New member in PNW - 1985 J20 survivor

[jdaniel83]

Nice find and welcome!

[DarkMonohue]

Sounds perfect. Screw your brothers lift/big tires BS plans. Let him molest/butcher his own dayum truck...email or PM and I'll add a quick grand profit to your purchase price.

Wow, tempting though that is - not yet, thank you, though it sure is encouraging to have that kid of offer right off the bat. And rest assured, it I do lift or modify this, I'll do my best to do so in a completely reversible fashion. There's a reason I sought out an unmodified vehicle. It's not that I think stock is always best so much as that I tend not to trust other people's engineering and quality control standards like I do my own.

Our ZJ has a Rubicon Express lift on it, but it's all bolt-on, and completely reversible in case one wanted to go back to stock. Nothing has been cut or welded.

One of my MR2s has a stroker motor that is so far from stock it has to use a Porsche timing belt, but the car's structure has not been a modified. A stock engine would still bolt right in. Nothing that is hard to find or replicate gets chopped up around here.

[nc wagoneer]

Sweet truck!!! You guys out west are unfair j/k, looks a lot better than the j20 I just purchased Friday!!! Where do you find the gear ratio on the diffs??? I saw the clearly cast "60" on the back right side of the diff. cover on mine and was wanting to know the gear ratio. That's a really nice, clean, truck you've got there. Can't wait to see the build thread

[KaiserMan]

That's a great looking truck you've got there. For a very good price as well.

I wouldn't lift it personally. It will perform very well for you in stock form for what you want to do with it. Lifts on work trucks that never see any serious off road seem silly to me. Put some good traction tires on all four corners and you will be good to go.

[DarkMonohue]

Thanks guys!

Where do you find the gear ratio on the diffs??? I saw the clearly cast "60" on the back right side of the diff. cover on mine and was wanting to know the gear ratio.

On my truck, there's a tag on the left side of the differential cover. By "left" I do not mean driver's side, but your left side when you are looking at the diff cover. It looks something like this:



I borrowed that image from http://garagemonkey.net/garage-monke...e-gallery.html. The caption under the image read, "Just a little tidbit of information: if your axle has a tag like this, it should display the gear ratio and/or the number of teeth on the ring and pinion. Divide one into the other to get the axle ratio."

[joe]

it I do lift or modify this, I'll do my best to do so in a completely reversible fashion.

Sorry reversible mods is a deal breaker for me, but enjoy your truck it's a nice one.

[Tin Medic]

Thats a pretty nice find. It does have to be said, the only downside is its a browless J-20, but I wouldnt have let it get away either.

[DarkMonohue]

Thanks. My only real lament is that it's browless. Beggars, choosers, etc.

[jeeper54]

Man, you are off to a good start. I didn't find any that nice down here at that price.

[jeffs396]

Welcome to the J20 club!

Nice original truck you've got there, have fun with it

[Brizio]

Nice rig!

[The PIG Smith]

Wow! Nice Truck!
As much as I dislike the looks of a running board, I do feel that they do a good job of protecting the body.
So, it seems the running boards on your truck has protected and saved that body from "Tin Worm"
"Tin Worm" word lives strong here in the Midwest

Just something for you to consider: Your truck now is a 3/4 ton truck.
If you install an over the counter lift kit, does not matter the brand, you will reduce your truck back to a 1/2 ton pickup.
Lift springs are not rated for 3/4 ton duty.
With some exceptions, the Lift Kit manufacturers target 1/2 ton rated rigs, like Wagoneer, Cherokee and J10 trucks for their products.
Zack from ZM Jeeps has some connections and has had some lift springs made with the 3/4 ton ratings.
If I recall, custom springs are not cheap.

Also something that caught my eye.
Your Speedometer goes to 100MPH
I was under the impression by this time, that Jeep only installed speedos were marked to 85MPH.
I wonder if someone switched an instrument panel from an earlier model rig?

Yes, I'd like to be inline in case you would like to sell it.
A nice, clean, red J20 with no cab brow would be my ideal truck!

[DarkMonohue]

Your Speedometer goes to 100MPH. I was under the impression by this time, that Jeep only installed speedos were marked to 85MPH. I wonder if someone switched an instrument panel from an earlier model rig?

I'm not sure. Maybe someone else here knows more than we do. I did notice that the instrument panel illustrated in the owner's manual also featured a 100MPH speedo, but that probably doesn't add much credibility.

Thanks for the thoughts on lift springs. That's something be addresses later on, if at all, so there's plenty of time to make an informed decision, then change my mind seven or eight times, then do things the hard way.

Unfortunately, the guy who had the tires I wanted is now not sure they are available since he may be selling the truck he has them mounted on. Oh well. I have a little time.

[fulsizjeep]

I could be wrong but pretty sure AMC bumped the FSJ speedos to 100 mph in 1984.

[jdaniel83]

The three '85 model GW's I've been in all had that same instrument cluster that you have in your truck.