I'm planning on buying a Focus in a year or two so I can drive to work and save on gas!! LOL The new sport ones with the ground effects,heated seats ETC. are nice and only 19,500. CND.  

Im lookin to get a eclipse my self as a commuter, save my ZJ for the trails and weekends when i can have some fun...and are we like the only two on this forum??  

hey, guys. i've been away for a while.... and I TRIED to read ALL the posts... but my eyes are burning now... 8-)

a couple of things on lifts. To find out if you have an UpCountry suspension, go to all of the coils and see if the paper tags are still intact. if they are, write the part numbers down and have the dealership check the number you have. To get the best out of a front-to-rear coil swap, go with the UpCountry front coils. I have I-6 coils in back, and i think using v-8 coils would net more lift, but be insanely stiff.

To get a little extra leveling help, go to a wrecking yard, and ask if you can snag all the rubber coil isolators off of the ZJs and XJs they have rotting out there. They're good for about 1/2 inch of leveling/lift each depending on their condition. Most XJ/ZJ/TJ front axle and steering parts are interchangable. I just added a Teraflex HSKT (hi-steer kit) to my ;98 ZJ. The writeup is on my web page. www.geocities.com/b1pig I also recommend reading the writeup on the coil swap by another ZJ owner. I reproduced it with his permission on my page in full. I am also running Teraflex TJ discos. right now they are disco'd because I have not had time to fab up a new right side swaybar mount.

As for the "limit" on ZJ lifts, I always heard 4" was the max with OEM arms. I am running about 5.5" using RE XJ front control arm drop brackets. I use adjustable arms in the stock locations out back right now. I want long arms, but i dont have the $$$ to throw at it. The ZJ is a highly capable rig, and I am thrilled with mine. I hate to keep pimping my page (above), but at the bottom of my ZJ CONVERSION page are some recent pics of the ZJ in its current state. There is a lot of info on it, and the details are all on the SPECS page.

Oh. TOWING. with a 4.0, you should have a tranny cooler. Second, gears will make or break you. i towed a (overloaded) popup camper from home in South Georgia to Moab, Utah and the Grand Canyon and back on 31's and 3.55 gears... 2 adults, and 4 kids. yes, I have a rear facing 3rd seat. It handled it well, but the engine temp stayed around 220 degrees the whole way. A tranny cooler woulda been better.

C-Ya!  b1pig

yea i have 94 ZJ coils in the rear that i took outta a wrecked ZJ, it was the only ZJ they had in the yard. Motor was gone, but i got all 4 coils. paper tags were gone also. As for the front, im sporting XJ 4.5" coils for about 3.5" of lift. I have a Rustys Off Road HD adjustable track bar up front, new lower control arms and also on order are some Upper arms. I sport stock gears, 31's and the 4.0 with a leaking tranny/transfercase, leaking oil (multiple spots) leaking rear axle pinion seal, and also a 1" transfer case drop. I had it in for an alignment and they said i need new upper arms to correct the pinion on the axle. They also said they can instal a 3.5" lift on 2 identical Jeeps and one will need upper arms, one wont. As for the ride, im not sure how it rides right now as i had a bad case of death wobble and was unable to test the front coils. Rear coils ride about the same as mine, as if i recall right, there was no V8 tag on the rear hatch of the wrecked ZJ i got my coils from. Also, the ZJ i got my coils from had died in a fire so yea most of it was destroyed, with luckily little damage other then some maybe light heat and soot to the coils. When the Upper arms arrive and are installed and i can test it. ill be submittin a review on all i have done. My 93 ZJ came with that REALLY small trim moulding so i know its a early 93 and im sporting about 235,000 miles on it right now with no rebuilds of any kind yet...Gotta love the toughness of that 4.0, 231 transfer case and stock tranny...  

I'd get the leaks fixed asap so it dosen't cost you down the road.  

yea ive thought about that...its in my plans here. My goal is to save up some $$ buy a commuter car and then tear into my Jeep and give every thing a fresh overhaul. Like rebuild motor, tranny, transfer, add D44's with Cable lockers, and give it a paint job. Maybe replace the damaged door and fenders...  

sounds like you going to need alot of money LOL  

yea i know...if every thing was free i would be a lot better off, but dang if it dont cost ***  

Hey ever have your rear bumper cover off yet? Wht a rusted out peice of crap the ZJ bumper is!! Not very safe if you ask me! I was trying to get my reciver hitch and gas tank skid plate offto take to work and have powdercoated, but you have to take your rear bumper off to get to the bolts!! what a dumb set up!!Anyways I spent all afternoon on sat and had one side off but the other side just wouldn't come. I cleaned up my reveiver and bumper with a drill and wire brush, then painted them with blk trimglad. So Now I am looking around for a aftermarket bumper(maybe a tire carrior one).The factory one just isn't very safe looking and I have two kids to think about.......... it never ends..........  

yea i have had mine off before. Ripped it off once while 4x4in... Yea my metal bumper behind that cover is bent slightly downward from where it got rear ended from the previous owner. Thats weird that your hitch wont come off unless ya take out the bumper cover like that. I put a hitch on mine and it just used bolts into the threaded plugs on the frame. Of course one of my bolts is loose and wont either tighten or loosen, so i might have to tear mine apart to get to the inside and see if i can get the bolt loose. I have noticed that those slots for the rear bumper brakets seem to fill up with a good amount of dirt too... Lucky for me (kinda) i dont have to deal with a skid plate, if i ever have gas tank issues. Mine for some reason, has no skid plats what so ever, any were... Though dont get me wrong, i would rather have full skid plates all the way under it. My upper control arms should arrive this week, which means i should be gettin my jeep back some time next week after not been able to drive it now for like the past month...It was like a snowball effect when i tore into the front end...If not one things wrong, its another...  

MY reviver hitch is bolded on I think from the factory and though the frame so you have to take off the bumper to get at them. The gas tank skid also helps to make your tank last longer as it helps to keep water and snow from getting on it.

On another funny note I just set a time to get my first Tatoo LOL it's going to be a Superman sheild on my shoulder on thursday morning......

Yea i wish i had some skid plates on mine, would make me feel a lot better as i know i have rubbed my gas tank before on some mud. Havnt hit any thing else yet, but the front diff when droppin into a mud hole once, and didnt even realise that one till a week later when i went to wash it off. Yea im hopin to get a tattoo here soon my self, gonna get me the Cookie Monster holding a cutting torch in one hand and have a welding helmet on is what im thinkin...Cookie Monster is one of my many nicknames my family has given me along with the fact that im a welder by trade...So its fitting  

LOL that would be kinda cool in a sic way!! just make sure you think long and hard on it first!

As for jeep stuff I have been in contact with Hansons and they are R and Ding a rear bumber for the ZJ! It should look good.

I think Hansons needs to send us each a proto type of that rear bumper and let us destruction test it to see how well it holds up. Im good at breaking stuff, seems im always breaking and fixing some thing...  

LOL I did ask them that already!!waiting for a reply....... LOL.

PS got the tattoo.......kinda strange/not used to haveing it  yet.