Eagle

Ummm ... no Why do you ask? And what the heck does "ravid" mean? It isn't in MY dictionary.

You beat me to it. This is definitely the sleeper parts listing of all time. When I set out to order a pair of these things, the parts guy looked up the price, we looked at each other, and said "That CAN'T be for a pair." So I told him to order me two, just to be safe. So he ordered me two, and the next Saturday morning I stopped in to collect my swag. He set two boxes on the counter, and they rattled. We opened one, and out came TWO of the beefiest spring perches I ever saw. They are WAY heavier than the OEM perches that get welded to an XJ axle, and much better quality than what you'll pay the offroad suppliers $30 to $50 a pair for.

I don't know if the overall thread ever reached a consensus, since I know for a fact that XJ flares won't fit and at least two other posters insisted they will. Do whatever you think is best for you.

Assuming the oil pan has never been off before, be prepared to go very slowly or you WILL destroy the pan. The factory used a shellac type gasket sealer back then, and the pan is nearly welded to the block. Pry too hard with a fat pry bar and you'll bend up the flange of the pan, making it useless. What you need to do is get something very thin in there, and then gradually tap it around the permeter, cutting the gasket free of the block as you go. To replace, get the 95+ one-piece pan gasket. Depending on your parts source, it may or may not be listed as an service replacement for the older style, but it WILL work and it makes life sooooo much easier. Plus -- it's reusable.

The entire dash comes out, and for those who know how to do it, it's quick and easy. Kevin, the lead mechanic at my dealership, does 'em lickety-split. The rest of us, though, would really benefit from reading up on it in a FSM before proceeding. There aren't all that many screws and bolts, but a few are hiding in unexpected places, and those few can match the job a real pregnant dog.

So, like ... is that a compliment, or is that a statement for which you should rate a visit from the kneecap brothers? You'll be back. You have been assimilated.

The factory parts system had some a couple of years ago, and I doubt there has been high demand. I haven't checked recently.

That sounds like a plan to me. Let us know how it works.

I ran Pennzoil exclusively in my 88 XJ for 175,000 miles and I didn't have a mess like that. I changed over to synthetic at 175,000 miles, and at the time of the change the inside of the engine was clean enough to eat off. That engine looks like the oil was never changed, and the engine was severely overheated for protracted periods. It's a mess. That gook is baked on and it's going to be difficult to get it off. The best suggestion so far was the one to pull the head and have it hot tanked.

First off, y'ain't supposed to machine Jeep flywheels with the internal slave. I know it gets done ... and it always creates problems. HOWEVER ... the problem is usually the reverse of what you're encountering. The release bearing/slave assembly doesn't have enough travel to compensate for the machining. The usual "fix" is to shim the release bearing where it mounts inside the bellhousing, by an amount equal to what was removed from the flywheel. This one is the opposite. First dumb question, but I have to ask -- you are absolutley certain that the clutch disc is facing the correct way? It only goes one way, and if it's reversed the result is essentially what you are experiencing.

I was wondering the same thing just the other day. I'm particularly curious, since I'm the guy who donated the template. (And I'm still dealing with the medical aftermath of what should have been a minor injury incurred the day the templete departed the Jeep farm.)

I ran the 88 XJ on 10W40 conventional for the first 175,000 miles of its life. When I finally switched to synth, the gauge was showing a bit lower than what I like (still well within spec, but lower than I like), so I now use Castrol Syntech 5W50. Although I suspect that the problem is with the gauge itself rather than the engine. I know it isn't the sender, because I've replaced that multiple times with neglible difference. Once the engine is warm, you can't run an oil that's "TOO" heavy. You need the lighter weight end of a multi-viscosity oil only to get quick oil circulation on cold starts.

Okay. Warn me when posting pictures of the carnage. Barbarian!

There is (or was) a special tool that old line Jeep dealers had for disassembling those shifter handles. It required having the assembly out of the tranny anyway, to put the shift handle in a vise, so for this purpose it would not have been helpful. The shop foreman at my dealership told me they tossed theirs years ago -- it is difficult to use, and there was virtually never a need for it. They needed the space in the tool crib for tools they use. Without that special tool, I believe there is no non-destructive way to separate the upper shift handle from the lower extension.

That depends on how badly stuck they are. I had one I pounded unmercifully for two days that wouldn't give up. I was hitting the tire (first with a 2x4 block to protect the tire & wheel, then without, no joy. I finally decided the wheel wasn't worth saveing and went to work directly on the rim. It finally broke loose, but I had to do some serious damage to the wheel before it popped. Always use ant-sieze around your hub centers.

I towed the remains of a partially stripped XJ on a long-ish, borrowed ALUMINUM flatbed from Massachusetts to Connecticut with the 88 MJ, which is a shortbed. I had 3.73 gears in it and I believe at that time I was still on 31s. And the electrical connection on the trailer didn't match the pigtail on my truck, so even though the trailer had electric brakes, they were useless. Stopping really required driving much farther ahead than even I am accustomed to, but that was no surprise. After all, I was towing more than the weight of the MJ and trying to stop with the MJ brakes. What surprised me, though, was how much that weight bogged me down on upgrades. The route went through the Berkshire Mountains (or Hills, depending on who you talk to and where they live), so there were plenty of climbs to negotiate. We made it, but the poor truck was really straining on the hills. I would say the only sensible way to do it would be with a stroker -- you need the extra torque. And if possible a longbed MJ will tow a lot better than a shortbed.

Be sure you're measuring the same dimension. I had an original Cherokee, but I don't remember what size drums it had. I do that that all XJ and MJ D44s had 10x2-1/4 drums. This is different from the early XJ and MJ d35s, which were 10x1-3/4 -- the backing plates DO NOT interchange. I already tried. Thought I was going to do cheap upgrade by scoring a set of used D44 drums to throw on the XJ. The rear flange of the drum bottoed out on the backing plate long before the inside surface of the center "hat" could make contact with the hub. End of experiment. A long time ago a guy named Mark in AZ told me he used Crown Vic 10" brakes on his XJ -- but he used the backing plates and everything outborad from there.

The sender for the idiot light is an on-off switch. The light should either be ON, or OFF. A dim glow indicates a problem, but it could be that the switch has triggered and that corrosion is limiting the current between the sender and the panel. I would encourage you to get some kind of temperature guage in there ASAP, even if you toss in a cheapie that hangs under the dash until you can find a full gauge cluster.

Believe it or not, JC Whitney used to sell them. I haven't checked recently so I don't know if they still do. Check out some of the threads around here. Several have discussed a place called Sherman's (I think) that carries them.

In the last few years of the XJ lifespan Chrysler changed the oil to 5W30. That doesn't lubricate anything better, mind you, it just might gain a nano-MPG on the fleet average. Back in the time of the MJs the recommended weights were 10W30 and 10W40.

If he's going to tow this rig far and/or often, he really NEEDS a full-size rig rated at least 3/4-ton. I'd suggest a Dodge 2500 in deisel. The MJ can pull that load, but you asked about "easily." It won't do it easily. Braking actually shouldn't be an issue, because any rig that heavy should have trailer brakes (probably required by law).

If you go the junkyard route, be VERY sure you get a backing plate for a Dana 44. THe XJ/MJ D35 backing plates do NOT work.

Because they don't have a knock sensor. The Renix system always keeps the spark fully advanced, as far as the speed and load will allow. The Chrysler system doesn't do that. My '88 XJ still gets around 23 MPG on the highway, and that's with 260,000 miles on the clock. One trip when it was fairly new I got 28. The HOs can't touch those figures.

Yes, they interchange, but you have to swap out the entire front triangle, including the glass, frame, surround, and the front track for the main window. IMHO it's not worth it. The operable vents always leak. I have 'em on my '88 XJ (paid extra for leaky windows!), I don't have 'em on any of the MJs, and I don't miss them. The ones on the XJ have been glued shut for years.

x2. VERY nice job.