Eagle

Nope. Not hard at all.

Why would he replace an AMC 20 that has 4.10 gears? It's a good ratio, and the AMC 20 is a brute. In many ways it's a better axle than a Dana 44 -- but it has worse ground clearance.

Oh ... my ... Gawd.

The screen that link takes me to is HORRIBLE! It's FAR too busy and distracting. Which means a key question aside from 'Does it provide better protection?" has to be "How customizable is it?" There are probably more forums running vBulletin than all other forum software combined, and there's a reason. But -- as noted, it's more money. Unless they've changed, they offer two options: You can "rent" the software, which means an annual fee ($$$) but you get support and you always have the latest version. Or you can buy it outright, which I believe includes one year of support, and no upgrades. So after the first year you're on your own, and if you decide you want a newer release -- you start over.

But he has an '87. The '87 is a Renix, with a knock sensor. Running high test retards knock, which allows the computer to run the engine with more advance, more of the time. When my '88 XJ was new, I ran it on high test. I got as high as 28 MPG on the highway with that setup. But the newer gasolines with ethanol won't do that, so I'm now back to running regular. On the newer Jeeps with the Chrysler computer, there's no knock sensor so you won't see much (if any) improvement from running a higher octane than what's needed to avoid ping.

The plates from the XJ wouldn't have the studs for the lower shock mount built in.

Thought that may be the case. In light of that, should spacers only be put on the rear instead of all four corners, would it not screw with he geometry of the suspension? Is it better to have all four corners done at once as opposed to just the rear?... or would it be the same idea as a dually pick up- wider rear with a more narrow front (but without the extra set of tires and the drastic difference in rear width)? Rear only. Remember, the spacers are being used to compensate for the fact that the Ford 8.8 rear axle is narrower than the stock MJ axle. Overall, you're really not changing the rear track by enough to make any difference (except that with the spacers your tires are no longer an interference fit with the springs and chassis, which is the problem when you slap in an 8.8).

Our member, Brent, set up a deal to get injectors at a discount just by mentioning Comanche Club. Now if I could just remember what he used for a screen name so I could point you at the thread ... Anybody still have the name of the company and the super-secret code word for the discount?

SIX types? Dana 35, Dana 44, or Chrysler 8-1/4 (did the 8-1/4 ever come in the late MJs?). That's it. Unless they count each axle ratio as a "type. An eliminator has to be a 4.0L. If it's a 5-speed your axle ratio is 3.07, if it's an automatic you have 3.55 gears. But 3.07s are a pig, and since you have 2WD this would be a perfect opportunity to change to 3.55s. Which will be easier to find since there are probably more automatics out there than 5-speeds.

I used to wheel with a guy in Rhode Island that had a small block Chevy in an XJ. Nice rig, and the conversion was fairly well done. But ... it was painful to wheel with him, because at least every 45 minutes or hour he'd have to stop and let it cool down for 20 minutes. He's not alone -- many people doing V8 conversions in the XJ or MJ find that there just isn't enough radiator to cool the beast.

Brandon - Motion Offroad is a professional in the 4x4 business. When he says spacers are not something to mess around with, he's not kidding. Unless your guy is selling one of the two brands recommended, in all seriousness ... DO NOT BUY THEM. Those two brands are the only two brands you will see consistently recommended by Jeep people who know what's good for Jeeps. Personally, I would NEVER trust my life to something made up by "some guy in Tampa, Florida." Spacers are made of aluminum. Aluminum is funny stuff ... it likes to fall apart. That's why Spidertrax and AlloyUSA spacers are anodized -- to resist corrosion. Fortunately, I've been spared watching any wheel spacers self destruct, but a few years ago at a NAXJA-NAC event at Paragon, one of the guys had a Cherokee that used aluminum blocks as lift spacers. He took it on one of the more difficult trails, and the stress turned BOTH spacers into a mix of small chunks and aluminum powder. This is what you need: http://www.spidertrax.com/s.nl/sc.2/category.18/.f

Measurements of ride height are based on no load in the bed. I wouldn't expect a rear axle assembly to completely compress the shocks ... but the shocks may not be correctly sized for your (empty) ride height, so it's possible. Get it home, take ALL the weight out of the back, and then measure. Keep in mind that the 8.8 has a larger axle tube than the Dana 35. If you are still spring-under, that means the spring is farther down from the axle centerline, so by itself the 8.8 actually lowers the ride height slightly.

No, the older XJs do not have smaller tubing. I have an '87 MJ and an '88 XJ, both 4.0L. The down pipe is 2-1/2", the catalytic converter is 2-1/2", and the outlet of the cat necks down to 2-1/4" where it enters the muffler. It was the early 4-cylinder models that had some funky pipe size variations.

Interesting. The Blackjack says the primary pipes are 1-1/2" (no problem there) and the collector is 2". But the down pipe for a standard 4.0L is a 2-1/2", and the catalytic converter is a 2-1/2" inlet and tube, that necks down to 2-1/4" between the cat and the muffler. So how does the Blackjack mate up with the cat? Or do you have to use a completely custom exhaust system?

The ECM in your Jeep is set up to (partially) control a dumb carburetor. I seriously doubt that it can do anything with the Holley aftermarket injection. Does the kit include an ECM? You'll need (I assume) an oxygen sensor, and a computer to read the O2 sensor and control the injection.

The 1984 4-cyl XJ Wagoneer I once had included leather seats and the full gauge package, with tachometer. My friend's Cherokee, that he updated from the 1984-style cluster to the 1988-style, had full gauges and tach from the factory. They exist.

Small plastic measuring spoon jammed into it. I was fearful that it was a siezed motor. Time to have a discussion with my roommate. :no: So what did he stuff into the washer drain?

Then don't. It has been well-documented that the tachometers for the early (up to/through 1996) 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder are different, and have to be recalibrated when changing from one engine to the other. That's not just me saying it -- it has been written up here, and it has been written up on NAXJA. If yours is accurate, I'm happy for you. But it shouldn't be, and I just don't want other people to think theirs will be if they do the same swap.

There's a new body style Cherokee at a gas station/garage down the road from me. They've been taking parts off it for several months now. Being able to do it in one day must be REALLY cranking. If I were doing it, I'd want to label all the connections on the wiring harness, and that alone would probably be a two- or three-day effort.

If your tach reads correctly, it didn't come out of a 6-cylinder donor vehicle. The tachs prior to 1997 are NOT self-compensating, they are matched to the engines by number of cylinders. The early ones (1984 thru 1986) cannot be adjusted, they have to have a resistor changed on the printed circuit board. The 1987 thru 1996 tachs have the potentiometer and can be adjusted.

Just because the tachometer is functioning and giving you a reading doesn't mean it's a correct reading. The tachometer counts ignition pulses. With a 4-cylinder engine, two pulses equals one revolution. With a 6-cylinder engine, THREE pulses equals one revolution. So you put a 6-cylinder tach into your 4-cylinder vehicle, and your engine has to go around one-and-a-half revolutions for the tachometer to "see" one revolution. It is showing you two-thirds of your actual engine speed. I haven't done this swap, but a good friend of mine did, and we DID have to recalibrate his tachometer. There is a potentiometer on the back of the tach, and that's what's used to calibrate it. In the case of my friend, he was updating the appearance of an '84 XJ that already had a tach, so he just hooked them both up and adjusted the new one to match the old one. Since you don't have an old one, you can use an idle tachometer. As a point of reference, if you ever get a speedometer working or access to a GPS, with 225/75-15 tires and 3.55 gearing, in 4th gear you should get the following readings: 40 MPH = 1723 RPM 50 MPH = 2154 RPM 60 MPH = 2584 RPM [Edit to add]Wait! You said the tranny is an AX-5? And 3.55 gears? Are you certain? Typically, the 3.55 gears were used with the AX-4, and the AX-5 should have either 4.10s or maybe 3.73s.

You are caught squarely on the horns of a dilemma. A Dana 35 rear axle is marginally adequate for running 31" tires, including moderate off-road duty, if you aren't a heavy-footed driver. I ran 31's on the Dana 35 in my '88 MJ for three or four years, before I lowered it back to stock height. 32s IMHO are pretty questionable. But ... for either 31s or 32, 4.10 gearing is a LOT better than 3.54. For comparison, I ran the 31s with 3.73 gears, and the final speed-to-RPM was exactly the same as my wife's stock Cherokee with auto and 3.54 gears. So, although the Dana 44 rear axle is far superior to the Dana 35 in strength, the 3.54 ratio is going to be lousy for off-road. Marginal at best with the 31s, and not even marginal if you go with 32s.

It shouldn't be. It should be reading (... lemme see, it's a 6-cyl tach w/ a 4-cyl engine so it should be registering ...) two-thirds of the actual RPM. The tach is NOT self-compensating. What gears do you have, what tranny do you have, what tire size do you have, and what RPMs show on the tach at 60 miles per hour (100 km/hr)?

Did you remember to recalibrate the tachometer from 6-cylinder to 4-cylinder?

You're going to need a 4WD AW4, and they usually come with the bellhousing attached.