Eagle

Two questions: 1. Why did you turn on the ignition? 2. Why did you prop the brake peddle down with a jack handle? It doesn't sound like you understand the reason for the special bleeding procedure. There's an emergency by-pass circuit to the rear brakes so that if the front brakes fail you can have full pressure to the rear rather than going through the height-sensing proportioning valve. Normally, the slider in the front junction block has that emergency circuit blocked off. The purpose of opening a front bleeder is to simulate a front brake failure and get the slider to move, opening the by-pass circuit so it can be bled. Holding the brake peddle down doesn't accomplish anything. What needs to be done is to open the front bleeder, then stomp on the brake peddle to force the slider to slide. If the brake warning light doesn't come on, you didn't stomp hard enough. And the only reason for turning on the ignition would be to see if the warning light comes on.

Wheel balance would be my guess. Especially if the DW is now kicking in at 55 MPH. Dunno why, but 55 seems to be the magic threshold for when out-of-balance tires start to show the effects.

Rancho sells the same AAL kit for both the XJ and MJ. Their catalog lists it as 2-1/2" for both vehicles -- which isn't possible. Several years ago I called Rancho and spoke with one of their engineers. She went off and spoke with another engineer, then came back and told me that the catalog was a mis-print. It should be 2-1/2" in the XJ and 1-1/2" in the MJ. So you can use an XJ full-length AAL in an MJ, but expect to lose at least an inch off the advertised lift. Obviously, you can also use a short AAL in an MJ, but they ride horribly and can weaken or break the springs.

MJ springs measure 5 inches longer, eye-to-eye, than XJ springs. You can cut the eyes off an XJ main leaf and use it as an add-a-leaf. Don't know how much lift you might get.

The Mopar Performance catalog perches are about the best you can get and MUCH less money than anything else ... but they are also cut for a 3" axle tube. I don't think that's a problem -- looks to me like you can easily do a little grinding to fit for a smaller tube, and fill in the gap at the ends with weld material.

It depends. First off, to keep it simple you do NOT want to look for a swap to an HO. That involves the entire under-hood electrical system, the ECU (computer), different injection, different manifolds -- virtually everything. The 1987 thru 1990 4.0L is a good, solid engine so there's no reason to do anything other than just replace the engine. If you buy a commercial rebuilt engine, such as a Jasper, you're easily looking at $2500 or more. However, if you find a running junkyard engine, you might get the engine for a couple of hundred dollars, and then pay for the labor to swap it in. You don't "jack up" anything to do an engine swap in these trucks. You remove the hood, the grille and the radiator, and slide the old engine out to the front. The "new" engine goes in the same way.

Have your tires balanced.

What year? If you have an '87, you probably don't have one.

Polarity is easy with an aftermarket gauge. If it reads backwards, switch the wires on the terminals.

Death wobble is wearing your tires? HOW? You can't drive a vehicle that has death wobble -- it can't be done. If/when death wobble strikes, the ONLY thing you can do is stop the vehicle. If you can't drive the vehicle, the tires can't wear. Are you talking about a different issue and calling it death wobble?

The fairlead and top access were centered. The winches were "clocked" 90 degrees, so the mounting feet were pointed back toward the radiator and the operating lever was facing up. I didn't see any on the 2010 trip to Chile for Christmas, but the last time I was there (a few years ago) it seemed like every Cherokee I saw had the hidden winch. There's some quirk in their registration laws that a vehicle with a winch gets classified as a work truck and pays lower taxes, so it was a popular option.

The range for the Renix was 0 to 88 ohms. 0 = Empty, 88 = Full.

Are you sure about that? The only references I've ever seen were for 5000 pounds or 6000 pounds.

Yes. If you look closely, the factory tow hook brackets (unlike the aftermarket brackets from Rusty's, C4x4 and Quadratec) have two sets of mounting holes. One set is for a standard setup, the other set pushes the bumper forward by 4 inches (or is it 6 inches?) to make room for the winch. The winch plate itself actually mounts through the standard bumper bracket holes in ends of the uniframe ears.

It's surprising just how gradual a turn it takes to result in one wheel traveling enough farther than another. The Trac-Loks in both my 87 MJ and 2000 XJ are quite tight, and they tend to ratchet a bit on corners. But all it takes is the sweep of an exit ramp off a limited access highway, for example. And that's just the difference between the two wheels on the rear axle. Going around any corner, the rear axle travels a tighter radius than the front axle, so it really doesn't take much driving at all to start binding up the transfer case.

Slippery means the tires are slipping on the surface even at low speed. I would not use 4WD part-time in rain under any conditions. It might be safe to do so in very heavy rain if you have tires that lose traction easily on wet pavement -- what I refer to as "greasy" tires. The problem is, of course, that one section of pavement may be more or less slippery than another section. If the tires have traction, in 4WD the system binds up and things break.

In 1990 (IIRC) Chrysler changed the design of the header and grill. They LOOK the same, but the old ones had the trim strip across the top (three pieces, above the grille and each headlight bezel) as separate parts. The newer design has that strip incorporated as an integral part of the grille and each headlight. The header itself is different, so if you installed a 1991 header, you now need 1991+ headlight bezels and grille.

If the slop is in the hinges, you can buy replacement pins. If the slop is the hinge assembly moving relative to the door post -- it's a welded connection that's getting ready to fail, so get it fixed soon.

Most auto parts stores sell "hydraulic clutch fluid." It's basically the same as brake fluid, and I have no idea why they package and market it as a different product. Considering all the problems brake fluid can cause, I use DOT 5 silicone in both my brakes and in the clutch. People told me I was crazy and asking for problems when I put it in the clutch, but that was 11 years and almost 90,000 miles ago on the '88 Cherokee (which was the first one I changed over) and I haven't noticed any problems yet. If my clutch master ever leaks back into the cab, the silicone won't destroy the fuse panel. Plus, I don't have to worry about internal corrosion in the steel lines because silicone isn't hygroscopic.

thats would be possible but i forget whats different between winter gas and summer gas? different thick of gas for tempature like Oil's? They change the formulation for winter. I don't remember the specifics, but generally "winter" gas delivers about 2 MPG less than "summer" gas. That could explain the gas mileage difference, but it won't explain the fuel gauge antics.

Winter gas ==> Summer gas

I think you have it reversed. The line from the "nose" of the front metering block is the full-time port for the rear brakes. The forward of the two outlet ports on the bottom of the front metering block is the port for the emergency bypass. If you have eliminated the rear height-sensing valve, you don't need a second line and should plug the forward outlet on the bottom of the metering block. It takes (IIRC) a 1/2" FINE thread, but you'll have to cut it down to about 1/2" or 3/8" in length to get a neat job.

Those little wedge-base bulbs that are used in the gauge cluster come in about three different wattages. If yours aren't bright enough, check the listings in a parts store and move up to the next brighter number. (Unless all yours are already the brightest available.)

I'm guessing the answer is no. A lot of engines have a rocker ratio of 1.5:1, and increasing that to 1.6:1 produces a bit more lift. AFAIK AMC engines have always used 1.6:1 rockers, so there's nothing there to be gained.

You have it backwards. The sequence is * Open bleeder * Assistant pushes peddle down SLOWLY (and holds it down) * Close bleeder * Assistant lets peddle up Check fluid level in master Repeat