Eagle

IMHO a spring pack that provides the needed ride height is always better than messing with lift shackles.

But the new axle is a 1990, going into an earlier chassis. Did you buy ALL the parts to be compatible with the 1990 knuckles? That's where it starts. You can't mix and match any of the components.

I suspect that you have an incompatible mix of steering/suspension and brake parts. From my long-time work-in-progress book (copyrighted, I do NOT grant any permission to reproduce): If everything doesn't match ... you get issues.

But the front line is an air INLET, allowing filtered air to enter the valve cover. The smaller line at the rear is the suction line that pulls air and contaminants out of the crankcase and sends them to the engine to be burned. The smaller line at the rear can get clogged over time, blocking that path. Blowby then pressurizes the crankcase and forces the oily residue to travel backwards to the air filter to get out. It's often necessary to remove the valve cover and clean out the inlet port as well as to replace the smaller (rear) CCV line to fix the problem. If your engine has a lot of blow-by, it's possible that even a fully functional CCV system won't be able to handle the excess crankcase pressure.

No problem. The line from the air cleaner is inlet. As long as the breather you installed has some sort of air filter capacity you should be just fine.

Clogged CCV tube.

Another possibility is the O2 sensor -- how old is it? The Renix system is a decent system, but an old design. It always starts based on the ECU programming. Until the engine gets up to operating temperature, the ECU ignores most sensor inputs and operates on a pre-programmed fuel-air map. This is called open loop mode. When the temperature gets close to normal, it switches into closed loop mode and responds to sensors. Your mention of this happening 2 miles down the road is why I mention this. When I was driving an '88 4.0L as my daily driver, I was able to sense when it switched from open loop to closed loop. There was just a very subtle little hiccup in the engine -- and it was generally about 2 miles down the road. At one point, I was getting backfires at the point of change-over. I guessed that the O2 sensor was going south, replaced it, and all was good.

That's correct. I don't know how it could be considered a safety feature when they didn't do the XJ that way, but the brake lights on the MJ do override the 4-way flashers.

My sentiments exactly. I occasionally make exceptions for garter snakes and black snakes around the perimeter of the property but ... stray onto the lot and they're toast if I see them. I ... don't ... like ... snakes.

Some occifers of my acquaintance didn't seem to find that nearly as amusing as we enlisted types.

For those who didn't know, I underwent cardiac (as in "open heart") surgery may 27. I finally talked my way out of the rehab center that was slowly killing me, and I've been back at home for two glorious hours. I was VERY touched that some of you MJers actually took the trouble to track me down and call me in the hospital. Apologies if I didn't sound too coherent -- in fact, I wasn't (pain killers do that, I hear), plus I'm still pretty weak and I have trouble projecting my voice. Thanks from my newly-reconstructed heart for reaching out. Recovery period is three MONTHS. That means this summer is not going to happen, for me. No physical projects on the horizon. It'll be two months before I can lift more than 20 pounds. I have too many excess XJ hulks sitting here and this as the summer they were going to be dealt with. Since I won't be able, I wonder if some of the MJers around Connecticut/Southern New England would be interested in coming over for a Sawzall day and just reducing the hulks to more portable condition. In the process, if anyone needs something off one of the designated hulks, the more people can use is the less to be disposed of. There's even on '86 Pioneer 4-banger that I think could be made into a functional vehicle again, or a trail rig. If there's any interest, we'll try to pick a date.

Exactly.

I feel for you, Bro. It took me until age 59 to find my true partner. We had only ten years together before she was taken from me in January. You are blessed to still have your "better half."

What Memorial Day is supposed to be about:

In theory, 5W30 is thinner than 15W30 when cold and the same at operating temperature. Go ahead and use it.

Thank you for posting this with the photo of the cemetery, because that helps tell us who Memorial Day is really for. As a Vietnam veteran who came home, I am irritated beyond reason every year by well-meaning twits who materialize every Memorial Day and think that's a good time to thank active duty military, or living veterans. News flash: We have something called Armed Forces Day. We have something called Veterans Day. Memorial Day is a day set aside to honor and to remember those who went away to protect us, and who died before returning. Some are still MIA. Some were sent back to Dover AFB in a flag draped coffin. And tens of thousands are buried in U.S. military cemeteries in foreign countries. I had the honor twenty years ago to stand in many of the U.S. cemeteries around Normandy. The experience is indescribable. You can sort of get it if you have ever visited Arlington, but many of those buried in Arlington died natural deaths years after whichever war they served in. At those American cemeteries in Europe, every single cross or Star of David marks the grave of someone who died on a battlefield. We NEED to remember that this country exists today because of the men who were willing to die for it. That's why Memorial Day is important, and that's why we should never allow the meaning of Memorial day to get watered down and confused with Armed Forces Day or Veterans Day. By all means, thank vets and active duty any time you see them ... but don't lose the meaning of Memorial Day. [/rant]

For decent penetration, you need to soak it every day for at least a week.

Opinions are perfectly acceptable ... when the subject of discussion is a matter of opinion. In this particular case, it is NOT a matter of opinion. The Jeep XJs and MJs simply did NOT have a full-width shroud when equipped with only the primary, mechanical fan. This is not a matter of opinion; this is the fact and it doesn't matter what your opinion is nor what other vehicles may or may not have for shrouds. There is a separate shroud for the mechanical fan, that covers the right (passenger) side of the radiator. If the auxiliary electric fan is installed, its shroud is part of the fan -- just like the photo I posted. (The other photo of the two fans with curved blades shows the newer style aux fans. The photo I posted shows the Renix-era style) People come to this site for information on how to fix their heaps. Opinions are fine when everyone is guessing what the cause of a problem might be. However, when you make statements as fact that are factually incorrect, that doesn't help anyone and it can result in the member wasting time, effort and money.

Buy it or not ... facts are facts. We are not talking about "most cars," we are talking about Renix-era Jeep Comanches. If the truck did not come with an auxiliary fan, there is no auxiliary shroud. The photo I posted is a photo of the Renix-era Jeep XJ/MJ auxiliary fan.

Since you know how to bypass or disable the CAD, you have all the tools you need. In fact, you don't even need to tinker with the CAD. Park with the rear wheels on the ground, put the transfer case into what it says is 2WD, jack up the front end, crawl underneath and try to turn the front driveshaft. If it turns, the transfer case is in 2WD. If it doesn't turn, the transfer case is in 4WD. Vacuum does not actuate the transfer case. That's all mechanical. Vacuum moves the CAD slider, and vacuum turns on the light.

Could I get adjustable ball joints? Ball joints are not "adjustable." Offset ball joints are set when they are installed and they correct for out-of-spec camber, but once installed they cannot be adjusted. We may be talking about the same thing, but the correct term is "offset," not "adjustable."

The factory specification for camber is zero, with an allowable range of plus-or-minus 1/2 degree. The FSM stresses that camber must be the same on both sides. If the tubes are straight and parallel, the fix is either to replace the entire axle assembly, or offset ball joints.

The worst case scenario is that your axle is bent. If that's the case, one or both axle shafts won't be engaging the differential at 90 degrees and the condition will result in accelerated wear of the differential carrier bearings. IMHO the first thing you need to do is accurately measure both axle tubes (passenger side and driver side, not front and rear) to make certain that they are parallel. If you took the truck in for an alignment, didn't the technician tell you what the readings were? If the Cs are at the wrong angle to the axle tubes but the tubes are straight and parallel, there are ofset ball joints available that can correct for a certain amount of excess camber. Typically I've seen thenm in 1-degree flavor, but I believe there are other values available.

There ain't no such critter as a 2007 Cherokee. 2001 was the last year. If you mean GRAND Cherokee, that axle is an aluminum-cased version they call a Dana 44 but it's a piece of junk. My understanding is that none of the internal parts swap with a standard Dana 44.

Why don't you measure the actual rear ride height before doing anything, then you'll have a better idea of how to get from where you are to where you want to be. For that matter, also measure the front so you'll know if your 3" coils are really giving you 3" of lift. How to measure the ride height has been discussed here several times recently. Frankly, going to the trouble of doing a spring-over conversion and then removing a leaf from weak, sagged springs in the hope that the SOA conversion will result in 3" of lift rather than 6" of lift seems to me like a bad bargain. If your springs are that bad, I would just get a new AAL or get a pair of new, custom springs to put the ride height where you want it. You're going to go through all that work, and then your springs could break next week. [Edit to add] I found one of the posts explaining how to measure: