Eagle

I cannot recommend driving any Jeep, even at stock height, without a sway bar. Taking a lifted XJ or MJ (or YJ or TJ) on the road without a sway bar is exercising a death wish. There are documented cases of skilled off-road drivers rolling their Jeeps on pavement at 30 MPH in an evasive maneuver because they "didn't need" a sway bar. Face it -- those bars cost the factory money. They would NOT put them there if they could possible justify leaving them off.

5-1/4" rounds for the doors, 4" round on 4x6 plates (available from Crutchfield) for the rear posts.

What do you mean by "running lights"? Are you referring to parking and taillights, or do you have a Canadian truck with daytime running lights?

What about tapping (actually, is it called "dieing"?) the remaining stud for a smaller thread size?

Well, with all respect to your father, I am probably older than he is and I KNOW that works. That's how I got a new rear main seal in my '88 Cherokee 4.0L. If he thinks it won't work, I'd like to know why he thinks it won't work.

But there's nothing deeper than 4.88 available for a Dana 30 front axle. Due to the smaller diff, any more gear would result in a pinion about the size of a Papermate pen refill. Even 4.88 isn't supported by Jeep or by Dana Spicer. To get 4.88s you have to go aftermarket.

Yes you can use the transmission and transfer case. You will have to use the flex plate and CPS that came in your vehicle, because the teeth are different between the Renix and HO flex plates, and the CPS is a different type.

My personal preferences (with a 4.0L engine -- move up to more gear with a 2.5L): Stock tires ==> 3.54 30" tires ==> 3.73 31" tires ==> 4.10 32" tires ==> 4.56 33" and larger ==> 4.88 You should not be running 34" tires with a Dana 35 axle. You won't be doing so for long.

Especially with a Renix MJ (or XJ), turn on the key and then wait until the fuel pump stops running before engaging the starter. That way, you know the fuel rail is fully pressurized.

Don - The problem showed up last summer. I let it sit all winter so I don't know what would have happened in cold weather. Pete - Nope

The adjuster/tensioner is, as you suspected, the power steering pump. There is an adjusting screw that points toward the air box on the drivers side of the pump. However, before you can make any adjustments, you have to loosen about six bolts that hold the pump to the bracket. IIRC, three aren't too difficult to access from above, and three are nearly impossible to access from anywhere. Best route is to remove the air box to get access.

"Turning over" is the starter spinning the engine. You mean it takes 3 or 4 seconds for it to fire. That's normal with the Renix system (which is what you have in an '89).

Since I started experiencing this problem last year, at least two or three other members here have posted about essentially the same issue. The truck is a stock 1988 4.0L, 5-speed. Runs great while it runs, but after 10 to fifteen minutes it just cuts out and dies. Once it dies, it WILL NOT restart. But if I sit on the side of the road for 45 minutes to an hour -- it fires right up and I can drive it home. Problem is ... there isn't much of anywhere I want or need to go that's withing a 7-1/2 minute drive from my house, so the truck is basically useless. Something is obviously getting heat-soaked, and I don't have much of a clue where to start looking. The CPS is new, and the CPS harness by-pass has been installed. It could be a bad CPS, I guess, but the new one is a factory part and it's very rare for them to be bad. Who else had this problem, and did you ever get it fixed/diagnosed?

This might be good info for the DIY Write-Ups area, but ... does your computer have an "Enter" key? That's far to much text with no paragraph breaks. Makes my head hurt just lookin' at it. If I clone a copy over there, may I have your permission to do a clean-up edit?

No need to go to NAXJA, it has been discussed here. The 4.0L uses a two-piece rear main seal. You do NOT need to drop the transmission, or even unbolt the bellhousing. Drop the oil pan, remove the rear main bearing cap, loosen the other caps, and use a short length of 1/8" brass rod to drive the upper half of the old seal out. Wipe the surfaces of the new upper half with clean motor oil and push it back into place. Put the new lower half in the cap, apply a dab of silicone (RTV) sealant where the two halves meet (try to keep oil OFF the mating surfaces), and reinstall the rear cap. Retorque all the caps. Buy an oil pan gasket for a 1995 or newer 4.0L engine. It's a one-piece gasket that's a LOT eassier to work with than the original, multi-piece gasket set. The most difficult part os getting the oil pan off without destroying it, since the factory glued them one. Then you have to maneuver it around the oil pump pickup, hopefully without knocking it loose from the pump. There's no way to really explain just how to do that, every truck is different. Some people unbolt a motor mount and jack up the engine a bit, other folks haven't needed to do that.

A bad oxygen sensor often results in a rich mix, which prodices unburned hydrocarbons and black smoke. It also destroys catalytic converters pretty quick, since the converter has to work overtime to try to clean up all that stuff.

33 by what? This is a crucial question. Regardless of lift, you will need to extend the bump stops, especially in the front, or else do extensive cutting to allow the tires to clear when the suspension is fully "stuffed." Beyond that, you will need to be very conscious of your tire width and wheel offset/backspacing. Running 31x10.50s on factory 15x7 rims, the inside upper shoulder in the rear consistently rubs the inner fender well when the rear axle gets articulated. Also, the inner sidewall is uncomfortably close to the rear spring. You can get 33s in a 10.50 width, but most are wider, which would create virtually an interference fit in the rear using factory rims. Most aftermarket rims have less backspacing, which helps in the rear but increases the need to carve the fenders in the front. Bottom line, IMHO, is to lift as little as possible and run the smallest tires you can for the trails you intend to run.

It's not that you were miss quoted just the xj leaf will NOT work on an mj Dave, he is not asking about XJ leaves. He is asking if he can bolt an XJ axle into an MJ without moving the spring perches. Answer: No.

Just a thought -- it occurs to me that it would be a lot easier to find people who might need some of the junk I have strewen around here if I didn't have to scroll through 15 "For Sale" ads to find one "Want to Buy" ad. Pete -- any chance we might split up the Classifieds into a "For Sale" area and a 'Wanted" area? Does anyone else think this might make life easier?

Surface rust is rarely confined to the surface. Once it starts to make pits (even small pits), you can't get the rust out of the pits by sanding. You need to use a rust neutralizer (Naval Jelly, Ospho, muriatic acid ... something like that) to stop the rust process and convert watever you couldn't sand away into a stable base. Second problem is that primer is for priming. It is porous, to allow the finish coat to get a "bite" Moisture vapor goes right through primer, so the rust starts right up again. You should paint right after you prime and, conversely, you shouldn't prime until you're ready to paint. Not if you're going to use the vehicle. If you can store it indoors, you can work one panel at a time and then prime each area as it's done ... but don't drive it around in primer.

Nope. In fact, you can be reasonably assured that you DO have to have the alignment checked. I've been playing with cars for over 50 years now, and I haven't had the old "count the turns" trick actually work yet. It gets you in the ballpark, but not close enough to put any serious miles on (unless you don't like your tires). All that changes is the toe-in. You can check that on a level surface with a tape measure.

Your 2WD transmission has a tailshaft and housing that's set up to accept the yoke on the front of the driveshaft. A 4WD transmission doesn't have a tailshaft housing -- it has an output shaft, that mates to the transfer case. The front yoke of the transfer case goes into the back and of the transfer case. To put that transfer case on your transmission you would have to tear down both transmissions and put the 4WD parts onto your box. Anything is possible, but it's work. The ad implies that truck is driveable -- just swap in the entire tranny and transfer case as a unit. Keep in mind that if you have a shortbed, after the swap you'll have to get a new driveshaft.

Out of curiosity, is this a Dana 35 or a Mopar 8-1/4?

Memo to self: Do not reply to any questions by philbert001, because I am not a professional Jeep technician and therefore I am obviously unqualified to say anything about Jeeps. Happy now? Frankly, when you write "At last, someone else who isn't talking out their a$$ ..." -- that sounds a lot to me like someone who is flaming every member of the forum. Reality check -- there is no single answer to most questions, and just because someone's advice might be different from yours does not automatically mean he's talking out his a$$.

Flaming the entire club membership is generally frowned upon. Take a hint ...