Eagle

Limited slip was an option in all Jeep rear axles. Anything you find in a junkyard may or may not have a limited slip. And Jeep's limited slip is a clutch type, so even if a junkyard axle has it, it may or may not be worn out.

You are aware that you can shift on the fly between 2WD and 4WD high, right? I've driven hundreds of miles on roads just as you describe. Just shift into 4WD for the snowy or icy parts, and shift back to 2WD for the dry parts. That's what that handle next to the gear shift is for.

https://www.wikihow.com/Get-a-Title-to-an-Abandoned-Vehicle https://www.dmv.org/la-louisiana/automotive-law/vehicle-code.php (Scroll down to Parking and Abandonment) If you got it from the legal owner, it's easier -- go to the DMV site and look up Replacement Title

Much depends on what you plan to use the MJ for, and how you drive. The early 27-spline 8.25 axle shafts aren't enough better than the Dana 35 to be worth arguing, BUT ... the Dana 35 has smaller and thinner axle tubes, and Dana 35s fail more frequently due to the tubes bending than they do from simple shaft failure. That said, I still have Dana 35s under both my '88 XJ and the '88 MJ that I wheeled with NAXJA-NAC. The XJ I ran on 30s, and I ran 31s under the MJ when I wheeled it. Both vehicles have been all over Paragon (when it was open). But I'm a wimpy wheeler -- I don't drive with a lead foot. The later 8.25s are significantly better than the early ones, but IMHO even the 27-spline 8.25 is a step up from the Dana 35.

Heck, you don't need a lift to clear 31s on an XJ, and the XJ has smaller rear wheel wells than the MJ. This was extremely well researched and documented years ago by one of the guys in NAXJA (whose name I regret to admit I have forgotten). My '88 XJ is sitting on 31s with no lift right now.

You can't get a title? There's a procedure for doing that in Connecticut. I've gone through it twice.

I replaced a cracked Renix flexplate back in 2003. I got the replacement from my Jeep dealer and it worked, but I don't know if it was a factory Jeep part or if they got it from Crown.

Read my signature for my feelings on this issue ...

Not if all you want are the axles and transfer case. Beyond that, everything is different. Related, but different.

I'm 6'-1" tall. The default, straight position is what works best for me, and even with a tilt column I've never used the feature to swing the wheel out of the way when exiting or entering the vehicle. Considering how the titl columns like to loosen up over time, I'm happier without it.

We come back to the basic reality that you don't need ANY lift to run 31" tires, if you run Jeep rims. So now the question is, why do you really want to lift your truck, and how much do you want to lift it? Personally, I bought an '88 MJ that came with a 4-inch lift and I dropped it back to stock height -- with 31-inch tires. It rode better, handled batter, and was just as capable off-road.

That mismatch can be overcome. Before mounting the new header, fill in the upper, outside corners with bondo. After the header is mounted, just grind it down to blend into the feder contours. Bob Salemi (of the pro stock MJ) did that on his XJ.

Locksmith.

31s shouldn't hit the flares. What wheels are you running?

Just be sure the wedges are steel. Some years ago, before Paragon Offroad Park in Pennsylvania closed down, NAXJA-NAC had one of our annual trailfest gatherings there. One of the guys had an XJ that he lifted in the rear with aluminum blocks. The block had been in place for awhile and, of course, Pennsylvania is in the snow belt, where they use salt on the roads in winter. Out on the trail, his lift blocks literally disintegrated. It wasn't pretty, but thank God it was at very low speed on a trail and not at 65 MPH on the way home after the event.

If youget your 242 from a junkyard, be sure you also get the shift gate and bezel from the donor vehicle. The shift gate for the 242 is different from that gate for the 231.

There is no comparison between the '87 and '95. The '95 is an HO -- the torque peak is at 4,000 RPM, compared to 2,000 RPM for the '87. The '87 was rated at 173 horsepower, the '91 - '95 were rated at 190 horsepower (and felt like more of a difference than that due to the change in the torque curve). The HO still produces acceleration well into the RPM range -- the Renix engines basically fall on their face above 3,000 RPM. They'll rev higher, but doing so is useless. In my '88 XJ and MJ, I use 2,250 RPM as my shift point, for pretty much all driving conditions (both are 5-speeds, so I obviously have control over the shift point).

This is a tough issue to address, because we don't know what you think the acceleration should be. What vehicles are you comparing it to, and how do you typically drive? Have you ever driven a truck with an in-line 6-cylinder engine before? The '87 was the first year of the 4.0L, it was rated for less horsepower than the '88 and following years -- and then in 1991 came the HO (for "High Output) and even more power. The 87 is not a high RPM engine. If you're accustomed to rice rockets, you probably keep your foot on the floor and let it shift at 4,000 RPM (or higher. That's not how the 4.0L engine (especially the early ones) want to be driven. The torque peak for that engine is at a little over 2,000 RPM -- revving it far beyond that before shifting is a waste of gas and an exercise in frustration. What you have is a torque engine, made for lower RPM pulling power -- it's not a Z28 that starts producing power at 6,000 RPM.

The OP has conflicting issues. Bending the top of the window frame inward a bit will help with the weather and wind seal, but it won't make the door easier to close.

As already commented, just lock the front axle in the connected position and forget it. Jeep eliminated the front axle disconnect after a few years anyway, and nobody missed it. By all means, get the 242 transfer case. The 2000 XJ my late wife drove has a 242. When the first snow of the winter came, I used to just put it in full-time 4WD and leave it there for the duration of the winter. There are no handling issues as a result. My wife never had a problem with it.

When the service manager at the dealership where I bought my original '88 Cherokee was the friend on whose stock car my brother and I crewed, I used to hang around the shop a lot. You didn't hear this from me, but they used to address issues like that by opening the window,, opening the door partially, then sliding a 2x4 down through the opening and bending the top of the door inward.

The 84 through 86 years had a wide variety of axle ratios. I have an '86 XJ 4-cylinder 5-speed with 4.10s; the running gear from an '86 XJ 2.8L V6 auto with 3.73s; and I had (and gave away) an '84 XJ Wagoneer 4-cylinder auto that had either 4.56 or 4.88 gears in it.

That's highly debatable, but strength is not the only criterion for "better." I own XJs and MJs with all three transmissions, and the 3550 is by far the best of the breed. Stronger, smoother, easier to shift, better gear ratios, and quieter.

And compared to the 3550 the AX-15 is junk. Once you start that argument, you can't stop. I bought my '88 XJ new. The original BA 10/5 transmission now has over 287,000 miles on it, has been driven offroad extensively, and it still works fine.

Not on an MJ, but Jeep used the same coils for the Up Country suspension in the late model Cherokees. When I bought a 2000 XJ new with Up Country I pulled the part numbers off the front coils and went to the dealership to buy a set for my '87 MJ. The parts guy asked why I was buying ZJ coils for an MJ. They ride 1-inch higher than "stock." Ride is better than the standard springs (IMHO).