Its been a good run with the old zj.

well after a great six month run with the zj the old girl has decided to give up the ghost. With a 170,000 miles on the almost stock drivetrain and running it through black trails once or twice a month I can't complain to much. After big dogs the tranny was acting kind of funny so for its last run I took it rousch were by the end of the day after running it hard on black trails it took all it had to drag itself back up on the trailer. But I must say it did go on the trailer under its own power. Now comes the fun part the build up and which way to go with it.
I guess first I need to put a goal out of what I want to accomplish with the jeep. My goal is to have a rig that can tackel black trials with out to much effort or the the main part not giving itself major damage trying to get over the obsticals. Right now I have 95 zj with the 4.0, 242tc, RE's LA kit and about 6.5" of lift with 33's which I think is a good building plat form.
So in order to do this I will need a minimum of a 37" tire. That and if you run d60's this would be as small as you wanted to goas to not lose ground clearance. I have new 38x12.50 swampers at the house that I would like to use to cut down on cost of this project. I like this because it gives me 19" of ground clearence to clear alot of those little axel grabbing rocks. This will help out the diff guards and other low hanging coponets in the way that they don't get banged up as much.
Now in order to keep the tires under the jeep i'll need some axels that can hold up to the spinning of the those big meats. originally I was thinking the 8.8 in the back and a d44 in the front with a ruff cost of about $2000 or so to get them under the jeep with gears and lockers and all. I scraped this idea after a my grandfather said he has a truck with d60's and gears that is no more good that I could cut the axels off of. hmmm free d60's with 4:10 gears and spare pumkins with 5 something gears in them, I cant pass up that deal. This is why I decided to go ahead and do what ever it takes to make 38's and full size axels work under the jeep including alot of sawzaw work.
Now I have to address the drive line. The motor runs but needs to be rebuilt or replaced. The automatic tranny is shot but the TC which is a 242 is still in good shape though it has no sye kit or anything like that. This rig will not be running the street or running the mud pits so high horse power is not a real must. I guessing the cheapest option would be just to rebuild the motor I have because it doesnt do to bad pushing gears in low range. It just sucks when your trying to run it down the road at high speeds. The other option would be to swap another type of motor in for more hp and maybe another type of driveline. The only way I would do this if the result would be worth the effort. As you all know messing with motor mounts and computer stuff can become a real pain in the ass.
Now for the tranny, I have a spare v8 tranny out of a 95 zj laying at the shop but i'm not sure if it will bolt up to the I6 motor or not. I'll have to do some research on that. The thought of making it a standard has crossed my mind giving me all sorts of motor, tranny, tc, options. Like maybe putting a T18 in with granny low and then putting a d300 tc on that. I have these at the shop laying around so it would be cool if I could use them. But again will it be worth the effort to do these mods.
Also on my list of stuff to do is put on a external roll cage. I'm thinking about this rout for two reasons one the safty from the cage in a roll over and two using it to save the jeep from body damage do to its long wheel base.
Anyway I figured i'd throw this plan out their for sugestions or tips from other people who have gone down this road. I'm trying to have this all done by aug. so this is more of what I need to hurry up and get done list then a wish list.

Hey there Joe...

Just an option available... I was at Crazy Rays yesterday (actually 3 of the 4 to be exact)... the Jessup location had about 5 ZJs... and the Erdman had 2 with a third color matching yours they were off loading from a flatbed.

I had to do a double take because I knew the old gal was o her way out, and thought it premature you would send her to pasture there... then saw no lift...

It took a hit to the right front... so it was totalled out... but they drove it into the yard...

I can give you the exact address, but it is on erdman... I think it was off exit 40 on 695.

If you want a wrenching buddy give me a shout. I spent all weekend on mine... and after 6 showers I look halfway decent again. (Laurie wouldn't let me in the living room til I was not covered head to toe in grease)

this doesn't help to much but here is some inspiration, saw it today thought of you
http://jeepin.net/forum/showthread.php?t=37093

t18 and 300 would be pimp. didn't you tell me that the 60s were out of a chevy, if so you would have to use the 300 for the passenger side drop of the axle

That rig is BADASS!!! I can't wait to see what you end up with Joe! Give me a shout if you need any help along the way as far as junkyard ZJ parts or parts...20% and no tax and stuff depending on where the stuff comes from...

Thats a cool rig. I wonder how it wheels Hey Joe good luck with the build. let me know if you need a hand with anything. I would say stick with the stock motor and trans. See if you can find a adapter plate for the D300. the 60s will need no less than 5;13's to move good with a 4to1 in the 300. thats how I would go. If your thinking new motor, trans, tc and axles i would just build a buggy.

the only prob with the just using the d300 is that I would have to flip it to make it work with the stock running parts. As for the big zj on he's on a couple of other boards that i'm on. He hasn't wheeled it yet but has a couple of test pics, it flexes pretty well. He's been working on that thing for almost a year now. I looked at the axels again and the have the pumkin on the drivers side so it looks like I may just stick with the 242 which means I guess i'm rebuilding the I6 for now just to get it back on the trails. Though i'm going to do some research on how to get that combo of t18 and flipped d300 to work.

Hey joe with the length of the ZJ and the fact that you don't street it they sell a cheap kit for the slip on the TC. You basicly just tap a hole in the output and throw a yoke on it. Its a cheap fix so you can get focus on just rebuilding the trans. Whats the motor doing that makes you think she needs a rebuild? 170 is high but it could be something simple thats throwing the motor off. When did it get its last tune up? Just ideas to help you save time so you can get some more wheeling in and then do major motor and trans work done later.

I did a full tune up when I got the jeep. Their were some funny noises comming from it but hits hard to say if it was from the tranny or motor. I guess i'll put in tranny, fix the radiators and see what I got. Also I pick up those axels next week so I guess i'll start working on them next weekend. going to take the spare axels I got and cut the brackets off of them and weld them on to the new axels to try to save some money.

Hey joe go to performanceoffroadcenter.com you will find most of the hardware you need there and MORE has lots of good stuff as well.

Did you find out whether the trans you have will fit?

http://www.jeepsunlimited.com/forums/showthread.php?t=819358

"diff trannys

the 8 has a hydraulically controlled 46rh
the 6 has a 42re, electronically controlled

people on here have made 42/44 hybrid trannys, with 44 internals in the 42"


This is what I was told I guess i'll have to do some research on this swap. what automatic trannys come in the xj, and tjs?

I was looking through my latest 4WD Hdwe catalog and they had had an aftermarket Dana 300 x fer case that can be easily flipped and takes all the stock 300 internals, I didn't look at the cost but maybe you could buy the case and find a donor 300.

I looked on their website and couldn't find it, my catalog is in my work truck, I'll find it and get you the info on it.

4jeepnuts wrote:

I was looking through my latest 4WD Hdwe catalog and they had had an aftermarket Dana 300 x fer case that can be easily flipped and takes all the stock 300 internals, I didn't look at the cost but maybe you could buy the case and find a donor 300.

I looked on their website and couldn't find it, my catalog is in my work truck, I'll find it and get you the info on it.

Well that's what I get for reading two magazines at once, I didn't see it in the latest catalog, I saw it in the latest JP magazine in the new products page. Here is a link to their website:

http://www.stak4x4.com/d300_transfer_case.htm

It is pricey but they may sell the cases separately.

cool I appreciate the info on that. I pick up the truck tomorow that has the axels that I want. so I'll post some pics when I get a chance.