Eagle

I wondered the same thing. A Mighty-Vac will bleed even if the master cylinder is bad, because it doesn't rely on the master cylinder to move any fluid. Hoses down, bleeders up.

That's not limited to MJs, however. My brother had a '92 Nissan that he used for plowing -- in Connecticut. The frame snapped between the cab and the box. He didn't do commercial plowing. He did his driveway, my driveway, and one or two neighbors.

If its being welded a grade 8 is thicker and harder. making it a much better candidate to being welded. Bepending on the size of the hole/damage it may/could work without welding. But welding it makes for a better/stronger repair... not getting lazy in your "older" age are you my friend?? :wavey: CW Me? Lazy? OLD!?! Just a-wonderin', is all. The hole is still there in the backing plate, just a bit egged out. The washer isn't going anywhere, so I don't see how strength would be at all a factor. And thicker, in this case, is not a good thing. Too thick, and the retaining fingers on the cable end can't snap out and do any retaining. To be honest, unless the holes are REALLY hogged out, I think the first thing I would try is putting the cables in and spreading the fingers a bit wider with a screwdriver or pliers.

Why would the washer have to be welded, and why would it have to be grade 8?

I don't know. I have always stripped bare rims. Don't forget, it's usually wheel weights that start messing up the clear coat, and if you work with a mounted tire you're working around the weights. Plus, you can't clean the surface the tire bead actually seats against.

Aircraft stripper. Do NOT leave it on too long or you'll etch the aluminum. Polish with any good aluminum polish (such as Mother's). Coat with clear in the aerosol cans, but don't expect it to last as long as a factory finish.

The XJ and MJ never came from the factory with any form of "traction device" in the front axle. Smoke.

How fast are you trying to haul it down? The original (1968 - 1970) Javelins and AMXs had small-ish NON-VENTED rotors on the front and drums on the rear. My '68 Javelin was good for a verified 147 MPH and I never had a rotor turn blue. They did have a tendency to warp over time, and when I built another car as a dedicated road race/hillclimber I swapped in the larger, ventilated rotors (and matching calipers) from a '73 AMC Rebel. But I still think you have a functional problem in the front brakes.

PA is "up" from CT ???

USA Seriously -- going to any Sears or similar chain for repairs of anything important is a gamble, and the odds are stacked against you.

"I love it when a plan comes together." * Colonel Hannibal Smith, The A-Team

The problem is, every time that old joint bangs around in there it's egging out the once-round holes in the yokes, and if those holes get too far out of round and/or oversized, the replacement bearing caps won't stay in place. At that point, you're looking at new axles instead of just new u-joints.

Absolutely, take it back and complain -- LOUDLY. If they give you any static whatsoever, don't argue -- just drive directly to the nearest department of motor vehicles office (or whatever agency in your state licenses repair facilities) and file a formal complaint. The gorilla who did that job should be sweeping floors, not working on automotive suspensions.

The '86 2.5L is throtlle body injected. The injection/ignition system, although throttle body rather than multi-port, is based on the same Renix system used in the early 4.0L trucks (and XJs). The fuel-air mix is controlled by the oxygen sensor, which is located in the exhaust pipe (or manifold, don't recall for the 2.5L). If you smell gas and you're getting black soot from the tailpipe, you're probably running very rich and a bad oxygen sensor would be the first "likely suspect."

I think the resident Amsoil guru is whowey

Actually, the early (Renix-era) hub/bearing units are serviceable. The procedure is discussed in the early FSM and you can (or could, I haven't checked recently) buy the individual bearings and seals from Quadratec. But it requires a heavy-duty hydraulic shop press to do the work, and if you add up the prices of all the parts they equal or exceed the cost of just buying an entire new hub unit. The newer hubs use straight roller bearings rather than tapered and they are not serviceable. But neither style of unitized hub/bearing involves a spindle. As you point out, that was only on the earlier 2WD models. And then somewhere around 1994 (??) they changed over to using the same hub/bearing units on the 2WD vehicles, with an outer stub axle that ends in a flat plat rather than a yoke for the u-joint.

Are you talking about flat towing, or on a dolly, or on a trailer?

I almost like it, but I agree with you ... it's just too long. It might be better if it had just used a shortbed box, but overall I think it really needs a shortbed box PLUS smaller rear doors -- sort of like the half doors in the rear of GM full-size pickups. (Not the true crew cabs.)

I did Connecticut to Taos, NM in 2-1/2 days once. Don't recall how far that is ... 2100 miles? I wasn't totally wiped out when I arrived, but I wasn't about to go square dancing that evening, either.

Did you also have the steering box centered? If so, you're good to go. If not, you have a problem.

The procedure to tighten up a loose GM tilt column is all over the Internet. I don't have it bookmarked because I don't have one, but someone here posted a link to one of the writeups within the past few weeks (IIRC).

I must have missed something ... I thought we had smith1811's problem all diagnosed. He needs a U-joint. The only complication might be if the ears are too beat up for the new u-joint to go in and stay in place.

There are no commercial spring shops in a city the size of Des Moines, IA? My friend down the road picked up an MJ with a busted #2 leaf on one side. He took it to the spring shop I recommended, the guy made up two new #2 leaves (so both sides would be the same) and put the springs back together. My friend plans to haul a lot of firewaood so he specified a slightly thicker replacement leaf and a touch more arch, so he ended up with about a 1" lift in the rear. Any spring shop should be able to do this for you.

How hard are you using the brakes to slow down? Blue obviously indicates a LOT of heat. Considering that in my racing days at Lime Rock I was using the brakes quite a bit all the way around the track and I never saw a discolored rotor, I'm inclined to think that you have a dragging brakes problem.

Does your truck have a tilt column?