Eagle

The disconnect was continued right to the end on the YJ ('94), but not on the XJ/MJ.

That's probably the most ridiculous statement I've seen on this forum. YOU may not like stock, but stock does not "suck." Unless you do hard-core rock crawling or run nothing except VERY difficult trails (and don't take it on the street), stock is just fine, and has the added advantage of forcing you to learn how to drive rather than just using big tires and a mega-lift to roll over obstacles. My mates who go with NAXJA to Moab every year tell me that probably 75% or more of the trails around Moab can be done with a stock XJ. Having wheeled both, I think the stock MJ wheels just a tab better than the stock XJ. My MJ (the '88) came with a 4" lift and dropping it back to stock was the single best thing I've done to the truck. And for a young person just learning to drive? I wouldn't let him have ANY lift. Until you have a few years and a couple of minor "encounters" under your belt, you have no idea what really driving is about. You cannot know the limits of any vehicle until you have exceeded them. With a stock vehicle, this may result in some bent sheet metal but hopefully nothing more severe. With a lifted pickup, especially a small truck that's relatively narrow compared to the height, the result is more often than not a roll-over. I've seen a few XJs turn turtle on the trail at very low speeds, and the drivers were able to crawl out, but I wouldn't hold out a lot of hope of surviving a roll-over in an MJ at highway speeds.

If the track bar is missing or disconnected, the steering WHEEL will be very easy to turn, but you won't be able to control the vehicle at all. Do very definitely will NOT drive it down the road. The track bar keeps the axle located side-to-side under the vehicle. Even having the upper tie rod end fitting worn makes the steering frighteningly imprecise. Disconnecting the track bar would result in zero directional control.

Not stock everything, 'cause it's wearing '93 Grand Cherokee alloy rims and the Dana 44 axle wasn't used in 1986. For '86 the optional heavy-duty axle was the AMC Model 20.

No, they don't. XJs built in Venezuela for their local market had dana 44 fronts. The rest of South America got XJs and MJs right of the same assembly lines in the US of A that ours came from. I know that to be the case because my wife is from Chile and I have a friend in Chile who owns an XJ. And there are a LOT of older XJs down there I've looked over pretty carefully. Another urban legend ... down the tubes.

I've seen a photo of one other like that, but all the trucks I've seen "up close and personal" had three-piece windows, with a single sliding center section. The ones I have seen personally, though, are all AMC vintage. The double slider may have been offered in the '91 and '92 models that were built under more Chrysler influence.

Actually, Jeff, it's one pulse in 180 degrees. Don't forget it's a 4-cycle engine. The crank is set up with pairs of pistons 180 degrees opposed -- when 2 are up, 2 are down. When 2 are up, one is firing and the other is pushing exhaust.

I prefer a 5-speed myself, but that's not the point. The point is, if your transfer case is a Command-Trac, you aren't supposed to be in 4WD on pavement. The Command-Trac transfer case was the standard case with the automatic, and the ONLY available t-case with the 5-speed.

The axle disconnect would not affect steering effort. Don't confuse yourself by chasing unrelated red herrings. 99.99% of the time, if there's a problem after changing something, the problem is related either to what you changed, or how you changed it. It sounds like you might have reversed the two hoses, is that possible? I'm looking at your statement that As a matter of fact, non-functional power steering IS more difficult to turn than manual steering, because you're pushing the fluid against the resistance of the pump. If you managed to reverse the hoses, you're not just trying to push against a non-functional pump, you're actually trying to fight the pump. BTW -- you wrote that you have a '92 front axle in the truck. Jeep didn't use a disconnect in '92.

Are you running in 4WD with a 231 (Command-Trac) transfer case on pavement? If so, that's a big NO-NO.

They are black plastic and the black flares were unpainted. If you want to restore faded ones, go to an auto paint store (or maybe one of the chain auto parts stores) and get a rattle can of spray-on bumper black.

Junkyards in CT can be picky. Some will take it away on a flatbed, others won't touch it. Make some phone calls to the yard(s) near where you're located and ask them. One thing to consider: TITLE. Yards in CT generally will NOT take a vehicle without a title. If you don't have the title, just fire up Dr. Sawzall and make the big pieces into little pieces so you can take it to a dump or transfer station yourself. You might luck out and find one that doesn't demand the title, but I don't know of any.

You will need to use your original 1988 flywheel (or flex plate). Starting in 1991, the Chrysler CPS operates on a different principle than the older RENIX CPS. The spacing and arrangement of the teeth on the flywheel that trigger the CPS are different, so the '96 flywheel is electronically incompatible with the RENIX system in your truck.

Why not? The AW-4 uses a separate TCU so there's no reason you can't use a different ECU, or keep the one that is in your chassis when you put in a different engine. The engine itself is a chunk or iron with 6 aluminum slugs in it -- it doesn't know or care what transmission you bolt to the back end. Just be sure to use all the correct sensors and harness for the year of the ECU and ignition/injection system you'll be running.

I don't have one. I run all OEM replacements from Auto Zone. A few years ago I briefly dated a gal who drove a Wrangler. First time I heard her Jeep start up I thought somebody had stuck a V8 in it. It sounded SCHWEEEET! I asked, and she said her son had put a Gibson cat-back system in it. It was a very deep, throaty, and mellow sound, completely unlike any other exhaust I've ever heard behind an in-line 6. The "problem" with trying to make an in-line 6 sound good is that the power pulses are perfectly evenly distributed as the engine goes around, unlike a V8 or a V6 where the pulses are not spaced in an equal number of degrees around a full revolution. Where the crank spacing interval is uneven, the exhaust gets actual pulses, whereas with the I6 you pretty much just get "flow." I don't know just what Gibson does, but there's nothing that equals their sound. And Gibson systems are tuned to increase torque ... they got started by making exhaust systems for trucks and SUVs that needed maximum torque for towing trailers and hauling campers. The other brands aren't into torque, they're into horsepower ... which means they are tuned for high RPM not crawl RPM.

Could be nice again, some day. It isn't a 1950, though. The first year was 1955. The '55 and '56 had basically the same tail fins. The '57 had taller, thinner fins. Then in 1958 Ford forgot what the T'bird was supposed to be. The '58 and newer were what we used to call "Blunderbirds" back then. I'm going to make a wild guess that the one you have there is a '56.

V8 ZJ springs, especially if they came from a ZJ with the Up Country suspension, are a bit taller and higher rate, so they give about a 1" to maybe 1-1/2" lift when used in an XJ or MJ.

Let's be honest -- we're talking a low-compression, in-line 6 cylinder engine here. It ain't never gonna sound "good." The closest thing to making a 4.0L sound like a real engine is Gibson. All the rest of them just sound like loud crap. IMHO, except for the Gibson I prefer the stock (or OEM replacements) to Flowmaster or any of the "name" mufflers. If you have driveshaft interference, get a Thrush or Cherry Bomb tubular glasspack and call it done.

A friend of mine in the NAXJA NAC and I were blathering about grafting an MJ box onto the back of a 4-door XJ awhile ago, but then he and his wife accepted jobs in Missouri. They moved, and that was as far as the project went. I would still like to do it, some day, but at the moment I have neither the time nor the money nor a place to do the work. (Details, details.)

I had canoes many years ago. I sold a nice fiberglass 15-footer to move into a thermoplastic 17-footer. HUGE mistake. I loved the 15-footer and I hated the 17-footer. Couldn't sell it fast enough, but by then I had already let the old one go. I never bought another one but I was thinking "canoe" on the way home from work just yesterday. Probably just a coincidence ...

The 91 vintage will still have a threaded boss on the block for a knock sensor. I don't think the '01 even has the boss. If it does, it isn't threaded. And the '01 doesn't have a hole in the head for the temperature sender. ALL of the brackets are different, the manifolds are different, there's no EGR valve ... The fuel pump is different (pressure isn't the same), the ignition isn't the same, .... the question was asking about a "drop-in" replacement. The end for that would be 1990. The basic '01 block will bolt in. Beyond that, you're looking at basically rebuilding the entire vehicle.

But he has an '86, and the '86 Selec-Trac used an NP228 or 229 transfer case that did, indeed, use vacuum to accomplish the shift. It's also a big, heavy case that's massively over-sized for an XJ or MJ. And I don't think it had a locked 4WD-Hi range, I think high range was always fully differentiated, and you could only lock in in low range.

The cutoff for a true drop-in would be 1990 -- that was the last year for the Renix system that would be the same as an '88. Chylser made a lot of changes to the wiring, injection and ignition in 1991. Then they made a bunch more changes around 1997. Physically, of course, a 2001 4.0L will bolt in, but pretty much everything outside of the block is different (and that means the head and flywheel, too). Your signature says you have an 88 and a 91 -- just look under the hoods and see how different they are. Then multiply that by a factor of about 3 for a 2001.

I don't suppose you checked (or replaced?) the freeze plugs before dropping in the "new" engine?

The problem is that 2-door XJ quarters have smaller wheel well openings. Also, if you measure carefully, you'll find that the height from the lower edge of the panel to the first crease line is different. I haven't tried it but I suspect you could make an MJ work okay using the XJ flares and wheel opening, but it might look slightly out of proportion and won't clear large tires. Of course, if you plan to trim anyway, that's a non-issue.