Eagle

I agree with JeepcoMJ. Don't waste time and effort on a used tie rod end. You would (and probably will, if you continue) be amazed at how little looseness in a tie rod end makes the steering feel really horrible. Unless it's a brand new vehicle that's in the yard due to a collision, buying junkyard tie rod ends is an exercise in futility.

+1

Not saying you're wrong, because I have never seen any spring rates given by the factory, but what's the source of these numbers? I know that stock Cherokee rear springs are much heavier than that, and usually the front springs are stiffer than the rear because they carry the engine. I thought factory fronts would be around 180 to 200+ pounds-per-inch.

Getting back the the original question, the headers are different so making a grill fit the wrong year header is more than a "bit" of work. Even the headlight doors are different.

It's unclear when you ask about price tag if you mean the cost of going through a legal proceeding, or the cost of raising a kid by yourself. In either case, there is no "one size fits all" answer. Each case is different. I have not been through either, thankfully, but a friend of mine has been involved in a custody battle with his ex-GF for literally years. The woman is a head case. It began when the kid was born -- she refused to list my friend as the father, even though there was no question. She just didn't list a father. My friend spent a couple or three years and several thousand dollars just getting himself declared the legal father. That only set the stage for the repeated battles over her failure to abide by court-ordered visitation and periodic custody arrangements. If you don't have an attorney -- get one. But don't bother asking how much to expect it to cost, because it's not anything you OR your attorney can control. If the other party wants to make things difficult for you, it will be exceedingly costly and the only option is to bail out and surrender. Not what you wanted to hear, I suspect, but it's the fact. Don't overlook the fact that the courts are stacked in favor of the women in cases where child welfare is concerned. It is VERY difficult to prove to a court that a father would be a better parent/home environment than the mother.

What changed? Rusty used to have a reputation for very mushy springs, softer than factory.

I wouldn't. You can't trust it.

No MAF, uses a MAP sensor. anyway, my 2 cents. Heat soked component somewhere, could be a sensor, could be the ignition module itself. Warm it up, pull a spark plug wire and check for spark. if it's got spark then the ignition side is good, move on to fuel pressure. Yep. Could be a sensor, but coils usually fail first when hot. In the Renix system, the coil is part of the ignition module assembly. I would not overlook that possibility. Many years ago I replaced a carburetor and then a distributor when the only real problem was a faulty condenser (which was new, so I never thought to check it).

Define "work." You can screw them on and they'll satisfy legal requirements for tire cover, but they don't bolt onto the original mounting holes.

There's a good chance the stock master cylinder won't hold or push enough fluid for the rear disc brakes. Best swap is to use both the master cylinder and proportioning valve from a mid-90s ZJ with rear discs.

No wonder I could not find this in my FSM............... :mad: How can I get these IS bulletins Eagle? I got it from Dyment, the DaimlerChrysler literature clearinghouse. The title is "M.R.277 I.S. Notes" and it's part number 8980 010 169A. I don't remember what it cost me and I have no idea if it is still available.

Yes, you will. Plus you know you already have the tires rub the lower control arms when you turn, even with 31x10.50s (and, BTW, they'll also rub a little with 30x9.50s), so with 32x11.50s you'll have a half inch MORE tire inboard of the centerline of the rim, therefore it'll rub more and with less of a turn angle. In the rear, you'll also have half an inch less clearance between the tire and the frame. It'll probably clear going straight on pavement, but I know for a fact that 31x10.50s rub against the frame when the rear axle gets twisted, so 32x11.50s will only rub more and sooner. Lift is NOT the answer to either of these conditions. What you need is rims with less (not more) backspacing. The rear wheel arches are probably large enough that you won't need much or any cutting there, but the front WILL require cutting.

Sounds like my post. :) I found the factory data. Not in the FSM after all, but in a book of IS bulletins. 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". So you lads are correct about the 4WD models riding higher. If I once knew that, I had forgotten it.

I can do better. That measurement is in my Comanche FSM. I'm at work now but I'll look it up at home if someone will be kind enough to send me a reminder by PM. FWIW, I know y'all keep saying the 2WD rides lower than the 4WD but I don't recall seeing two specs in the FSM. We'll see ...

Most factory rims are 15x7 with 5-1/4" back spacing. Ed Stevens over on the NAXJA forum did extensive research a few years back. He removed the springs and cycled the suspension through the full range, and he found that on stock rims you can run 31x10.50 tires on a Cherokee with no rubbing. (Except on the lower control arms at full steering lock.) MJs have larger rear wheel arches, BUT the frame sits closer to the outside. Running 31x10.50s on OEM rims at 4" of lift, I would come back from a wheeling trip and see scuff marks on the sides of the frame where the inside tops of the tires rubbed when the rear axle was twisted up. CW is correct, that less backspacing cures one problem but creates others in the process. If you run any less backspacing, even with 31x10.50s, the front tires won't stuff inside the flares, they HIT the flares -- and they hit the lower corners of the wheelwells when turning. Run wider tires on wider rims and the problem just gets worse. If you want to run 12.50s on 8" rims, you'll have to choose the backspacing that will keep the tires off the frame in the rear, and then cut the sheetmetal like crazy to eliminate the resulting interference everywhere else.

Which translates to 87 thru 90 for the flex plate

DC, you obviously don't live near an actual ghetto, you've just read about them. You messed up on a couple of KEY points: (1) The tires and wheels MUST exceed the value of the vehicle by a factor of ten. Thus, if the car cost $200, you have to spend at a minimum $2000 on tires and rims. That's actually pretty low-tech ... most genuine ghetto cruisers spend $2000 on each wheel. (2) The chassis must be slammed. If you can turn from a main street into a driveway ... you didn't do it right. Pneumatic suspension is, of course, better. If the vehicle can jump up and down when stopped at traffic lights, it gets 7.43 more MPG when moving. (3) And don't stint on the limo tint. If the po-po can see you, you lose points. (4) A true ghetto vehicle doesn't have license plates on the outside. They get stolen. The license plate has to be taped or propped up in the rear window (which, of course, has been obscured by the aforementioned limo tint, thereby rendering the marker plate invisible).

All that matters is that the hole spacing be correct. The XJs and MJs all used the same drive shaft u-joints, so the same u-bolt that works with a D35 should work with a D44. I bought some awhile back with the thought of converting my XJ, but I've not done it because I haven't had any reason to drop the drive shaft. I'll have to look, but I think it should work as well on a rear D44 as on a D35. Dunno if I got the correct ones, but I think the ones I got were listed for a Ford pickup. Most of the auto parts chains have these in the HELP! line, in blister packs, you just have to search for the correct one.

Please do NOT post huge pictures. They take forever to download, and they just mean we have to scroll around to see the entire view. 640x480 is fine, or 800x600 is a practical MAXIMUM for viewing on the Internet. I'll tell you right off, I'm on a dial-up connection. If your pics are larger than 800x600 I won't see them, because I don't have time to sit here while they load. Xacto's pic above is 900x564 and it takes up MORE than my full screen width, meaning I have to scroll back and forth to see it all. There's no point in posting pics that large.

I'm not sure what controls the tranny in the newer XJs with OBD II. I think i'd go ahead and try it. If you have problems, ask a dealer if they can flash it to tell it it's now a manual tranny. Remember that you'll need a new flywheel if your MJ is a Renix. I don't know if the 91-95 flywheels are the same as the 97+ with regard to the tooth pattern for the CPS.

I admit to be biased because I have met Clayton and wheeled with him, but I think Clayton's long arm kit is head and shoulders over the others. He didn't design it to sell, he designed it for his own use, and since he wheels hard he designed it bulletproof. Then other people in his club wanted them, and it took on a life of its own. He's an industrial engineer by profession, so it's not a booty-fab design. Plus, unless he has grown a lot in the past year, he is still small enough that you can call him up and tell him you need a kit for a Comanche rather than a Cherokee, and he'll work with you. Clayton's Off-Road, Waterbury, CT. If you decide to go that way and he needs a Comanche to see what's different from the Cherokee, lemme know and we can arrange for me to stop by his shop and let him eyeball one of mine. I haven't seen the new shop since they moved, anyway, so it would give me a reason to get over there.

You can't upload pics directly to the forum. Put your pics on a photo hosting site such as PhotoBucket, then you just post links to the pics in your posts here.

There is no relay in the headlight circuit. The headlight switch incorporates a circuit breaker, and all the wiring carries full power. Did you replace the dash switch, or the dimmer switch at the base of the steering column? Also, did you check the sockets at the headlights to see if you're getting power and perhaps the sockets aren't contacting the pins (spades) on the lights?

John, a picture of your interior would be useful and informative. Most MJs (Comanches) came from the factory with a bench seat and a short, "mini" center console. Eliminators had bucket seats, and the XLT (or whatever they called the top model in 1986) had buckets, but by far most had a bench seat. So yours may be original.

No. Caster is measured with the wheels turned. Camber is measured with the wheels straight ahead. BTW - what do you means by caster "out" 4 degrees? 4 degrees isn't enough caster, you should have about twice that much.