Eagle

This is turning into a contest between the day shift and the night shift. Whichever sister puts on a third shift is going to win.

Sneak attack. I won't say I saw it coming, but I was voting as fast as I could yesterday, and losing ground ...

Keep in mind that the ports on the 87-90 engine are lower and shaped differently than on the HO engines. Swapping to the newer manifolds on the older engine is not a straight, bolt-on conversion. There's some adaptation required, and the result is still a compromise because of the mismatch in the port shapes. The other consideration is, what are you looking for in the way of "improvements"? The non-HO engine produces more torque lower in the RPM range, and generally gets better gas mileage than the newer engines. The more you try to turn the old engine into a new one in pursuit of "performance," the more you lose in fuel economy and low-end torque. If you do most of your driving on the street and want to engage in drag racing, maube that's the route to go. If you actually use your MJ as a truck, and maybe even go off road -- it's probably better to leave it alone.

How many calories each? I suspect one of those would destroy my diet for a week ... at least.

Which computer (PCM) and which throttle body are you using? The 91 and 99 parts are not compatible. The 91 was OBD-compliant. The 99 is OBD-II compliant. The sensors are different, the PCMs (powertrain control modules) are different, the ijectors are different, and the fuel system runs at a different fuel pressure. Basically, you need to decide if you want to re-use your 91 externals, or update EVERYTHING to the 99 spec. The 99 doesn't have a magneto. It uses coil-on-rail ignition, basically a small individual coil for each spark plug. No big deal -- you can yank the little sender for that and plug in your 91 distributor if you're going to stay with the 91 parts.

As of Monday afternoon, l'il sister has cut that once "commanding" lead in half. I'm tossing votes up between trying to get some work done here, but the gap is now down to 650, and we're losing ground. Let's try to hit it hard tonight.

If it's a no-brainer, take out the tape and measure it the way everyone else does so we can all be on the same page. Trying to back into it by subtracting a theoretical tire radius, which is affected by tire pressure and given only as an "about" anyway, is not very accurate. What you have said so far is that the back is taller than the front but you don't know by how much. How can anybody advise on possible corrections with that as a starting point?

That's not how lift is measured. Tires are a variable, because bigger tires change the ride height even without any lift, and conversely, you can add a lift without changing tire size. If you still have the factory flares (in the original locations), the accepted way to measure lift is from the center of the wheel/hub/axle stright up to the underside of the flare lip. For XJs and MJs, the stock front measurement should be 17-1/2" (plus or minus not more than 1/2"). For the rear, stock XJs w/o the Up Country suspension should be 17" and stock MJs should be about 21" And as to the front springs, TJ springs do not produce as much lift in XJs and MJs as they do in TJs. So if the springs you bought were tated at 4" for a TJ, you probably got about an inch or maybe 2" of actual lift out of them, and the rest is tire size rather than "lift."

http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopi ... permission 4th post in the thread

Dunno about Dakota, but 97+ XJ mirrors will fit.

There is an additive for automotive paint that going to be applied to bumper covers, flares, and such semi-flexible parts. I don't know if there's a technical name for it. The paint shop I buy from just calls it "flex additive" and everyone seems to know what that is, so I guess that's close enough. Yeah, without the additive any flexing at all of the flares will leave cracks in the paint.

This is why I long ago stopped looking at Jeeps Unlimited. This is a CHOICE bit of advice from a real expert: Do NOT swerve to try to avoid accidents. It's always better to hit an oncoming vehicle head-on." FWIW, I have put a 2000 XJ Classic (in stock trim) into a four wheel power slide at 60 MPH, in order to avoid a moron who came up a freeway on ramp and chose to dart right out into traffic rather than use the acceleration/merge lane. It did not roll over, and it was completely controllable. The front sway bar was connected. I doubt very much I would have survived if the sway bar had NOT been connected.

Here's a thought: http://www.doityourself.com/icat/threadedrodcouplers A pair of these couplings with a piece of all-thread, and you're done.

The front sway bar is critically important for safety on pavement. Even at stock height, an XJ or MJ is scary top-heavy in an emergency evasive maneuver. You think everything is fine as long as nothing goes wrong and you just motor along in a straight line, but try to swerve to miss an animal or a child, and you're on your roof. Leaving off the sway bar links is NOT the place to scrimp on $$$

Lengthen. I think I used '95 YJ front hoses. You need to rebend the caliber end metal tube slightly.

I think the premium VST shocks are excellent. I admit to being partial to Monroe, and I currently have Monroe SensaTracs in my '88 XJ, but IMHO the Gabriel VSTs are probably just as good. The Gabriels I bought to throw in the back of the '88 MJ when the VSTs proved to be too short were NOT the VSTs. They were the cheapest Gabriel the nearby Pep Boys had in stock -- and I bought them because they were $2 per shock cheaper than anything I could get at Auto Zone or Advanced Auto. They do the job, but when the back is loaded they're a bit mushy. And when the back isn't loaded they let the tail bounce around more than I like on washboard surfaces. Hey, for $9.99 per shock I wasn't expecting Gran Prix performance. I needed shocks and I was short on cash. Monroes are good. Gabriels are good. Bilsteins are good. OMEs are good. My brother once talked me into trying KYB "Gas Adjusts" on the XJ. Another reminder never to listen to my brother. They were horrible. DO NOT buy KYB shocks unless you're into masochism in a big way.

MJ rear shocks are longer than XJ rears. You can knock the cross pins out of the upper end and the XJ shock bushings are the same diameter as the eyes on MJ shocks. BUT ... I thought I was going to be clever a couple of years ago. I had a pair of the very same Gabriel VST shocks you mentioned, out of an XJ. I thought I'd remove the pins and use them in the rear of my '88 MJ when I removed the lift. WRONG! Fully extended, when I put the lower eye on the mount the upper eye was about half an inch short of reaching the upper stud. I could have weighted down the bed and forced the shocks on, but then I would have had a one-way suspension and it would have destroyed the shocks rather quickly. So I bought a pair of new Gabriels for the MJ, and had to buy new splt bushings to get the pins back in the shocks so they can be used in an XJ.

Whatever. However you choose to look at it, I just logged on at 10:55 p.m. to find Steph's lead has been cut to 1,111 votes. It was 1,300 earlier today. If you don't care about helping a fellow Jeepr's gal in this thing, that's fine. Don't help. For those of us who wish to help, I repeat: Do not become complacent.

It's not a commanding lead if the "other team" cuts into it by 50 or 100 points or more every day. At one time the margin was slightly over 1,500 votes. Then it dropped to less than 1,200. Last night, after some work, we got it back up to about 1,300. This afternoon it was back down to a bit over 1,200. I don't consider that to be a commanding lead, when we still have two weeks to go. They can hit it hard for one afternoon or evening and wipe that out when we're not looking. Do not become complacent.

I have no experience, as I'm basically a 5-speed guy, but the collected wisdom at NAXJA was to NOT use synthetic joy juice in the AW-4 transmission.

I agree. That's why I hope we can build up a big cushion now. First, it may result in their throwing in the towel. Second, if they decide to pull a blitzkreig at the end, it'll be that much MORE work for them, and that much less work for us. I'm just plain obstinate. I've wasted enough time on this that I refuse to allow it to be wasted. It sure does slow down my web surfing, though. I'll be happy when it ends.

I've considered using an XJ backer board and cutting it down. I'm pretty sure the front part will work, but it'll undoubtedly be a less than perfect fit at the back wall of the cab.

Call to arms! Lads, the price of freedom (or, at least, a make-over for Stephanie) is eternal (at least until 10 August) vigilance. Rickie's co-workers were busy today. VERY busy. The margin was down to around 1200 points earlier today. I've been whittling away and it's now back to around 1300, but IIRC it was over 1400 when I logged off last night, so even though it may seem like a comfotable margin ... we lost ground in 24 hours. Was it Yogi Berra or Casey Stengel who said, "It ain't over 'til it's over"? I hope some of you west coast keyboard wizards can put up a few votes before you crash for the night. http://photocontest.freedom.com/shelby- ... ?mode=most

On an XJ, taking a spare set of main leaves, cutting off the eyes, and using them as add-a-leaves typically results in about a 1-1/2" lift. At a guess, doing the same with an MJ should result in about the same. You could use an MJ main leaf, or any other leaf that's the same width and thickness and has about the same arch. Then add in another lower leaf or two for the "donor" pack and you should be just about where you want to be.

I got 4000. Had me worried -- I was swapping votes with someone -- they got 3999, and I got 4000