Eagle

Folks, we have been infested with a dedicated spammer. So far, we know that Abadmoenceder09, Sterjoha57, Ananceter, Edter54, and Eredder7 are the same person -- or posting from the same IP address. Some of the forums they posted in I don't have mod access to. The ones I can mod, I'll try to clean out until Pete gets back. Until then, fer Gawd's sake do NOT quote the posts. That means I have to not only get rid of the offending posts, I also have to look through each thread and either edit or delete every response that quotes it. Best is if you don't even respond. When you encounter posts by this person (under any alias), just send me a PM with a copy to Pete so we know about it. Do not engage them on the forum ... that's what they want: attention.

Folks, I'm faced with a minor dilemma. I can go through and remove each of this dude's posts, but it doesn't appear that I have the capability of banning him. That being the case, I think it best to leave the posts up until Pete gets back so he can see what's going on. I'm thinking we should consider doing what another forum I moderate on does ... set up a separate forum area called the Laundry Room. We never delete anything. We just move it to the Laundry Room, which preserves the evidence. Only the mods have access to that forum. Dunno if we can do that here, but it may be worth looking into.

I been fixin' mah Jeeps! Gimme a hint -- what'd I miss? If you have time, drop me a PM with the thread links and I'll nuke 'em. I haven't noticed any new spam, but I've been busy.

The time is creeping ever closer. I'm not ready, but it's coming anyway so ... Happy New Year, everyone.

You can get away with a lot if you're driving an automatic. Pretty much by definition, though, an XJ or an MJ with 3.07s is a 5-speed. Trying to drive a manual tranny with 3.07 gears and huge tires would be excruciating. It would also be an opportunity to buy stock in a company that builds clutches, 'cause you'll be going through a few in rapid succession.

I'm sure I've posted this before. Note: it is copyrighted, and I am NOT granting permission for anyone to copy it, print it, or pass it along in any form.

The truck he's asking about is an '89, so it's not likely to be a 2.8L V6. I think he means 2.5L (the I-4?). Assuming that to be the case -- it's extremely reliable. It IS the same engine as the 4.0L, with two cylinders lopped off. You do need to figure that most of them came with 4.10 gears, so the same number of chassis miles equates to a lot more engine revolutions than a 4.0L, but I have an '88 in the yard with 209,000 miles on it that ran perfectly when I drove it in here. Hasn't been used for a year because the clutch slave cylinder blew, but that's not the engine's fault. One difference between the 2.5L and the 4.0L is that the 2.5L uses a rubbing block/guide inside the font cover for the timing chain. Those tend to wear. If/when you begin to hear even a little bit of timing chain slap -- don't delay repairing it.

Your 91 uses a temp sender in the thermostat housing for the ECU, and one in the back corner of the head for the gauges. The new engine will not have a hole in the head for the sender to feed the gauge, because the newest Jeep electronics feeds the gauge data from the central PCM data buss. The water passage is there -- just drill and tap the hole (carefully, keeping the metal chips out of the water passage).

My '88 had 31s and 3.07s when I first got it. How many different words can you think of to express the concept of AWFUL! 32s or 33s will be exponentially worse than awful.

The critical dimension is from the face of the mounting flange to the wheel mounting surface on the hub. The newer ones ARE different, and if you use the wrong ones the brake rotors won't turn in the calipers. Offhand, I'd say they gave you the hubs for the wrong year.

Rob, what you're saying is flat out impossible. The brakes cannot function without those starwheel spreaders in there to keep the lower ends of the shoes apart. If they aren't in there, you may be driving around but, if so, you're only using the front brakes. Here's a pic of how they should go together:

Remember that the brakes are mirror image. Those adjusters spin in opposite directions -- one is a left-hand thread, the other's a right hand thread. If you weren't paying attention and put them on the wrong sides, the self-adjusting action will be loosening them rather than tightening them. To get back to the original question -- you can't drive without star wheels, but you can certainly leave out the self adjusting cable and doohickie. Cars had drum brakes for about 50 years (or more) before Detroit started making them self adjusting. I don't recall just when that began, some time in the 70s IIRC. Dunno how many cars I went through that didn't have self-adjusting brakes before they finally arrived. They work worth patooties anyway, so it's not a great loss if you ditch 'em. Just remember to check your brake adjustment as part of each oil change. Got a photo of how you have your brakes set up now? Can you just pop a drum off over the weekend and get a decent photo of one side?

Your gauges will work if you use the sending units for your year, not for the engine. Chrysler reversed the polarity on the gauges in 1991. Try to treat it as a stand-alone engine conversion, and leave the vehicle parts of the harness stock. Remember, Chrysler sells (or did, they may have dropped it by now) a multi-port fuel injection conversion for the carburetted 4.2L Wranglers. That conversion was basically the MPI from a 95 injected Wrangler with the 4.0L engine. The 2.5L MPI is basically the same system. If it can be used as a stand-alone to convert a 6-cylinder, there's no reason you can't do the same thing with a 4-cylinder. He's only going to give you the engine harness anyway, because he'll need the chassis harness with his engine swap, so you should be getting what you need, and not a lot more.

If it's a shortbed, it's not a Metric Tonne. That option was available only on the longbeds. If it has a 5-speed, the transfer case is an NP231. And I don't believe it has a Dana 30 with a Trac-Lok, because as far as I know Dana doesn't make a Trac-Lok for the D30 axle. This one's a tough one to call. People who throw money into their toys always think that everything they've done "adds value" and that they should get it all back when they sell. It doesn't work that way. In general, getting back 25 to 35 cents on the dollar for mods is doing well. Personally, I won't buy a modded vehicle. You simply can't trust anyone else to have done it right, or to have done it the way you want it. I broke that rule when I bought my '88 MJ. I fugured at $500 I couldn't go TOOOOO wrong. Boy was I wrong! That $500 truck was up to around $3000 just to get it registered and streetable. I've got probably close to $5000 in it at this point, and it's worth maybe $2000 ... to the right buyer. The truck you describe has some nice equipment in it, but it does not sound like a thousand dollar truck. $500 maybe. For parts. I like the suggestion to buy it for the drive train, then swap everything into a solid 2WD chassis.

I have never heard of anyone doing this swap who needed to move a wire to make the fuel gauge work. All you need is a new temp sender and a new oil pressure sender.

Either you were given the wrong parts or you put them together wrong. Is it possible you put the adjusters on the wrong way, so that the self-adjuster is loosening them rather than tightening them?

Well, now that you've given away the scret, I'll 'fess up. I have a factory Dana 44 under my '87 shortbed -- and the Metric Tonne package only came on the longbeds. I didn't even know it when I bought the truck. I didn't expect it in a SWB so I never looked for it. My buddy spotted it when he came over to see what followed me home. It's like in the XJs -- you really have to look at each truck to see what it has. A couple of years ago I spotted an AMC Model 20 under an MJ at a nearby gas station. Turned out to be a 4-cylinder! Betcha he'll never blow the rear axle.

Anybody out there know their way around inside a computer box? I have a problem. My version of AutoCAD LT is out of date -- to the point that I can no longer exchange files with a client. Gotta bite the bullet and upgrade to AutoCAD LT 2007. But ... ... my hardware isn't up to the task. I have two choices: An aging Dell Dimension L600r, that's currently sitting in the attic because my wife swears it has a problem. Or a somewhat aging Dell Dimension XPS600r that was kindly given to me by a fellow MJer. The L600r has two memory slots and the info I can find says I shouldn't use more than 512MB total. The XPS600r has three slots and the same web site says it'll accept a maximum of 768MB. AutoCAD LT 2007 requires a minimum of 512MB, and they recommend 2GB. The XPS600r currently has two 128MB DIMMs in place. I can add one more to get to 512, but to get to the 768 recommended max I would need to scrap the two 128s in there and buy three new DIMMs. If I have to do that, it would make more sense to buy one or two with a higher capacity. But ... why do these memory web sites say that I can't use anything bigger than 256MB DIMMs in these boxes? What would happen if I threw in a 1GB module? Would it not see it? Would it blow up? Any knowledgeable advice will be appreciated. It's been more than ten years since I did any tinkering inside a computer, and I am obviously hopelessly out of date at this point. TIA.

Pete's on vacation. Try Quadratec. The printed Cherokee catalog doesn't show them, but I'll bet they have them for the YJ Wrangler, and the headlights are the same in the YJ, XJ and MJ.

Don't remember the brand name. I used to be able to buy it through JC Whitney, but they no longer carry it. Last two times I bought it from a local speed shop -- they always have it in stock. You could also try Summit Racing; I'd bet they have it. Yes, it is pricey, but the advantages make it well worth the extra cost (to me).

Never heard of using mineral oil, and I wonder about compatibility with the rubber parts. I use DOT-5 silicone brake fluid in both the brakes and the clutch. It's non-hygroscopic (doesn't attract moisture) and has a much higher boiling point than either DOT-3 or DOT-4 glycol-based brake fluids. I've been using it since my '88 XJ was new and I wouldn't willingly use anything else.

????? What's a "concentric bearing"?

It's at $510 now. I wouldn't go any higher than that. It's a base model truck. It has the 15x6 steel rims, and you can see that the speedo doesn't have a trip meter, so it's going to have idiot lights and the ugly "station wagon" steering wheel. With the amount of rust you can see on the surface, there's going to be a lot more to fix once you start grinding offf paint and looking for solid steel. The "Buy-It-Now" price is a joke. That truck isn't worth anywhere near a grand. And if was donated as a charitable deduction, this guy probably paid a bout $100 for it.

You're dating yourself, Mate. I thought I was the only one here old enough to remember those jacks.

Merry Christmas everyone!