Eagle

That didn't matter when I talked to the collector insurance companies. My plan for the '87 is a full restoration and display in AMC Owner Group shows. I not only have newer daily drivers, I also have other 4x4s for use on the occasional off-road excursion. The insurance people would not talk to me. Period. Didn't even matter if it had antique tags on it.

What's an AX-15 specific clutch?

Do your homework -- and if you can actually buy collector insurance for a Comanche, please tell us where. I tried a couple of years ago. Both Taylor and the other big name in collector insurance (the name escapes me at the moment) flat-out refused to insure any 4WD or off-road vehicle. Didn't matter what age, what condition, how many "primary" vehicles I own, or how much I might be willing to pay. They wouldn't even consider offering a quotation. Nope. Nyet. Non. Nao. End of discussion.

Pretty simple test. Despite the amperage of the starter, the circuit still only carries 12 volts. Hook the hot lead of a test light to the OUTPUT terminal of the relay (the one where the wire to the starter motor connects), and connect the ground from the test light to a good ground. Have a helper turn the key to the START position. If the test light lights, the relay is making a circuit. If the test light doesn't light ... it isn't.

Yeah, me too. I also try to keep my speed at just about 2 MPH over the posted limit (just enough to make up for the built-in speedo error -- if I'm in a Jeep that I know reads slower than actual speed, I adjust accordingly) with the aim of actually driving right at the limit. Takes a few minutes longer to get there, and some people find it annoying, but it avoids traffic tickets. Back to the original post, though -- I second the advice given above, to always fight a speeding ticket. But ... if you can't afford an attorney, you pretty much MUST spend some time in a library to look up the regulations on the use of radar guns. It probably won't be in a statute book -- it's more likely an administrative regulation adopted pursuant to a statute. And it may not be grouped with motor vehicle regulations. I would expect it to be grouped with police procedural regulations.

I'm not talking about forcing a spring into or out of position, I'm only talking about spreading two adjacent coils far enough apart to slide a bump stop between them. With the frame on a jack stand and the axle drooping, it shouldn't require much "persuasion" at all. Yes, I have seen what a coil spring can do.

I sometimes wonder about that same question ... not as a legal issue, but more as a reflection of human behavior. I am not a lawyer nor a police officer, but I'be be willing to bet (and I'm not a betting man) that the limit changes at the point where the post is staked into the ground, NOT however far down the road you can see the higher limit from. The commentary on the contrary nature of us homo sapients, though, is that we (and I include myself) want it both ways. If we see the sign a hundred yards ahead, we want to speed up to the new limit NOW if the new limit is higher, but how many of us treat it the same way when the new limit is lower? Not me. If I'm coming off a 50-MPH stretch of road into a settled are where the limit is 35, I slow down to 35 when I get to the sign, not before. So, to be fair about it, when the limit goes back up to 50 I can't honestly claim I should be subject to the new limit as soon as I can see (not even read) the sign.

Por supuesto :cheers:

What year is your truck? On the Renix, there is NO connection to the factory thermostat. The aux fan is controlled by a sensor that screws into the bung in the driver's side radiator tank. The sensor is basically an ON-OFF switch, which in turn connects to the control side of a standard relay that's mounted to the inside of the driver's side fender. With the 91+ Chryco system, the aux fan is controlled by the ECM. You'll need a factory wiring diagram to figure out where to tap into the wiring harness to access that circuit.

Yeah, I've done it that way. You may need to spread two adjacent coils a bit by applying "persuasion," but it's not that difficult.

Running heavy liquid lube in place of lighter liquid lube is one thing -- using a totally different formulation where pumps and hoses are involved is another. I've seen what happens to a brake system when some doofus puts automatic tranny juice in the master cylinder. It's especially exciting at night -- ever see front brake rotors glowing cherry red? I would have suggested the turkey baster, too. Good job getting that stuff out of there.

Age does factor in, but not directly. Regardless of age, the insurance company will "total" a vehicle if the cost of repairs would exceed their estimate of the replacement cost of a vehicle. Obviously, for a 20-year old, high mileage vehicle, the replacement cost is much lower than for a brand new vehicle just off the showroom floor. For a $35,000 new car, a $3,500 repair is nothing. For a 20-year old MJ, a $3,500 repair is five or more times what the blue book says the vehicle is worth. This is why, if you put a lot of money into repairing or restoring an older vehicle, you should document everything with both receipts and photos, and keep the insurance company informed that your 20-year old clunker should not be considered the same as the rust-bucket on the next block. You may pay a bit more in premiums to have the increased replacement value covered, but if you need it it's nice to get the real value covered. FWIW, those of us who drive and love older vehicles face the same problem even (or especially) if an accident is NOT our fault. If an accident is caused by another driver, that driver's insurance company is not going to want to spend a nickel more than they have to, so if they can total out your 1988 Comanche for a $500 lump sum payment rather than ante up for a $3500 repair bill ... guess what they'll choose. In such a case, if you still have your own collision insurance and have documented that you have recently put more than $3500 into the vehicle, you can choose to have the vehicle repaired under your own insurance and all you pay is the deductable. Your insurance company then goes after the other company through a process called "subrogation." If they recover (which they usually do), they will then refund your deductable. That's the main reason I keep collision coverage (which is "collision" coverage, not "comprehensive." Comprehensive covers fire, theft, and natural disaster, not accidents) on my older vehicles. I run a fairly high deductable to keep the premiums down, but I consider all of my XJs and MJs to be worth more than "book" value and I do not want some dipzhit, fly-by-night insurance company to steal one from me if their insured driver plows into me in a drunken stupor some night. $500 is NOT going to buy any of my Jeeps.

I'm going to make my own. I have three 2WD MJs here at the moment. One runs and drives just fine but I'm not interested in upgrading it. The other two I regard as keepers. Whether or not I ultimately convert one or both to 4WD, I want to improve the rear spring capacity. The plan is to take old XJ main leaves, cut off the eyes, and stick them into the MJ spring packs as AALs. I'm actually hoping this will increasse the spring rate without adding much lift, but there will probably be some net increase in ride height. For those wanting some lift, doing the same thing but using old MJ, S-10, or older Dakota main leaves should generate some lift. When you add a second main leaf to an XJ leaf pack, it generates about 1-1/2" of lift. I would expect a similar result adding a second main leaf into an MJ leaf pack, but I haven't done it (yet). Or just buy the Rancho XJ/MJ AAL set for around $50. The Rancho catalog says it produces 2-1/2" of lift. But ... it says the same thing for the XJ and, since one is SOA and the other is SUA, thats clearly impossible. I called Rancho awhile back to clarify that, and the nice engineer gal I spoke with went off and checked with some other engineer type, then came back and said that should be 2-1/2" for the XJ and 1" to 1-1/2" for the MJ. IMHO the Rancho kit is the cleanest way to go. No junkyards to slog around in, you don't use up $25 worth of cutoff wheels or sawzall blades chopping the eyes off old leaves, just buy it and go. The kit includes new center pins and a couple of spring clips, although I would probably add a couple more clips for security (unless I was looking for a lot of flex).

Changing a few sensors HAS to be cheaper than doing a cam. You have to pull the head to do a cam in the 4.0L engine -- there's no other way to remove the lifters. You wouldn't pull the head and install a new cam without doing a valve job. And my experience has been that doing a valve job on a tired engine without doing a lower end rebuild results in higher compression, which then starts pushing oil past the tired old piston rings. In short -- I recommend not doing a cam unless you rebuild the entire engine. 19-pound Ford 5-liter injectors seem to be a popular replacement for the Renix injectors. The flow rate is close enough, and the FoMoCo injectors have a better spray pattern so the improved atomization may improve mileage slightly. The O2 sensor is intended to be replaced approximately every 75,000 to 80,000 miles. The original in my '88 XJ went a lot longer than that (actually, the ORIGINAL original failed a lot sooner but was replaced under a recall program, the corrected part lasted a lot longer than 80,000), the next one lasted less. If you don't know how long yours has been in place, it should be replaced because when it fails the mix gets too rich and the unburned fuel then destroys the catalytic converter. In your situation, I'd suggest O2 first, if that doesn't improve mileage check the cat for blockage, and if that's good then think about the Mustang injectors. Also check your EGR valve.

Yeah. At least in French if a word ends with 'A' it's feminine and if it ends with 'O' it's masculine. Spanish? No joy, GI. So does Spanish. The word "crear," for example, means both "think" and "create." There are many, MANY others. It doesn't help that each country in South America has evolved the language a bit differently, so the dictionaries and phrase books we see here in the U.S., which are geared primarily to Mexican Spanish, can be quite incorrect in Chile, or Argentina, or Peru. Earthquake in Chile is "terremoto." In Peru it's "sismo."

Hola, Fernando, y bienvenido al ComancheClub.com As a "gringo" married to a Chilena and struggling to learn enough Spanish so I can talk to her family when we visit Chile, I agree that Spanish isn't easy to learn. It seems that, for every rule of grammar I learn, EVERYTHING I need to say just happens to be an exception. French (which I studied for four years and once spoke ... okay) was a lot easier. However, my wife will disagree with you strongly. She insists that English is impossible to learn. (Of course, it doesn't help that she keeps the telly tuned to Spanish language stations, but I'm not going there ...) Anyhoo ... we are happy to have you here as a member/participant. I have seen a few Comanches around Santiago, but not many. Plenty of older Cherokees, though. Last trip to Chile we took a side excursion to San Carlos de Bariloches (??) in Argentina. Spectacularly beautiful, like a part of the Alps in South America.

Yeah, there was a change. Are you asking about the 86 with a 207 transfer case? Different animal. Example: From the old FSM. For the 228/229 transfer case (and the 231), 3.54 gears and 225/75 tires calls for a 33-tooth gear. For the 207 transfer case, 3.54 gears and 225/75 tires called for an 18-tooth gear. You're going to have to run the numbers to calculate the right speedo gear for the 207 gearsets. In general, assuming NO change in axle gearing, a jump from 215 or 225 OEM tires to 30x9.50s represents about a 5% to 6% jump. Going from the same stock tire sizes to 31x10.50s is a jump of about 10% to 11%.

Well, you've thrown a bunch of variables at the problem, but 2WD vs. 4WD isn't one of them. They use the same speedo gear. What you are overlooking is that the "quill" into which the speedo gear fits, and which in turn is bolted into the tranny (transfer case, for a 4WD) has to be rotated to a different orientation depending on how many teeth are on the gear. That's how you adjust for the different sizes of gear. Since I ran 31x10.50/15s for some time, I'll start be pointing out that 31s with 3.73 gears works out to exactly the same final drive ratio as stock 225/75 tires with 3.54 gears as came from the factory with all 4.0L automatics. Assuming you have an automatic, your stock speedo gear should have had 33 teeth. (If your OEM tires were 215s, that would have been 34 teeth.) Okay. 33 teeth stock automatic. 33 teeth also good for 31" tires with 3.73 gears, but you're running 4.10s. So you need more driven teeth to make the speedo read slower for each revolution of the driveline. The difference in percent is (4.10 - 3.73)/3.73 x 100 = 9.92 percent. So you need a speedo gear with 9.92% more teeth than the original 33 teeth. 33 + 9.92% = 36 teeth. Which just happens to coincide with the number shown in a table of speedo gear selections I printed out several years ago, from a web site that no longer exosts, when NAXJA was in its infancy. Now ... about that quill clocking: Take a close look at the quill. You should see three small bars, and between the bars you should see numbers stamped/cast into the metal. The numbers correspond to the tooth count. There is a small index mark/boss cast into the housing below the hole the quill fits into, at about the 6:00 o'clock position. You need to rotate the quill untill the numbers of the range in which your speedo gear fall are aligned above the index boss. In the illustration in the old FSM they show only two sets of numbers, 32-38 teeth and 39-45 teeth. My fuzzy recollection is that the quill on my '88 MJ actually had three sets of numbers, but it doesn't matter. Whatever the tooth count, align the range into which it falls with the index mark. One other point -- if you get it to within 2 to 3 percent, stop fighting it. You won't get any closer. There's that much difference between tires of the same nominal size from different manufacturers, or from different inflation pressures. My wife's 2000 XJ speedo reads 2-1/2% faster than actual speed (verified by running through the police radar trailers more than twice) with the original factory tires. Most vehicles come from the factory with speedos that read slightly faster than actual ground speed.

That's a factory mini-console, which was standard in the MJs because of the bench seat.

Actually, it's getting better mileage because the timing is more advanced, not because it's less. Using the knock sensor allows the timing to be advanced to the optimum setting pretty much all the time, and when the engine gets loaded down and starts to knock the sensor backs it off enough to prevent damage to the pistons. Even though I live in a coastal state (elevation at my house is about 450 feet above sea level), the last time I replaced the CPS in the '88 Cherokee I threw in a high-altitude CPS just to see what would happen. The vehicle is 19+ years old, 265,000+ miles, and in normal commuting (15 miles each way, of which maybe 5 is highway) routinely delivers 21 to 23 MPG. I haven't taken a long trip since putting in the high-altitude CPS but I think I'd probably be pushing at 25 MPG if I stayed near the speed limit. Best mileage ever was a trip to Vermont when the Cherokee was about a year old -- 28 MPG. There's no way an HO will produce mileage like that. My wife's 2000 XJ typically runs at 16 MPG when she drives it, and 18 MPG when I drive it. If any of my Renix XJs or MJs turned in mileage like that I'd figure it was due for a rebuild.

+1 ... And I think we can count Pete's post as +2. Since an MPFI system injects the fuel directly into the cylinders at the head, it's difficult to imagine any way in which a throttle body spacer could make much of a difference. It pretty much CAN'T affect the fuel atomization, and it pretty much CAN'T affect the velocity of the air charge as it enters the cylinder because that's a function of the pistol speed and valve opening ... what's left? Yeah, I know the people who make and sell throttle body spacers claim massive increases in horsepower, torque, and economy -- all of which are mutually exclusive. I'm still waiting to see independent corroboration.

Let's see if being married to a Chilean wife has rubbed off at all: Hello to all. I am from San Jose, Costa Rica, and in a few days if God is willing I will be acquiring a Jeep Comanche 1989, 4.0L 6-cylinder, standard transmission, 4x4

I am very skeptical of for-hire "credit counselors." They charge you a fee for doing what you can do for nothing. If you are already over-stretched, how does it help to incur yet another debt?

What system is flawed? There are numerous areas in which the Renix system is better than the later Chrysler system. The fact you don't like it doesn't make it "flawed."

$150 is a headpop? Man, here in the land of steady habits attorneys charge $400 an hour and up. Even at rates like that, it seems every week or so I read an article about some attorney who embezzled a few hundred thou from some elderly client's estate.