Operation 'Basket Case MJ'

Science...

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Axle tube seals...

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Leaf springs installed (General 97-555). I picked up a cheap set of Chevy drop shackles for the moment so I can work on settling the springs. The temporary shackles will net 1.5" lift. If 5.5" SOA, this will make 7" give or take. Front is 6.5-6.75" right now. Something adjustable/ boomerang after that.

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SOA is in. The temporary shackles I put on showed way too high in the back far beyond what it'll settle. So I threw the original shackles back on. I'll need a 24+" rear brake hose to accommodate full droop. And the axle vent tube is 6-7" too short as well. Wheel stud installer broke on the 3rd stud... I'd hoped to get it all back together today. Working on Volvos again tomorrow, so it'll have to wait a day or two.

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Had a little time to get the brakes together last night after work. Parking brake cables are stock length, and this is full droop. I had to route them under/ inboard of the leaf springs. I think I'll make a pair of looped brackets 3"-4" long where the original loops used to be. Need to adjust the shoes with the drums on and then set the parking brake adjustment. Then I'll get her on her feet and see what I have for rear ride height.

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Got her on her feet today.

Rear height is 14.50" (+5.3" lift)
Front height is 13.25" (+5.5" lift)
Rake is 1.7" R > F

I'm going to add another .5" - .75" to the ACOS up front and let the leaf springs settle. I'd like to see about 1" of rake, max. Just my preference on stance. The rake is more pronounced than it looks in the pics.

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Rear stuff is completely set, except the cable management for the parking brake cables. I have a couple of ideas that will be simple, effective and cheap.

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Front is apart again to set the upper control arm length for pinion angle. Track bar was originally set for centered on exactly 13.75" ride height, so it's my guide, along with brake rotor sighting along the pinch rail looking back. I'm adding .6" to the ACOS to fill out the missing .5" from the front lift. I may go .75" and adjust the track bar and UCAs accordingly. We'll see. I just don't like how high it is in the back. Though I know it'll likely settle maybe .5" over time.

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Worked yesterday 9-6 and didn't feel like messing with it after, so I knocked it out early this morning. I added 18mm to the ACOS on both sides, lengthened the track bar by about 1/8." Also lengthened the UCAs until my pinion to front shaft centerline were within 2-2.5* of each other, close enough. My caster is about 5* so we'll see how she acts on the road soon. Front ride height is now at 13.875." I was shooting for 14" or a hair under. Any higher than this and I'll be in cut-and-roll territory, might already be there. The rear is still a lot higher than I'd like. It should settle but in the meantime I'm going to throw some XJ shackles at it until it does. The lower I can get it in the rear, the more that will help the front effective caster.

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No pics but a quick update - SYE ordered, will be here Monday. Angle of the rear diff will require some work for a double cardan shaft. Shorter shackle will draw the rear down another degree or two but I can work a fair amount of rotation adjustment into the SOA with slight modification.

TC Plan:

I have a 98 XJ 231 I bought super cheap from a member on here back in 2022 (can't remember his handle). Something's wrong inside, so I'd opted to use the 93 YJ 231. I'll crack it open tomorrow. Front output won't move and it won't shift. Rear shaft is free. I'm going to try to cannibalize the shift rail, sector plate, rear drive sprocket and mode hub from the 98. The 98 shift rail won't need to be shortened for the SYE tail housing, and I won't have to mess with the caged needle bearings on the drive sprocket from the 93. And I'll have true neutral disconnect with the 98 sector plate.
 
Shreddinlettuce said:
if you find one from a Durango or Chevy vehicle you can get a 4 pinion planet and wide chain
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I've seen the 6 pinion and wide chain conversion, yeah. Probably overkill for what I need, but see below for a good excuse to maybe build one that way as a spare...

Transfer case carnage. This is the spare I wanted to rob parts from. I see why it's locked up. Destroyed by water.
:sad:


Planetary and chain are trash. Sector plate is good, input surprisingly is good, front output and rear drive sprockets are salvageable, maybe the shift rail. I'm going to wire wheel everything that looks bad and see how much pitting there is and make final determinations on the parts I wanted from it.

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This was supposed to be a "good" case. Even at $125 I got totally ripped.
 
Slip yoke eliminated... I didn't need the mode fork/ rail after all. The YJ had the shorter rail. I thought about keeping the synchro but the caged roller bearings on the mode shift synchronizer were more than I could deal with without a press. CAD-equipped vehicles needed it to get the front output up to speed, later ones had the front output/ shaft already spinning so not needed. Swapped out the mode fork pads (partially destroyed, glad I did go through this case after all). The sector plate is swapped so I now have true neutral disconnect as well. The kit I got is from Dorman. Actually a VERY nice kit. Casting and machining on the tail housing is very impressive. I'm guessing the price of other kits is due to coming with a Spicer yoke. I know where a couple of those are if I want one later... I'd been researching and noticed that Rough Country and Advance Adapters use the same part number for their kits (50-7906), so it seems more than a couple outfits are selling the same thing that's sourced from India. Well, those folks have been casting and working metal a thousand years before western civilization existed, so I'm not losing any sleep lol.

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Should have posted earlier this week, but some more progress has been made. XJ shackles in (for now). Just short of another inch of drop in the rear. Rear ride height is 14.25" so that's 5.05" rear lift with leafs not yet broken in. Front is 13.875, so that's 6.125" lift. I can swap the MJ shackles back in when the rear springs settle. Installed the transfer case on Monday. Today I pulled apart and reassembled the rear suspension and made a shave to one small part of the SOA setup to get another 8* of upward pinion angle. Driveshaft measurement is 47.5" center to center of u-joints. Ordering a driveshaft soon. :rockon:

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Been on hold with the MJ. Our kids come first, right? My middle daughter's '05 Volvo V50 wagon had something bad happen to it toward the end of July. The car is in Newport, finally was able to get to where it is and dig in last weekend. She'd said something about the lower valance coming off a few weeks ago, I said I could put it back on or find one in the boneyard. The splash shield was also completely gone. Now I'm thinking when all that left the car it damaged the alternator belt, and that's why it failed. And ate the timing belt. o_O
20 bent valves... I pulled the head and took it with me, dropped it at my machinist in Raleigh for the works on it. I'm hoping to get it all back together this weekend and get her some wheels again. Then I can get back on the MJ and finish prepping for the maiden flight.

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Not much progress since the end of August. August was 70+ hour work weeks with Volvo work in between. First day off from everything Saturday the 30th. I put fluid in the brake system and bled it, quick and easy with the Wilwood valve. August 31st, I spent some time on maintenance with my 92 C1500 street rod truck and 94 Firebird. Then I started going through some of the nut and bolt stuff on the front end of the MJ. Discovered an interference issue turning to the right with the drag link/ tie rod joint and sway bar link. Considered putting more bend in the drag link in a couple places for right turn clearance. Downside is having to do that every time I replace it in the future. Not interested in spending over $700 for a Currectlync setup to fix a minor issue around a D30, but I'm looking at upgrading to the Trail Forged HD Crossover Steering Kit at the first opportunity, financially. Volvo kinda tapped me out for a while...
 
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Still waiting on my local fab shop for something to cure my steering interference issue.

However...

In the meantime I went ahead and checked off another item on my wish list. Hella 550s, under $100. Wired in for factory style operation. Tapped the wires for C102 pins 6 and 10 on the engine control harness side since my lighting harness lacks all the fog light goods. Made 2 Y harnesses for the lights' power and ground and tucked them in neat with split loom. Hung the relay in the driver's side inner fender well close to where it would have been factory. Loving it...

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Likely the chain is the only thing not salvageable in that unit, 3 years with no oil and a little humidity could do that, but the cast/ machined parts should clean up. Always best to get a new chain when rebuilding as they can stretch to the point where they grind on the case with larger tires and off-road use
 
Gojira94 said:
I just dug up the name of the forum member who sold me this "good" 231 for $125 in 2022. Let it go, or... (?)

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Guess it would depend on the terms as to how it was sold. But at this point it would seem to be a non starter after sitting “in your possession” for that long (not saying it’s your fault at all! ) just saying…… YMMV
 
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