Eagle

And Napier is spreading the misinformation. From their web site: Once again: The rear wheel openings and flares for the 2-door XJ are the same as for the 4-door XJ. The 2-door XJ rear wheel arches is NOT the same as the MJ. The MJ wheel arches are both longer and higher than the XJ.

The front axle setup is a parallelogram, with four hinge points -- two on the axle, and two on the frame. The upper and lower control arms are the horizontal legs. The two vertical legs, on the frame and on the axle respectively, are fixed. Those dimensions won't change. If you don't change the upper control arm, it won't change (:duh:). So what happens if you replace the lower control arm with a shorter one? The only way it can go in is if you pull the lower hinge point on the axle closer to the frame. This rotates the entire axle assembly around the forward UCA mounting point. If the new LCA is shorter, the direction of axle rotation reduces caster. If the new LCA is longer, it increases caster angle. That's how the factory addresses caster, but they do it from the aft end of the LCA by the use of shims in the LCA mounting pocket.

Caster angle is 7 to 8 degrees, with 7-1/2 preferred. Your new LCS are 1/2-inch shorter than factory, assuming Hornbrod's numbers are correct. If you didn't change the UCAs and you shortened the LCAs by a half inch, that reduced the caster angle. Adequate caster is important in resisting death wobble. Caster is increased by adding shims to the LCA pockets on the frame, but a half inch is a lot. You might need to get another set of lower control arms. I'm surprised that anyone would be selling control arms that don't match the factory dimension pretty well. Where did you get yours? [Edit to add] If you are using stock UCAs and shorter LCAs, there is simply no way your "new" axle can be sitting farther forward than your original axle, unless one of the axles had been modified to not sit in the correct location.

Thirty years! Man, you get a salute with BOTH hands!

AS someone who has occasionally been paid real money to write and to edit, I had the same reaction. My own writing often tends to be overly wordy, but I at least try to observe the niceties of paragraphs, and keeping related thoughts ... err ... related.

As recently as a couple of years ago, I knew of three different, small, independent used car dealers who always had half a dozen or so clean XJs on their lot. No more. I checked the web site of one of them a few weeks ago and he wasn't showing a single XJ. Drove by another one on Friday -- not a single XJ. It happens.

That'll never run. The front tire is flat.

Where are you looking? Steering components for all models of the MJ (Comanche) are the same, and in general the Comanche steering components are also completely interchangeable with the XJ Cherokee (not the Grand Cherokee -- the Cherokee).

Occam's Razor ...

Point taken, John. In my younger days I fought some wildfires in Connecticut, but those were nowhere near the scale of the huge wildfires experienced in the west and southwest.

Nope -- I mis-remembered. It's the AX-15 that has the nylon (or Delrin) busing on the bottom of the shifter lever.

Isn't there a nylon bushing that snaps onto the tip of the shifter? Is that what wears out??

Can the LED lights be dimmed, or are they strictly binary (OFF, or ON)?

What I just read on another forum, posted by a California resident, is that the fire is suspected of having been started by a malfunction in a PG&E (Pacific Gas & Electric) high-tension transmission line. Apparently, the enviro-weenies have pushed through legislation that restricts the public utility companies' ability to keep brush and undergrowth under control in their rights-of-way. Oops.

Yes, it is true. In early 2017 my 2000 XJ was in an accident. In working (hard) to convince the insurance company not to total it, I researched clean, low mileage XJs. There were a goodly number priced at north of $10,000.

In recognition of Veterans Day, I salute my fellow brothers-in-arms. Thanks to all of you for helping to keep us free.

I think he is. And it's still illegal.

Well, this partially explains why it's so hard to put a stake through the heart of this bull$#!&. From Jason's link: They can't even spell Comanche, they've never seen a Comanche, but they're telling customers that the Comanche has the same rear wheel well as the XJ ... which is simply NOT true.

ALL XJ rear quarters use the same flares, and are smaller in height and width than the MJ rear wheel opening. For a patch that small you could snip a piece out of an XJ quarter, but for replacing most or all of the wheel arch the XJ quarter won't work. This comes up repeatedly, and some people still refuse to believe that the 2-door and 4-door XJs used the same fklares, and that they are smaller than the MJ.

Three MJs and three [registered] XJs. Four more XJs that are suitable only as parts donors.

Before you throw money at a replacement tranny, check more on the Internet and Youtube. The fix does NOT involve removing the transmission from the vehicle. It's done by removing the mini-console, the shift boot, and the shift lever and then manipulating the forks or rods inside the tranny back into the proper alignment. As I wrote above, I've seen it doe, but I've not done it myself. It's a minor operation (for those who know how to do it, of course). It happens -- there MUST be a video out there somewhere that shows how to do it.

It is misaligned shift rods, and I've seen the service manager at the dealership where I bought my '88 XJ fix it in about 10 seconds. Unfortunately, that was many years ago, and I don't remember what he did. Basically, you are in two gears at the same time, so they're fighting each other when you start to engage the clutch.

Don, what year did your D44 come out of? Is it a c-clip axle, or no?

No, less. Backspacing is the dimension from the mounting surface of the rim (where it sits on the hub) to the "back" (or inner) flange. Factory wheels sit farther INBOARD than any aftermarket wheels. As I wrote, and you quoted: " 31x10.50-15s will fit with no trimming -- if you use stock Jeep factory wheels. The factory wheels have 5-1/4" backspacing. No aftermarket wheel has that much backspacing, so any aftermarket wheel puts the tires farther out, and that can cause problems."

??? Was there ever a Dana 44 with c-clips? I know the dana 35 changed, but I thought the dana 44 didn't change.