Eagle

If shops are not allowed to straighten frames, why do they have frame jigs and why do factory service manuals have pages full of chassis dimensions?

Three weeks ago (Friday, November 25, to be specific) I was rear ended at a traffic light in the 2000 XJ Classic. Low speed -- the woman behind me started rolling when the left turn lane started going. Problem was, it's a delayed green for straight, so I wasn't rolling. Oops. No serious damage -- her air bag didn't even go off. I had to wait a week to get the police report, but during that time I got a repair estimate from the body shop that's the preferred, approved, "we don't question their prices" shop for my insurance company. Seemed reasonable -- R&R the rear bumper, buff out, repaint, re-install. $351. Nowhere near a total for a 2000 XJ Classic in excellent condition with relatively low miles. The other driver was insured by State Farm. It took until today to get their adjuster to look at it. He looked at my shop's estimate, sniffed, and went off to do his thing. He came back with an estimate of $280. I just back back from showing that to the shop. The estimator at the shop had the same reaction I did: "This guy must be on crack." He's got time and materials in for painting the bumper, but he doesn't seem to have any time for taking it off or putting it back on. The shop included corrosion protection -- because (1) the bumper is steel, and (2) I had the vehicle fully rustproofed when it was new, so that should be renewed when the bumper is worked on. The State Farm estimator doesn't agree. He thinks corrosion protection is only for fenders. Not a great kick-off to the Christmas season ...

Gotta be in California. It looks like a self-powered version of a Tiny House.* Pretty sloppy job, if you ask me. The wood grain on the sides of the XJ runs horizontal, and on the "custom coachwork" it runs vertical. VERY poor craftsmanship -- no attention to detail. :sniff: * Google "Tiny House" if you have no idea what I'm taling about.

The OP has an '86, with a 3.4L V6 that was converted from a 2.8L. It may not have a serpentine belt. Certainly, a trans pan service wouldn't affect the power steering, but the weather is getting colder and drier. If the belt tension was marginal before, colder weather might result in enough slippage that it won't power the pump. I can't think of anything else, so that's my story and I'm stickin' to it.

Yes, you can use an extended shackle to grab another inch w/o any ill effects. I did this after my new MT springs settled out about 3/4" over a years time using the Teraflex shackles. I think this is a crock and is a contradicted factoid throughout the various FSM's. 2WD and 4WD vehicles can use the same springs and other suspension parts, wheels, etc. and you could order any combination of these suspension parts in both models. You can't make a blanket general statement that all 4WD trucks were 1" taller than all 2WD trucks from the factory. And "factory" ride height and how to measure it varies depending on which model (year) FSM you are looking at. Sorry, Don, but this is not contradicted by the FSMs, it's confirmed by the FSMs. When measuring ride height per the FSM, the MJ FSM provides two different heights, one for the 2WD and one for the 4WD. The 4WD is 1-inch higher than the 2WD. What I've always found curious, though, is that this applies only to the MJ and not to the XJ. From a 3-year old thread:

Is the belt slipping so the pump isn't pumping?

The aftermarket fenders, as far as I know, are all made in China. Need I say more? I have no experience with the new style. I had to put a pair of front fenders on my '88 MJ Chief. I'm in the rust belt, so I went with new, aftermarket parts. From fifty feet away, they look great. From five feet away, it's clear that they don't fit like OEM. For example, the gap between the fender and the base of the windshield post is too big.

How much arch difference between 2x4 and 4x4? I just did a SOA on my 2wd and got almost 6" of lift. Would I get more from 4wd springs? Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk 4WD sits 1-inch higher than 2WD. The arch of the springs doesn't affect how much lift you get from a SOA conversion. The lift comes from moving the spring to above the axle -- if you start from the 2WD height, you'll end up with the 2WD height plus 'X' inches. If you start from the 4WD height, yiou'll end up with the 4WD height plus the same 'X' inches. Yup I realize that, just didn't know they were a different height to begin with. Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk But your question was, would you get more "lift" from 4WD springs. The answer is, "No." If a spring-over conversion nets 6-inches of lift, that's how much lift you'll get. If you start with a truck that rides one inch higher, you'll end up with a truck that rides one inch higher. I was afraid you were conflating "lift" with "ride height." They're two completely separate issues.

How much arch difference between 2x4 and 4x4? I just did a SOA on my 2wd and got almost 6" of lift. Would I get more from 4wd springs? Sent from my SM-N900W8 using Tapatalk 4WD sits 1-inch higher than 2WD. The arch of the springs doesn't affect how much lift you get from a SOA conversion. The lift comes from moving the spring to above the axle -- if you start from the 2WD height, you'll end up with the 2WD height plus 'X' inches. If you start from the 4WD height, yiou'll end up with the 4WD height plus the same 'X' inches.

Excellent. Thanks for the update.

You can buy rebuild kits or new ones and transfer the seals. If you're careful :D Rebuild kits won't help much if he snaps off a bleeder screw in the caliper.

Agreed. If this isn't fixed correctly you run the risk of the calipers binding up.

Are you working on a caliper or a wheel cylinder? Keep in mind that the bleeder screws are brass, so they are easier to mess up. At least for the wheel cylinders, I think you shouldn't waste any time trying to free up stuck bleeders. Just buy new wheel cylinders and install them. Your master cylinder was so bad it was leaking, so I would expect the wheel cylinders to be in equally bad condition. Rear wheel cylinders are $10 from Autozone -- new. Their remanufactured front calipers are $21.99, and they have a lifetime warranty. You decide how much effort you want to put into something that probably needs to be replaced anyway.

If you can find an XJ or MJ FSM on-line, look at Group 19 for the steering column. I was going to do a screen grab of an exploded diagram, but I would need to do about five or six pages to cover it. There might also be a single, overall exploded view in the parts manual if you can find that on-line.

Don't weld. Use vise-grips. And go easy -- if you break off the outer part, then you'll have to buy a new caliper (or wheel cylinder, depending on which end you're working on). In fact, wheel cylinders aren't expensive. Considering the age of your truck, it might not be a bad idea to just buy new wheel cylinders and start fresh. And don't use WD-40 for penetrating oil. That's not what it's for, and it doesn't work. Use PB Blaster, or (even better) Kroil -- if you can find it.

You didn't bleed the lines to the wheels. Just pumping the peddle doesn't do anything for you.

There is a mechanism. The column for a manual tranny has a release lever to allow the cylinder to turn to the final OFF/REMOVE position. For the automatics, this was done with a cable from the shifter. This is the same mechanism that locks the steering wheel -- does your wheel lock? If your truck is a manual, and you don't have the release lever, it probably is a column from an automatic, and whoever installed it didn't bother to create a way to release the key.

Appearances can be deceiving. You're not just "going" to a 3-wire system. All automotive systems are positive/negative/ground. Here's the link to the 1988 factory electrical manual. It's 103 pages, and many of those pages are fold-out 11x17 pages. Your '86 is slightly different because you don't have the fuel injection, but everything else is pretty much the same. You'll be much better off just fixing what's wrong rather than trying to rewire the entire vehicle from scratch. http://www.bteventures.com//mj1988electricalmanual.pdf But ... don't pay any attention to an old man. It's not like I might have made some mistakes over the course of my life and have some idea why what you think is easy ... isn't.

Why are you even THINKING of rewiring the entire vehicle? Do you have any idea what you'll be getting into?

It should be like photo #2.

Just go to Auto Zone, Advanced, Pep Boys, O'Reilly, NAPA, or whatever is close to you. Buy white polishing compound, not "rubbing" compound. Rubbing compound is coarser and takes off too much material.

Yes. :banana: :banana: :banana:

Note that he said "polishing" compound (the white stuff), not "rubbing" compound (the other stuff). There is a difference.

If his truck was really an XLS, that was the top model in 1986, and it came with bucket seats. I think the console probably is original.

Not a chance. Save yourself the effort, money, and heartache and just buy a console.