Eagle

10-4! That's a VERY neat job.

One final thought -- check your state's laws regarding lifted vehicles. You may create your "dream" wheelin' machine, only to find that it's not legal to drive on the street. And before you can even say, "But they don't enforce those laws," -- well, yes, they do. They don't always enforce them, but I got nailed just for having 31" tires that stuck out of the sheet metal too far. If your truck is going to be primarily a daily driver and see a trail maybe three or four weekends out of the year -- build it as a daily driver, and pick trails that are within the truck's capability.

Where's the diagram for the C101?

So you have no idea what it is or what might be involved in making it fit your truck. Not all Dana 44s were created equal. Some of the early ones had small axle shafts and puny spline counts. They also had two-piece axles (the actual hub was a separate piece that was splined into the axle and held with a large nut). They were very prone to failure. I wheeled my '88 MJ on 31s with a Dana 35 for several years. Get your feet wet before you start throwing money at things you don't yet understand. As Incommando wrote, be honest about how you're going to really use this truck. Even on 31s an MJ is a very capable wheeler. Your goal should be to go for the LEAST amount of lift you need and the SMALLEST tires you'll need to run the trails you plan to see. Anything beyond that is wasted money. The rule of thumb is that the price of lifting increases exponentially -- that is, twice the lift, four times the cost. Don't get caught up in that cycle if you don't need to. Your budget of $1.5k isn't even close to enough for what you think you want. Have you priced 35" tires and 15x12 wheels? have you priced long arm front suspension kits? Have you priced custom drive shafts?

BURN THE HERETIC!

Somebody very recently posted a link to the 1988 electrical manual on-line.

What "size" WMS you need for yours? Do you even know what "WMS" means? Because if you don't even understand the terms you're asking about, you aren't nearly ready to undertake a job such as you're contemplating. It's not a simple, bolt-in "swap." The rear might be -- IF you get lucky and find a Dana 44 from a Comanche. A Dana 44 front was never offered in the Comanche, so changing to a D44 there means a whole bunch of custom fabrication.

http://www.eastwood.com/rustproofing-and-undercoating-system.html

NEAT!

Rube Goldberg, reporting for duty SUH! So you need a switch that's normally open, and you have a switch that's normally closed. Splice a relay into the circuit between the switch and the lights. Wire the relay so it's open when the signal circuit has power, and closes when the signal circuit is interruped.

Slapping an "upgraded" bolt in the hole, secured by a loose nut, is not an "upgrade." With a weld nut in the frame, all load on the bolt is transferred into the nut, from which the welds distribute it more or less uniformly over a large-ish (relatively) area of the frame. If all you have is a bolt and a loose nut, forces from the bolt are transferred directly to the frame at the point where the bolt shank contacts the hole. Less than half the circumference is actually positioned to resist forces in any particular direction, so it probably won't take long for the hole to become elongated. Once that process starts, how do you stop it? Of course, if the weld nuts bust loose in trying to remove the bolts, you have no choice. But I certainly wouldn't recommend intentionally breaking them loose. The factory bolts for the rear bumper are a lot longer than they need to be. 25mm should be plenty long enough, and 20mm would probably do the job nicely.

True. It used to blow the Ford and Chevy guys' minds when they found that AMC was able to build a 401 in the same block that started out as a 290.

CJLongshot has a section in his build discussion on plating rust in the frame. That's the right way to do it -- unless there's not enough left to plate to. Photos -- we need photos.

Start here. http://comancheclub.com/topic/46497-triangle-gaskets-inside-valve-cover/ Links are your friends

Urethane will ride HARD. They also squeak.

That is the correct sensor for the gauge No, it's not. Autozone part #TU108 clearly states that it is a coolant temperature "switch." That's for use with idiot lights. The listing also has a "related parts" area that includes "Coolant temperature sensor" http://www.autozone.com/engine-management/temperature-switch?filterByKeyWord=TU108&fromString=search&isSearchByPartNumber=true Problem is, if you click the link to the related "coolant temperature sensor," it shows one with a pigtail and it says it fits the thermostat housing. That's not the correct part for a Renix, that would be for an HO. In other words, Autozone (as usual) doesn't have a clue. This one, from Advance, looks to be the right one: http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/bwd-engine-coolant-temperature-sender-wt761/5973805-P

Thread title!

With 31's - 32's you will want 4.10 gears. I tried 3.55 gears with 31's for awhile - it sucked. 32's will be even worse. Why don't you just get a set of "thick" 4.10 gears for the D44 - no need for a new carrier. Are you 2WD Charlie? I agree with this as well. You'd want at least 3.73's but 4.10's would probably be the best. I used to run 4.56's with my 32's, with a 4.0/AW4 combo, seemed just fine to me. 2500rpm at 70 and lots of torque off road. A good friend ran his MJ on 31s with 3.55 gears and he claimed he was happy with it. But his speedometer didn't work and he has a very heavy right foot, so there's no way of knowing how it would have driven for normal people. I second (or third) the motion for 4.10s. 3.73s are about right for 30" tires, 4.10s are right for 31s and not horrible for 32s. I used to run my '88 trail MJ on 31s with 3.73 gears. But the history was that I had bought the 3.73s with the idea that I was going to put them in my '88 XJ to run with 30" tires. Then I got the MJ. I already had the gears, so I used them in the MJ. What I found was that for 31s with 3.73 gears, the true overall final drive ratio (based on MPH per 1000 RPM) is exactly the same as a stock XJ or MJ on 225/75s with 3.55 gears. Okay for street, tolerable for trail ... but really not enough gear for those bigger tires.

Neither of these can create a grinding noise. In fact, generally neither creates any noise at all. Are the brake calipers free on the sliders? Did you by any chance replace one or both calipers, and possibly get the wrong caliper?

??? I have a 2000 XJ Classic and a 2001 XJ Sport. Neither has an auto-tint mirror. The XJ never offered an auto-tint mirror. What's this "newer mirror" to which you refer?

A fusible link is what the name implies -- a fuse. The purpose is to break if a short circuit or overload makes it too hot. Fusible links should not be bypassed unless you put a conventional fuse or circuit breaker in the bypass.

TDC (top-dead-center) refers to the number one cylinder -- the one at the front. There are only two options -- the piston comes up and it's either an exhaust stroke or a compression stroke. Both have a TDC, but the one we want is TDC on the compression stroke. You don't need more than two revolutions to get there. If the valve cover is off, look to see which cylinder has a valve open. For an inline 6, the firing order is 1-5-3-6-2-4. That means numbers 1 and 6 come up together, with one on compression and the other on exhaust. Whichever one has a valve open is NOT the one you want. For the wiring schematic we'll need to know what year.

He'll also NOT have to replace the shocks. And he said he does mostly street driving, with some light trail use. Did I miss something? What tire size? That makes a lot of difference when choosing gears.

Y'all got me curious, so I decided to check the factory part numbers. They are NOT all the same -- but there are three different part numbers (excluding differences for tinted and non-tinted) just for the early body style, so a different part number doesn't mean it won't fit -- it may only be a difference in the tint color. In other words, my research was inconclusive. For whatever it's worth, here it is: Windshield Part Numbers (By the numbers): XJ 1984 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) XJ 1985 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) XJ 1986 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) MJ 1986 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) XJ 1987 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) MJ 1987 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) XJ 1988 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) MJ 1988 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) XJ 1989 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) MJ 1989 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) XJ 1990 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) MJ 1990 - 5500 0552 (Clear) / 5500 0553 (Tinted) XJ 1991 - 5500 0553 (Tinted) MJ 1991 - 5500 0553 (Tinted) XJ 1992 - 5513 4793 (Tinted) MJ 1992 - 5513 4793 (Tinted) XJ 1993 - 5513 4793 (Tinted) XJ 1994 - 5513 4793 (Tinted) XJ 1995 - 5517 5090 (Tinted) XJ 1996 - 5517 5090 (Tinted) XJ 1997 - 5515 4994 (Tinted) XJ 1998 - 5515 4994 (Tinted) XJ 1999 - 5515 4994 (Tinted) XJ 2000 - 5515 4994AB (Tinted) XJ 2001 - 5515 4994AB (Tinted)

I agree with 91Pioneer -- too stiff for my liking. Will 99 WJ shocks even fit an MJ?