Eagle

3.73s are the right gear for 30" tires. 4.10s for 31s 4.56 for 33s 4.88 for 35s or larger (and 4.88s aren't horrible with 33s)

It's called cathodic protection, and everything I have read about it suggests that it works very well. (That's "cathodic" protection, not "cathartic.")

AFAIK the pop-tops (except the base, finish-it-yourself shell version) has the same flush toilet you get in a full-height camper like Luke's. I wouldn't have a camper that didn't have one, either.

The other two places you could lose fluid are the master cylinder, and the hose. You want to find out quickly, because when the master cylinder leaks, the fluid usually follows the rod through the firewall and drips onto the fuse panel inside. And what brake (clutch) fluid does to electrical panels is not pretty.

The lock cylinders are held in by flat spring U clips, which you can pop off from inside the door. Remove the inner door trim panel and you'll have access. Don-t bother with used. You should be able to buy NEW, with NEW keys, from any of the chain parts stores for around $10 each.

If it's steel, it's probably original. If it's plastic, it's a gravel shield, not a skid plate.

I sit corrected. I keep forgetting that Jeep treated the Pioneer differently in the XJ than in the MJ. In the XJ, which I bought new in 1988, the Pioneer model included full instruments. Apparently in the MJ it did not -- although the '87 MJ Pioneer I bought used does have full instrumentation. Sorry. Alzheimer's, ya know.

If it has idiot lights, it isn't a Pioneer. And those aren't '89 wheels, those are 2000 XJ (Cherokee) wheels. Nothing wrong with that, but just be aware that things you can see have obviously been changed, so things you can't see might also have been changed. $1,200 sounds like a really good price for a low-mileage truck like that. Swapping the idiot light cluster for one with gauges is very easy. There are several write-ups on it around this forum.

There's "self-sufficient," and then there's "luxury." Pretty much any slide-in camper is going to be self-contained and self-sufficient, once you move beyond a simple cap (which my idiot state claims turns any pickup into a "camper"). There are two or three companies making the pop-top type like Summerinmaine's, and the level of finish and equipment (and thus the weight) varies. You can buy a basic shell that you finish out yourself, or two or three levels of finish. What I found a few years ago when I was researching it is that regardless of pop-top or hardtop, there are a LOT fewer choices for the compact pickups than there are for the full-size trucks. Keep in mind that weight affects more than stability. You also have to move that weight down the road, and regardless of how good the 4.0L Jeep engine is -- it ain't a 454 Chevy mountain mover. My plan was to go with the lower level of finish and gimmicks, partly to keep the weight down and partly because I was always a tent camper, and trying to bring an entire house along for the ride just doesn't strike me as "camping." The slide-in was my concession to advancing age, but it now appears that my camping days are over so it becomes an academic discussion.

That has been my impression, too. When I wqas shopping for a camper for mine (an idea totally squelched by SWMBO), I was looking for a pop-top like Summerinmaine's rather than a full height unit like Luke's, in order to keep the center of gravity lower on the road and to reduce windage.

Agreed -- one of each is the way to go (unless you can swing three of each). The SWB is better for wheeling and daily driver duty, but the LWB is definitely more "utilitarian." At the moment I have three SWB and two LWB here. Eventually I need to "thin the herd" and I hope to end up with one restored SWB and one half decent LWB. Although the '88 SWB 4-banger is sort of a sentimental favorite and I may talk myself into keeping that one, as well.

Dude, $2,500 is about the down payment on fixing that. Your pickup box got shoved forward far & hard enough to dent the cab.

A 4-cyl 5-speed would have had 4.10 gears. A 4-cyl 4-speed would have had 3.55 gears. Either way, the 4-cyl transmission would not bolt up to the 6-cylinder engine, so either you misunderstood him, or he isn't giving you the straight story. Also, the 2000 XJ used a totally different computer and injection/ignition system, and converting an older XJ or MJ to work with the newer system is ... complex. You would need to find out exactly (and I mean (EXACTLY) what in the vehicle is original 87, and what is from the 2000 ... and what he did to make them interface. The '87 short bed was available with a Dana 44 ... I own one. Mine came from the factory with a Dana Trak-Loc limited slip. You can easily upgrade to the equivalent of a Metric Tonne suspension with new springs, or by adding an extra leaf to the old springs (but not a typical add-a-leaf, which would generate excessive lift). But ... why would you want to do that? The stock MJ is rated to carry 1400+ pounds. That's a 3/4 ton truck ... are you really going to carry more than 1400 pounds on a regular basis? That truck, except for the Dana 44 (if it has one) sounds like a good one to stay away from. I foresee nothing but problems.

Buckets, by a wide margin.

I dunno. I thought they were a full differential, but I was never seriously interested in one so I never pursued the specifications.

Or that you have your foot on or off the throttle. Shift on the fly going INTO 4WD only works if the front and rear wheels are turning at the same speed. If the front wheels are rolling along at 30 MPH but the rear wheels are on slippery stuff and spinning at 45 MPH ... what do you THINK is likely to happen if all of a sudden the transfer case tries to lock both drive shafts together? The name of the game is "neutral throttle" -- ideally you should be on fairly level ground so you can "feather" the throttle so you are neither accelerating nor compression braking. That ensures that the rear wheels won't be spinning faster or slower than the front, allowing for a smooth shift into 4WD. And I agree -- if the conditions call for 4WD, one definitely should not be going 70 MPH, or anywhere near 70 MPH.

I agree ... and I disagree. A front locker generally provides no advantage on pavement, because you're usually in 2WD on pavement. But a locker also does not affect turning when running in 2WD because there's no power going to the front axle, so the locker never locks. If it does ... it ain't workin'. Aussie is good, but it's a real carrier locker. The best bang for the buck is a lunchbox locker in the front. A lot of people also like the True Trac, which is a gear driven limited slip that is tiotally transparent in the front on pavement.

Have you changed the fluid and cleaned or replaced the filter screen?

What wide track version? Was there a wide track version in the MJ? Nobody ever tells me nuthin'!

The simple answer is that Pep Boys sells replacement ignition lock cylinders for around $12 (maybe up to $15 by now, I haven't bought one for a couple of years). Replace the original lock cylinder and you don't have to do any rewiring.

I also agree with Jeepco. It's one thing to REPLACE the stock ignition with a toggle switch and push button because you want it that way. It's a very different matter to throw in a booty-fab switch because some idiot wrecked your steering column. You have no idea what broke inside that column, so you now have no idea if/when the steering may decide to lock up on you when driving. Disabling something in a known and controlled manner is different from breaking it. IMHO your friend owes you a steering column.

Are you running the factory overload leaves? It's hard to imagine spring wrap with those installed.

Gotcha. That's okay. However, the brakes must still override the 4-ways or it's not street legal.

JUST stopping the brake lights from overriding the 4-ways is potentially dangerous, and probably illegal. The Cherokee doesn't "override" anything. The Cherokee has a set of dedicated, amber lights for turn signals and 4-ways in the rear. The MJ does not. If you want to do something to ensure that you always have 4-ways, IMHO you'd need to add another pair of bulbs (one on each side) or take one bulb on each side out of the normal circuit and dedicate it as a 4-way. Personally, I plan to add lights front and rear and control them with a toggle switch.

The fuel gauge inaccuracy is due to the difference in the resistance value of the fuel gauge sender potentiometer. This can be corrected by adding a resistor in series in the output to add resistance, or adding resistance in parallel across the pot to lower the resistance. I posted the two pot values some time ago here, but can't seem to find them now. :eek: There isn't a huge difference in the resistance. The Renix sender has a range of 0 to 88 ohms. The HO sender has a range of 105 to 0 ohms. The gross difference is 17 ohms, but if you add a resistor of that value to correct the high end of the scale, the other end will be off by 17 ohms. If I were doing it, I think I'd use about an 8-ohm resister, with the hope of getting better accuracy through the mid-range of the scale and accepting some inaccuracy on both ends. Or maybe find a potentiometer in that range so you can dial it in so the gauge works accurately in the range where you most need it to be accurate. For me, that would be from about half down to one-quarter. Full is full, but when it gets down to a half I start thinking about needing to fill up. That's where I'm most concerned about whether or not may gauge is correct.