Curious why you went with the more gutsy ‘cutting of the hood’ for PS over a simpler MCloak. Clearly you like other MC products. I’m sorting through the clearances.

There are threads on other forums that show MC offers no more clearance than a stock fender. I wheel with a guy who wishes he would have gone with hilines due to clearance. That always stuck with me. So when the time came I learned from his mistake. When I switch to currie coils and longer shocks I want as little bumpstop as possible. The PS hilines give you roughly 3" of uptravel and over 2" towards the firewall.
 
I did mine when I replaced the rear glass. It wasn't really a big deal. At no point did I feel like I was going to break the glass.

I was terrified! I hand-tightened them with loctite, then gave it maybe an 8th of a turn with an open ended wrench. Seems to be holding just fine now.
 
I was terrified! I hand-tightened them with loctite, then gave it maybe an 8th of a turn with an open ended wrench. Seems to be holding just fine now.

Yeah, I wasn't thinking about it when I did mine, that's why I probably wasn't concerned. Now that I think about it though, it is a bit terrifying. I used blue thread locker on mine as well.
 
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Been almost a week now with the hardtop on and I actually enjoy it more than I thought I would. Though my dBs are the same with it vs the soft top, it still feels much quieter. Ive also noticed how much softer my bilstiens are in the rear. I have somewhat of a bumpy ride on my route to work and lately I dont get jostled as much. I guess that really does show how harsh the Bilstiens can be on a lightweight rig. Ranchos will be installed next spring:)
 
Been almost a week now with the hardtop on and I actually enjoy it more than I thought I would. Though my dBs are the same with it vs the soft top, it still feels much quieter. Ive also noticed how much softer my bilstiens are in the rear. I have somewhat of a bumpy ride on my route to work and lately I dont get jostled as much. I guess that really does show how harsh the Bilstiens can be on a lightweight rig. Ranchos will be installed next spring:)
I love my hardtop too. And I can always feel the ride soften when I put it back on for winter.
 
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When you cut the hood, what did you do with the edge? Did you fold it under or just sand it smooth and shoot it with some color match?
 
Hardtops are a great thing, aren't they? I love mine, especially in the Fall and Winter months.
 
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When you cut the hood, what did you do with the edge? Did you fold it under or just sand it smooth and shoot it with some color match?

Sanded best I could and shot a coat of red over it. Id love to fold it under but I don't have that type of patience or skill. I'd like to add a fiberglass hood in the future
 
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Took advantage of the cyber monday sale and picked up rear shock towers in preparation of my outboard project this spring. Poly performance towers and their lower mounts. Following builds by Blaine as well as jjvw. Will more than likely spring for fox shocks
 
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A highline hood like this?

https://www.duraflexbodykits.com/19...e-fenders-piece-duraflex-108805-p-548651.html

Also, did you use an angle grinder with a cutting wheel to cut the hood?

Yes--I believe duraflex is the only one making a hiline hood for TJs now. AEV quit making them a couple (maybe a few now) years ago. I did come across some info that stated the duraflex hood will not work with Poison Spyder. I cant seem to find it right now though. I'll keep looking.

I used a jig saw with a fine tooth blade.
 
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3 months later and I finally got started. Should have it cleaned up completely by tomorrow night.

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A little more progress made. Perches are now cut from either side. I started smoothing out the passenger side until my wife yelled at me for being in the garage to long

E169B487-FE12-46E0-9F96-8C1E4631EEAA.jpeg
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I attempted to tackle two ujoint repalcements yesterday afternoon. Ive only ever used a press before but this time I went the hammer/socket route. Good lord. What should have taken an hour has taken me 6 and I am not even done. I started with the passenger and got one cap off, flipped it over to pound the other one back thru and it kept catching the ears of the shaft and shaving it, even though it was straight thru the ears and not crooked. I called jjvw to come help and even he struggled with it. We finally got it out by taking a flap disc to the cap, and a cutting disc to the cross on the opposite side. The new joint went in easily (albeit, still some big whacks with a hammer). Moved on to the driver side and it too is doing the same. We got two caps off (one broke completely), but now the two opposite sides are not budging. Heat, vise, a hammer, a bigger F'n hammer, nothing. Luckily I had a spare to put in and drive to work today. My next step is to place in into a press and see what happens.

On another note--jjvw let me drive his TJ yesterday. All I can say is I made the wrong shock choice on my jeep (Bilstiens). He has rancho's up front and tuned foxes in the rear. What would jolt me in my seat I couldnt feel in his. Easily glide over speed bumps whereas I get tossed from my seat. I noticed more body roll with his mid-arm setup, but it was a very controlled roll, nothing I would even remotely consider dangerous or scary. And finally, the 03+ seats sit much lower than my 97.
 
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Those u joints were tough. I don't believe it is corrosion. They are just really really tight.

It will be fun getting your shocks and mounts figured out. It will be like a whole new Jeep afterwards.
 
I attempted to tackle two ujoint repalcements yesterday afternoon. Ive only ever used a press before but this time I went the hammer/socket route. Good lord. What should have taken an hour has taken me 6 and I am not even done. I started with the passenger and got one cap off, flipped it over to pound the other one back thru and it kept catching the ears of the shaft and shaving it, even though it was straight thru the ears and not crooked. I called jjvw to come help and even he struggled with it. We finally got it out by taking a flap disc to the cap, and a cutting disc to the cross on the opposite side. The new joint went in easily (albeit, still some big whacks with a hammer). Moved on to the driver side and it too is doing the same. We got two caps off (one broke completely), but now the two opposite sides are not budging. Heat, vise, a hammer, a bigger F'n hammer, nothing. Luckily I had a spare to put in and drive to work today. My next step is to place in into a press and see what happens.

On another note--jjvw let me drive his TJ yesterday. All I can say is I made the wrong shock choice on my jeep (Bilstiens). He has rancho's up front and tuned foxes in the rear. What would jolt me in my seat I couldnt feel in his. Easily glide over speed bumps whereas I get tossed from my seat. I noticed more body roll with his mid-arm setup, but it was a very controlled roll, nothing I would even remotely consider dangerous or scary. And finally, the 03+ seats sit much lower than my 97.

Wow those bilstiens are that bad? What rancho in the front @jjvw jjv?

It's almost comical how the easy day tasks sometimes turn out to be the biggest pain in the ass.
 
Wow those bilstiens are that bad? What rancho in the front @jjvw jjv?

It's almost comical how the easy day tasks sometimes turn out to be the biggest pain in the ass.

Bilstiens are a great shock, but for a light TJ they are way to stiff. Ive ran them in a half ton truck, as well as a 3/4 ton truck and they were smooth as could be, but we are talking 2-3 times more weight. Driving his makes me really excited to get my travels and new shocks dialed in come spring.
 
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Wow those bilstiens are that bad? What rancho in the front @jjvw jjv?
...

Cheap Rancho rs5000x with a raised upper mount for lots of travel. The rears are outboarded 12" Fox 2.0 remote reservoirs with some kind of generic TJ tune from AllTech. I got them used a while back.
 
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