Eagle

I don't think I'd spend a grand on an axle for an MJ I was going to run at stock height on more-or-less stock size tires. I also wouldn't go the 8,8 route, because I would want to run OEM Jeep wheels and I don't feel like spending a couple hundred more bux for structural-grade wheel spacers. Have you considered just buying an XJ Chrysler 8-1/4" axle and moving the perches? For a grand, I'd think you could almost have Dynatrac or some shop like that build you a new D44.

:agree:

The old axle will be the non c-clip style. The "new" axle will be a c-clip axle. So the shafts will not interchange. And I don't think the brakes will interchange. I am not certain, but I think the bolt pattern attaching the backing plates to the axles is different.

10-4 on pulling the door cylinders, but on an early XJ or MJ (using the AMC/GM keys rather than the single Mopar key), do NOT try to key the doors and the ignition the same. It won't work, and you'll ruin something in the process. I thought for a long time that this could be done. After all, the ignition key will go into the door lockes (although the door key won't go into the ignition, at least on mine). Why not just make them all the same? Well, when shopping for a new lockset for the door between the garage and the kitchen I chatted up a friendly professional locksmith (not a Home Depot key maker drone), who explained it to me. The old style ignition keys are "six-bit" keys -- the locks have six tumblers, so the keys have six points that engage the pins in the lock cylinder. The door keys are five-bit keys -- they only have five pins. The keys are the same length, so the spacing of the pins is different. The guy told me there's a remote possibility he might be able to make it work, but the pins would be out of position in one lock or the other and he felt certain that something would wear out very quickly and then the key wouldn't function in either the doors OR the ignition. So I still carry two keys.

There's no reason NOT to do the 8.8 conversion as a spring under. It's better than a Dana 35. But keep in mind that you will still have to deal with the axle width issue. The 8.8 axles are narrower, wheel mating surface to wheel mating surface, than stock MJ/XJ axles. In an MJ, the stock setup has the wheels close enough to the inner fender walls in the rear at when running 31x10.50 tires, the inner sidewalls are very close to the edges of the springs and any articulation results in the shoulder of the tire rubbing against the metal. When you do an 8.8 conversion you will either need to use spacers, or run aftermarket rims with less backspacing than Jeep rims. If you choose non-Jeep rims, you will then need to be aware that rims with less vackspacing may create other clearance issues in the front.

That's great news. The Jeep gods are smiling.

I don't understand any of what you wrote. The basic question is, are the brakes on both axles 10 inches in diameter, or is the replacement axle a newer, Chrysler-vintage axle with the smaller 9-inch brakes?

Well ... yes, you could. The lesson here is that no two people use, drive, or set up their trucks exactly the same way. You have to do as you think appropriate, but when I respond to a question I try to answer the question without superimposing on it MY criteria for how I use, drive, and set up my vehicles. There is no reason for you to throw a hissy fit because someone doesn't want to do a lift on his truck. We're all here because we like Comanches, and that should include all flavors of Comanche.

Geonovast is correct. Wrangler coils are softer than XJ/MJ coils and actually lower an XJ or MJ compared to a stock 4.0L vehicle. The TJ coils may be about the same as XJ/MJ 4-cylinder coils. ZJ V8 front coils (Grand Cherokee, 93 - 98) are the same part number as XJ Up Country coils and ride approximately 1" higher than stock XJ/MJ 4.0L coils.

The factory relay IS a universal type. It's the same relay as any of the relays in the relay bank on the right side inner fender (if you have a Renix model).

Either that or something from the clutch or flywheel physically took out the CPS. When you reinstalled the bell housing, can we assume that you put the locating dowels back in so the bell housing is correctly and accurately aligned on the block? The clearance between the CPS and the teeth on the flywheel is only a few thousandths. If the bell housing isn't exactly where it should be, there may be an interference fit there.

Ain't no such critter. It does not exist. Period. It's like one the NAXJA-NAC members used to post. In fact, it might have been in his signature: "We do good work, fast, and cheap. Pick any two." A good lift that's easy on the wallet is a contrdiction in terms. There's a reason why the more expensive kits cost more. Either they are more complete than the cheap kits, or they are made better using better materials ... or both.

I don't understand your comparison at all. I'm a native-born American. I get 23 MPG out of a 21+ year old XJ 4.0L that has 283,500 miles on the original engine. I drive like a little old lady ... which is NOT the way most Americans drive. Having driven in Germany and England, as well as ridden in several other European countries, my overall impression is that the average European drives like a Kamikaze pilot ... which is also the way the average American drives.

The 4.0L is a member of an engine "family" that AMC introduced in 1964 in the Rambler Typhoon.

A few years ago I was corresponding with one of the NAXJA guys from the western (mountain) states about this. Don't remember now if he was from Montana, Wyoming, or Utah. Somewhere around there. He said both he and his son (two different 4-bangers) typically got in the high 20s. That's better than most people report, but low- to mid-20s should be realistic.

The best deal going for spring perches is the Mopar Performance Catalog. They sell a pair of really beefy perches for less than half what any aftermarket sources sells them for. I don't understand your point here, 64: Yes, if you use the stock plates and shock mounts with a lift, you would need to buy longer shocks. But if your plan is to use longer travel shocks anyway, why go to the trouble of fabricating custom shock mounts when all you need to do is buy your new shocks with the correct mounting eyes on both ends? Does not compute. Besides ... the original question didn't say anything about a lift.

For spring mounts, you need to buy a pair of spring perches and have them welded onto the Ford axle tubes, in the same position as on you MJ axle. The MJ shocks mount to the lower spring mount plate. No work is needed on the axle for shock mounts unless you intend to customize something.

40 psi oil pressure at 0 RPM?

As I have posted several times, due to changes in calipers, rotors, knuckles and hub/bearing units, it is important to keep ALL of that stuff from one year. They do NOT mix and match. I'm at work and don't have access to the article I posted my list of interchange years from, but I have reproduced it three or four times. You should be able to pull it up wiuth a search. Bottom line is, the answer to your question is "No."

That is not accurate. Factory Metric Ton springs did not sit 2" to 3" higher than standard springs. They might have sat maybe 1" higher, but a friend of a friend has an '89 MT longbed that he bought new. My friend maintains it for him, I have seen it numerous times, and I don't think it sits any higher than any other MJ I've seen. The Metric Ton package added capacity, not lift. It was not intended as an off-road package, it was an on-road package.

No, my '88 XJ came with bumper guards and there were also two round holes on each side of the bumper. My best guess would be that the second set is for the old style brush guard, too. I don't remember where/how that mounts, but I think they did have tabs that bolted to/through the top of the bumper.

I hear all sorts of things. Most of the things I hear are testimonials to how stupid the person I hear them from really is. If this were true, why don't you feel the u-joints when driving a 242 in the full-time position?

With the cluster out of the vehicle there are ways to test each gauge by itself, and then you can use a multi-meter to test the printed circuit between the connector and the gauge mounting location.

The original factory bumpers had two holes on each side. I have never figured out why. Sorry, I don't remember whether the inner or outer holes were used by the factory.

OEM for the MJ were French Marchals, and they cost over 100 clams ... each. Wal-Mart's Blazers may look similar, but ... they aren't. That's not to say I wouldn't use them, since the Marchals aren't available, but I doubt the light output or pattern will really be up to the Marchal standard. On the other hand, the Marchals were true FOG lights, with a low, wide, flat cut-off, and most Americans don't want that pattern anyway.