bullheimer

hi. just posting to say i have put the front end into my rig (MJ) and driving it again in just 2x with my original trans and rear end. no tx case yet.

what a total PITA! with those damned extra 4" lift blocks above the springs! jeezus!! my friend told me to connect the upper control arms first and man it was UN DOABLE!! I had to park my full sized truck out in the street, in front of myt MJ so that i could attach a borrowed come-along to my bumber to winch the f'ing bottom of the axle out far enough away to get the backs of the bottom control arms (i left them attached to the axle) into the pockets of the frame. i would say it took me over three hours, because it was over two of pounding my head against a brick wall, before i got the come along.

i then had rusty and clapped out rotors, which were cheap enuf to turn, both for $25. still they are verry cheap, $35 ea brand new. i got them turned and re used the old and best pads i had. i left the calipers on my MJ and it was easier NOT to have brake fluid dripping on me, which is what i did removing the front from the cherokee. my caliper had a stuck bleeder valve, which i had to use a 12" monkee wrench on to remove. the last person to do a brake job must have decided to hell with it and did not change that sides pads, so they had dug the rivets into the rotor quite nicely.

also fyi, my bud's great idea that a glass company would come out to my house and remove my cherokee's windshield and put it in my MJ for only $50 was a pipe dream. almost every company told me they would NOT do it, and the one that would said there was an EIGHTY PERCENT CHANCE that they would break the cherokee's windshield removing it. because of that meanass glue that they use to install them.....(whose stupid idea was that anyway?) and they told me they would do it for $125!! well they told me it was only $180 to just come out and put in a new one!!!! so to hell with plan A.

also i just want to add, that when i was wenching the stupid front axle forward that i just about pulled the MJ off the jack stands! I also had to wench it sideways to move it over and again, almost pulled the f'er off the jack stands!!! crap!! this was one of the hardest things i've had to do. i wish i had hair on top of my noggin because i kept bashing it into the jack stands, the jack, the bottom of the truck, etc etc etc!!! at least is was nice and sunny. my back for some reason got all sunburned. but it feels good. i think i need to bleed my brakes again anyway for some reason. i think just the one second it took to remove the old bleeder valve and slam another one in it must have done that. i will be driving it around. it will take a few days for the soreness on my shoulder blades to go away before i feel like i wanna try putting my rear end in. i will get alot more lift in the back because of the leaf springs being on top instead of the bottom. yeee ha!

i got to also get the vacuum lines off of that cherokee that went to the front axle. they look verrry hard to get off the inner fender, i think the lines convert to steel lines there but maybe not.

i am going to pull the cherokee over on it's side to get the transfer case out and four speed so i can sell it. my friend says anywhere from $150 to $250 for the txcase. does that sound about right????

Hommersimpson

search ebay and craigslist for your answer to the price range of parts you wana sell..I replaced the upper bushing on the front housing and yea i know all about the comealong lol..good work.. glad you are making some progress...but one thing

xj_maniac_newb

my aunt and uncle own a glass business, all you have to do to get the windshield out is to pull up the rubber seal thing around the window (not what holds it in place or seals it, just to make it flush with the rest of the car) and then take a razorblade and cut the glue holding the window on (not sure on the exacts of it) and thats pretty much the jist of it. ALSO, the glue they use to put the windows on is called eurathane, its a black almost putty like stuff.

bullheimer

my pentax optio 10 camera broke after less than two years of very light use.

as for the glass. i tried to get a windshield out of my camaro once...it broke

xj_maniac_newb

thats the thing, they have the tools to get it out, but you can do it if its necessary. If you do end up deciding to try it, you have to remember that the glue they use (eurathane) never dries, it always retains its stickiness so if you pull it up a little and let it back down the glue will rebond. And believe me this stuff is strong, they glued a quarter to their floor with it just to see all the people try all they can to get it up...

PingPong

My advice would to be use a 95-99 xj for the drivetrain swap. You would get the better front axle with the stronger axles. You would also get an ax15 if needed. and a 23 spline t-case.. just easier to find parts for then.

If you go on comancheclub.com look up a guy named MJeff87. He did the 4wd conversion then did a super clean straight six conversion all from j-yards

bullheimer

my new front end is a high pinion, so that be coo.


anyways, i just got thru spending the last two days putting the rear end in and let me say this about that....

THE LEAFS ARE WIDER ON THE CHEROKEE THAN ON THE COMANCHE. i had to cut the f/ing perches off the top and re-weld them back on the bottom of the axle housing.
my same bud whose bright idea it was to do this then stops by with his truck and cuts them off for me. yea!!! but then he hands me a few sticks of different kinds of rods and says bye! all these rods are DC rods and i of course have an AC welder. turns out two rods worked but left me a long way from done. after a trip to welder-world i got them on and all back together. it went way easier than the front end did, which required a come along.

so now here i am, awaiting $300 for the txfr case and the automatic that goes with it.

also, i did NOT get rid of that annoying "tire rubbing the fenderwell" sound i couldn't find the source of. it must be the alternator hits the frame. great design. so much for everything "bolting right in" HA HA HA! HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH HHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!

OH YEAH, any advantage i got with having a hi pinion front diff, just went bye bye in my mind by having to use the shock mounts off the comanche, which hang down off the bottom of the U bolt bracket. i'm going to be scraping everything i go over

bullheimer

cant edit today for some reason.

i did NOT stop that weird sound (like my tire rubbing on something) and i think it is the alternator rubbing the inner fender, but can't see it happening when i look at it!? i guess that is another thread.

1991Jeep_Man

Just throwin my input in.. if someone is short on cash and cant get all the neccesary parts, isn't there a kit you can buy that locks the front wheels or something? Forgive me because I cant recall it at the moment, but its something that basically makes a 4x2 more like a 4x4 without all the axels, tcase, etc... Not the same deal, but close. Hopefully I did more good than harm here lol.

bullheimer

for looks you can just put a lift on it. for more than one or two rear wheels turning, that would be a big NO. for locking both REAR wheels, you can weld it for free. can't get much cheaper than that...IF you can weld it yourself, which requires removing the unit out of the housing.

however, like my clicking noise issue "I guess that is another thread". get the hint?