Eagle

Good info though, had never heard of the 18" offering. Knowing what they came on narrows down the search - thank you. Still need to find the backset and the width - if anyone here can contribute, sing out! 18" wheels with 31" tire diameter would give a 6.5" sidewall - plenty to prevent wheel damage, and would cut down on "tuck" during cornering (admittedly not a strong point of a truck, but you never know when you might be forced into drastic maneuvers). Some of you might think I am too mindful of safety... seen this? ;) I hadn't seen that one, but I do remember the original Liberty failed one magazine's slalom test in spectacular fashion by rolling over. That led Jeep to cancel the Up Country version of the Liberty until they could re-engineer the shocks and spring rates. That said -- a Jeep isn't a sports car. I am concerned about safety, but I have no illusions that any of my XJs or MJs will ever be the equal of my race-prepped Javelins or AMXs on a road course. I will comment that I once put the 2000 XJ Classic into a full lateral power slide at 60 MPH when some idiot cut my off on a highway. IMO the problem now is that Jeep has a newer generation of engineers, whose priority seems to be to make the vehicles "look like Jeeps but ride like limousines." Something has to give when you try to combine mutually exclusive goals, and it seems that Jeep's compromise has been to give up safety and handling.

Did Jeep ever offer any 17" rim with the 5 x 4.5" bolt circle? They started with the 17" rims when they brought in the WJ version of the Grand Cherokee in 1999, and those were NOT 5 x 4.5".

True. My 2000 XJ Sport came with 15" rims and 225/75R15 tires. Tire diameter is 28.3", cross-section is 8.9", revolutions-per-mile = 730. Wife's 2000 XJ Classic came with 16" rims and 225/70R16 tires. Tire diameter is 28.4", cross-section is 8.9", revolutions-per-mile = 736 (a difference of 0.8%).

Lol no where did I say I had flares, so I don't get your point... But since my finders are uncut, that's still a mute issue because the flares don't effect how much room there is, the sheet metal does No, the flares extend both down and outward from the sheet metal. Large tires on aftermarket rims that might not hit the sheet metal could very easily still hit the flares.

I always preferred cellos, personally :D (Just yankin' yer chain a bit. Typos we can deal with. At least you didn't spell it "wallah!")

First thing to do is to see if the gauge has connectivity with the sender. The oil pressure sender is located on the passenger side of the block, near the oil filter. The "go/no-go" test is best performed with a helper, but you can do it solo if necessary. Locate the wire that plugs onto the end of the sender. Turn on the ignition, but don't start the engine. Remove the wire from the sender and don't let the connector touch anything. Check the gauge and see what it reads. It should be pegged all the way to the right (above 80 psi). Now take a jumper wire and ground the end of the wire to a known good ground under the hood (or directly to the negative battery terminal). Check the gauge again. It should now read zero. If this test fails, you probably have a broken wire somewhere between the instrument cluster and the sender. If this test passes, then we think about testing the gauge itself, and/or the sender.

I can attest from bitter experience that the above statement is nor correct. A failing CPS can (and often does) send a weak and erratic signal, resulting in a number of odd behaviors. Weird starting is one of them.

I've never heard of a ceramic-lined clutch and I can't imagine it would be worth twice the price. The factory clutch on my '88 Cherokee (bought new) lasted 204,000 miles, and was replaced only because the slave cylinder went. The clutch itself looked like new. How much better could you ask than a 200,000 mile clutch? Be sure to get the hose assembly from the master cylinder to the slave cylinder. That was the only part I didnj't replace -- guess what failed when I was 100 miles from home?

MANY years ago, one of the early members of NAXJA (Ed Stevens) did a comprehensive investigation of what tire sizes would fit an XJ with stock suspension. The 31x10.50 originally came out of his research, along with the caveat that it requires factory rims, What Ed did was to rest the chassis on blocks, then remove the front springs. This allowed him to mount tires on the axle and use a floor jack to cycle the suspension from full droop through full compression. What he proved was that on factory rims 31x10.50s would tuck up INSIDE the fender flares and allow the suspension to reach the bump stops. Run aftermarket rims with less backspacing, and the tires hit the flares under compression long before the suspension hits the bump stops. For the rear, I think he just added weight to test compression. But for us MJers, the rear wheel wells are much larger than on the XJ. However, a 31x10.50 on factory rims does ride close to the inner fender liner and the leaf spring. The limiting dimension for the rear of the MJ is the tire width, not the height. I ran 31x10.50s on my '88 MJ for a couple of years after I removed the lift. I am currently running 31x10.50s on my '88 XJ -- at stock height. The only interference is the inner shoulder of the tire rubbing the lower control arm at full steering lock. The WJ LCAs would cure that, but it hasn't been a problem so I don't worry about it. What y'all need to recognize is that LIFT WILL NOT ALLEVIATE THIS ISSUE.

The upper mount isn't any standard bolt or stud. The part that fits into the shock bushing is smooth, and larger in diameter than the threaded portion. That's so the nut and washer can seat against the shoulder of the shank to properly compress the shock bushing without over-compressing it. If the nuts look badly rusted and don't seem to want to come off, don't even fool around. If you don't have a nut breaker, get out the Dremel and grind one flat of the nut until it cracks, and you can turn it. You do NOT want to think about replacing the shock stud.

Uncompressed height is only one of the factors (parameters) you need to know. You also need to know the diameter of the wire and the number of coils.

31s fit a stock XJ the same as they fit a stock MJ -- slight rubbing on the LCAs at full steering lock. I have 31s on the '88 XJ (on factory rims) and have had no issues (other than the LCA rubbing, which I don't consider to be an "issue") for two-plus years. The key is that the 31s have to be on factory Jeep rims. No aftermarket rims have 5-1/4" backspacing like the factory rims, so on aftermarket rims the tires sit farther outboard and hit the flares.

So what y'all are telling me is that I should yank the steering columns out of the hulks in the yard before I send the shells to the crusher?

Looks like it's specific to the 1986 model year.

The RENIX injection/ignition system is very simple (not complicated) and extremely reliable.

There was someone in NAXJA-NAC several years ago who was running those and he liked them very much. But I don't recall if they generated any lift. Mostly, they are designed to increase capacity without making the ride stiffer.

Put cam assembly lube (essentially high moly-content grease) on the pushrods and the mating surfaces of the rockers and go ahead and use them. Also put assembly lube on the pivot balls for the rocker arms. Why did you send the rockers and pushrods to the shop if they weren't going to assemble the engine? And what the heck kind of shop would take a set or carefully marked and sorted rockers and push rods and REMOVE THE MARKINGS and then toss everything in a bag?

Marginal clutch operation gets worse as the fluid gets hot. You don't have a transmission problem, you have a clutch problem. You posted that everything was new, but I didn't see any mention of "flywheel." New, used, or original? If used or original, did you by any chance have it resurfaced? Wait -- "We didn't put the bell housing shield back on ..."? What shield? The steel spacer plate that's supposed to go forward of the flywheel, between the bell housing and the block? Why didn't you put that back on? Why would you suspect that omitting a part the factory obviously thought was necessary, and which affects the physical relationship between the clutch and the slave cylinder might not cause a problem?

This sums it up. I was at the dealership yesterday (at the parts department, naturally). The parts manager had just stepped out of one of the new Cherokees, so I asked him how he liked it. He just rolled his eyes. (Like most at this dealership, he's a long-time Jeep guy.) He said it drives nicely, to has WAY too many gadgets. Apparently there's some kind of driver alert sensor that shakes the steering wheel if it senses wandering out of your lane. The auto transmission is a 9-speed wunderbox. It has 4-wheel disc brakes, and to compress the rear calipers the technician has to use the dealer's scan tool and do it through the ABS computer. No more shade tree brake jobs. IFS/IRS aside, there's just not a lot there for a Jeeper to love.

Absolutely. To reiterate what Biotex wrote in post #2:

2000 Cherokee. The rubber in the rear wiper blade was falling off, so I bought a replacement blade. In odrer to get the existing (OEM) blade off, I had to move the plastic washer nozzle, which clips onto the wiper arm right next to the point where the blade pivots. Naturally, 13-year old plastic on a cold day broke. Great -- I now have a functional wiper and no washer. I need a new nozzle assembly, but it doesn't exist. Dealer says the only way they can get the washer nozzle is as a part of a new wiper arm ... to the tune of $50. Would those of you who frequent u-pull junkyards (we don't have them here in Connecticut any more -- they outlawed them a good 20 years ago) be so kind as to look for Cherokees (late model -- the early ones used a metal clip that won't replace what I broke) with the washer nozzle/clip assembly intact and grab one (or two or three, if you find them) for me? I'll cheerfully pay the cost plus postage. Thanks.

Yes ... and he said his front parking lights work. So that fuse can't be bad.

Or it's not oriented correctly.

Left side of the transmission, in the taillshaft housing. You can't really miss it -- the speedo cable is about a quarter to 5/16-inch in diameter, and that runs right into it. The "quill" (which is the adapter that holds the plastic speedo gear) is about an inch and a half in diameter and is held in the tranny by a forked retainer with a single anchor bolt. The forks of the retainer engage specified points on the quill, depending on the number of teeth on the plastic gear.

If he worked on the transmission, he must have disconnected the speedo drive cable. The adapter to which the cable attaches at the tranny and which holds the speedo drive gear is eccentric -- it has to be properly oriented according to the number of teeth on the gear. My guess is that your mechanic just stuck it back in without orienting it correctly, and the plastic gear is either not contacting the drive gear inside the tranny, or was not correctly adjusted and has now been stripped.