My short jeep

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sams88
Posts: 264
Joined: Sun Nov 11, 2007 2:51 pm
Location: Richland, WA

My short jeep

Postby sams88 » Wed Nov 26, 2008 12:56 pm

Finally getting my short jeep (92 YJ) into decent shape. :D I picked that puppy up just a hair over a year ago. Twas what I thought was a good deal (aren't they all??). Was a four banger, hard top, the guy had bought it for his girls, but they didn't like it and wanted a a car instead of a barbie jeep..... :?: So he sold it to me for a song and a dance. Well, the song needed updating, and the dance came along down the road after digging into my wallet a bit further. :) No power steering. Was okay as I figured I needed the exercise. The shop I had been using was owned by a guy that sold it to my youngest son. The son decided he needed to add a second story to the building to live in. So I ended up taking the jeep up to a friends in North Idaho to get the work out of the way. Out came the 4 banger, and in went a 4.0L out of a 96 Grand Cherokee that had been wrecked with 60K on it, along with the wiring harness. Out went the 5-spd for a later model 5-spd. The 231 was howling and making other noises so it came apart and was rebuilt, along with an SYE. Added a Tom Woods shaft. To the front was added mile marker lock hubs, and got rid of the vacuum disco axlestuff. Power steering was added as I decided I really didn't need the exercise.... :) specially when locked-in. Nice little things like a radio, speakers on the roll bar, and a CB were added. Picked up a deal on a Trail Gear rear bumper with spare tire swing out. They don't make them anymore, but they are mainly a Toyota shop anyway. The control wires for the heater/def were hosed up so new stuff was put in there. The e-brake was non-functional, and that stuff was fixed. Also had a really bad hinge on the back hatch door (hardtop model) and replaced that. The guts for the door latches in the two doors was messed up so new guts were put in. So after that I got it back on the road.

Stuff all worked fine, however I had this rattle and banging noise when I hit bumps. I had thought that was the rear hatch hinge, but it wasn't. So quite by accident one fine day a week ago I was chugging down the road, and put my hand up on the windshield and hardtop connection area, and noticed that there was a lot of movement there, and all of a sudden it got quiet. Well the noise was the pop rivets and machine screws were loose and missing. So today I replaced the pop rivets along the top section of the metal strip that connects the hard top to the windshield, and put in some more sheet metal screws along the lower portion that hooks to the windshield. Went out for a cruise and it was just nice and quiet. Brought a real smile to my old face. :D And with the crappy weather outside those new cables for the defroster were just working great! So it's truly a good day!!! :D

I've got some rust on the windshield frame. Waiting now for a junk yard to end up with a white windshield frame and I'll get that swapped out. Still need to readjust the windshield wipers a bit. And that puts me at the only remaining thing is to get the rear pinion angle reduced a bit as there is a bit of a low speed vibration. Other than that, the short jeep drives and rides just great now.

I had added true tracs front and rear to it last spring, along with 4.56 gearing. Also a 20 gal poly tank and 2.5" Rubicon Express springs. I've decided I need to put 4.5" springs on instead, and move the tire size up from 31x10.50 to 33 or 35". I had a winch on it that I moved over to my yota crawler. Will be adding a winch to it shortly. Just haven't made up my mind whether to get another electric, or get one of the Mile Marker hydraulic ones. I had one of their hydraulics on a previous Cherokee that I really liked. For tires right now it's running 31" Cooper STT's, which I've been happy with so far traction wise.

Something about a short jeep though, they are just a realy kick to drive. I've had two built Cherokee's and a Commache before. They were nice, but I still just really get a kick out of driving the short jeep. They are a gas. The yota crawler rides like a caddy and that ride has spoiled me where the short just rattles my molars ferociously, but even so I still love driving the short! :D So while they aren't ever "finished" it's finally getting to a point I'm happy with. Some day I'll learn how to post pictures maybe....
:D
90 MJ, 5.5" RE Long arm
88 yota p/u

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