Eagle

What you have just described doesn't say anything about a "ratio." Up is up, down is down. What "ratio"? Do you understand that shocks have internal valves to control the fluid flow and velocity? That's what allows the shocks to do their job -- they restrict the flow of the hydraulic fluid, which restricts the movement of the suspension. Valving can be set to 50/50, which offers equal resistance to compression and extension, or it can be set to other ratios such as 60/40 or even (as in the drag race shocks) 90/10. Take a 90/10 shock and mount it upside down, and now you have a 10/90 shock. Instead of allowing a lot of extension but little compression, it will now resist uplift, but if the front gets extended it will offer almost no resistance to compression. And that still doesn't address the fact that some valves may be designed to operate in one orientation only, and won't operate properly when installed upside-down.

I don't think the top of that post is the mark. Isn't there a notch, or a cut-away portion, below that? THAT's the mark. (I don't remember -- I've been running a Moroso surge tank in place of the plastic bottle for fifteen years.) Do NOT run it without a thermostat. The thermostat is there for a reason, which is to keep the temperature UP to the proper operating range. If the system can't keep it from overheating beyond that range, removing the thermostat is not the answer.

First things first: We just did this a few days ago. At least you know that you have a closed system, and that the plastic bottle on the firewall is pressurized, right? And that plastic cap on that plastic bottle is your pressure cap. If you still have your original plastic bottle and cap, it is now about 25 years old. Plastic gets brittle and changes size as it gets old. It's very possible that your bottle isn't capable of maintaining pressure any more. If that's the only problem, then a replacement bottle will cure it. Second point -- how full are you filling that bottle? It should NOT be "filled." If you look down inside, you'll see a post sticking up. That's the fill mark. It should be HALF-full when cold. There is no overflow, so the coolant needs a place to expand. The upper half of the plastic tank is the expansion space. Lastly, if you still have the original radiator, consider it beyond dead. It may not be leaking but I'll bet it's almost completely clogged. 25 years is a LONG time for a radiator. I bought my '88 Cherokee new, and it's now on its third (second replacement) radiator.

Back in my pony car days, when I graduated from autocross to road tracks and hillclimbs I decided it would be a good idea to have a kill switch next to the shifter handle. I wasn't sponsored and I didn't have a lot of money, so I went to Radio Shack and bought a small-ish "project box" and a push-pull switch. Out was ON, and in was OFF. I mounted the box to the tranny tunnel and drilled a hole in the top for the switch. That part was great -- up was on, so to kill all power all I had to do was drop my hand from the shift knob to the switch, and it was OFF. Except ... that it didn't work. I don't recall how I wired it the first try, but what happened was that, when I hit the kill switch, instead of killing the engine it kept right on running ... and the lights got brighter. Whatever I had done, what I had accomplished was apparently to just remove the battery from the system so the alternator was running everything directly. It took me awhile to figure out how to get around that, but I did find a way. Wish I could remember, because it might help you here.

The shocks operate with gas, not fluid? What kind of shocks do you have? I don't think you understand what the term "gas shocks" means. Generally, all it means is that, instead of the non-fluid part of the interior of the shock being at atmospheric pressure, there is a chamber that is filled with a LOW pressure charge of inert gas, usually nitrogen. The gas doesn't do anything as far as absorbing shock. All it does is reduce the tendency of the hydraulic fluid to foam when it gets hot and works hard by raising the ambient pressure to which the fluid is exposed. It's like taking a new bottle of cola and shaking it. As long as you don't open the cap, whatever pressure is in the bottle doesn't allow the carbonation gas to foam out. Open the cap, and you get LOTS of foam. We don't want foam in our shock absorbers. The fluid in a shock absorber absorbs shocks by being forced through orifices and valves inside the shock. Not all shocks are designed and valved to resist movement equally in both directions. An extreme example is the 90/10 shocks used in the front of drag race cars. They allow lots of uplift, to help transfer weight to the rear wheels off the line, and they resist compression to help KEEP that weight on the rear wheels. Consider what would happen if they were mounted upside down. Also consider that the valves in the shocks are designed to function when the shock is installed in the orientation the designer expects it to be installed. If you invert the shock, the valving may or may not (probably not) function as designed.

Anti-seize will do it. Fiberglass doesn't rust, but it sure holds enough moisture to help the screws rust.

Probably not, but check with Nick or RE to be sure. How is Nick? I haven't touched base with him for probably ten years or more.

There are a VERY few that can be mounted either way, but not many. Usually the rod should go up, unless the instructions specifically say otherwise.

That's normal in hot weather.

Really? JB Weld is conductive? I never knew that.

210 is normal if your gauge is reading somewhat accurately. Running cooler in rain is a clue. The thermostat is there to keep temps UP, not down, so when the temp starts going higher than the thermostat rating it indicates a problem. The fact that your radiator can shed heat better in rain than in dry air strongly suggests that your radiator is not up to the job.

They had 60/40, no problem there. They didn't have 50/50. My real concern was that the kid couldn't tell me the melting temperatures. The lower temp fuse I found is only rated for 128* C and I would prefer not to blow it while soldering it in place. Guess I'll just have to make liberal use of heat sinks.

But the actual resistors in my resistor pack are fine. I'd much rather spend two bucks and a few minutes with a soldering gun to repair the old one, if possible.

Radio Shack ain't what it used to be. Stopped by a local Radio Shack store that happens to be very near the Lowe's I had to go to anyway. Kid in a red shirt led me to a bunch of drawers labeled "Fuses," and proceeded to pull out one envelope after another of glass, cartridge fuses -- after I had given him the part numbers I was after and pointed at one that was the same type and said, 'They'll look like this, but with different temperature ratings." Finally found the higher rated one (the part number from Hornblod's post), but couldn't find the one rated close to the Jeep spec. I did find one that's rated even lower, so I took the ONE fuse they had in that rating and I think I'll try that one first. Then I went looking for rosin-core solder. They had 60/40, they the old triple-component solder in whatever proportion that comes in, and they had "lead free" solder. I asked the kid what the melting temperature is on the different types. He didn't know. In fact, he couldn't even pronounce "solder." I asked him what's in the lead-free solder, since traditionally solder is a lead+something alloy. He didn't know. Sheesh. But I'll bet he can tell me everything about an iPhone 5 ...

Why do you think you need lower gears?

I find it interesting that the '88 FSM gives the actual temperature rating for the thermal fuse, and the 2000 FSM doesn't even mention it. In fact, looking at THREE wiring diagrams where the resistor pack is shown, the thermal fuse itself isn't shown and there's no indication of how it works. The factory clearly doesn't want anybody fooling around, trying to repair one of these resistor packs instead of just buying a new one.

Of course there's a cable. Not a "wire" -- a rotating spring cable inside a non-rotating sleeve. How else do you think the speed information gets from the drive gear in the transfer case to the speedometer in the dashboard?

Harbor Freight Tools has a couple of breaks -- not too expensive.

Pretty sure these flaps are the way they are supposed to be. They look like true Comanche flaps have to go out to the garage and compare to mine. GirsMJ are yours listed for the Comanche or Cherokee? Don't think so. My '88 XJ came with mud flaps from the factory, and both front and rear had metal attaching brackets as shown in the photos provided by GirsMJ86 and Sinkrun. Also, they were taller than the ones you have. Yours appear to have been cut down in height and attached directly, with no hardware.

You won't find the thermal fuse at a Jeep dealer. The resistor pack is not serviceable -- replace only. Looks like Radio Shack has one rated at 140 degrees C (288 degrees F). That's maybe close enough, and will allow me to use regular electronic solder. Looks like I'll be visiting my local radio Shack tomorrow. Thanks, Gents. This is what I hate about modern society. Rather than replace a $2.00 fuse, they want you to replace the entire resistor pack -- for $75.00. Unfortunately, at today's labor rates it's probably cheaper for a shop customer to do it that way rather than pay a technician to repair the original resistor pack and then replace it, but it's tough on us do-it-yourselfers who aren't paying for labor, only for the parts.

How did you determine the temperature rating? For two bucks, I'll give it a try but there's a big difference between 148 degrees C and 228 degrees C. The higher temp rating would require a different solder than what's normally used in electronics.

I know why it blew -- I covered that. Mice built a nest in the blower, as well as stuffing nest material around the thermal fuse. Yes, the heater will work -- on high speed only. I want to be able to use al speeds. I have cleaned out the blower and replaced the resistor pack, but I'd like to repair the old one to keep around as a spare. I have three new-style XJs (two 2000s and one 2001), so the odds are that I may need another one some day.

Ah. Good find -- the ones that mount to the sides of the frame rails (the right way) are rare. That might work with the Westin/Fey bumper brackets -- they mount to the same three holes. I think the hitch should go on first, then the bumper brackets, because IIRC they have the edges bent out at 90 degrees for stiffess, so I don't think you could mount them first.

I just had to replace the blower resistor pack in my 2000 XJ ... AGAIN! Mice keep building nests in the blower box, the nest material insulates the resistor pack, and it blows. The resistors themselves are (or seem to be) fine. There's also a very small "thingie" in there that looks more like a capacitor (but probably isn't -- this isn't my area of expertise). It must act as a thermal fuse. The new unit has continuity across this "thingie" -- the blown one does not. The resistor pack costs $74.00. I've got to think that it should be possible to make a bench repair and replace this fuse thing for a lot less than that. Does anyone on this forum have the electronics expertise to figure out what this is and what to use to replace it? If there's a volunteer, I can send you the blown resistor unit for you to examine first-hand. I'm tempted to jumper it and see if that would work, but it has to be there for a reason, so perhaps that's not a good idea. Thoughts?

You don't have it yet. How do you know it fits "really well" (or at all) with the stock bumper?