Eagle

Automotive engineers apparently disagree, since back in the 60s and 70s cars came with ammeters, then they switched to voltmeters because they thought they were more informative. If I had my druthers, I'd ask for both.

No. There is one light, that says "BRAKES". It serves both purposes.

The brace on the MJ control arm mounts is welded onto the OUTSIDE of the "frame" rail at the pockets. The brackets fit up inside the control arm pockets. I don't see how the frame gusset could interfer with the drop brackets. I had a Trailmaster kit with brackets on my 88 MJ, it was on when I bought it. It's my understanding that the RE brackets are copies of the Trailmaster, so I think they should fit.

2WD SporTruck, Mate -- no transfer case to be had. I've seen any number of cars that have had trees fall on them. This truck wasn't "hit BY a tree," this truck hit a tree. I think the guy rolled it -- probably several times.

As long as your site isn't duplicating what Pete has going here, I'm all for it. I don't see any point in reinventing the wheel, though, so if any of your plans duplicate what's already in progress here, it would make more sense to contribute here than try to go it alone. Don't be like a gal I met at a networking session some years ago (not Jeep-related). She was new to the area and wanted to network. I started to give her a bunch of names of people she should contact, who had some networks already in place. "No," she said, "you don't understand. I want to start my OWN network." In other words, she was all about herself and not really interested in true networking.

Welcome

"The" 1988 FSM (Cherokee or Comanche) is a pile of separate books. There;s the primary mechanical manual, which covers engines, axles, brakes, transmissions, and transfer cases. Except ... ... that the manual is the 1986 manual, so it doesn't include the 4.0L engine, the 231 transfer case, the BA10/5 or the AW4 transmission. Each of those is available as a separate book. Plus there's a separate manual for the Renix injection system, and a separate manual for the electricals. I bought them from DaimlerChrysler's fulfillment house (Dyment). I don't think they have ISBN numbers, since they aren't being sold through Barnes & Noble or Borders.

Fuel injected vehicles don't have an accelerator pump like old carburetors did. The purpose of the accelerator pump was to avoid that lag when you mash the throttle. When you're driving at a constant (more or less) speed, the throttle plate is partially open and the air column flowing through your throttle body is moving at a basically constant velocity. When you mash the throttle, the plate opens up wide, but the engine RPMs haven't increased yet. So the velocity of that air stream drops significantly. Same volume of air, but flowing through the throttle body slower. In theory the velocity should be the same at the point where the intake runners enter the head (which is where the injectors are located), but maybe not. In a carburetor, the slower air flow doesn't such as much fuel out of the venturis as a faster column of air, so they used the accelerator pump to give it a shot of gas to enrich the mixture until the engine RPMs could catch up and get the airstream moving again. With an electronic injection system, there's the throttle position sensor that tells the ECU (or PCM, depending on year) what position the throttle plate is in. Maybe your TPS is out of adjustment and the ECU isn't "getting the message" that the throttle is wide open.

89 and older mj's have an emissions maintenence light, tahts it. :) '90 and older, actually. The newer Chrysler system didn't come on-line until the 1991 model year. 1990 was still Renix.

F-150 springs aren't hard ... they're brutal. They are worse than the 4" Trailmaster springs I had in my '88. Notice I wrote "had" -- past tense. I couldn't take the ride any more. I took out the lift and went back to stock height. What an improvement!

I have an '86 XJ 2.8L automatic (or what's left of one) that has 3.73 gears, but I don't know if they were ever offered in the MJ. The hulk I have in the yard is the only XJ or MJ I've ever seen that actually has 3.73s in it. And I don't know if the front axle is even original or matches the rear. It was a hulk when it followed me home, and once I started poking around I began to notice a few -- anomolies.

Lack of acceleration can also be caused by a clogged catalytic converter. The V6 that comes in the new Jeeps is a passenger car engine that doesn't develope torque, it developes horsepower -- at high RPMs. On the street it's a nice engine, but it is not an engine that was designed to do what an off-road vehicle is intended to do. IMHO you should ignore anything you see in an article that suggests the new Jeep engine is an any way better than the 4.0L engine, because that tells me either (a) the writer doesn't know anything about off-road vehicles, (B) the writer is a shill for DaimlerChrylser ... or both. I've only been driving a 4.0L Cherokee for 19 years and 260,000 miles (that's just on the original XJ ... I also own several other XJs and enough MJs that I've lost count for the moment). Your post is the FIRST time I have ever heard anyone claim that the 4.0L has a "problem" with not getting enough fuel at high RPM.

(a) What makes you think it leans out at wide open throttle? (B) It may have more acceleration when cold because before the engine reaches operating temperature the ECU runs in "open loop mode," meaning it doesn't read the oxygen sensor to meter the fuel, it uses a pre-programmed fuel map that's coded into the ECU and basically runs extra rich for warm-up. (Much as cars with carburetors used to have to run with a choke partially on until they warmed up.) The performance should not degrade when it warms up and switches into "closed loop mode," so perhaps your oxygen sensor is in need of replacement. Which could also affect (a).

it wil run, but you'll need to plug the hose so you don't have a vacuum leak. It stores vacuum for the HVAC controls to move the motors in the dash. wihout it you'll be stuck on defrost. Actually, he won't be stuck on defrost. When he's cruising or going downhill, the heater controls will work just fine. Going uphill or accelerating, the vacuum drops and the heater controls will mysteriously direct heat away from your feet and up to the windshield. You don't absolutely "need" the blimp -- but it does have a purpose.

The oblong "blimp" will work. It has two chambers. That one was for vehicles with cruise control, which also operated from engine vacuum. Just cap one set of outlets to keep junk out of the unused chamber and hook up your vacuum lines to the other end.

It's not mine, so I'm not putting it in Classifieds. My brother spotted this a few days ago so while visiting I took a swing by the place. The truck is an '86 longbed, V6, 4WD. Body appears solid, and it has a sliding rear window. It's inside a fenced yard and the place isn't open on Thanksgiving, so I couldn't get close enough to see what model, or get a better idea of condition. If anyone is interested, it's in Bethany, Connecticut. It's at a place called Northeast Truck Equipment. It seems to be a place that mostly buys used utility company trucks and resells them. Dunno what they are doing with one Comanche among all the bucket trucks, etc, but there it is. Phone number is 203-393-0328.

Unless his XJ has sagged something fierce, he can run 30s with no lift. I ran 'em for years on "Old faithful" (my original 198 XJ that I bought new in January of '88).

Happy to help out. The musical parts guys at Jeep really had a lot of fun regarding the hubs, rotors and calipers. Once you start swapping parts, you have to be really careful to maintain consistency within one range of years. As you discovered ...

Did you disassemble and clean out the XJ combo valve before you installed it? What you describe sounds exactly like what my friend in PA went through -- with an XJ. He eliminated the stock combo valve entirely, put in a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve in the line to the rear, and his problem went away.

You have to be sure you keep the calipers, rotors and hubs all matched to the axle by year. If you change any one of them to a different listing, you have to change all three. The following is from my forthcoming XJ/MJ book. Please note: It is copyrighted and I am NOT granting you permission to reprint or to distribute it. This is just to help you solve your problem.

Width is a real problem in the rear, though. The rule-of-thumb for tires is that the width should not be more than 4" greater than the rim width, which would mean an 8.5" rim for 12.50" tires -- but I know a lot of people who cheat on that by an inch or so with no problems. But ... if your rear axle is stock, or close to stock width, you'll have an interference fit. I was running 31x10.50s on OEM 15x7 rims on mine. In the rear, the tires were VERY close to the spring leaves, and when I would have the tires off I could see that the inner sidewall was rubbing against the inside of the wheelwell above the frame rail. Running tires 2 inches wider will put your inner sidewall 1 full inch closer to the sheet metal -- which will equate to being in contact with it.

If I Remember Correctly

Which leaf is broken? If it isn't the main leaf, you could use XJ leaves to replace the broken leaf and the corresponding on on the other side. Maybe toss in another XJ leaf on each side (perhaps the main leaf with the eyes cut off) if you need still more lift than the SOA gives you. If you replace an MJ leaf (maybe #2?) with an XJ leaf of the same length, you will lose a bit of height because XJ springs are designed to sit flat at XJ curb weight.

Correct. Swapping in a 4.3L is just as much work and requires just as much fabrication and/or aftermarket adapters as a SBC V8. There's a guy near me who had one. I asked him what he thought once he'd finished and his reply was 'NEVER AGAIN!" Go with the 3.4L. Just remember that the 2.8L used an externally balanced crank, meaning that the flywheel has an eccentric weight somewhere on the perimeter. The 3.4L is internally balanced, so you'll have to take your stock 2.8L flywheel or flexplate to a shop and have it neutral balanced.

As to the other parts, the steering stabilizer was stock. The factory offered a front skid and a gas tank skid as factory options, but they weren't stock on all MJs. The front skid is especially heavy.