Eagle

I'm going to have to call you out on this one. I grew up in the era of muscle cars and standard (non-power) steering. The shop manuals of the day (of which I still have a few) occasionally mentioned that positive caster contributes to tracking and return-to-center of the steering wheel. But the increased return to center meant increased steering effort, so caster was generally specified as less for manual steering than for power steering. Camber was to be zero. For example, here are the alignment specs from a 1966 American Motors factory shop manual: Caster: . . . . . w/o power steering = 0 to 1/2 degree positive . . . . . w/ power steering = 3/4 to 1-1/2 degree positive Camber = -1/4 to +1/4 degree, 0 preferred Toe-in = 1/16" to 3/16", 1/8" preferred These specs are typical of that day and age.

I don't think positive camber helps with self centering. I've never encountered any source that recommended positive camber, for any reason. Positive caster is what contributes to self centering of the steering.

I'm not sure about 1987 either. My MJ Pioneer is an '87. The speedometer and tachometer both have the old face design (with small ticks for every one MPH and a larger tick at fives and tens), which is why I suspect it may be the old style connector. But I haven't crawled under the dash to look at the back of the speedometer.

Remove the spark plugs, put the tranny in neutral, and see if you can turn the engine manually with a socket and breaker bar on the front of the crankshaft.

No leaks? The FSM calls for sealant ... but it doesn't say what type.

More details: The XJ and MJ instrument clusters are interchangeable, so you can use XJs for source material. All XJs and MJs used mechanical (cable) speedometers up through 1990. However, there was a change either at the end of the 1986 model year or mid-year 1987 from a speedo cable with a metal connector that screwed onto the back of the speedo head, to a newer style with a white nylon retaining lock that snaps onto the speedo head with no screws. At the same time they changed to the newer style speedo connector, they also changed to a tachometer with an adjustable potentiometer that can be used with either the 4-cylinder or 6-cylinder engine. But -- if you get a 4-cyl tach and put it in a 6-cyl vehicle, it will NOT read correctly unless you adjust the potentiometer. I'm really not certain what was used in the 1987 vehicles so, to be completely safe, I would suggest that you limit your search to 1988 through 1990. If you find something from a 1987, before buying take a look to be sure the speedometer connection is the same as yours. The older style will also go into your truck, but you'll have to change the speedometer cable.

Questions: 1) Did he remove the interior trim around the windows? 2) Did he use adhesive/sealant in the grooves of the gaskets when reinstalling? 3) If so, what kind of adhesive/sealant? Butyl? Urethane?

Now you're on the right track. But there should already be a hose in your engine compartment for venting the front differential. It should come up on the driver's side, somewhere in the vicinity of the brake booster. It'll be black, with a white nylon thingie in the upper end.

I'm hoping to get Old Faithful (my original '88 XJ) back on the road for the winter. It doesn't have tinted glass, and awhile ago I was given a set of factory tinted rear quarter windows from an XJ Limited. Does anyone know what's involved in swapping those windows out? Are they glued in, or is it as simple as working the old gasket out of the opening and working the "new" one in?

Why not redrill and tap the hole where it's supposed to be? Is the shop talking about a one-way check valve? That won't work -- when the diff heats up it will force out air (and/or gear oil), but if air can't get back in through the vent it'll suck in through the axle seals. I'm thinking that's not a good thing.

What year(s) F150?

No fluid leaking out? Bleed it some more.

Comanche rear springs numbers: ----------------------------- Standard, code RB, 87-89 . . . 5200 2312 Standard, code RB, 1990 . . . .5200 6448 Standard, code RD, 87-89 . . . 5200 1240 Standard, code RD, 1990 . . . .5200 6444 Standard, code RE, 87-89 . . . 5200 2351 Standard, code RE, 1990 . . . .5200 6446 Standard, code RF, 87-89 . . . 5200 1824 Standard, code RF, 1990 . . . .5200 6445 Standard, code RG, 87-89 . . . 5200 2350 Standard, code RG, 1990 . . . .5200 6447 HD, 5-leaf, code SD, . . . . . 5200 3676 Part numbers aren't even close. Those are not Comanche springs.

An XJ should have all the same parts. Under the rear seat, driver's side. The XJ won't have the rubber strap, though.

Your link shows me front springs. Those would be for a CJ, or a YJ Wrangler, not for an MJ. In general, Crown makes good stuff (my Jeep dealer sells Crown parts and I've used a lot of them -- but no leaf springs), but their parts are vehicle specific. Most Crown parts actually use Jeep part numbers, so you should be able to select that way. However, JC Whitney probably won't show you the Crown/Jeep part number. I can't recommend Rusty's springs. Save your money. Are you looking for new, stock height springs, or for a lift? Correction: They do show the Jeep (Crown) part numbers.

They're not intended to provide any lift -- but they're for an XJ, which has a lot of glass over the rear axle, so the weight distribution is different. The only real downside to using them is the loss of rear braking power when loaded.

^^^ This. To fit them to a Comanche, you would have to knock out the bar pins in the top bushings. But -- Several years ago I tried that with a pair of conventional shocks out of an XJ. I tried to put them into the rear of a stock-height MJ. Fully extended, the shocks were about an inch too short. Here's a chart of some Monroe shocks that will work in MJs. Never mind the cross-references -- look at the lengths for the OEM MJ shocks. The Load-Levelers for the Cherokee are Monroe number 58594. The specs are Compressed = 12.75 Extended = 20 Travel = 7.25 Based on the Monroe specs, it looks like those shock would go in, but they'll be nearly at full extension when the truck is unloaded. Remember that Monroe does not sell the Load-Levelers for the MJ. The reason is that the overload springs keep the height up under load, which means the height sensing valve for the rear brakes gets fooled. You load up the bed, but the valve doesn't see much change in height so it doesn't adjust to give you more rear brakes.

Bad ignition switch? Sends power to the ignition module when they key is in the start position but not in the run position?

Running with no sway bar is a very big mistake. Some years ago, one of the original members of NAXJA rolled and totaled his XJ driving a couple of blocks from home one evening, because he was running without a sway bar and had to make a sudden evasive swerve and the Jeep just tipped over -- into a ditch, so it kept rolling. He posted a warning to everyone else that he blamed it entirely on not having a sway bar. Never mind the laws -- it's not safe. Don't do it.

Time out. The shocks AND the coils are for a TJ? TJ coils are shorter than XJ/MJ coils. Coils that are rated to give a 4-1/2" lift in a TJ will probably only generate 3 to 3-1/2" in an MJ. IMHO, you need to do an initial, temporary install of the coils up front so you can measure the actual amount of lift they provide before you start ordering any other parts.

Huh? Pay no attention to Hornbrod when he stays up past his bed time.

To check the tranny, the FSM instructs us to remove the TCU fuse and shift manually. When driven that way you lose one of the two low gears when in the "Lo" position -- second gear, IIRC -- but otherwise you should be able to drive it by shifting manually. This is to diagnose whether the problem is a transmission problem or a TCU problem. You also want to be sure the shift linkage is properly adjusted. That's why I asked if it runs in the "Lo" position.

Does it have a bench seat with the "mini" console, or does it have bucket seats and a full, XJ-style center console? If it has buckets, compare them to photos on this site and of XJs to try to figure out if they are factory buckets or something that got swapped in.

No necessarily, I have an FEY bumper mounted with OEM MJ Brackets on my Dads 89 ;) Did you weld it on? Doesn't look to me like the factory brackets will mate up with the Few bumper. (I have three of them.) That said, there were two different patterns for the factory rear bumper brackets, and I've only seen one of them.

Does it run if you shift manually to "Lo"?