Eagle

Whoever you have been "told by" obviously doesn't know squat, so perhaps you should stop listening to them The rated payload for a stock Comanche was 1475. The payload for the Metric Ton pacgage was 2200 pounds. A )U.S.) ton is 2000 pounds, so a quarter ton is only 500 pounds. The basic Comanche carries nearly three times that, so it's a 3/4-ton. The metric ton carries MORE THAN a U.S. ton. You have here the most authoritative source of information about the Comanche. Why are you even paying attention to people who obviously have no clue?

I epoxied mine and it lasted maybe a week. I use OEM shift knobs from the 2000 XJ and the TJ Wranglers.

Been there, done that. Also twice. First time was also about 20 miles from home. The second time was about 100 miles (fortunately, much of it highway).

Issue number one. You're here asking for advice, but you're not telling us anywhere near the whole story. Such as: How old are you? How old is this brother-of-girlfriend? How old is the girlfriend? Most important, since you wrote that it's "understandable" that he now hates you -- WHY? What did you do to him to turn him against you? And how did he cross the line yesterday? Asking for help and then copping out with "Not going into it" is not conducive to getting solid advice. You don't. Somehow, even if his parents and sisters agree with your side of whatever the conflict is about, physical assault is never a solution, is almost guaranteed to turn the rest of the family against you, and ... pay attention ... is a felony offense in every state. If you need anger management classes, sign up for them now, before a judge orders you to attend them. P.S. A Comanche is not a "car." Get over it.

I'm at eleven -- eight XJs and three MJs. A couple of the XJs are destined for the boneyard, though, and the 2001 is going to go on the block. Since my wife died I just don't need that many Cherokees.

Short wheelbase or long wheelbase -- it doesn't matter. There was only one hitch, and it fit both chassis.

That would have been too easy, and too logical. Remember, it WAS AMC we're discussing. As much as I liked AMC vehicles, they did some strange things. However, in all honesty, it may not have been an AMC decision at all. It may have been Dana Spicer.

No. It's a 3/4-ton pickup, why would you need to change the suspension? Do your homework -- there's nothing different from the 2WD to the 4WD models except the ride height, and in the Cherokee not even that changes.

You were told wrong. The AX-15 is a larger transmission, with a larger bellhousing that mates to the larger bolt pattern of the 4.0L block. It also takes a larger diameter throw-out bearing, and a larger spline diameter for the clutch disk. The AX-5 (as well as the AX-4) and the AX-15 both came in 2WD versions and 4WD versions. The difference is whether the transmission has a tail cone with a seal for the driveshaft yoke, or a rear housing with a bolt flange to which the transfer case can be attached.

The difference is in the head gasket. One gets gasket cement, the other goes on dry. The torque would match the gasket.

I have them on my '88 XJ and I'll be converting at least one of the MJs to them in the near future.

You didn't believe me when I wrote that my info came from the FSM? ETA: I don't understand why the first page is upside down. It's oriented correctly when I view it in Photobucket.

No.

You have a real mystery. The voltage should change more than 0.1 volts through the range of speed settings. Does all wiring appear to be factory?

Studs are just as accurate as dowels. The interface of the head to the block, horizontally, is not critical to the thousandth of an inch. You just want to cylinders to line up under the valves and the water and oil passages to line up well enough to allow passage of coolant and oil. Also, pay attention to torque. The bolt with the pipe sealant gets a lower torque than the others. Also, be aware that the torque values for the 1984 thru 1987 engines were different from 1988 and newer.

I took the liberty of editing out the color background codes. Dunno what you did, but ... DON'T DO IT AGAIN!

The arm should be horizontal with no load in the bed.

One or two of the head bolts penetrate into the water jacket and have to be sealed. You wrote that you used RTV on the bolt that needs it, but I wonder if RTV is the correct sealer. According to my FSM for the I-4 engine, the head bolt at the left front position (#8 in the FSM illustration) should be sealed with "Loctite Pipe Sealant with Teflon 592 or equivalent." RTV is a gasket sealer, not a thread sealer. Back in the halcyon days of my youth, we used a sticky black Permatex product for the head bolts that penetrated the water jacket, but I don't remember the exact name for the product. Also, the head gasket can only go on one way. Be sure the side marked "TOP" is facing up.

While you are repairing the brakes, I would strongly advise that you either repair the rear height-sensing valve or bypass it completely.

If it doesn't turn over, you should be looking at a weak battery, bad starter, bad starter solenoid, or bad starter relay.

Why don't you first verify that the problem is with the ground, by hot wiring the blower motors and seeing if they run?

I wheeled my '88 MJ for several years with a 4" lift and 31s and I never touched the u-bolts on any obstacle. If that's a major concern, it should be easy to fab a couple of u-bolt skid plates.

If you have voltage to the fan connector with the switch in all positions, the problem isn't the resistor pack. Even when the resistor pack blows its internal fuse, the fan will run on high. Have you tested the fans (old and new) by hot wiring them directly to the battery? Do they run? If they run, and you have voltage to the connector, then the only thing left is the ground connection.

Sockets and grounds.

Why did you "have to" use 5,500 RPM? I know the factory tachometer sets that as the redline, but the 4.0L engine (especially the Renix version) doesn't make any more power above about 4,000 RPM. It's a torque engine, not a race engine. There is nothing to be gained by running any higher than 4,000 to 4,500 RPM. I told you to use 5,000 just to leave some "headroom." Between an '88 XJ, an '87 MJ, and two '88 MJs I don't think I've ever seen the north side of 3,500 RPM in well over 300,000 miles of driving. (The '88 XJ alone has 287,000 on it.) The original 1987 model was rated at 173 horsepower at 4,750 RPM and 220 foot-pounds of torque at 2,000 RPM. The horsepower rating for this version was raised to 177 horsepower at 4,750 RPM and 224 foot-pounds of torque at 2,400 RPM for model years 1988 through 1990. You gain absolutely nothing by revving the engine beyond the horsepower peak, and you get the best driveability by staying closer to the torque peak -- which is 2,200 to 2,400 RPM.