Eagle

For the past few days I have felt an odd wobbling in the '88 XJ. Not very noticeable at highway speeds, but at very slow speeds it definitely felt like the Jeep was "limping." I couldn't see anything wrong looking at it when parked, so today I jacked it up, pulled all four tires, and put on the set of BFG ATs I ws running a couple of years ago. On inspection, I found a huge blister in the TREAD area of the left rear tire -- and the blistered portion was already worn completely through the tread and chewing up the cords. I'm exceedingly glad I did this today, because when I drive to work tomorrow it's a 60+ mile round trip, with about half of it highway. I seriously doubt that tire would have survived. The moral of the story is -- if something feels or sounds different or "wrong," pay attention and check it out. It may be nothing, or it may be ... something.

You should still consider replacing the flex hoses. The insides deteriorate over time and they begin to act like check valves -- they allow fluid to flow into the caliper, but not back out.

Another possibility is that the harmonic balancer on the front of the crankshaft is starting to fail.

Pete, have you gone over to the dark side? Timing "belt"? In an MJ? The 2.5L uses the same silent roller timing "chain" that the 4.0L does.

Actually, I think the XJ stayed with the high pinion through 1999, and went to low pinion beginning in 2000.

There was no 2.8L in 87 or 88. Someone's feeding you bogus input.

I generally put a box end wrench on the nut, then reach under the fender and turn the shock. If your shocks don't have a metal dust cover on top, though, that's not a viable approach.

The cut-off is '93 or '94. Seats from a '96 XJ will definitely be the newer type.

Here's a repeat of the "Official" way to measure ride height, from the MJ FSM (Factory Service Manual). Actually, not in the FSM but in a book of IS bulletins that came with it: Front: Measure from top of axle tube to underside of frame rail, inboard of the coil spring. Do NOT measure from the diff housing or shift motor housing. 2WD models should be 6-3/4" plus or minus 1/2". 4WD models should be 7-3/4" plus or minus 1/2". Rear: Measure the vertical distance between the top of the axle tube and the underside of the frame rail inboard of the jounce bumper. 2WD models should be 8.2" plus or minus 1/2". 4WD models should be 9.2 inchws plus or minus 1/2".

Heck, some days I don't know my own middle name. No, I don't know everything and don't make any claims to. I've just been around Jeeps, especially XJs and MJs, for awhile longer than most of you.

They will -- those things are rock magnets if you go off road. There are copies out now, but the drop brackets were first offered by TrailMaster in a 4" lift kit, and at 4" of lift they maintain the control arm angles at stock specifications. Which is great for street use, and LOUSY for trail use, especially if you're doing any rock crawling. I had 'em -- my '88 came with a TrailMaster lift. I hated them. I took the kit off, returned the truck to stcok height, and it was one of the best decisions of my life. Yours looks like it's at about 4", too. The brackets would be okay if you go up another couple of inches, or if you never go off-road. If you wheel that rig, you'll probably grow to hate them as much as I did. The FSM "official" way of measuring ride height is from axle to frame. I have posted the specs from the FSM a couple of times, including once not too long ago. Try a search and you should be able to find it. As a rough approximation, since you still have the flares, measure from the center of the hub straight up to the bottom edge of the flare. Stcok measurement is 17-1/2" for the front, and about 20-1/2" for the rear. But the axle-to-frame method is more accurate.

Now hold on. What you are hearing may not be bearing noise, it may be lifter noise. Even if it is bearings, it can't be too serious yet. Remember that the oil is thickest when the engine is cold. Most instances of bearing rap get worse and louder after the engine warms upand the oil doesn't provide as much cushioning effect. If I'm understanding you correctly, yours goes away after less than a minute -- which suggests that it's either tired lifters that need time to pump up, or a weak oil pump that isn't pushing oil to the bearings as energetically as it should. Does it rap once it's running and you're driving it down the street? If not, you don't have a serious problem. I've driven trucks with bad rod bearings -- when warm, when you drove down the street it sounded like there were fifty little guys inside the engine, beating on it with sledge hammers. A LOT of 4.0L owners just drop the pan, put in new rod and main bearings, replace the rear seal while it's open, and button it up. You could go all-out and replace the oil pump while you're in there. That ought'a do 'er.

Any updates? I saw something in the news this morning about a levee/dike rupturing and a school getting flooded. Was the breach confined to the school or did that break open Padora's box?

:agree:

Craig Houghtaling out in Washington used to have an article on his web site about dropping the front skid. i haven't looked at/for his site for a long time, but perhaps it's still up. If you can find it, read the article. if the write-up isn't available, just think "spacers." I think he dropped his about 1-1/2 inches, but you can probably do as much or as little as you need.

Bad choice. VERY bad choice. AFAIK all the blocks commercially available are aluminum castings. Aluminum doesn't "rust," but it sure as hell corrodes. One of the guys at NAXJA had to be towed out of Paragon a few years ago because BOTH his rear blocks had turned to powder and when they got stressed in an off-camber situation they disintegrated. Literally -- all that was left was powder. Find an old set of XJ springs, cut the eyes off the main leaves, and use 'em as AALs. That'll bring you back up to stock. You can also toss in the "donor" 2nd leaf as a second AAL for your lift. It won't sag, because all the leaves will start off with the same native arch so they won't be fighting each other.

That is correct. Keep in mind that there were two types of mechanical speedo, with different cable ends at the speedo head. The one from 84 thru 86 (maybe 87 or mid-87) has a metal clip that retains the cable at the speedo. The 88+ (or mid-87+) uses a nylon pinch fitting to retain the cable at the speedo head. Where are you putting your other gauges, what do they look like, and where's the tach? If you-re going all aftermarket, I have an unused "new old stock" Stewart-Warner mechanical speedo you might be interested in. It's your basic dial, white numbers on a black face, 140 MPH. I bought it years ago for the race car I never built.

Wait one -- Are you a leatherneck? If so, what the heck are you doing in the Misery Ozarks? I did Basic Training and AIT at Fort Leonard Wood back during the Vietnam, ah ... "conflict." Last I knew it was an Army post. We didn't allow Marines on base back then, how'd you sneak in?

Any other time I would agree with you, but I'd rather have mechanical gauges and fix them one by one when they go wrong, than find a whole new gauge cluster in the salvage yard and pray it works for more than a week. Yeah, but ... ... If you change to an older cluster with a mechanical speedometer, the ONLY gauge you have that will be mechanical will be the speedometer. All the others will still be electronic. Plus, the fuel gauge will read backwards.

I'd say it's a real credit to you that your own house is within an affected zone and yet you are out driving other folks around through the flooding. Kudos to you, Mate. Well done. Probably too late now, but I hope you have a generator and enough gasoline to run it for several days. I've been through a few prolonged power outages, and having a generator makes things a lot easier. In the past, I used a small one and would have to move the generator around to run the water pump, then the boiler for awhile, then the refrigerator for awhile -- one at a time, in series. Over last summer, I finally added an auxiliary panel in the garage with a 240-volt outlet so I can plug in the generator and power the entire house (although we have to be careful what we turn on, because the new generator isn't enough for life as usual). Prayers to you, your family, and your neighbors.

A failing oxygen sensor can keep the engine running rich. Do you have any idea when yours was last replaced? The O2 sensor is a scheduled maintenance item -- it should be replaced every 75,000 to 80,000 miles.

Yes, they used the Iron Duke for a few years in the late 70's, I believe. They dropped it when they came out with our own, dearly beloved 2.5L I-4. I think the Iron Duke was used in some years of the Concord and the Eagle.

:sigh: This is what I get for hanging around a bunch of Johnny-come-latelies. It was a joke, lads. I am known for being somewhat brand-centric when it comes to Jeep and AMC, so it seemed like a good opening for a joke. Unfortunately, I guess I am the only living human old enough to remember that back in the late 1950s and early 1960s AMC ("Rambler") used to have a 327 engine. It was not a Chevy 327, it was an AMC engine. It was replaced by the then-newly designed 343 engine in 1967, and the 343 was slightly stroked and the deck height raised to become the 360 (an AMC engine, not the Mopar 360) in 1970. Really, Gents. If you're going to be doing this Jeep stuff you should get a handle on the family lineage. Otherwise all these great tidbits will go right over your heads.

The 343 or 360 is a much better engine than the 327. Oh ... wait. Did you mean a Chevy 327? In an AMC vehicle? BLASPHEMY!

Got the "HELP!" part number, by chance?