Eagle

The temperature switch for the aux fan in the Renix 4.0L models is located about halfway down in the driver's side radiator tank.

They may be separate problems. Are you aware that the cluster lights are on a dimmer? The dimmer operates by rotating the knob of the headlight switch. It's an old-fashioned rheostat -- a contact that slides along a coil of resistance wire so that the resistance varies depending on where the contact rests on the length of the coil. It develops dead spots. In my '88 XJ, I can't run the cluster lights at full bright. If I back off from full bright just s small amount, they work fine. Try rotating the knob and see if you get lights. Even if they just flicker and blink, that would suggest the dimmer is the problem. If so, the solution is a new switch. If everything else works in the back, it's not a ground problem, so it has to be a power problem. Have you disconnected the main plug to the rear lights and checked for 12-volt power at that plug?

No, the computer over the driver's foot in an XJ or MJ (Renix era) is the ECU. The TCU is over on the passenger side, tucked up behind the glove box.

Interesting. Apparently different companies have different rules. I'm insured with Amica, and they consider hitting a deer to be a collision. However, they did fix the roof of my XJ when a rotten branch fell off a huge tree just as I was driving under it. They decided the tree hit me rather than me hitting the tree, so it wasn't a "collision." The other nice aspect of Amica's comprehensive is that it includes glass, so if I get a stone chip in a windshield, comprehensive will pay to have it epoxy injected (if it's small enough, and not directly in the driver's line of sight) or replaced.

He's in San Diego. The truck (or all its parts) are in Mexico by now.

I don't have an agent -- I deal directly with the insurance company. If you think what I posted is incorrect, how about telling us what you think is incorrect?

When did you last replace the oxygen sensor?

Either VERY cool, or perhaps some people just have too much time on their hands: https://www.alloutdoor.com/2018/09/19/diy-atv-half-track-made-old-snow-tires/

But comprehensive won't cover you for hitting a deer. That's a "collision." Comprehensive is for non-moving type stuff -- fire, flood, theft, tree falls on the roof -- that sort of thing.

Unfortunately, no. The angle is set by the angle at which the spring perches are welded onto the axle tubes. If you need a lot of adjustment, you'll have to remove the axle and have the perches re-welded. If you only need a slight change, they sell tapered wedges to adjust that. I think Hornbrod uses wedges, he may be able to tell you where to buy them.

Several years ago I looked into Taylor's (another antique and classic car insurance company) and found that they won't insure anything with 4-wheel drive. In January of 2017 I was involved in a fender-bender with my 2000 XJ Sport. It still has less than 50,000 miles on it and it was in nearly showroom condition (to find a used one even close to it in condition would have cost $10,000 to $15,000). My insurance company said it was worth $4,750 -- and the repairs came within about 25 bucks of making it a total. I'm fortunate that I had worked with the body shop before and they bent over backwards to keep it from being totalled. For those carrying liability only -- I strongly recommed that you carry at least comprehensive. Collision coverage is the expensive part. Comprehensive is cheap, and that's what covers you if your vehicle is stolen, broken into, or a tree falls on it.

What about parking lights (front and rear)? Still sounds like a bad switch to me, but we still don't have a complete description of the symptoms. Do the hazard flashers work? All four of them plus the cluster indicators?

Good eye -- I completely missed that. I was looking at the spring perch.

You have better eyes than I do, Mate. I don't know how or where you're seeing that.

Absolutely agree on the angle finder. Your driveshaft has what's called a double Cardan joint at the front. Like the front driveshaft in a 4WD XJ or MJ, the double Cardan has 2 u-joints in it, so they cancel each other out. That means at the rear u-joint (the one at the differential pinion), you want the u-joint to be operating as close as possible to a zero angle (i.e. straight -- the pinion snout of the differential should be pointing straight at the driveshaft). Actually, at rest it shouldn't be exactly zero (see Dirty's post above), but nearly zero. It wants to be at zero degrees when you're going down the road under light to moderate load, which means the torque is twisting the axle and the springs a little bit. The SYE does make a difference. In a stock XJ or MJ, the angle between the transfer case output shaft and the upper end of the driveshaft should be the same as the angle between the pinion snout and the rear part of the drive shaft, when those angles match, the two u-joints don't fight each other. But with a double Cardan joint, you're adding a third u-joint. The two in the double Cardan are both operating at an angle, so they cancel each other out. The third one -- the one back at the differential -- needs to operate at approximately zero so that it doesn't introduce vibrations into the drive line. Is it "unsafe" if the angle is wrong? Not really -- just buy stock in a company that makes u-joints for Jeeps, because you'll be replacing them frequently.

Actually, my recollection is that it's two, but pull one of your old ones to verify.

Agreed, that's a Chrysler 8-1/4 axle. out of a Cherokee. The pinion nut torque should be 200 ft-lbs. Don't go more than 200 (according to the FSM). What I can't see from the photos is whether the XJ spring perches were relocated to the correct space (and angle) for the Comanche with slip yoke eliminator, or if the guy just bolted the Cherokee axle in and twisted the springs to [sort of] seat them on the Cherokee perches.

Cherokee front shocks will fit. Cherokee rear shocks will NOT fit. Don't just grab rotors off any Cherokee. They changed from year to year, and if you get the wrong rotor they'll lock up the front end. For what rotors cost today, you're much better off buying new ones from Auto Zone, Adance, O'Reilly's, or Rock Auto.

That's why I asked for a better photo of the area where the axle mounts to the spring. It's quite possible that the previous owner used a Cherokee axle to do a quick-n-dirty spring-over lift. Basically, 88mancheman, we need a lot of photos -- good photos -- to get a better idea what's going on with your truck. In the meanwhile, I very strongly recommend that you not drive it -- at all -- because with the way that pinion yoke is set right now, you'll destroy the differential.

His description pretty clearly confirmed that the yoke came off the nose of the pinion gear. The space (1/4"? 3/8"?) between the yoke and the crush sleeve, where there should be contact, confirms this. There isn't anything (yet) to suggest that the slip spline in the driveshaft separated.

Signature line seen on another forum: "Any time you think people can't possibly be that dumb ... they'll prove you wrong."

Any auto glass shop. The windshield is the same as all years of the XJ (Cherokee). The passenger side window is the same as any '84 thru '96 4-door XJ.

That's why I wanted more/better photos of the axle-to-spring mounting. You have a good point, there is something funky about that driveshaft -- a photo of the full length of it and another at the front end of it would also be a good idea.

The Dana 35 uses a crush sleeve to set the preload on the pinion bearing. To be strictly proper, any time that yoke comes off you should install a new crush sleeve and a new nut. The problem is that to properly set the crush sleeve you have to take the differential apart so the pinion gear is turning by itself. A friend who used to work in a Jeep dealership during the XJ/MJ years told me that when they changed a pinion seal, they just torqued the pinion nut to 250 foot-ponds and called it good. Unfortunately, most of the reasonably-priced torque wrenches only go to 150 foot-pounds. So you can either see if Auto Zone has a 250 foot-pounder you can borrow, or use a 150 and after it clicks for 150 keep turning a bit farther and hope you got it close. Those u-bolts holding the axle to the springs are supposed to be torqued, too. I don't recall what the torque is, but it's a bit more than hand tight. 14mm is larger than the 1/2-inch wheel studs, and we torque those to 100 foot-pounds (or so, depending on what year FSM you look at), so don't be afraid to make them tight. I'd go to around 75 foot-pounds if you don't have a source to look up the actual specification. If those photos are the way it looks now, don't drive it. The yoke is what compresses the crush sleeve. The way it is in those photos, the pinion gear can move in and out of engagement with the ring gear, and that's going to trash the differential (if it hasn't already done so). Looking at the second photo, it looks like the leaf spring is on top of the axle. That's not stock. Please take a better photo of the axle/spring mounting. The amount of rotation you described in your first post basically sounds impossible, so I'd like to see a good photo of how the axle is mounted in the truck.