Eagle

Is your truck a 5-speed? If so, there are a few connectors (including at least one 3-terminal one) that relate to the auto trans and aren't used on the 5-speed trucks.

No.

The XJ proportioning valve will directly replace the MJ valve. If you decide to go with the MJ valve, be VERY careful, and refer back to my old post with the photo of the dissected MJ valve. On the XJ, the "nose" of the proportioning valve is a rubber cover over the stem of the proportioning plunger, and the line to the rear brakes come out the front bottom outlet of the valve body. On the MJ, the line out the nose of the valve body (actually, in an MJ it's just a junction block, it doesn't function as a proportioning valve) is the line to the rear proportioning valve, and the line out the forward bottom outlet (corresponding to the XJ rear line) is the bypass line that gets actuated only when you lose pressure to the front brakes. If you retain the rear line out of the nose of the MJ combo valve, you're okay. Block off the outlet at the front bottom of the unit. However, because the XJ valve feeds the rear brakes from the outlet on the underside of the valve body, it's a natural tendency to think that's the outlet to use with an MJ combo valve. Bad guess. The outlet on the bottom is the safety override, and it allows fluid passage only if you lose the front brakes. Worse, if you look at the photo of the valve I cut open, you'll see that it wasn't manugactured correctly and would NEVER allow fluid to flow to the rears. I suspect the one in my '88 has the same defect, because since the rear proportioning valve blew out and I capped that line I have had NO rear brakes. (Of course, I haven't lost the fronts since then ... thank God ... so there really shouldn't be any fluid flowing in that line.) If you keep the MJ combo valve, connect your rear brakes to the outlet in the NOSE of the valve body. Here endeth the daily lesson. http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopi ... portioning

You heard wrong. This is proof positive that you can't believe everything you hear (read) on the Internet. Death wobble is a complex phenomenon involving a harmonic imbalance that transfers from one front wheel to the other at a mutually-reinforcing frequency of oscillation. There is no way on God's green earth that a loose or worn track bar can "cause" death wobble. I drove my '88 XJ for probably 10,000 miles with a severely worn track bar and extreme wander in the steering (yeah, I know ... but back then 10,000 miles was only 4 months and life conspired to not allow time to replace it) and never encountered even a hint of death wobble. I just needed to start turning the steering wheel awhile before I got to the curve. Death wobble is "caused" by a number of interrelated factors. In fact (or, more accurately, IMHO), the most prevalent contributing factor is tire balance, not track bar wear. However, worn components such as tie rod ends and ball joints, as well as hub/bearing units, can also play a role. The second most common contributing factor is tossing in a lift that reduces the front end caster angle. The worst instance of death wobble I ever experienced (and the ONLY one, until earlier this year) was in a totally stock, brand new 1999 Grand Cherokee WJ that had never been taken off road or abused. The DW kicked in on a state highway in New Hampshire. There was no warning whatsoever. I was 200 miles into the trip. The vehicle had never exhibited DW before, and it never did it again after. Bottom line: there is no simple cure if you have DW, but I will state with 100% certainty that a track bar cannot "cause" it. I agree with Longshot -- have your caster checked. The 2" lift reduced the caster angle. Those shims in the frame pockets for the LCAs adjust caster. Add enough shims to get the caster back where it was and I think your DW will disappear.

Nope. Depending on year, those will be 22 or 24 pound. They'll run, but your gas mileage will go down the toilet because the ECU can't shut 'em down enough when conditions don't need a lot of fuel.

What makes you think just changing to leaf spring will prevent death wobble? Hint: It won't. Death wobble can be caused (or "induced") by a number of factors, but the one thing certain about it is that it affects solid axle trucks and doesn't happen with IFS. The reason it doesn't affect IFS is that it is fundamentally the result of a harmonic, allowing oscillations in one front wheel to be transmitted to the other. If the frequency is right (meaning "wrong"), the oscillations hit a harmonic of the suspension and become mutually reinforcing. This can happen with either coil springs or leaf springs. If the primary purpose of going to leaves is to avoid death wobble ... forget it. You're on the wrong tack.

Is that for real? Did you take the photo? 'Cause it sure looks Photoshopped to me ...

You mean the header assembly that the grille and headlight surrounds live in? It ain't metal, it's fiberglass. I would strongly (as in STRONGLY) recommend removing it, because one slip trying to hoist the engine over it and it's history. It's basically attached with screws on the outer corners, beneath the headlight bezels.

A stock '86 4-banger (unless it was a 4-speed manual tranny) probably has either 3.73 or 4.10 gears. Those are okay for 31" tires with a 4-litre engine, but a 4-cyl will be working pretty hard to run those tires, even with those gears. 4.56 would be better but was never a factory option, so you would have to buy gears. As already noted, the 4.0L swap in an '86 is difficult. It can be done and it has been done, but it's a lot more work than the same swap in an '87 or newer chassis. The rear-wheel drive GM 3.4L V6 is the same block as the Jeep 2.8L, which Jeep bought from GM. Your best, most cost-effective upgrade would be to swap in a 3.4L V6. Since the 86 MJ was available with the 2.8 from the factory, it's basically a bolt-in conversion. You will have to rebalance the flywheel, because the 2.8L was externally balanced and the 3.4L was internally balanced. Perhaps a more interesting upgrade would be to swap out the throttle body injection for the newer Chrysler multi-port injection that came on-line for the 2.5L beginning in 1991. You would need to swap out basically the entire fuel and ignition system including the ECU, but the last versions of the 2.5L put out more horsepower and torque than the 2.8L V6. You could also drop in a factory stage 2 or stage 3 cam.

The first thing to check is the blinker module itself. The 86 MJ uses two -- the 4-way hazard flasher is separate from the turn signal flasher. Both are mounted in the fuse panel, which is inside the cab on the firewall, above the driver's left foot. If the 4-ways function, the simple test is to swap the two flashers. They interchange, physically, so this will serve as a test. However, the 4-way flasher is a heavy-duty, non-load sensing type. Unless you have a factory tow package, the turn signal flasher is probably a regular duty, load sensing type, which won't work correctly in the 4-way position. (It'll work, but not correctly.) I use the heavy duty models for everything. The only down-side is that they don't change flash rate if a bulb burns out, so you need to inspect your lights periodically. If you have neither turn signals nor 4-ways, then it's time to start checking bulbs, then fuses, then wiring.

I don't recall the bolt size, but I've done it twice. You go up from underneath, using the longest extension(s) you have, and maybe a universal adapter at the upper end. Work carefully -- it is possible to drop the upper bolt into the CPS opening in the bellhousing, and if that happens you get to drop the tranny. The upper bolt should come out first, while the CPS is still in place, and should be replaced after the new CPS has been installed and the lower bolt loosely snugged up to hold it. It's easier with an automatic. The clutch hose gets in the way on the manuals. Worst possible case, you might have to unbolt the tranny crossmember and drop the rear of the tranny an inch or so to allow better access. Most folks, though, can do the job without resorting to this.

Aftermarket retrofit

Got gas? There's a low pressures sensor. If you are low on freon the relay won't allow the clutch to engage.

One of the problems involved is that the Dana 44 housing is larger than the Dana 30 housing. To fit the bracket for the left (driver's) side coil, you have to cut away a portion of the housing where the tube is pressed in, then fit up the bracket and weld everything together. The housing is cast nodular iron, not "steel," so it requires a bit more than your average backyard welder (meaning the operator, not the machine) to do it right. It's a very workable conversion, and Clayton's kit is probably the best way to accomplish it. But it ain't for the faint of heart. His shop/factory is in Waterbury, Connecticut. Give 'em a call and ask their advice.

So, does that mean by swaping the radiator without doing the thermoswitch thing the fan will never come on automatically? I only have the one fan, and it's not electric. What does it mean for me? It means that you will probably have overheating problems even after installing the new radiator, and it means that you will have to install an electric auxiliary fan and figure out a way to control it, since your new radiator won't have a place for the sensor used in your year. If you can live with manual control, the simplest solution is a relay and a toggle switch.

Only the U.S. military could possibly construe tire rotation as a "major repair." Sheesh! So you do a 5-wheel rotation. Only one wheel in the air at any time, and if someone asks, you thought it was looking soft so you're putting on the spare.

At 4" of lift the stock track bar will pull the axle off-center about an inch to the driver's side of the chassis. You can drive it like that, but it'll look a bit odd and makes for an "interesting" wheel alignment. You can get most of the offset back by drilling a new hole in the axle bracket, but the metal only allows you to move the hole about 5/8" so it isn't enough to re-center the axle at 4" of lift. If you go this route, drill carefully with the correct size drill. If you make the hole oversize, the track bar bolt can move around and it makes for very sloppy steering. My '88 MJ was like that when I bought it -- it's amazing how much slop you get in the steering from just a tiny bit of movement in a couple of places in the steering linage.

I own a couple of stock Cherokees with the factory front skid. It isn't weak, it doesn't particularly bother me when doing a lube job, and it seems to be pretty well designed to protect a STOCK front suspension/steering setup. It was NOT designed for a lifted vehicle, and after about 2" of lift it'll be pretty much useless unless you shim down all the mounting points.

Clayton's Off-Road has done a number of these conversions for XJs in Clayton's local club. I believe he now sells a bracket kit for converting the front axle from leaf spring to coils. Remember you're going from 5-lug to 6-lug rims so you'll be buying new rims all around.

It would take me a good half day to do a full count, but Pete -- I got ya beat in spades. Rough guess is that I'm at around 50 or 60. Yes, I know for a fact that there have been complaints to the zoning officer. Not about my tires, which can't really be seen either from the road or from the neighbor's house, but about the "junk" Jeeps. Fortunately, I know the zoning officer well enough that he has mentioned it to me. And I have explained to him that the same regulation that says I can't have any unregistered or unused vehicles in my yard also applies to everyone else in town, and also covers: boats, campers, camp trailers, work trucks, and motor homes. And he is well aware that the day I get a formal letter, I unlimer the camera and drive around town taking lots of pictures of other violations. I don't want to go there, and fortunately neither does he. And the chief complainant (my dear uncle) just moved to another town. :)

TJ springs don't lift MJs, they lower them. If'n you don't want to use spacers and you don't have a lot on $$$, either look in a junkyard for V8 ZJ springs, or buy "cargo coils" for an XJ/MJ from Carquest. Somebody on NAXJA posted the exact Carquest part number a ling time ago but I stupidly didn't write it down.

The Exploder axle requires welding on spring perches, AND doing something to adapt for the fact that it's narrower overall (wheel mating surface to wheel mating surface). If you run OEM Jeep rims on an Exploder axle, the tires will be rubbing the spring leaves and the inside of the wheel wells. You have to either run spacers, or use rims with less backspacing (which, if used on all four corners, then creates other problems in the front). IMHO I rank the Exploder rear as about #4 in desireability. #1, of course, is a rare MJ Dana 44. #2 is an XJ Dana 44, which is the correct width and requires only flipping the perches (or relocating them if you intend to go SOA). #3 IMHO is a late model XJ Chrysler axle. It will also be the correct overall width, and while not quite as strong as a Dana 44 it's a lot stronger than a Dana 35 -- about equal, in fact, to an Exploder axle.

It will rub, a little, but not "rub like hell." But it also depends on the wheels and tires. I ran OEM rims, and I've tried a couple of different brands of tires but no mudders. But what everyone forgets is that a 2" (or 3" or 6") lift by itself doesn't fix the rubbing when the suspension is stuffed. Unless you extend the bump stops by the same amount as the lift, the tires will still stuff up to the same point and rub. So IMHO there is very little advantage to a 2" lift compared to the DISadvantages of same.

Jeep stopped using the vacuum disconnect in the XJ and MJ as of 1991. They kept it in the Wrangler until the TJ replaced the YJ.

You don't need any lift to run 30x9.50s. I run them on my stock Cherokee for off-road. For 2" lift springs you can go to Carquest and buy replacement "Cargo Coil" springs. Stay with a stock track bar. Rusty's track bar worked okay on my MJ at 4" of lift, but at stock height after I removed the lift kit the track bar was an interference fit with the front diff cover. 2" lift would be questionable -- it would clear at rest, but I think it would rub any time the suspension compressed.