the XJ.
Then I stuck it all under the MJ.




In the last pic, I drove it into work to fix the blower and install some tunes!

I did a SOA in the rear, so I had to add some spacers in front to level it out at about 6". DBs or LAs are in the very near future, but overall this thing rides great! After giving it a tune up, the power is back and I was able to get up to ~75MPH with no problems or vibes (it will rarely see those speeds!).

I kept the stock axles in it for now . I will be building a ford 8.8 and a non-disconnect HPD30, with 4.88s and probably Aussies. I don't plan to wheel it hard until I get the axles done, but have spare D35 parts, just in case.

[TrailReadyMJ]

As mentioned, I needed some tunes. I installed some Kenwood Excelon 6.5" coaxials in the doors, and a Excelon CD/USB player in the dash.
I install for a living, and got this stuff free through a promotion! I need to paint those door jams!



I also want to mention I installed a gauge cluster from a XJ with a tach and gauges. It originally had the idiot lights and giant fuel gauge (that was broken).

I was able to get it inspected with no problems after going through all the lights. I also had to fix the horn, and just wired in a momentary push switch. I have been driving it regularly, and it gets all kinds of attention! I can't even count the number of people that said I should paint a white star on the doors :lol: .

I am hoping the engine will hold through the winter, the knock isn't that bad. That will give me time to pull the 4.0HO from the XJ, and go through it. This will actually be the 4th Jeep it's been in, with only about 110K on the clock! That's a different story though.

I had to trim the fenders some, and removed the "air dam" below the front bumper. I will be running 35s once I get the axles done, so I will need to do some more.




Total out of pocket cost so far, not including the truck... $0!!!

[TrailReadyMJ]

On down the road a little...


I did take a couple poser shots the other day when I got a small load of firewood. The bed is loaded down, so the front isn't maxed out although the sway bar is disconnected. Too bad the rear won't flex this easy under normal conditions, but once loaded down for the trail, I should have some decent weight back there.

[TrailReadyMJ]

Here are some CA Drop Brackets that I built... yes built!

I still want/need to make the braces, but many run these on MJs without, so I'm going to go ahead and install them once I get time.

In addition to the normal DB mounting, I have added 2 self tapping bolts that will run straight up into the "frame". They go through the pocket, as well as the thicker part of the fame rail, so hopefully there will be enough to grab.
These are also a one piece design as far as the UCA goes, however there will be a strap going from the outside of the bracket, up to the stock UCA mount.
I also added a few adjustment points for the UCA, including an extra 1" stretch. I will be running stock UCAs for now, so this gives me more options.

My camera is acting up, so I only took a couple cell phone pics as the paint was drying. I'll try to get more, as well as some install pics.

[TrailReadyMJ]

I have also installed my drop pitman arm and trackbar mount brace. I made this last year for my XJ. It is designed to use a ZJ arm (3/4" drop from XJ/MJ), not yet installed in pics.

[TrailReadyMJ]

I have installed a lock right in front, the best part is it's for a D35 :shock:

Here is the writeup I did on the NRVJC forum:
Here it goes… This all started when I traded some work for a D35 Lock Right. I figured I could do one of two things with it. I had a D30 Lock Right, but it was missing the spacers that keep the couplers aligned. Before I saw it, I was going to see if these spacers were interchangeable, they are not! This ruled out the idea of piecing together the D30 Locker.

Then I went on to plan “B”. I was just going to throw it in the rear for temporary, light throttle use. I have spare shafts, and full D35 internals, so I figured, why not? I got into tearing down the axle, and noticed I have a non c-clip D35. I didn’t think much of it, other than my spare shafts wouldn’t work. Since if it did break a shaft, it would not keep me from limping off the trail, I continued. Well, it turns out the non-c clip version has a larger carrier, and the locker won’t fit. With ideas brewing in my head, I continued to reassemble the axle. At least I have new gear oil!

Now is where the outside the box thinking comes in. Looking at the two lockers, they appeared VERY similar in overall size, and are the same spline count and cut. I noticed the D35 Locker was slightly wider than the 30, but only .020” or so. I had a spare D30 Carrier lying around, so I figured what the hell… To my surprise, it fit great! The side couplers fit perfectly in the carrier, even the pin is the same diameter!

With this test fitting done, I decided to try the real thing. I tore down the front end, and installed the locker normally. Once again it fit great, and I was feeling even more confident in the results. Below is a pic of the locker installed in the D30 carrier. The only real “disadvantage” I see is that it has the cutouts for the D35 c-clips.




I reassembled the front end, and did the standard spin tests to make sure it would unlock. This was the thing I was most concerned with since this locker was a little wider. Worse case, this would cause it to either not unlock, or be rough in operation. I was pleased to find it unlocked very smoothly! I put it all back together and went for a drive. Like my previous Aussie, I couldn’t even tell it was there in 2wd! Slight clicking on slow, sharp turns, just like it is supposed to have! As I pulled back in my driveway (gravel), I engaged 4wd, and made a sharp turn. It was very apparent the locker was working, and my experiment was a success!!!

I still have to actually try it out off road, but with everything in spec and functioning as it should, it should be just fine. I will report back once I get a chance, but with D35 lockers floating around for CHEAP, this could be a great option for those on a tight budget!


Update: Well, I had a chance to test the locker out by climbing a hill/wall at work. It's a ~2ft retaning wall with a pretty steep, muddy little hill afterwards. It worked great! I climbed up without even spinning a tire I also played around a bit at my neighbours land, and it worked perfectly the whole time!

I will also mention, I only tried this because it seemed to fit (and did!), and I have a couple extra D30s laying around if something went BOOM! We will see how it holds up in the long run, but so far, so good!

[TrailReadyMJ]

Also...I have been working on a new and improved OBA setup for the MJ. I had a system on the XJ, but it required constant oiling, and was never leak free. Well, I pieced together a much better system out of parts I already had that came extra with my home air compressor.

Here is a pic showing the components. I need to redo a couple things after installing and testing it. First the check valve should be before the safety valve. However, the check valve seems to be bad, so it's now just a fancy coupler :roll: . Also the pressure switch I had was way too low, like 20psi, so it will get replaced asap!


The compressors have odd size fittings. On the XJ I just cut the AC hoses and used the stock connection. However, the MJ didn't even have AC stock, so I found a solution.
It just happens that the inside of the output is just the right size to tap for 3/4" pipe thread!



The input side is less critical since it isn't pressurized, so I just found a piece of PVC, and force threaded it on.

I also ran a tube from the separator back to the oilier through an adjustable valve. This allows self lubrication, and other than an occasional oil change, it's maintenance free! I tested it, and it works great!

Here you can see the tube, and intake side:


I have installed it, but didn't get any pics yet. The compressor just bolted on in place of the idler pulley bracket, and all the stuff fits nicely in an area unused by Jeep.

I ran the hose into the cab where there is a dash mounted pressure gauge. Then it goes out the back, and into my toolbox where the tank is stored. I found out a 5 gallon air tank fits perfect in the corner on my truck box! One day, the tank will probably move under the bed, but for now this is perfect!

[TrailReadyMJ]

Also, I removed the filter, it was an old one I used for test fitting and didn't allow enough airflow. I will get a new one soon.

I also decided the saftey valve before the check valve isn't a bad thing just in case the valve malfunctions. I will add another one at the tank just in case.





I need a new camera!!!

[TrailReadyMJ]

SCORE!!! I picked up an Exploder 8.8 today for $120. It's 100% complete, and pretty clean too! The disks are pretty rusty, but should be able to be turned. I'll post some pics once I get to working on it.

It has 3.55s now, but I should be able to buy gears in a couple days. I wanted 4.88s, but found a deal on some 4.56s I may not be able to refuse. Either way, I'll be MUCH better off than I am now with 3.55s and 33s.

I am going to go ahead and slap the 35s on Thursday. Hopefully I'll have gears by the weekend

Unfortunately, because of this I won't be able to make to make the trip this weekend , but it's for good reasons