if you had this, would you do it?

OK, heres the situation, I have my 72 with the inline 6. I now have a complete 88 4cyl YJ. The frame rotted on the YJ. I know the 6 in my 72 is just ok, Itll need some work down the road. I wanted to go wider axles, and I like the idea of fuel injection. since I have the entire YJ running gear, thinking of swapping it all into the 72. that would be the engine,tranny,transfer,axles and leaf springs. if you had this would you do it or am I really fixing to step into a mess?

I know I have seen folks do the YJ leaf spring conversion but I have no clue whats involved. I know I would have to do the axles off the YJ for the swap in sides for the front with the latter ones diff case.

Right now this is just an idea and I wanted to send it out there for your comments. Thx

 

I would think it would be too long of a drivetrain. And would you really want a CJ with a drivers side drop t-case? Also you would be giving up the torque of the 6 for an anemic YJ 4cyl. And you would be putting the great( lol) Dana 35 in as a rear axle which is a major step down from the 44 you have.
So in my personal opinion why swap in inferior stuff just because you want some wider axles.

 

I thought of the drivetrain, and no I dont want the drivers side drop but I thought I would have to do that cause I cant find a dif for the newer tranny for the pass side drop. as for the 4cyl, I dont mind it cause my 94 is that and works ok for me not to mention the better fuel mileage. I would really like to just do the engine and leave the rest but I dunno of a 4cyl FI I can put behind the tranny it has.

 

There also is spring perches and all that fun stuff. Definitly would have to outboard the springs. Why not replace the I-6 with a 4.0L I-6 it would be a direct swap more power, EFI and better milage. And why do you need wider axles? The 60in wide axles are just going to make it so the tires will sit much further outside the fenders, like ~4inches wider on each side.

I am only bringing this stuff up because at one time I thought of this swap and these are the things people brought up to me.

 

:iagree: Sounds like to me like what you're saying you really want to do is find a YJ in better condition, then swap on your CJ front clip and dash. Would have similiar results, but a lot less work. I'm not understanding putting that 4cyl in just to have FI. If you want FI on the 258, I think I've read that the 4.0L head, manifold, and MPI are a near-direct bolt on.

EDIT - Actually, the more I think about it, Jeff is right on about the swap. If you know your 258 is going to need some work, just swap in a whole 4.0L. They are the most dependable motor I've ever driven. Makes great horsepower. Start fiirst time, every time. Same bell pattern as the 258, IIRC.

 

You'd certainly kill the resale value of your CJ.

258s are cheap and available, and there's lots of info about junkyard TBI on the net. Either that or the 4.0L swap would be effective and it's well supported on the net.

The 2.5L would be great in a flattie though; 2.5L-TPI/SM465/D18/OD

 

Sounds to me if your are going to all the trouble of the swap, I would just buy a new yj frame and replace it. The price of some drivelines and misc. stuff would probably be more than a good used frame.

 

I gotta agree, your stepping into a mess. The YJ frame is wider so the axles are a big job to install. The YJ drive train is a lot longer so you have that issue to deal with. The YJ front uses the unitised bearings doesn't it? The Dana 35 rear is a waste of time to put in anything. Even that 4cyl has enough power to destroy it.

IIRC the 88 YJ was voted as a "best buy" from one of the mags as a trail builder. Their reasoning was the drivetrain in them was so crappy that they could be bought cheap and all of the origional drivetrain scrapped.

 

Well, it was only a thought.

I really want to be able to drive the 72 more than just trails so I was thinking of the fuel mileage issue. I will prob keep it all as-is for now and if the 258 does finally go, I'll cross that bridge then.

Anybody need some yj parts? lol