Eagle

Measure from the center of the hubcap straight up to the bottom edge of the flare. The dimension should be about 20-1/2". If you're within a half inch of that either way, your springs are okay. [EDIT]Where's that dunce smiley again? I just realized this is a lifted truck, so the 20-1/2" dimension doesn't apply. You wrote AAL but I was thinking of the factory overload leaf. Yeah a gap like that is pretty common when you use a short AAL to bend the spring into an unnatural shape. I would strongly advise you to find some way to get rid of the short AAL, it isn't helping your springs at all.

You heard wrong. 86 fenders and tailgate will fit. In fact, at this very moment my '88 SWB is wearing a tailgate from an '86 LWB. As to the steering wheel, I assume you have the all-black, two-spoke "station wagon" wheel. The three-spoke sport wheel was available all the way back to the original '84 XJ and will fit your truck. The ugly black one was used in the base models at least as late as 1989 or maybe '90.

I ran mine for a couple of years with 31s and 3.73 gears. That gear and tire combination isn't a problem as long as you use the throttle gently and drive with finesse rather than brute force.

Or an early 90s Cherokee. Chrysler dropped the rocking chair along about 1990 or 1991. But they didn't change the lower seat pedestals until 95 or 96.

The GM 3.4L came with a TH400? Are you sure you're not thinking of a 4.3L?

Actually ... it was his son's. After his son commits suicide, he gives the Comanche to Halle Berry.

Yes, the 2.8L and early 2.5L used an external slave cylinder, and yes a tranny from a 2.8L will bolt directly to a 2.5L block. The 2.5L engine was designed to accept the same bell housing as the 2.8L V6.

As noted, the 242 was never offered from the factory mated to any manual transmission, so if you want that, you'll have to buy it separate from the tranny. But it will work with no front axle. It offers 2WD, 4WD Hi (part-time), 4WD Hi (full-time, which WON'T work with no front axle), Neutral, and 4WD Lo (part-time).

I've measured a bunch of them and it should be around 21-1/2". I keep hearing that the 2WD should sit an inch lower, but I don't know if that comes from any official cource. That would put a 2WD truck almost on the bump stops with no load.

Nope -- it isn't. Aside from stiffness, you're probably already about maxed out. Take a look at the shackle for your rear leaves. With a stock suspension and no load, it should be about vertical. Then when the suspension compresses that spring can flatten out (pushing the shackle to the rear) and when the suspension extends the shackle swings forward, allowing the spring to arch more. The AAL uses up the "extend" part of your suspension travel to obtain the lift. Most likely your shackle is already pointing pretty far forward and adding another leaf (or in any way putting more arch into the springs) will only make it worse -- unless you've already swung it as far as it can go. There are limits to how much lift you can effectively get from an AAL. Once you go beyond that, you either need new springs with longer main leaves, or you need to go spring-over.

As usual, I am confused. If you know it has a bad radiator, why do you think electric fans are going to "fix" it?

The fenders are the same. The header panel should be the same as an '88. The different header panel was when Chrysler changed the grill to make the trim strip above it an integral part of the grille rather than a separate strip. That also required a change to the header panel. Not sure if that change was made in '89 or '90.

Have you driven cars with non-rack & pinion manual steering before? Were you trying to turn the steering wheel when the vehicle wasn't moving? If so -- ain't gonna happen. Also, manual steering serves as a reminder to check your tire pressures. If they're soft -- you'll know it.

The strikers on the new doors are not only a different type, they are at a different height on the door. I read that article on NAXJA, and my sense is that he left out a lot of information. I wish we weren't on opposite ends of the continent, because I'd like to look at his swap "up close and personal."

The early Dakota spring packs are used to lift Cherokees, which are spring-over-axle. Am I safe in assuming that your BDS lift retained the original spring-under-axle configuration? If so, adding one leaf out of a Dakota pack might give you some additional lift, but there's no way to predict how much. The way to tell would be to hold the bare Dakota leaf next to the spring in your truck. If the Dakota leaf has more arch than your static loaded spring, it'll give you some lift. If it has less arch, it won't help you. Adding any leaves WILL make the ride stiffer. Have you considered chopping a coil off the front springs to level things out?

what is the cubic size of those engine? What else could it have, hes not to bright when it comes to axles. oh could it have the 8.25 or something like that. The 2.5L is 150 (some say 151) cubic inches. And, no, it is NOT the Pontiac "Iron Duke" (although AMC did buy some of those for the Concord/Eagle/Spirit line in the early 80s). 2.8 liters is 171 cubic inches. As to axles .. . if it's original, it MUST have a Dana 30 front and a Dana 35 rear. There were no optional axles in the 1985 Cherokee -- only optional ratios.

Seals? On all my Cherokees and Comanches, the seals are mounted to the body, not to the door. How is swapping a door going to get you newer seals?

An '85 XJ would be either a 2.5L 4-cylinder or the dreaded 2.8L GM V6. Neither would have a D44 rear axle.

You can certainly use the EARLY D35 brakes, but they aren't the same as D44 brakes. The D44 uses 10x2.5" brakes and the early D35 used 10x1.75". The offset on the backing plates is slightly different, so you can't use the backing plates from the 1.75" setup and slap on 2.5" drums. (Proven conclusively) The newer D35s and the 8.25s use 9x2.5" brakes. I think they can be made to fit, but why bother? Also, those axles use c-clips to retain the shafts, so there won't be a bearing retainer at the outboard end. I've heard of using 10x2.5" Ford drums on a Cherokee axle, but I don't know about a Crown Vic disc conversion. What about the discs from a Grand Cherokee?

That seems to be a common problem, and probably NOT the tank. Which I found out the hard way, when I first tried to fill the NEW tank I had just installed, and watched the gas flowing out around my feet from beneath the vehicle. The problem is often where the fuel hard lines go through the flange the mounts in the tank. One or both tubes gets loose and the gas flows out through the cracked seam. I'm going to try carefully wire brushing it with a bronze cleaning brush, then epoxy it and hope for the best.

Yes, all 86's are LWB. About a year ago I paid $100 for a decent running, very solid but rough paint 2.5L 2WD. A 4WD is worth a bit more, but IMHO $1000 for a truck that has been sitting for two years and therefore will need all new hoses, belts, wheel cylinders, calipers, and possibly axle seals and rear main seal -- is rather a stretch. Heck, after sitting for two years even the tires are suspect.

If you decide to go with the 8.25" XJ axle, be sure it's from a '97 or newer XJ. The older ones are 27 spline just like the D35, and the shafts are the same diameter. The '97 and newer use larger shafts and have 29 splines.

The drop brackets lower the control arms by 4 inches, so with a 5-1/2" lift your control arm geometry will be about the same as someone who throws a budget boost into an otherwise stock XJ or MJ. You won't need adjustable control arms for that amount of difference, but if you're buying aftermarket arms and think you may go higher later, then it would make sense to buy the adjustables so you only do it once. Another option would be to run stock control arms for now, and buy the adjustables if/when you go higher.

The corner markers do not blink on early XJs and MJs. I didn't think that started until 1997, with the new XJ body style. Are you certain they blink on a '93? The parking light problem and the glowing dash indicator both suggest a bad ground to the parking light socket. It's trying to ground through the dash indicator circuit.

Yeah, oddly enough I agree with pingpong. There aren't that many MJs around, comsidering they were only made for 6 years and Jeep sold a lot fewer MJs than they did XJs in those years. The purist/collector/restorer in me cringes at the notion of taking a GOOD one and carving/smashing/bashing slicing and dicing it into a trail beater. On the other hand, there are numerous MJs (unfortunately) that are either in junk yards or posied to be sent there, and even I would prefer to see those hulks saved from oblivion and used for some Jeep-worthy purpose. Buy it. Drive it. If it is a 4-speed, you should be able to find a 5-speed and swap them directly.