Jeeps

[klejeune]

Okay Art, here you go.

2000 Jeep Wrangler TJ 3sp Auto 4.0L 4" lift with 35" MT's.

Best I could do to get a Cub in the pic.

This is how I got it home from St. Louis.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Nice!

 

[jmuncie]

Keith,

Do you know what combination of suspension and/or body lift is under it? I'm getting ready to help my nephew lift his '06 LJ Rubicon and he's debating what he wants under it.

Thanks,
Jerry

 

[klejeune]

Sorry Jerry, I don't. It's full coil lift but doesn't include much of the items a full kit normally does. There are so many options out there, and I'm so new to this model I can't really help you out. This is my 7th Jeep since I was 16. My wife and I had a 2001 Wrangler briefly and then traded it for her Grand Cherokee. The only thing I did to that one was to put 2" poly spacers under the coils just to give it a little umph and some 31" tires.

I had a 1977 CJ5 I was in the process of lifting and lost interest and time after my son was born.
Sold it a few months back and then started looking for a Wrangler.

This was the Jeep that really got me into "Jeeping".
2002 Liberty KJ. Ended up with 3" lift and 32" BFG MT's. I had replaced enough stuff after lifting I was afraid the aluminum D30 in the front was gonna blow so I went bye bye before it did. I had a lot of fun in that Jeep though.

 

[pdorow]

Keith, I bet those wide tires are awfull in the snow, kind of like real bad hydro plaining.

Years ago I had chevy step side w/4"lift 35x14x15 mudders, it was ok until the right front tire would catch a drft-- then it would suck you right in the ditch.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Keith, is that 2002 Liberty the one that had the broken front wheel studs?

 

[aaytay]

Keith-
Nice ride!

Does yours have the D35 or D44 rear axle? Nice that it came with the hardtop. Oh, I like those wheels!

Here's mine. '99 TJ 115,000 miles, 5-speed, 31" BFG's and a 2.5" Old Man Emu lift. It has the "whimpy" D35 rear axle, but the 4.0 I6 engine.

Since you've had so many Jeeps, I'm assuming you know about www.jeepforum.com ?

 

[klejeune]

Art,
Our old 2002 had those Canyon wheels like yours, I really like them. Yep, mine has the Turdy5 axle. I looked and looked for one with a D44 and just couldn't come up with one. I know a few guys who can wheel a D35 with 35" tires without breaking, I'll just have to take it easy until I can swap axles or do a Super35 upgrade.

I had OME rear springs on the Liberty. I got the heavy duty springs for towing. They make good stuff.

Kraig, yes that's the Liberty I sheared off all but one stud on I55 near Chicago. Crazy!! Guess the lug nuts just came loose while driving. Dang, I don't remember telling that story here. Good memory you have.

Oh, I don't visit many of the Jeep forums much anymore. That's all I used to do, mostly JeepsUnlimited.com and a Liberty forum. I'm not sure I have a login at JeepForum.com or not. If I do, all of my Jeep forum usernames are LibertyPatriot. The Liberty was Patriot Blue color. If you guys think there are some crabby dudes on here, try reading Pirate4x4.com. Those guys are relentless to noobs and dumbutts. That forum is so vast across the country that you can't hide from anyone on there. If you screw someone over selling something on that site or any other 4x4 site guys there will find you. Just Google the term "wenzeled" and see what comes up. There was a guy named Charlie Wenzel that advertised some 4x4 stuff and cashed the check but never shipped the goods. Long story, but he basically had to go into hiding after it was all said and done.

Anyway, this TJ needs a few things to complete the lift. Adjustable track bars, adjustable control arms, quick disconnects for the sway bar, slip yoke eliminator and new double cardon drive shaft, some skid plates and some good bumpers with a tire carrier on the back. Main thing I need is new tires. These are pretty worn.

Paul,
I'm not sure how bad the wide tires are, I haven't got to drive it much yet. Was fun to drive around the neighborhood in the snow. I don't have it licensed yet so I haven't driven it much. Drove it to work today and gonna get it inspected at lunch.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Keith, you didn't tell that story here, you told Art and me the story about your Jeep with the broken wheel studs at Red Power, and I bet you thought I wasn't listening.

 

[klejeune]

I didn't have much sleep that week. I wasn't listening to myself... sorry.

 

[kmcconaughey]

Keith, must have been your son keeping you awake, I recall you said he didn't travel well on the trip up.

 

[aaytay]

Keith-
Yeah, I looked for one with the D44 axle too, but I was also looking for a black, 4.0L, in a 5-speed, with a hard-top, so once I found one that wasn't all rusty, I jumped on it. I figured that axle could easily be swapped out for a Ford 8.8 if the time ever came.

I like jeepforum.com as it has some good tech stuff once in awhile, but it does get old to wade through all of the non-gear-head posts asking how to top off the blinker-fluid or change out their muffler bearings. LOL!

I'm certainly no expert, but I have been through the suspension on this one, so drop me an email if you have any questions.

Finally, yeah... You've got to watch out for Kraig. He'll get ya when you least expect it!

 

[T-Mo]

Keith,
That thread over on Pirate4X4.com on how Charlie Wenzel "wenzeled" Mike is hilarious. And I only read a few pages, not the entire 73 page saga. I wonder what ever became of good, old, honest Charlie.

 

[dfrisk]

ART - I'd look for a DANA 44 instead of a FMC 8.8
Guess the Super-Duty 8.8 in SON's Lightning p/u has kinda soured Me against them. Maybe in a light Jeep they'd be O-K but they do not work in a 250+ HP 4500# pickup. There's several versions of 8.8's, and Lightning's got the strongest one. Heck, Son even had problems with the 8.8 in the '88 Mustang GT We had, 225-240 HP @ only 3400#.

KEITH - I see Your new JEEP has a Hi-Lift jack on the back bumper. Be V-E-R-Y careful around those things, especially when letting things down. They get discussed about once a year on the RPM site, normally when someone gets hurt using one. Dad had one and it was Our "Jack of LAST resort for lifting jobs. Old hedge posts, loader & chain, hyd. bottle jack, just about ANYTHING came before that Hi-Lift.

 

[dross]

Dennis 4500 vs 3000 pds makes a big difference. I'm over on that jeep forum too and it's amazing what the stock (dana 30 & 35) axles will live through, before they break. My 87 2 door cherokee has over 160000 still runs strong. best 200 bucks I ever spent.

 

[aaytay]

Denny-
I don't know the facts for sure, but the Ford 8.8 is said to be more stout than the D44 by the Jeep-Guys because it has more splines on the axles, and I believe the axle tubes themselves are thicker.

From the way I understand it, most of the guys who do the swap are able to get an axle out of an Explorer for about $200, cut off the old attachment points, and buy a "kit" that gives new coil spring "buckets" and track-bar links. As long as you get the geometry right when you weld everything up, it's pretty much a bolt-in modification with a new driveshaft.

Honestly, this thing is not too far from being a glorified convertible for me, so unless I get into an "interesting" situation I doubt it will be an issue, but if it does go out the <font color="0000ff">MILLER</font> is going to get a workout!

 

[dfrisk]

DAVE - The Lightning had 4.10 gears, while the Mustang had the "High Performance" 3.07 gears. Ratio makes a difference too, but Your correct, the vehicle weight was the big thing. All the Gen II Lightnings had the FMC 9.75" axle. Much tougher. Then they'd twist driveshafts instead of destroying side gears!

ART - With Your M-M 210 it'll barely get warmed up! by the time You have that welding done. Having just completely GUTTED SON's 8.8 5-6 weeks ago, the axle tubes are 3-1/4" dia and 1/4" wall, the Lightning had 31 spline axles stock but I think everything else was 28 spline.

I suscribed to 4Wheel & Off-Road mag. for years. They always used to brag about the GM 14-bolt axle, but finally did a run-down on all axles showing the FMC 10-1/4" & 10-1/2" axles to be just as strong if not stronger. I think I threw all of the magazines away but I do remember the D44 & 8.8 were rated very close to the same strength.

 

[dross]

Dennis, some of the sites you look at today for car or truck stuff it's like the last 40 years didn't exsist. If I break that 30 in my jeep I'm thowing in the 8 3/4 I got, I can get the axles and housing narrowed in peoria for 80 a piece. That rear end was stock behind an auto tranny hemi in 70 it might hold the 4.0 in the jeep.

 

[klejeune]

Yeah, the FMC 8.8 is a common swap for YJ's due to leaf spring perches are almost in the perfect locations and same wheel bolt pattern. Gears and lockers are easy to acquire and you get disc brakes for the back. It's something I have to keep in mind.

 

[kide]

I'm going to kind of take this OT for a second.. I've "hoarded" a '57 Ford Wagon 9" for years to put under my '54 F-100. This is supposed to be the narrowest of the 9"..(the 57's are also the one that guys building highboy hot rods like because it's got the fully round center section cover.) The problem with this rear axle is it needs a full rebuild brake to brake(except for the center section - I've got at least three different pigs for it). You guys have got me thinking about skipping the 9" and using something newer, maybe even with disks (it's got a Volare front end under it already). Is there a good resource on the net that would list stock axle widths - preferably flange to flange?. I'm not overly concerned about strength, the '72 Ponch 350/Turbo 350 isn't exactly a race engine (but with full length 2 1/2" pipes through Cherry Bombs, it does sound like an old GTO )