Eagle

1987 thru 1990 are the Renix years. You can use the ECU from any of those years. I believe '89 and '90 are considered to be a slight upgrade for performance.

If it fits, I'll be amazed. Why would Jeep have created a third tank size for the shortbed if they could have used the same tanks they were already using in the longbed?

Well, I guess it's my job to be the resident contrarian. I certainly agree that Jeep needs to be making a pickup again. A pickup based on the Wrangler? No way. Ugly, stupid, and impractical. I'm not even a little bit interested. And, given that it's based on the obscenely over-priced Wrangler, we can also be assured that the new PU will be obscenely over-priced.

The 23.5 gallon tank will NOT fit a short-bed Comanche.

There's a lot more to highway MPG than just RPM. My '88 Cherokee is a 4.0L 5-speed. Around here we don't have any 70+ MPH highways -- the fastest legal speed is 65 MPH, so that's what I drive. Can't afford tickets, or what they would do to my insurance premiums. 65 MPH in 5th (overdrive) is 1821 RPM. The same speed in 4th is 2428. I have run controlled tests. My gas mileage in 4th is the same as it is in 5th. The reality is that, overall, I would probably get better gas mileage with 3.55 gears or even 3.73s than I do with the factory 3.07s.

I have to disagree with Noriyori. I don't think 3.55 gears is "pushing" anything. You probably already have either 3.55s or 3.73s, and before making any changes you need to determine for certain what you have now. Unlike most of you grasshoppers, I'm old enough to remember when overdrive wasn't even a high-priced option in automobiles. Most vehicles back "in the day" were geared from the factory to run somewhere around 24 miles per hour per 1000 RPM. To put that in perspective, 60 MPH was 2500 RPM, and 3000 RPM was a comfortable 72 MPH cruise. The engines didn't burn up at those speeds -- after all, the redline was still 5,000 or 5,500 RPM, so 3000 RPM was well below the redline. Your choice of axle ratio should be based on your tire size and the fastest speed you normally drive on the highway. If you'll be going to a 3.4L V6, I think using 3,000 RPM as your benchmark for highway cruise is a good starting point. Here's a link to the tire size and RPM spreadsheet I crated a number of years ago. Pick your tire size, then look down the table for that tire size to see what RPMs the engine will turn at each speed. For the A904 tranny, ignore the overdrive columns and use the 1:1 columns. I don't know what "pretty stock" tires means, but let's assume you're rolling on 225/75-15s and your highway speed is 70 MPH. 3.45 gears will have the engine turning 3015 RPM at 70, 3.73 gears will raise that to 3177, and 4.10s will raise it to 3492. If you don't do a lot of high speed highway driving, 3.73s might be a good, all-around gear choice. for easy swaps, though, axles already set up with 4.10s may be easier to find. Again, if you don't do a lot of highway cruising 4.10s would probably be much nicer to drive around, and even 3500 RPM probably won't kill an engine for a long time. Link: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1pHFuhGgj6dQDfzyfFJH5z7NCDLW2KX3ABQgAJr3lBvM/pub?hl=en&hl=en&output=html

All 1984-1989 Cherokees and 1987-1989 Comanches had 10-inch drum brakes in the rear. The difference was that the standard brakes were 10"x1-3/4" drums. Those with the Dana 44, and maybe the police option (which was obviously only on Cherokees, not Comanches) were 10"x2-1/2".

Those are unusual for a Dana 35. Most D35s have 1-3/4" drums. The wider ones are basically D44 brakes. I've heard of them on the D35 but I've never seen one set up that way. Pretty sure the spreader bar (#5 in the diagram) and the parking brake lever (#6) are the same. The hold-down pins for the shoes are different, and the backing plates are different. And the wheel cylinders are different, of course.

With only 85,000 miles on the clock? What would a used Ranger or S-10 with that many miles, and rust-free, cost? (Regardless of year - just considering mileage and condition.)

In terms of physical fit and lining up, any 4.0L will fit -- up to a 2001 Choerokee or whatever year Wrangler or Grand Cherokee still had the 4.0L engine. Sensors and fuel injection aren't all the same, though.

Very nice. I envy you for finding it.

What's "nostalgic" about staying spring-under with non-factory springs and a U-bolt flip?

Don't drop the pitman arm unless you also drop the frame end of the track bar. To avoid bump steer, the track bar and the drag link need to be at the same angle. Not by looking at it, since the track bar has that big bend in it, but the direct line between the two end fittings of each bar.

Correction: The factory headlights are 35 watts on low beam. Sylvania Basic headlamps are the same. The Xtravisions are 55 watts low beam and 65 watts high beam. http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/sylvania-h6054-xtravision-sealed-beam-box-of-1-h6054xvbx/5081742-P#fragment-2

He will also need the '91 fuel level sender from the tank, and he'll have to deal with the reversed polarity of the fuel gauge.

I thought all MJs used 14mm U-bolts for the rear axle. The XJs used 12mm. I've standardized on 1/2-inch -- it's slightly larger than 12mm, and since I don't expect to be using my MJs for any heavy hauling or towing I figure good, new 1/2" U-bolts are at least as good as rusty 30-year old 14mm U-bolts. But -- I'm dealing with a mixed fleet of XJ and MJs, so I try to simplify where possible.

That's only good for up to about a 4-inch lift. Any more than that and you run out of real estate on the bracket.

^^^ This. Jeep had a model called the Commander, I believe, so you need to get the registration corrected. If you have a title, check what that says, too, because it probably agrees with the registration.

Nope. The external tranny cooler was an option that came as part of the trailer tow package.

I wonder why it only works with automatics. All my Renix vehicles are manuals.

He has lots of videos on youtube. Search for the REM videos. You posted a link. It's your responsibility to post the link to the video you want us to watch.

Okay, I watched the video and I didn't see a scanner even mentioned. What I did notice was at 3:45 -- he's rockin' a Dana 35 rear axle under that beast. It also looked like the vehicle he was recovring in one of the snow scenes was an MJ. New Jersey license plates, but I don't know of any terrain like that in New Jersey. Maybe at Rausch Creek? Not Paragon. Aside from the fact it's closed, I've been all over Paragon, and that ain't it.

No, they did not. Factory track bars were all solid. I have owned everything from an '84 XJ (the first year) to a 2001 XJ (the last year). ALL factory track bars were solid.

Rusty's adjustable track bar is hollow tubing. I've lost track of how many I've seen or heard about that failed in any of a number of ways on the trail. The reason for the difference is $$$.

I forgot about the bolt pattern difference. My bad.