Eagle

I'd say that target rates at least TWO thumbs up. Very well done!

I wasn't aware you could handle the vehicle independently from the medical, but it sounds like your attorney is on top of the situation so follow his advice. Best wishes for a speedy ... and complete ... recovery to both you and your wife.

Is there a bounty on coyotes in Arizona?

Long term solution -- wait for Pete. Short term solution -- write in Notepad or Wordpad, then copy and paste into the forum edit window.

Maybe, but IMHO this is a VERY bad idea. The existing hard lines are over 20 years old. Bending them to "relocate" them may bend them ... or they may crack at the bends. Even if they don't break, you're moving the fitting for the flex hose farther down into the area where it is susceptible to damage. Besides, the flex hoses are also 20+ years old and probably cracked ... and they may be rotted inside. They should be replaced anyway, so why not just do the job the right way and buy new, longer hoses?

By all means. Put it in the "DIY project writeups" area, please.

Yeah, do NOT let them put "Salvage" on your title. Get the lawyer to insist on that. You have to understand what "Totalled" means. It does NOT mean that the vehicle is a "totally destroyed" pile of scrap metal. On a 20+ year old vehicle, a busted taillight can "total" it. All the term means is that the cost to repair it exceeds the book value of the vehicle. The damage you see may make your truck a "total," yet the same damage on a 2008 Ford Ranger might cost twice as much to repair and it wouldn't be a "total." So they're not buying the vehicle from you and selling it back to you with a diddled totle. They are paying you $2 grand to have your truck repaired. End of discussion. If they won't agree to that ... go see a neurosurgeon about the pains you've been having in your neck since the accident. When my old full-size Cherokee was rear-ended by a teenie bopper, her insurance company initially agreed to repair it, but when the body shop found that the only rear quarter panel available was for a Grand Wagoneer with a recessed gas cap, the insurance company balked at buying the parts to put the gas filler collar on. I just pointed out to the adjuster that I had not asked to have my plow vehicle taken out of action during snow season by THEIR client, I wasn't asking them for lost income, I wasn't claiming any bogus whiplash injuries, all I wanted was my damn Jeep fixed. They paid for it. P.S. No, a Cherokee rear bumper won't fit. Front, yes. Rear, no way.

If it's the ballast resistor, it'll have spark but no gas, and it should start while the fuel pump is bypassed and then die when the key is returned to the "run" position. The original post said "No spark." (Dunno if he meant that, but that's what he wrote.)

If it was running and died, the distributor isn't 180 degrees out unless he messed with it after it died. The odds-on most likely cause is the CPS.

BTW - Check and double check your rear height-sensing proportioning valve. Mine exploded in a panic stop situation. I was more fortunate than you -- I didn't hit the idiot, and there was nobody behind me. But my heart rate went up a lot, and the rear proportioning valve blew out. That's why I recommend taking them out ... I can't trust them after that. But you do have to understand what they do and that there will be a change in how the rear reacts under braking if you eliminate it. If yours blew out, though, you have no choice. The part is no longer available new and IMHO it would be foolish to replace a blown one with a used part of the same age (or older).

Keep us posted. And don't forget -- although normally you are (or should be) entitled to have your vehicle repaired using new parts, if new MJ parts aren't available ... this is the best resource for finding used parts. You're tapped into a network that'll help you scout 'em out when you need 'em. Good luck. Just don't sign anything without an attorney's review and okay.

You might get by with stock brake lines and a 4" lift if you only drive on the street, but keep in mind that off-road the axles drop and droop and move around a lot. My '88 had a 4" lift on when I bought it, with some of those brake hose relocating clip thingies. The front left hose and the rear hose were badly stretched and in danger of failing. I replaced the front hoses with Wrangler hoses (longer) mounted back in the original locations for better protection, and I replaced the rear with a YJ Wrangler hose (also longer than stock MJ). I think others have said that a Dakota rear hose is also a suitable replacement. Don't take any chances. Brakes are important ... do it right, or don't do it.

Play hardball. This accident was not your fault. I'm not an attorney or an insurance adjuster, but I believe the rules are very different when an accident is the other party's fault. You aren't driving a 20-year old Comanche because you have to, you are driving it because you WANT to. Their client wrecked your truck. You expect it to be repaired to the condition it was in prior to the accident, regardless of cost. The legal terminology is "making the injured party whole." You can't run out and buy another Comanche like yours, so throwing a few dollars at you does not make you whole. You are entitled to have your vehicle repaired. With new parts. It's a General Motors steering column, so I'll bet they are still available through GM if not through Jeep. Talk to an attorney. Especially since you and your wife were injured. I was hurt in an accident once (as a passenger) when I was in high school. The accident was in July and some of the problems didn't show up until I was back in school and tried out for the basketball team. Be sure your rights are reserved and protected.

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

Don't do it! Just take the grille, don't take the header and quad headlights. Those headlights are worse than useless. And the take a very non-standard bulb so there is essentially no upgrade path. You'll be sorry.

Actually, between 1984 and 1990 there are six (6) possible instrument clusters you might have. From 84 thru 86 (and I think part-way into the 87 model year but I haven't confirmed that) the speedometer cable was retained on the speedo head by a metal clip, and the speedo itself had small ticks at 1 MPH intervals, larger ticks at 5 MPH intervals, and numbers at 15, 25, 35, etc. From 87 thru 90 the speedo cable is retained by a nylon bayonet fitting. The speedo has small ticks at the 2-1/2 MPH marks, larger ticks at the 5 MPH marks, and large ticks plus numbers at 15, 25, 35, etc. Within each of these groups, you could have a base cluster with a speedo, idiot lights, and a large gas gauge; a cluster with full instruments (not idiot lights) but a large fuel gauge and no tachometer; or a cluster with full gauges and tachometer. You can swap the early style for the late style (and the reverse) if you also swap the speedo cable for the type with the matching retainer. Then there's the issue of cylinder count. Both types could have a tachometer in either a 6-cylinder or 4-cylinder vehicle. The early type cannot be recalibrated from a 4 to a 6 or reverse except by changing a resistor on the printed circuit board. The later style has a potentiometer and can be recalibrated just by turning the adjuster.

It flexes fine, but that's because I am on OEM rims with 5-1/4" of backspacing. NO aftermarket rims have that much, so with aftermarket rims the fat tires won't stuff inside the flares, they hit the flares. That's your problem.

Is this for the truck in your signature? I can run 31x10.50s with NO lift -- even on an XJ. It's even less of a problem in the rear of an MJ. With a 3-1/2" lift you have plenty of clearance for 32s as far as height. The problem is, how wide are the 32s? 31x10.50s on stock rims are VERY close to the springs and inner fender walls in the rear. 11.50 or 12.50 tires on stock rims would be an interference fit for width. Please provide more info about your setup.

Dropping the tank is definitely in order, because "sumthin' ain't raht." I suspect either the filler hose or the vent hose next to the filler, not the two vents on top.

Not at all. I'm running 31x10.50s on my '88 Cherokee with no lift.

why? Because it is under pressure and the result will be just like taking the radiator cap off a conventional radiator when it's hot -- the boiling liquid will spew out in all directions and you'll very likely end up with some serious scalding at least on your hands, and possibly on your face and upper body. But don't take my word for it ... go ahead and try it. i knew that. i thought maybe it had something to do with it being closed system and didn't want air into it. Just the opposite. Since there is nowhere for "excess" coolant to go when it expands due to heat, there HAS to be air in the system to provide for expansion. Air compresses ... liquids do not. If you fill the plastic tank full and bleed all air out of the system, the plastic tank will explode (or rupture).

The tank should never be full enough that expansion in hot weather will cause it to "vent" liquid gasoline. The vent lines to the charcoal cannister are for fumes, not gasoline. If it's pushing gasoline out onto the ground, either there are rust holes below the normal fill level or you're somehow squeezing too much gas into the tank.

why? Because it is under pressure and the result will be just like taking the radiator cap off a conventional radiator when it's hot -- the boiling liquid will spew out in all directions and you'll very likely end up with some serious scalding at least on your hands, and possibly on your face and upper body. But don't take my word for it ... go ahead and try it.

Yes, I'd say putting a top-heavy camper shell on would be a good reason for adding a rear sway bar. For something like that, I'd want the biggest bars I could find ... on both front and rear.

What year is your XJ?