88 jeep yj
 

Hey fellas, I'm loking at buying this rig. it looks like a pretty good setup to me.
What do you guys think?

88 YJ,fuel injectected 350,rear diff-spooled ford 9",front Dana 44 detroit locker,4-speed tranny,np 205 transfer case,high steer,thousands of dollars into drive train.new 38.5"swamper boggers on new alloy wheels,bikini top softop.excellent truck.trades considered-make me an offer.

Looks like a very extreme angle on the trac bar and why are the front coils not verticle?

Bob

anybody else?
My jeep and off road 4x4 knowledge if fairly limited. I would appreciate all comments.
Thanx

I don't think the Dana 44 is gonna hold up to those Boggers and a 350 for very long...

I'm a total Jeep freak. My wife and I own six today. I wheel a YJ that I converted to coil spring in the front.

This Jeep has been converted to coils as YJs were leaf spring from the factory. The reason the coils lean is that the frame rails of a YJ were not sectioned to make room for coils like a later model TJ frame. I sectioned mine so my springs would sit straight. This will only be an issue when extreme wheeling. Put this Jeep in a steep flex and the coils may try to jump out.

I can't tell if they have built bump stops??? They should be inside the coil springs. If not, the factory bump stops that you can see in the picture aren't going to do any good. You'll have the fenders torn completely off by the time they stop upward movement.

I can't see the shocks either so am only assuming, by the looks of everything else, that they are being used to bump stop and to limit droop. If so they will get ripped from the frame soon if you wheel it.

Again, I can't tell for sure, but looks like the control arms are Ford design using C shaped clamps to fasten to the axle tube???? I don't see any upper control arms necessary to stop axle wrap??? The Ford design will work but it'll eat the C bushings rather quickly.

The trackbar and steering angle are way off. This Jeep will bump steer horribly. Meaning when cruising down the road and hitting a bump in the road or dip in the road, the steering wheel will turn in your hands. If you try to hold the steering wheel from doing this, the Jeep will change directions. Not pretty!!!! Secondary problem will be under full flex the steering geometry will go to crap and you'll find yourself in a position where you can't turn the wheels enough to change direction. Again, not pretty!!!

The 44 front will struggle to survive with the detroit locker in it. It would handle the tires with mature driving but when you add the locker, it's not going to be very dependable. Again, I can't tell for sure by the picture but it looks like it's running stock axle shafts and u-joints in the front??? If so you'll get real good at changing those. Definitely needs upgraded to Chromoly shafts and a good U-joint such as CTMs. That's a $800 upgrade in itself.

Lastly, because of the deficiencies I see in the front end assembly I question the builders abilities. The most critical part of a 4wd vehicle is the front axle and steering design. It's what separates the living from the dead. If the builder cobbled the front end, he probably cobbled everything else.

It appears this person reads all the popular magazines and probably frequents the Jeep websites. He bought all the brand name stuff that was recommended but didn't really understand why. He's spent a fortune on the outer knuckles of his front axle but designed it with horrible steering and flex issues. Shoulda saved the knuckle money to pay someone to setup the frontend so it can be safely driven down the highway. My YJ is a trailer queen but would drive circles around this one on the road.

Please understand I'm not trying to just bad mouth your prospective Jeep. You asked for opinions and I'm just trying to give you my honest opinion. I would buy this Jeep at whatever price I wanted to give for the individual pieces such as the steering knuckles, detroit locker, etc. I'm afraid as a complete vehicle this Jeep will be a money pit. :(

Edit: After looking closer and rereading your post, what this builder has done is take and old Ford 4wd pickup and adopt the powertain into this Jeep. He's used an adapter plate between the tranny and engine to fit the GM engine to the Ford tranny. He's definitely not got thousands of dollars in the powertrain. Again, beyond the steering knuckles, detroit locker and the high steer, he's got the powertrain from a $500 beater old Ford truck, probably late seventies model. Although there's nothing wrong with those parts, I doubt he rebuilt anything, just hacked and welded them under the Jeep and welded the rear diff to get a locker. Run don't walk.

I am into the jeep thing pretty thick too.

Now I'll have to agree abot the whole front end issue as stated above(springs, link angles,C-bushings, & bumpsteer) But if the price is right (Whats the range this cat is talkin' anyhow?) and you are willing to take on the project... go for it.
Looks good from far, but that front end looks like a bad dream in the extreme jeep world. Turning those tires in mostly mud or the sand with the fuel injected 350, the 44 should last a while. Playing in the rocks is a whole different story... Ka-boom!!! Steering that thing doesn't look like fun either. As stated above, "the track bar and steering bar are way off" the two need to be as close to parallel as possible.
Need some more pics to get a true idea of what is under the hood,etc. and the wiring harness could be a major issue if it is just some adapted hack job type deal as stated above. My guess is that it is just a TBI so it shouldn't be too bad anyways.

Let's you and I make a game of it and try to guess the price before he answers. I'm gonna go with first asking price of $8500. [laugh]

Secondly, let's quote what we would give. I'd give $3000 if it runs good, the 4wd works and it's driveable to get home. [laugh]

Thanks for all the good info guys!!!! I ended up walking away from the truck. he was asking $6000.
I am keeping my eyes open for a well built jeep. where can a guy get some good jeep knowledge from something similar to dtr?
Thanks again!!!

There is a forum at pirate4x4.com that has a lot of good knowledge but it's not like DTR. The guys on some of the pirate boards are pretty rough around the edges. None the less there is a lot of good technical knowledge there. They are into some hardcore builds and fabrication. There are typically quite a few rigs for sale in the sale section as well.

Although there's a lot of info on Pirate, it's not worth the egos to me. Try www.free-jeep-classifieds.com or www.jeepforum.com or www.rubiconownersforum.com or www.jeeppages.com or www.4x4offroads.com or www.cjoffroad.com. Those are all pretty informative and very social.