LOST JEEPS :: View topic - Project MJ CRD is born:

Sam,
Is the truck running?

Got the new perches, got it in last night. Took a video showing the installed state and a few things about it.

Be forwarned its a little long if you are not planning to swap this axle into an MJ:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcPzZFVUUrs

Sir Sam wrote:

Why did you put the spring pack under the axle? Is that how the trucks were designed? All of the XJ Cherokees had the springs above the axle. Greater ground clearance. I would have thought the MJ series was the same.

Interesting. I would not have thought it to be that way. Same unibody and production line. But I guess the YJ's were built on the same production line also. As a supplier to Jeep Toledo with my old company spent some time in the plant and also on Lake Erie fishing with some of the workers.

That is quite different. Is the bed bolted on with isolators or welded to the back frame rails? Is the front bucket part of a welded unibody or bolted to frame rails?

Talking with the Toledo line employees I was told of a few 3 door XJ's that were built. If you were a high roller in the plant and had enough pull you could get one built. You would never see them on the street but I guess a few existed back in the 80's.

Author:	Sir Sam [ Fri Mar 02, 2012 3:25 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
More updates: http://colorado4wheel.com/forum/viewtop ... 6&p=51#p51

Author:	racertracer [ Fri Mar 02, 2012 7:24 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
Sam, Is the truck running?

Author:	Sir Sam [ Sat Mar 03, 2012 12:28 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
racertracer wrote: Sam, Is the truck running? Pfff nope. Long way off from that. Tons of wiring to be done before that. The plan right now is to concentrate on the cab and getting the 97+ interior stuff buttoned up. when I'm done hacking together the cab I can shoot paint on it and get a windshield in. with the doors and move on. Engine running doesn't really do me any good right now, I could push for a few hours and jury rig the engine to run, but theres no real reason to do that. I need the cab work in place before I an integrate the engine harness stuff correctly. At that point the engine will be running, but the vehicle will not be moveable under its own power until later.

Author:	Sir Sam [ Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:07 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
I got a wildernest topper last year in august of 2017. And then finally got rid of the other shell on CL. Turns out the old one fit a longbed toyota truck perfect.

Author:	Sir Sam [ Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:08 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
New as of 3-NOV-2017: I ordered a pair of metric ton leaf springs with ~3" or so of lift. Took a long damm time to come in but they finally arrived last night. I have a set of ruff stuff SUA perches that I will use to mount these up to a KJ 8.25 from my 05 parts CRD. http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/cat ... -WIYP.html The 8.25 I am using has a limited slip and 3.73s which is a good match for the CRD powerband.

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Project MJ CRD is born: http://www.lostjeeps.com/forum/phpBB3/viewtopic.php?f=5&t=32756	Page 9 of 11

Author:	Sir Sam [ Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:10 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
Rolled the MJ into the garage and started prepping the KJ axle, got the KJ brackets - lower control arm, shock mount, and spring pad cutoff, and I am half done grinding the tube smooth. Brackets to cutoff: Spring pad cleaned up: Everything cutoff:

Author:	Sir Sam [ Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:11 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
So I made a video showing some things I ran into with the spring...... https://youtu.be/4aUsUiwlxrk I think I'm going to try and push to have some more videos go along with what I'm doing, youtube recently changed their rules so I am now in a push to hit 1000 subscribers, I have a little over 500 currently. Shameless plug: For any of you willing to subscribe please to help me out you can do so by clicking on: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtRd0A ... irmation=1

Author:	Sir Sam [ Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:12 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
Got the new perches, got it in last night. Took a video showing the installed state and a few things about it. Be forwarned its a little long if you are not planning to swap this axle into an MJ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcPzZFVUUrs

Author:	dieselenthusiast [ Sun Jan 28, 2018 8:15 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
It's lookin' good, Sam!

Author:	Sir Sam [ Wed Jan 31, 2018 10:24 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
I started removing the seat brackets from the XJ donor metal. I made a how to video for removing the spot welds. This process applies to pretty much any spot weld cutting you are likely to ever do for automotive purposes. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLpjFQDPA4s

Author:	joelukex4 [ Wed Jan 31, 2018 2:04 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
Sir Sam wrote: Got the new perches, got it in last night. Took a video showing the installed state and a few things about it. Be forwarned its a little long if you are not planning to swap this axle into an MJ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcPzZFVUUrs Why did you put the spring pack under the axle? Is that how the trucks were designed? All of the XJ Cherokees had the springs above the axle. Greater ground clearance. I would have thought the MJ series was the same.

Author:	Sir Sam [ Wed Jan 31, 2018 2:49 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
joelukex4 wrote: Sir Sam wrote: Got the new perches, got it in last night. Took a video showing the installed state and a few things about it. Be forwarned its a little long if you are not planning to swap this axle into an MJ: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QcPzZFVUUrs Why did you put the spring pack under the axle? Is that how the trucks were designed? All of the XJ Cherokees had the springs above the axle. Greater ground clearance. I would have thought the MJ series was the same. Good question! Yes its how they were factory, MJs and YJs were all SUA (spring under axle) compared to XJs which were SOA (spring over axle). Switching a Mj axle to SOA with the stock leaf springs results in 5-6 of lift, which is more than I wanted when I was looking at options. Asking around with the comanche guys who have gotten new springs the metric ton springs with military wrap and 1" of lift put them at about 20-21" between axle center and fender flare with SUA, that would have put me at 25-26" if I did SOA. Right now with where my MJ sits I am at 19", which is a little lower than I wanted. However if I had gone SOA I would be closer to 25" which would be too much for my tastes. I used the swap kit I did because it puts the bolts and bracket further up out of the way of the understand and less likely to hang and drag on something. Unfortuneatly spring options are very limited for the MJ, overall the aftermarket support is not huge for MJ specifc things. So I would not have been able to find an spring that I could have gone SOA and still kept the lift to something like 22-23 inches. XJ springs and MJ springs are different. XJ and MJ perches also have different spaceing, so if you attempt to install an XJ axle under a MJ without rewelding the perches you get a twisted springs and shackle, resulting in this:

Author:	joelukex4 [ Thu Feb 01, 2018 2:53 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
Interesting. I would not have thought it to be that way. Same unibody and production line. But I guess the YJ's were built on the same production line also. As a supplier to Jeep Toledo with my old company spent some time in the plant and also on Lake Erie fishing with some of the workers.

Author:	Sir Sam [ Fri Feb 02, 2018 12:11 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
joelukex4 wrote: Interesting. I would not have thought it to be that way. Same unibody and production line. But I guess the YJ's were built on the same production line also. As a supplier to Jeep Toledo with my old company spent some time in the plant and also on Lake Erie fishing with some of the workers. Its not really the same unibody though, from the firewall and forward its the same, but after that it diverges quite a bit. The rear of the Jeep is really like a body on frame truck, the unibody becomes a frame and the bed is a bed like any other. The leaf spring design is also different, on XJs the axle is centered on the leaf spring, on the comanche its more like a 40/60 split. MJ shackles are also longer than XJ shackles. MJ has a rear weight sensing proportioning valve for the rear brakes. MJ tail lights look just like dakota tail lights or full size dodge tail lights but they are not! Rear bumper mounting is totally different than an XJ. Lots of little things, makes life interesting.

Author:	Sir Sam [ Sat Feb 03, 2018 12:54 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
Finished installing the Chevy drop shackles. I got about an inch of lift out of them, I have one higher hole on the shackles I could use, but it won't give me much more lift. This was the set I picked up, I am pleased with the quality for the price. https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0106NWAJY MJ shackle top(which is longer than an XJ shackle) The width is a little different. I used giant cresent wrench to bend open the frame side shackle box, put the shackle in, and then bolted it tight. If I were a more patient man I would have pulled the bushing out, shaved down the width of the metal sleeve, and then bushing to make it the correct size. Likewise the other end is a little large, I picked up a couple of fender washers to take up space and then bolted it tight, again the nut and bolt pulled it closed some. Installed in lower position: How it sits now: About 20" between flare bottom and wheel center. Height is OK. Might end up moving the shackle up once springs settle some.

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Author:	joelukex4 [ Fri Feb 02, 2018 9:21 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
That is quite different. Is the bed bolted on with isolators or welded to the back frame rails? Is the front bucket part of a welded unibody or bolted to frame rails? Talking with the Toledo line employees I was told of a few 3 door XJ's that were built. If you were a high roller in the plant and had enough pull you could get one built. You would never see them on the street but I guess a few existed back in the 80's.

Author:	Sir Sam [ Fri Feb 02, 2018 10:16 pm ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
joelukex4 wrote: That is quite different. Is the bed bolted on with isolators or welded to the back frame rails? Is the front bucket part of a welded unibody or bolted to frame rails? Talking with the Toledo line employees I was told of a few 3 door XJ's that were built. If you were a high roller in the plant and had enough pull you could get one built. You would never see them on the street but I guess a few existed back in the 80's. Straight up bolted...no isolators. Fairly easy to take off, hardest part is the little things like electrical and brake lines that connect to the bed instead of the frame. The cab is all unibody, the frame rails under the cab take a little different path back to the rear so visually its a little different, but the trans cross member is still the same, the floor pans are pretty much the same, but the MJ has an extra ridge on top of the floor pan that makes things a little different. So imagine a 2 door, short door unibody cab, but the frame rails just become a rear frame with the X member, and are fully boxed. It's a bit odd, but actually very practical, and the design doesn't suffer from any weakness from it. We might see truck going back this direction in the future as weight savings for fuel economy become more important. And, the bed can still be removed to install a utility bed or camper module, there were some Comanche motor homes back in the day! I was once looking a buying a 2 door XJ that had been t-boned for a repair, I realized it was a donor vehicle away from being repaired into a 3 door, that would have been wild, and wholly unsellable.

Author:	Sir Sam [ Fri Feb 09, 2018 1:39 am ]
Post subject:	Re: Project MJ CRD is born:
I finished cutting off the old bracket and I got the new one trimmed to fit. I finished cleaning up the floor with the wire wheel and flap disked the area where the bracket needs to be welded down. I'll hit them with some copper weld through primer before welding, then follow up with seam sealer and POR15.