Eagle

Unfortunately, you probably DO have a crossed line. The MJ has two lines to the rear, where the XJ has only one. How did you deal with that? Here's the issue: The XJ combo valve has the line feeding the rear coming out of the fitting at the forward end of the block on the bottom. The XJ combo valve has no fitting in the "nose" -- only the plug for the proportioning piston rod. The MJ has two lines to the rear, one for the normal brakes that runs through the rear proportioning valve, and one that bypasses the rear proportioning valve but is actuated only when the front brake circuit loses pressure. BUT ... the bypass line, which normally is not pressurized, is the one at the bottom of the block. The line coming out of the "nose" of the block is the one that feeds the rear brakes under normal conditions. If you blocked off the line that was in the "nose" and connected up only the line to the forward, bottom fitting on the block ... you effectively disconnected your rear brakes.

That might be the problem, but it's more likely the headlight switch in the dashboard. The headlight circuit doesn't have a fuse, the switch incorporates a built-in circuit breaker. If that gets tired, the additional load created by the high beams (they are typically 55 watts and the low beams are 35 watts) is enough to blow the breaker. After a minute or so it cools down enough to give you lights again -- for a minute or so. Hasn't happened to me in an XJ or MJ yet, but it did happen in my old full-size Cherokee. It got progressively worse, until the night I had to drive home at 10 MPH using only the parking lights.

The cable itself may have broken. Back when mechanical speedometers were the only game in town, JC Whitney used to sell universal cable replacements. They never put something in their catalog that people didn't need ... often.

I don't think there's any difference between the LWB and SWB for hitch mount. I have a hitch on my SWB '87 that I bought used, and I believe (I'm not certain) the seller told me it had been on a LWB. Doesn't make sense they would be different -- they use the factory bumper bracket mounting holes, and the factory didn't have different mounts for the LWB and SWB bumbers.

I'm impressed. Booty-fab to the rescue.

It's far short of a dozen, because the fleet is about half XJs and half MJs. I sold one 86-87-88 SWB to a friend in NAXJA. And I gave that 86 LWB to Detours to model for those rear bumpers that never materialized. :( Lemme see if I can do this from memory: '86 LWB 2.5L 2WD 4-sp '87 SWB Pioneer 4.0L 4WD 5-speed '88 SWB Chief 4.0L 4WD 5-speed '88 SWB SporTruck 2.5L 2WD 4-speed '89 LWB Pioneer 4.0L 2WD 5-speed Dang! I don't think I missed any, and that's not even a half dozen left. I'd better go shopping ...

I keep telling you guys, it's all on Monroe's web site. Now ... bookmark the following: http://www.monroe.com/catalog_lookup/oc ... ppinfo.asp You're looking for a shock with upper and lower mounts that are type L1. For a stock MJ, according to the Monroe listing the compressed length is 12.00" and the extended length is 19.00" XP12 mounts are cross-pins, a la Cherokee, so you can also pick shocks with XP12 mounts and remove the cross pins. Take it from there.

Never yet heard of anyone needing a t-case drop on an MJ. I wouldn't do it.

13 psi minimum at warm idle, 37 to 70 psi above 1600 RPM, according to the factory service manual. Typically, most 4.0Ls in decent condition seem to run between 45 and 55 psi at highway speed.

Fortunately, pictures load so slowly on my dial-up connection that I got the word before I saw the pics. He's not the first -- there's a used car dealer in Rhode Island who has a trailer made the same way -- chopped the entire box and frame off an MJ, welded on a Y-shaped front frame, and it's a really nice trailer. He bought it from someone else, so I didn't have to kill him. Although, come to think of it, he agreed on a price to sell it to me and then backed out on the deal, so his days may have to be numbered after all ... FWIW, the thing in these pictures has an aftermarket split slider rear window. I'm not sure if that side mirror is OEM or not -- I don't recall ever seeing one in black, but they may have existed.

Obviously, the new style dash will bolt into the truck. The problem you face is that in 1991 Chrysler reversed polarity on all the instrumentation, so to swap in the new dash you would also need to change a bunch of sensors AND swap out the body harness -- while maintaing the original ignition/injection harness. Your other option would be to find a late model 4-cylinder XJ with the multi-port injection and swap in the newer ECU and injection along with the dash and body harness. That should get you more horses and equal or better fuel economy.

Your speedometer is mechanical, so the fact it works is irrelevent.

If you go to Monroe's web site, they used to have the entire catalog on-line, and the back of the catalog had a complete listing of shocks by length and end fittings. It might take awhile to scroll through it, but you would take just as long to scan through the paper catalog, since you basically have to look at EVERY listing until you find what you want. I usually scan for length first, and when I see one in the range I'm looking for then I check the attachments. Or you could look for the attachments and then check the length.

It's like Jeep 101 on steroids. Massive quantities of soccer-mom type people who accidently found themselves owning Jeeps and need a controlled environment to pretend they take their "truck" off-road. Lots of people, lots of noisy kids, lots of DaimlerChrysler hype, okay food -- and obscenely expensive for what is, in essence, a day and a half of heavily-controlled trail riding.

I vote for the junkyard motor. It sounds way too nice to part out.

There are only two locations for the crossmember, and the two positions only use three holes. The forward set is 10" back from the LCA mount, and the rear one is 14" back. If you research longarm conversions, you'll run into the question of whether you want the kit to fit the "10" specification" or the "14" specification" -- that's what they're talking about. You may have to move a stud on each frame rail to align the crossmember in the correct location, but if you have the correct tranny mount you do NOT need to drill any new holes.

????? Are you talking about a bezel, or are you referring to a mini-console? The bezel would be just the little plastic "ruler" that pops over the shift handle to tell you what range you're in. Sounds to me like you're talking about a mini-console. Those are readily available out of low-end Cherokees.

No, it is NOT owned by DaimlerChrysler. Never was. It is majority owned by China, and DCX has about a 45% ownership stake. However, the partnership predates even Chrysler, going back to the AMC days. According to the gentleman who was the Director of International Sales a few years ago, the licensing agreement allows Beijing Jeep to sell anywhere in the world. When DCX was building Cherokees in the U.S. that was a non-issue, but now it seems entirely possible that if investors could be convinced to run this thing up, it would be completely possible to import these things to the U.S. and sell them through whatever dealerships (probably other than Mopar) would want to take them on. They are NOT from Japan. They're Chinese, for Heaven's sake. And the technology is 95% straight American Jeep.

My '88 MJ has a YJ AX-15 and 231 that were installed by (for) the previous owner. The t-case is clocked slightly higher, but I see no evidence that they modified the floor pan at all. If there is a clearance issue, expect it to be very minor, requiring slight work with a bumping hammer rather than a sledge hammer. The YJ t-case linkage goes right on the case and will NOT clear the dashboard in an MJ even if you hack the floor to let it poke through, so pick up a junkyard XJ 4x4 shift linkage before you even start.

FALVEY'S?!?!? You stole that truck out of MY state! That's unspeakable ... :headpop:

Typically, an oil change should not induce a backfire. Old gas could. If you disturbed a spark plug wire or two when changing the oil that might affect it. Firing order could affect it ... the correct order should be 1-5-3-6-2-4. A cracked distributor cap can cause a backfire, so if you slipped and clobbered the cap with a wrench that might be something to check.

That's correct, but the ZJ came out in 1992 as a '93 model. That leaves several years of probably partial (at least) compatibility with the 91 & 92 MJ OBD-I electronics.

Mushy brake pedal? Goes down too far? Check the master cylinder and I'll bet you find the small chamber (for the rear) empty. Check the hard line where it runs over the gas tank, and check the hard line on the rear axle, from the junction block out to the wheel cylinders.

I think I'm too old to be "fiercely" anything other than tired, but ... for the record ... I am and always have been an unaffiliated voter, so I too have no partiality for either of the major political parties. (I used to say I was "independent," but then some idiot started an Independent Party, so I had to go with "unaffiliated" in order to avoid being affiliated by verbal association.)

I think you should take the alternator out of the truck and have it bench tested. The fact it's new doesn't mean diddly. I put a NEW (not rebuilt) alternator in my '88 and it was totally dead. I made the drone at the parts store bench test the replacement before I walked out the door with it.