Eagle

Yes. All direct fit. No. It's all exactly the same. Possibly a bit, but IMHO not enough to consider them an upgrade. The real braking improvement in the newer XJs over the early XJs and MJs is the double diaphragm brake booster -- which isn't part of the front end. Direct fit. NO! The hub/bearing units are different and cannot be interchanged. The rear is a bit trickier due to the matter of relocating the perches. The front will be a direct, bolt-in replacement so there's nothing to be nervous about. Just remember down the road that anything for the front axle has to be ordered by the year of the axle, not the year of your MJ. (That refers to brake pads and rotors, hub/bearing units, and ball joints.)

Dunno. I currently have an 87 Pioneer, and 88 SporTruck, and an 88 Chief. I had an 86 XLS and another 86 that I don't recall the model of.

Blazer were definitely not factory. Blazer is what Wal-Mart sells (or used to sell). Not even close to being OEM quality.

Think SERIOUSLY about how you'll be using the truck. Remember, the forward end is the same as an XJ. Ed Stevens, an early member of NAXJA and a very experienced off-roader (and off-road racer, IIRC), put a lot of effort into exercising the front suspension of the XJ to determine an optimal tire setup. What he found was that 31x10.50s on factory alloy rimes will tuck up inside the fenders when the suspension compresses, allowing full suspension travel. However, if you add 2" or even 1-1/4" spacers in the front, you create a situation where 31" tires WON'T tuck up inside, they'll hit the flares and sheet metal. Then you have to cut, or install much taller bump stops to limit the amount by which the suspension can compress.

Which is where they belong. Why is that a bad thing? What are the laws in your state? When I bought my '88 MJ the previous owner had removed the flares and crudely hacked out the mounting flanges. Within two weeks after putting it on the road with 31" tires, I got a ticket for having the tires extending beyond the body. Worse -- I was getting ready to leave for a trip, and I had ten days to fix it and get it reinspected.

Don, is that shown on their web site? I looked, and I didn't see any reference to different kits.

You would also have to give up your HESCO CPS relocation kit, I believe.

I don't think now is the time to decide between Renix and HO. Thew time to decide would have been before you bought the HESCO relocation kit. The size, shape and distribution of the notches and bumps on the flex plates are different between the Renix and the HO because the CPS for each operates on a different principle and generates a different type of signal. The relocation kit would have to be configured similarly. The problem is, the information on HESCO's web site doesn't say if the kit is Renix or HO. Before making a decision, I'd suggest contacting HESCO to find out. My guess is that, since these kits were offered by HESCO before the HO came to exist, the relocation kit is going to be a Renix-only affair.

How's the fuel filter? It's a round canister mounted to the driver's side frame rail, roughly under the driver's seat. Not expensive, and probably due to be replaced since most people don't know it's there.

I would guess that for the Renix era and for MJs, the percentage of 4.0L 5-speeds would be significantly higher than 30%. In fact, having spent a lot of time hanging around the dealership where I bought my '88 XJ, I'd say the percentage is higher than 30% for XJs, as well (for the Renix years, anyway). The percentage of vehicles with automatics became steadily higher as fewer and fewer people knew how to drive a manual transmission.

Getting back to the original post: Maybe I'm losing my sense of spatial orientation but ... does a tapered shim in that position do ANYTHING to change the caster or camber angle? I need to go out and look more closely at my pile of old axles, because I don't think that shim does anything other than to make the front end dangerous.

That depends on your definition of "superior." As far as trim level, the Eliminator was a higher-level model than the Chief. But in its first year (1989? 1990?) the Eliminator was only available as a 2WD. After that, it was also available in 4WD and was, without question, the top model. Below the Eliminator came the Chief and the Pioneer. Aside from exterior decals, they were pretty much the same. The Chief was just tricked out to look a bit more "off-roady," whicle the Pioneer was trimmed out more like a daily driver. Below those two were the Base and SporTruck -- and I believe in the years when there was a "SporTruck" by model, that actually was the base model. 1986 was a completely different series, with X being the base model, XLS being the top of the line, and something else in between. (XL, maybe?)

Correct me if I am wrong, but the 3.07 was all that came with the 4.0 5spd. That is a pretty "common ratio." The 3.55 came in most XJs on up through '01 and are a dime a dozen around here. There is literally a pile of them at one of yards here....your pick for $125 all day long. The 3.55 ratio was standard for all 4.0L XJs and MJs with the automatic. 87MJTIM is correct, the 3.07 ratio was used with the 4.0L 5-speed through the entire production run of the XJ and MJ, from 1987 through 2001. I would call that a "common" axle.

Pretty ugly, IMHO. And I hope you are aware that the MJ rear wheel arch openings are larger than the XJ, so the rears probably won't work.

The factory mounted them to the lower radiator cross brace, in front of the a/c condenser.

All the radiators are set up for automatics. Crawl underneath and you should see two plugs along the bottom of your radiator. While you're doing the conversion, you might as well go all the way and install an auxiliary tranny cooler for insurance. BTW, if you bring over the '92 radiator, you'll gain a filler neck but you'll lose a place to put your auxiliary fan switch. The 92 radiator doesn't have a bung for the temp sender in the driver's side tank.

The factory timing chain is NOT a POS. It's a single roller, which is more than adequate for a torque engine that doesn't see high RPM and doesn't have dual coil, high-pressure valve springs. I pulled the timing assembly from my '88 XJ at 200,000, not because I was having problems but because I remembered that the cam sprocket on my AMC V8s had nylon teeth, and they liked to strip after a few years or a hubdred thousand miles or so. So I figured I was living on borrowed time and that a full replacement would be a preemptive strike. When I took it apart, the old timing set was in perfect condition. I learned that the large sprocket on the 4.0L is all steel, so no worries about stripping the teeth. The original chain was tight enough that there was virtually no difference between it and the new one. I was in these so I installed the replacement, but I kept the old timing set and I wouldn't hesitate to put it in an engine that needs a timing chain.

Friends don't let friends buy Rusty's products. Been there, done that.

Stock shocks should be fine. Depending on which one you get, they offer (in front) 7" to 8" of total travel. Assuming the stock configuration splits that equally between up-travel and down-travel, that's 3-1/2 to 4 inches each way. Put in a 2" lift and you move that to 1-1/2 up and 5-1/2 down. Still enough travel for normal driving, just a bit less droop than optimal for severe off-roading.

Sounds like either weak spark or out of time. Check out Cruizer's list of sensor checks for how to determine if the CPS is putting out the correct voltage. Just because it's new doesn't mean it's good -- there's a lot of DOA stuff in the way of electrical components.

I just spent a couple of hours going over the Monroe on-line data and a printed catalog from Rancho. The mount codes for the XJ/MJ front shocks are S1 (or S4 in the newer system) for the upper end, and XP4 or XP7 for the lower end. After scrolling through the entire list of shocks by dimension. I found that the XJ/MJ replacement shocks are the longest offered with those mounting codes. There is some variation, depending on which shock series you're in, and I also found that in some series there are more than one shock number with the exact same dimensions. Dunno why -- different valving, perhaps? I have this compiled in a spreadsheet. If anyone has a way of posting it in a format where everyone can see it, drop me a PM with your e-mail and I'll send it to you. The bottom line for the longest available is the following, listed with the mid-travel length for each. Stock mid-travel runs from 16.188 to 17.188. Monroe 37083 ... 17.188 OESpectrum (Listed for 91-92 MJ and 91-01 XJ) Monroe 911161 ... 16.875 Reflex (Not Listed for XJ & MJ) Rancho 17041 ... 17.188 Rancho RSX (Listed for 91-01 XJ & MJ) Monroe MA822 ... 19.438 Max-Air (Listed for 84-01 XJ & MJ). This is the longest Monroe shock listed with the correct end fittings, and it's an air-adjustable shock -- which may not be appropriate or acceptable for many people. Link to Monroe dimension chart: http://www.monroe.com/assets/downloads/english/MonroeMountingLengthSpecifications.pdf Edit to add: I did a screen grab of the spreadsheet. It may be a bit small for reading, but let's try it:

Most people I've known with budget boosts just run the stock shocks. There are other options to adapting for a budget boost, but your anticipated use has to be factored into the equation. One approach (at least for the front) is shock stud extenders: http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mrg-1290/overview/ They're cheap enough at $12 for the pair. But if you plan to wheel hard, with the suspension fully articulated, these won't be a good choice because you'll risk bottoming out the shocks before the suspension hits the bump stops. For street and mild wheeling they should be fine. I'd suggest just going to the specifications section of Monroe's catalog and looking for a shock that fits your needs. Hornbrod posted the following: Based on those specs, the shock travel is 7.875" and the mid-height (which is where the shock should sit at curb weight on a level surface) is 17.188". So look for a shock that has a mid-height of somewhere around 17" and a stud at the top and a bar pin at the bottom. Once you find one or more shocks that will work, you can jump to the cross-reference part of Monroe's web site and see what vehicle(s) the shocks fit. Once you know that, you can use that information to shop other brands of shocks if you don't like Monroe. (I happen to like Monroe, FWIW.) Keep in mind that, as with stud extenders, you'll either have to restrict your wheeling or extend your bump stops to prevent bottoming out the longer shocks if the suspension compresses.

It's all exactly the same. All MJs used a high pinion D30. All MJ suspension and steering components are the same as XJ. It's not an upgrade in any way, but it should be an easy bolt-in swap.

Let's take it from the top. You wrote that you took parts from the XJ to get the MJ running. What parts did you take? And, since it ran before and doesn't run know, what did you use to replace the parts you "borrowed" from the XJ? In theory, the three things an internal combustion engine needs to run are fuel air, and spark. You have all three, so the answer has to be somehow related to timing, either of the ignition or of the injection. Have you tested the fuel pressure in the rail? Have you tried starting it with starting fluid, or by pouring a SMALL amount of gasoline directly into the throttle body?

Can you see the timing mark on the front cover? You have spark, but have you confirmed that #1 is firing when #1 is supposed to fire? Spark plug wires in the correct firing order (1-3-5-6-2-4, IIRC)?