Eagle

Yes. Same thing.

Don't go by spline count alone. It doesn't really tell you much. The Dana 35 had 1.18" shafts and 27 splines. The early 8.25 axles had 1.17" shafts and 27 splines. The ring gear is larger than the Dana 35, but that's not where most Dana 35s fail. If you go strictly by shaft diameter and spline count, the Dana 35 should be stronger than the early 8.25. The later 8.25 has 1.21" shafts and 29 splines. For comparison, the Dana 44 has 1.31" shafts and 30 splines.

What you have not mentioned is that the Ford 8.8 is several inches narrower than the XJ and MJ axles, and can't be used in an MJ with any factory Jeeps wheels unless you also run wheel spacers.

The ride doesn't change, because you don't change the springs. If you change the shock absorbers, any change in the ridge will be caused by what shocks you choose. However ... your opening post says you are looking for "a little" extra lift. How much lift do you want? The minimum you get from a SOA is 5-1/2 inches. Do you need that much?

If you have plans both the replace and water pump and to install power steering, plan ahead. It was possible to get the 2.5L with power steering either with multiple vee belts, or with a single serpentine belt. This is important, because the serpentine belt spins the water pump in the opposite direction. Yes, there are TWO water pump part numbers, one for vee belts and one for serpentine belts. Externally they look the same and you can install the wrong one without ever knowing it -- except that it won't circulate coolant, and you'll have a constant overheating problem. Get your power steering setup squared away and choose compatible parts.

For the AMC years, the D35 had 10x1.75" rear drums. Chrysler changed to 9x2.5". I don't believe there was ever a 9x1.75" rear brake used under the MJ or the XJ.

Why would you want to do that when a factory cluster is just a junkyard (or a phone call) away?

You can run 31x10.50s on stock Jeep rims with NO lift at all. Aftermarket rims probably won't mean spacers -- no aftermarket rim as as much backspacing as the factory rims, so any aftermarket rim will stick out farter. That's when you start smashing tires into sheet metal and plastic. Rather than throw money at a lift, I recommend that you shop for a good set of used XJ or MJ rims.

No. Speedo cables are not all the same, Jeep changed the design in either '87 or '88. Ideally, you need a cluster from a 1984 thru 1986 XJ or MJ -- 1987 will work if the cable attaches to the speedo head with a metal clip and a screw, not a white nylon push-on connector. You can use the '88 - '90 style if you get the speedo cable along with the cluster. If you get the older style cluster, it MUST be from a 6-cylinder vehicle. The older ones did not have a calibration potentiometer on the tachometer, so a 4-cylinder cluster will be WAY off on the tach reading. The '88 - '90 clusters had a potentiometer on the tach, so it could be set for 4-cyl or 6-cyl operation.

What's wrong with the popular Jeep Cherokee electric fans. Unlike Ford Taurus fans, Jeep fans fit ... Jeeps. Are you looking for manual operation or automatic, thermostatic actuation?

http://www.monroe.com/assets/downloads/english/MonroeMountingLengthSpecifications.pdf The on-line Monroe catalog lists two shock series for the MJ, the SensaTrac and the Monro-Matic Plus. The SensaTrac is #37029 and it has a collapsed length of 12.75" and an extended length of 20.0" with 7.25" of travel. The Monro-Matic Plus is #31094. It has a collapsed length of 10.38" and an extended length of 16.25" with 5.88" of travel. Since you lifted your truck 4-1/2" and maintained the stock shock mounts, you need shocks that are 4-1/2" longer than those. Basically, something about 15" to 16" long collapsed and about 22" to 23" long extended. The end mounting types for the MJ shocks are L1 and L1 (upper and lower). Go to the link and see what you can find with L1/L1 mounts in approximately the length you need.

^^^^ Agreed

There's a special tool made for drilling out spot welds. That's what you need -- plus a lot of patience.

Something like 17 out of the 20 original, stainless steel lug nuts on my '88 Cherokee are still going strong. I have replaced a couple where the stainless cap has popped off. On one of the MJs I tried a set of solid, chrome-plated lug nuts. I try to be careful about not using a burp gun to beat up on my lug nuts, and the plated ones were solid rust after one winter.

The two u-joints on a drive shaft have operate "in phase" or they set up a vibration. To be in phase, the two u-joint angles have to be the same (within about a degree or so). Look at the diagram Don posted -- the angle of the mainshaft through the transfer case is parallel to the angle of the pinion shaft in the differential. That makes the two u-joint operating angles equal and opposite, so any vibration gets cancelled out.

The link you provided clearly says "Chrome." Since they appear to be one piece, rather than a steel nut with a stainless cap crimped on like the factory lug nuts, I'm going to go with "Chrome."

Rear drive shaft u-joint angles. All wrong.

I notice that you are in Connecticut. Be advised those lugs nuts will work, but they'll only be good for one Connecticut winter. They are not stainless steel, they're chrome plated. The plating is VERY thin and poor quality. It will not stand up to that liquid salt stuff Connecticut now puts on the roads.

Out of four numbered items, I only see one question: "Can it be fixed and drive straight?" The answer is obviously, "Yes," but to make such a repair is going to require professional equipment, professional skills, and money.

They only came with the auxiliary fan if they had a/c, heavy-duty cooling, and/or a tow package. There is no "shroud" for the auxiliary fan ... it was part of the fan assembly, which just drops into place. It looks like this:

Yep, that's a Dana 44. And it looks like some sneaky devil stole the operating rod for your rear height-sensing valve.

Show us a picture of the rear differential from the rear, so we can see the shape of the diff cover and the bolt pattern. I'm not getting a warm and fuzzy feeling that your rear diff is a D44 like you think it is.

What year? What engine?

They list it as a rear main seal but I think it's actually the front crank seal. The rear seal for the 4.0L is a two-piece seal. But go ahead and buy the one you found, and be sure to let us know how it works out for you.

Just think how much higher it would be if they were to fix those broken lines ...