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Junkyard upgrades

semisynth

NAXJA Forum User
Location
PA
I just thought I would get a thread going on junkyard upgrades to get this info all in the one place for people building their XJs on the cheap. Maybe if enough people post the XJ compatible junkyard parts they know about this could become a sticky.

WJ front LCA's
-same length as stock XJ LCA's but have a bend for clearance of wider tires
-slightly thicker steel than XJ LCA's and made of boxed square tubing instead of channel
-can be modded to fit XJ by cutting down the bushings to fit in the XJ's LCA pockets

WJ rear LCA's
-don't have the tire clearance bend but are 2” longer than stock XJ LCA's
- slightly thicker steel than XJ LCA's and made of boxed square tubing instead of channel
-can be modded to fit XJ by cutting down the bushings to fit in the XJ's LCA pockets

ZJ
V8 coils give 1” of lift on a XJ
gastank skid can be made to fit a 97+ XJ
rear discs can be swapped onto a c-clip D35 or corp 8.25
V8 tierod is much stronger than the XJs and is a direct swap.

Early to mid 90s ford crown vic rear disc brakes are almost a direct swap to an XJ d44 or non c-clip d35. All that is needed to bolt them up is a spacer that goes between the outer bearing retainer and outer bearing seal to make up the difference in thickness between the caliper bracket and drum bracket to give the proper bearing preload. On the XJ d44 you can use the factory outer retainer for a TJ Rubicon d44 (mopar pn 1-05083678AA) after it is redrilled to correct axle flange bolt pattern. On the non c-clip d35 a custom spacer must be fabbed up. A 1/4” tall section of 2.5” od tubing with a ~.120 wall thickness should work.

The following vehicles rear leaf packs can be used in combination w/ an XJs mainleaf to lift the rear end (cut the eyes off of the mainleafs). Trial and error will determine how much lift.
Dakota leafs
S10 leafs
MJ leafs
XJ leafs

YJ rear brake line is 3” longer than the XJ's and is a direct swap.
 
I am pretty sure that he means to use them in the front as a cheap extended lca.
 
XJ_ranger said:
what does that mean?

jebus... just cuse i enjoy a good day at the parts yard doesnt make me any less cool than the rest of you...


and good luck putting WJ rear LCA's in the rear or an XJ...

You mean the XJ doesn't have a 4 link coil sprung rear...lol Who said anything about putting rear WJ lcas on the rear of an XJ. I just noted they are 2" longer than the stock XJ lcas. They could be a cheap option for someone who needs lcas that are 2" longer than stock.
 
semisynth said:
You mean the XJ doesn't have a 4 link coil sprung rear...lol Who said anything about putting rear WJ lcas on the rear of an XJ. I just noted they are 2" longer than the stock XJ lcas. They could be a cheap option for someone who needs lcas that are 2" longer than stock.


Good list, should have added WJ knuckles and high steer linkage.....
 
thanks to the creater of this post, i got info off of this and i am headed to the junk yard on friday anyone to piuck up a hitch, so now i have a list of other stuff to try and find...

cheers
rick
 
semisynth said:
WJ rear LCA's
-don't have the tire clearance bend but are 2” longer than stock XJ LCA's
- slightly thicker steel than XJ LCA's and made of boxed square tubing instead of channel
-can be modded to fit XJ by cutting down the bushings to fit in the XJ's LCA pockets

1st, I appreciate anyone trying to help other wheelers 'on-the-cheap'.

2nd, can someone please enlighten me on when you would need these WJ LCAs? I have a 3.5" lift on my XJ right now and some things just don't feel right sometimes while driving it on the road. Is it possible for someone to explain the purpose of extending these LCAs and if I would need to do this wiht my jeep? Or am I just asking to be flamed?
 
well the control arms would be longer, but as stated too long. You could be rubbing on your control arms, the way to check this is the turn the wheel completely and see if the tire touches on either side. This usually happens with stock backspaced wheels with bigger tires. My jeep for instance ;)
 
Badcop said:
Why does this board sound more and more like POR everyday?

I agree totally. This guy was trying to help out all the younger guys and students who are not rolling in the dough like most seem to think they are. You did a great thing here bud.

This board is going to trash just like all the others out there. JU was a great source of knowledge a few years back but it has gone the same direction this board is heading.

Now you see why my name is not red.
 
semisynth said:
Your welcome to all who thanked me for starting this thread. I had no idea it would devolve into a flame war. My intent was to have a thread that could be used as a sort of a shopping list when people go to the junkyard and maybe learn some stuff I didn't know in the process. I know when I go to my favorite junkyard I just fill up the back of my heep with parts, park it by the main desk, take the guy working the register out to see all I got and give me a price for everything. It is usually way less than making separate trips for stuff. If I knew everything to look for the first trip I could have saved even more cash.
I've been lurking here since '02 and have learned just about everything I know about XJs from this board. I took about a 6 month break from working on my XJ because of time and money factors and have just recently got back into it and this board. Honestly imho I have noticed that the mutual respect that has made NAXJA a cut above the rest has been slowly deteriorating. I wouldn't go so far as to compare it with ju or por but if people don't make a conscious effort to bring the respect level up to the previous standards......
Oh and as soon as I get my heep back on the road I'm going to become a full member.


no flame war here, man....just the NORMAL difference of opinions....
 
anyone know of any better steering boxes from junkyards?

read something once about a J10 or J20 box?
 
OK guys, I just spent 5 minutes cleaning up this thread. The thread is about tech, not bashing people. Rather than nuke threads, I'm going to start giving some timeouts for those of you who can't keep your opinions to yourself. This is the tech section, not off topic or the members forum. Newbie bashing will NOT be tolerated.

The guy started a tech thread to try and help and maybe even learn something. Yes some of these topics have been covered before. So what. Maybe we can get a decent thread with input from lots of folks about good alternatives and then add it to the FAQ.
 
Just a warning on using LCA's that are fully boxed. It may limit flex. The U channel design of the stock fronts actually allows for them to warp. Way back when, I figured I would just lengthen mine by cutting them and adding in box tubing and welding them back up. It limited the flex and broke after one hard trail. It actually ripped the stock portion from around the bushings. It would be fine for a mall crawler that doesn't get flexed that much, but you might want to watch them on a trail rig. I ended up driving home with a 2.5 link suspension and a bad case of the shakes.
 
old_man said:
OK guys, I just spent 5 minutes cleaning up this thread. The thread is about tech, not bashing people. Rather than nuke threads, I'm going to start giving some timeouts for those of you who can't keep your opinions to yourself. This is the tech section, not off topic or the members forum. Newbie bashing will NOT be tolerated.

The guy started a tech thread to try and help and maybe even learn something. Yes some of these topics have been covered before. So what. Maybe we can get a decent thread with input from lots of folks about good alternatives and then add it to the FAQ.

actually Tom...some of us were defending him...in a good way....but i digress...
 
I agree and acknowledge and appreciate that fact, and that not all of the posts deleted were negative, but the issue is tech, not flaming or defending.
 
old_man said:
I agree and acknowledge and appreciate that fact, and that not all of the posts deleted were negative, but the issue is tech, not flaming or defending.

agreed. When a new guy comes in and gets it because he's trying and has some good info...THOSE are the ones to encourage...IMO.
 
old_man said:
Just a warning on using LCA's that are fully boxed. It may limit flex. The U channel design of the stock fronts actually allows for them to warp. Way back when, I figured I would just lengthen mine by cutting them and adding in box tubing and welding them back up. It limited the flex and broke after one hard trail. It actually ripped the stock portion from around the bushings. It would be fine for a mall crawler that doesn't get flexed that much, but you might want to watch them on a trail rig. I ended up driving home with a 2.5 link suspension and a bad case of the shakes.

I wondered about that but the wall thickness is still pretty thin so it might not be as bad as what happened to you. Also anybody noteice the funky bushings on the frame end of the WJ LCAs they seem like they would have much more give than the stock XJ LCA bushings
 
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