Eagle

Pretty much the bare minimum lift from a SOA conversion, if you don't change either the axles or the springs, is 5-1/2 inches. If you already have a 4" lift and you keep those springs, you would be looking at a total of 9-1/2 inches. There's no way around that other than doing something about the springs. SOA is really best suited for stock springs.

There is no difference in the amount of lift, if you don't change the springs.

Custom dial decal?

Keep it. You don't need a selectable locker in the front. An option you haven't mentioned is to either leave it with no air (meaning it's an open diff -- which is the way ALL XJs and MJs came from the factory). Yet another option would be to just replace the carrier with a Tru-Trac. However, that would cost more than the $210 you have projected to get air to the Rubicon diff. No other options on the air? How much pressure does it need -- could you run it with an inexpensive, 12-volt universal air compressor?

How do you define "up" with a double cardan joint?

You had the glass installed? By a shop? Take it back and have them do it again. That rubber gasket is only trim. The glass is glued in, same as the front windshield. If it leaks, the installer screwed up the job.

My immediate thought was that I'd easily pay $5,000 in a heartbeat for a low-mileage MJ with no rust. Look at ads for newer trucks like Rangers that have similar mileage, and you'll quickly realize that even $6,500 is a good deal. A few years ago I paid $6,500 for an XJ that had more miles and a LOT of rust underneath. (Granted, it was 4WD, but it also needed a lot of work.)

Correction -- the LATE Renix tachs had the adjustable potentiometer. The early Renix tachs were 4-cyl or 6-cyl specific, without the adjustable pot.. A friend of mine swapped a later tach into an '84 XJ 4-cylinder. He reported that calibration was easy -- all the way in one direction for 6-cylinder and all the way the other direction for 4-cylinder. If he's correct, then it can't be adjusted for an 8-cylinder.

With a double cardan at the transfer case end, the pinion angle should be zero at the differential yoke.

Nice setup! What did you use for the front Dana 44, an axle out of a Wrangler Rubicon?

When you add the SYE, will you be adding a double cardan joint at the transfer carse output (like the front driveshaft), or are you going to stay with a single u-joint at each end of the driveshaft?

They are 6.25 inches from the base plate to the perch eye. Exactly the same spacing as the D35. The Dana 35 uses 1-3/4" brakes, the Chryco 8-1/4 uses 2-1/2" brakes ... but the wheel-mating-surface to wheel-mating-surface dimension is the same. That means the 8-1/4" backing plates are farther inboard than those on the D35. If you measure the center-to-center distance of your perches, I'll bet it isn't the same on the "new" axle as on the old D35.

IMHO longer brake lines are necessary with that much lift.

Neither have I, and I also can't recall ever hearing/reading any negative comments about them. My dealer sells Crown all the time, especially for parts Jeep no longer provides.

I just read this again and realized what the thread title says. If it's an '86 you do not have a Dana 44, because Jeep didn't use the Dana 44 in the '86 Comanche. The optional, heavy-duty axle for 1986 was the AMC Model 20. You can recognize that easily because the rear diff is comparatively large, and the diff cover is perfectly round. The much more common Dana 35 has an oval diff cover. Dana 35: Dana 44: AMC Model 20:

So we're no longer supporting Jon at NAXJA? [Edit] Oops. I guess not. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1132337&highlight=Jon+Kelley

Pulling the fuse for the TCU is one of the diagnostic procedures outlined in the FSM for the AW4. I believe when shifted manually and the TCU is disconnected there is no second gear (or maybe there's no first gear). You would also need a toggle switch to control torque converter lockup. Many, many years ago, on whatever the predecessor forum was to NAXJA, there was a retired AMC engineer named Frank Sweigert who had put an AW4 in a Hornet (IIRC) station wagon. He went the other route -- he used a TCU and he controlled it entirely electrically, using a six-position rotary switch.

Another MJ? If not, be sure to do both sides so the springs will be more or less symmetrical. Otherwise you'll get some very odd gyrations going over bumps and dips when driving.

Don, his opening post includes a link to TJ Gamblers.

I thought '86 was already OBD2.

Have the steering stops been removed from the knuckles? No amount of lift changes the relationship of the wheels to the axle itself, so what you are describing is simply impossible unless the axle has been modified.

The ignition cylinder should be replaced, and new cylinders aren't that expensive. It's a GM Saginaw steering column, so the cylinders are readily available. For the doors, just remove the cylinders, take them to a locksmith, and have them rekeyed.

Back in the 1970s I was in a Javelin/AMX club with a guy who was the son of a local AMC dealer. He had a 1968 AMX. His trunk key was so worn that it would work as a master key -- he could open the doors of more than 90% of the new cars on their lot. No, the key should not slide out of the ignition when it's not in the locked position. As already commented, if it does -- it's time to replace the cylinder.

i have not seen the cherokee in question, only pics, the owner claims it`s a 4 cilinder, automatic i haven`t seen a comanche, let alone an automatic, for sale around here, i was just saying that IF i get to see one, i would go for aw4 oh and the cherokee has a bench seat, the center arm rest folds that`s all, also i don`t know what you mean by average size but 6 people can fit here, not much comfortly of course I didn't say the 2.5L 4-banger wasn't available in the XJ with an automatic, I said it wasn't available with the AW4. The 4-banger XJs all had the Torqueflite 904. If the Cherokee you're looking at has a bench seat in front, look it over VERY carefully because the bench was only sold in fleet vehicles. As for average size, remember I've been driving XJs for almost 30 years. My late wife was about 5'-3" tall and petite -- on a trip to the airport we had her, our then-17-year old daughter, and a 10-year old in the rear seat. It was TIGHT. The rear seat is only capable of seating three if at least two of them are children. My wife was in the back because her sister-in-law, who is maybe 5'-6" or 5'-7" and slender, couldn't sit in the back because there wasn't enough legroom. Be realistic -- the Cherokee is realistically a 4-person vehicle unless the rear seat passengers are young children. Four is more than two or three, but it ain't six.

??? How are you measuring it at full compression and full extension? It would take me half a day to load up an MJ enough to reach full compression, and then I'd be too tired to crawl under and take measurements. Where are your lower shock mounts? Did the previous owner just flip the factory spring plates and leave the shock studs to be used, or are the lower mounts custom fabbed? Post pictures by uploading them to a photo hosting service like Photobucket, Image Shack, Tinypics, etc. and then posting a link to the photo in your post.