Eagle

Huh? The clutch only connects the transmission to the engine, it doesn't have anything to do with shifting. If the transmission is in gear when the shift lever says it should be in neutral, there's a transmission problem -- either instead of a clutch problem, or possibly in addition to a clutch problem. Over-torquing the pressure plate bolts won't cause the clutch to malfunction, but it may cause the bolts to snap (which would not be pretty).

Drop brackets with a 2" lift? Most, if not all, the commercially available drop brackets are made for a 4" lift and they lower to control arms 4 inches relative to the chassis. I didn't like them with a 4" lift because they were rock magnets, but with a 6" lift they would ride 2 inches higher, and they would eliminate the need for aftermarket control arms.

Still a little short of actual Christmas, but close enough, I guess. MERRY CHRISTMAS, Y'ALL.

Platinum, I believe. Don't have any idea what the paint code is, though. That color was used on the lower trim, flares and bumbers of the XJ Limiteds in some years.

There was a discussion about 4-cylinder clutch size awhile back. At least for one member here, the IS a wrong size, and his parts store listing (IIRC) was incorrect. I'd give you the link, but I would have to search for it and it's Christmas eve, so I'll leave you to search for it yourself. It was not more than six months ago, I think, and maybe not more than three months back.

Photo looks just like my MJs and old XJ. 0 Celsius would be a heat wave - we haven't seen higher than about -5 (Celsius) here for a week.

My bad. I thought that was only on the J30 Nope. J30 and M715 came with Dana 70 rear and D60 closed knuckle front. But the J30 axles are 8-lug. I had just forgotten that the J20 axles were also 8-lug.

Wait ... I wasn't supposed to weld the ring gear to the pinion? What was I supposed to weld? :???:

:agree: Needs smaller tires, but otherwise that thang is schweet. I don't think they're asking too much. It's more than I could spend for it, but it's not a bad price. What would a new Chebbie cost ya?

There are only three possibilities -- the master cylinder, the slave cylinder, or the hose/line that connects the two. You have to check all three to determine which one is causing the problem. But ... This does not make any sense: The clutch does not know or care whether or not the transmission is in gear. The clutch pedal pushes a column of hydraulic fluid that presses against the clutch fingers to move the pressure plate away from the flywheel and clutch disk. Being in gear or not doesn't in any way affect that. Please try it again and pay more careful attention to what it's doing. More than likely, you were almost out of fluid and happened to catch the last few drops when you thought it felt normal. This may help: http://auto.howstuffworks.com/clutch1.htm

My bad. I thought that was only on the J30

I just wanted to let you know that your Comanche couldn't have came stock with a D44 anyways. There were no shortbed Comanches that came stock with a D44. The D44 came stock under the Metric Ton Comanches and all Metric Ton Comanches are longbeds. I hope this info helps. Sorry, but that's not correct. The Metric Ton package wasn't offered on the shortbeds, but the D44 axle came with other packages. I have an '87 shortbed that I bought from the original owner's daughter. It's all stock, and it has a Dana 44 rear axle -- with Trac-Lok.

Wait - Are you asking about an AMC Model 20 axle for an MJ, or about an axle out of a full-size J20 pickup? A Comanche Model 20 axle is about equal in strength to the Dana 44. The axle out of a J20 is going to be a different width and have 6-bolt hubs. Not a bolt-in conversion.

You go to an auto parts store and you buy a temperature sender and an oil pressure sender for a 1988 Cherokee or Comanche with gauges. The senders are the same for 4-cylinder and 6-cylinder. The tachometer is not the same, but the correct 1988 tach has a potentiometer that allows you to recalibrate a 6-cyl tach to read correctly with a 4-cyl engine.

There will be a bigger difference the first time you go around a bend in the road. The front wheels travel farther than the rear wheels around corners. That's why you shouldn't run part-time 4WD on dry pavement.

Awhile ago someone posted photos of an MJ with the newer XJ taillights. So it has been done, but it is very much a custom job. The shape is completely different.

It fits, but you have to be aware of differences between years. There are three possible dash clusters. The "early" XJ/MJ cluster was used from 84 thru 86 (and maybe partway into 87, I haven't verified that). It has a mechanical speedometer with the cable attached to the cluster with a metal retairer and screw. The second variation was used from 1987 thru 1990, also has a mechanical speedometer, and the speedo cable is attached to the speedo head with a which nylon retainer. From 1991 through 1996 the XJ (and 91 - 92 MJ) used an electric speedometer.

He may also have damaged the front hub/bearing unit on that side.

75 is the top legal limit I've seen anywhere, even in the western states. Let's put this in perspective. I have to periodically remind you youngsters that the engine on which both the 4.0L and the 2.5L were based was introduced by AMC in 1964, when the vast majority of the cars they sold were "three on the tree" manual transmissions and overdrives were a VERY rare and expensive option. Using both my 1966 Rambler American and my brother's 1970 Gremlin as examples, the stock drive train resulted in a speed-to-RPM ratio of 24 MPH per 1,000 RPM. Translation: 2500 RPM was exactly 60 MPH, 3,000 RPM was exactly 72 MPH. That's simply what was. Even with wimpy valve springs and hydraulic lifters the engine redlined at 5,000 RPM, so cruising all day at 3,000 RPM wasn't hurting the engines at all. Today, with 5-speeds (and 6-speeds) with tall gears AND overdrive top gears, you guys see factory cruising speeds of under 2,000 RPM at 70 MPH and you think anything over 2,000 RPM cruise is "burning up the engine." Not so. Now, to put all this in perspective for a modified MJ -- when I did my tire & gear spreadsheet 33s were pretty much the biggest tire most people were looking at, and I stopped at 4.88 gears for the simple reason that's the deepest ratio you can get for a Dana 30 front axle. So ==> 33" tires with 4.88 gears, in 5th gear (or overdrive for an automatic) will run 2620 RPM at 70 MPH. Heck, that's right on the torque peak. That's where you WANT to run the engine for maximum efficiency. Don't worry about going "too far" with gearing. Most likely, you can't. Even 30" tires with 4.88 gears will cruise at 2890 RPM at 70 MPH. That's just about equal to what the AMC factory was putting in as stock gearing for decades.

Another idea (like you need more overload, right?) -- I really REALLY believe you need to extand your patch forward of that body mount. If the idea of notching out the back side of the patch plate to create a recess for the body mount flange won't work for you, there's another way to accomplish more or less the same thing. Run your patch plate a little farther forward than what's in your sketch. Get close to the body mount, but don't make hard contact -- leave room for a weld bead in between. Then put another patch plate onto the side of the "frame" rail forward of the mount. Make this one at least six or preferably eight inches long, and try to cover the full height of the frame rail. Weld around all four sides/edges to ensure that it's sealed to the frame. Now -- take another piece of your patch plate and add a second layer to bridge over the gap where the body mount is. Don't extend this piece to the ends of your original patches -- make it maybe six or eight inches long total, so it extends only a few inches onto the original plates on each side, and falls a few inches short of reaching the outward ends. Be sure (again) to weld all around so the entire perimeter is sealed. You DON'T want moisture and salt to get in behind your patch. Lemme see if I can simulate what we mean by the fish eye ends on the plates. This will be CRUDE: . Straight cut-off (bad): ._____ | | | | | |_____ "Fish eye" (good): . ___________ . / ./ ( .\ . \_________ Best I could do using keyboard characters. Visualize that being more rounded or elliptical at the end (like a football) and you have the idea. The point is to not concentrate all the stresses from the welded seam/joint in a straight, vertical line.

Okay, so which one of you is bi-polar, and which is pregnant?

So how thick is the body mount, and how thick is the steel you're using? If your steel is anywhere near the 1/8th inch you said, you should be able to inlet the back of it so it can pass right over the lower flange of the body mount. At the very least, carry your steel up to within 1/8" or so of the body mount and cope the plate to the same shape. That way your weld can tie into the body mount, too, so you'll have additional thickness to resist burn-through. But I would seriously consider pocketing the plate and running it right over the body mount.

In my opinion the side plating needs to extend considerably farther away from the break, both forward and to the rear. Not nearly long enough the way I'm seeing your sketch. Think "lever arm." The break point is a hinge. The farther away from the hinge you can place the welded ends of the patch plate, the less stress there will be on the welds. I would hope you could extend at least 6 to 8 inches on each side of the break, and if you can get a foot on each side that's even better. Remember, too, that the vertical plates are like the vertical center portion (the web) of a steel I-beam. The web does no work -- it is there only to keep the top and bottom flanges separated. That's why in aircraft and racing cars you see structural members that have holes in the center portions of the structure. That portion isn't doing any work, so it doesn't hurt to remove material to save weight. What that means for your patch is that you can make your plates longer, and then along the mid-height line (the "neutral axis," where the steel isn't in compression or tension" you can cut out a couple of small-ish holes and weld through those as well as at the ends. That provides more complete attachment of the plate to the parent frame. Don't forget to "fish eye" the ends of your plates. Don't cut them off on a vertical line -- make the ends like the nose on a football.

I've heard that one before. So Little Johnny grew up, and became a Marine.

Why are you rushing out to buy a slave cylinder? The way I read the posts in this discussion, you have not determined if the leak is from the master cylinder, the slave cylinder, or the line that connects them. If you checked under the master cylinder from the engine compartment -- that is NOT where they leak. The leak follows the operating rod through the firewall and drips down onto the fuse panel inside the passenger cabin, where it corrodes the contacts for the fuses. That's where you need to check. IMHO, given that the truck is an '86, I think you should do a preemptive strike and replace both. I also suggest buying the parts from a Jeep dealer. For some reason, the experience of other owners has shown that hydraulic clutch parts from any other source typically don't last more than about six months.