Eagle

When I first bought the '87 MJ I was getting a severe CLUNK from right under my feet at various times. I replaced the drivers' side lower control arm and the noise disappeared. Now I'm getting the same noise in the '88 XJ but it's hardly a surprise -- I still have the original control arms after 18 years and 254,000+ miles. I don't think they owe me anything.

I think he was hoping it would be a weld-free way to do a SOA conversion. Unfortunately ... it isn't.

4.0L uses a donut gasket.

How about a TrueTrac in both ends?

Okay, here are the official measurements: MJ: Length at bottom of opening = 34" Height from "baseline" to top of opening = 14-3/4" XJ: Length at bottom of opening = 32-1/2" Height from "baseline" to top of opening = 12-3/4" XJ measurements were checked on both my '88 4-door and on a 2-door quarter panel that I WAS planning to use on the '88 MJ until I found that it's too small. That's how I knew -- I've been there and done that. Even the ends aren't the same. On the MJ flares, the screw hole on the bottom is the same on both ands, basically in the center of the flare "foot." On the XJ, the rear screw location is similar to the MJ, but the forward screw is located all the way at the front end of the flare "foot." Sorry, guys, but they are not the same.

Correction -- the BA 10/5 tranny only went from 87 thru mid-89. The 89 LWB I bought last year has an AX-15 in it and it seems pretty clearly to be original.

You can run 31x10.50s on the stock rims. They'll tuck inside the flares when the suspension compresses. The only rubbing you'll get is the inside shoulder of the tires will rub the lower control arm when you turn the steering wheel to full lock. That's not a biggie -- you either learn where to stop turning (as I did), or you shim the steering stop in the knuckles with a flat washer or two so you can't turn far enough to rub.

Front, or rear? I said the fronts are the same. The rears are NOT the same. The MJ openings are something like 2" wider and 2" higher than an XJ. Don't make me break out the camera and tape measure ... I've been all through this. I have a pair of 2-door XJ quarters, with flares, that I was considering using to repair what a previous owner did to my MJ. I'm certain the MJ flares are larger.

FIX IT! Immediately. Your father is right. The factory didn't spend the money to put that on just for ballast. Even at stock height an XJ or MJ with no front sway bar WILL roll over if you have to make an emergency maneuver at (or even below) highway speeds. With a lifted vehicle driving without a front sway bar is suicidal.

I voted no, but you didn't really provide enough information. You need to know what the backspacing will be in the aftermarket rims, and you need to tell us if you have extended your bump stops. Your question actually can't be answered accurately based on no parameters, so No is the safe default.

Comanches were sold with power steering (in fact, I've never seen one that didn't have it, although I know they existed). But the power steering pump mounts on the drivers' side of the engine, and the a/c mounts on the passenger side. You can easily convert to power steering using junkyard parts for the bracketry and such (and either junkyard or parts store steering box and pump) without removing the a/c. Or you could dump the a/c and install an idler pulley, which is what the factory did on units without a/c

Bypass the load sensing valve and install a Wilwood adjustable proportioning valve from Summit Racing. Take the two lines to the rear from the front combo valve and tee them together somewhere in front of the gas tank, then run just one line from there through the Wilwood valve directly to the rear axle brake hose. You can also get an adjustable proportioning valve from dealers. It's in the Mopar Performance Catalog, and is probably a Wilwood in a DaimlerChrysler package.

Guys, XJ flares are the same for 4-door and 2-door. The fronts are the same on the MJ, but XJ rear flares are too small both lengthwise and heightwise for the MJ.

Hey! I have one that looks almost exactly like that. Mine's custom, though -- the back end of the tailpipe is held up by a specially fabricated wire coat hanger assembly, creatively adapted to the MJ chassis by a probably inebriated Rhode Islander who shouldn't have wasted his time, because what it supports is mostly air, connected by a few flakes of rust.

Are you doing a straight dump from the Cherry Bomb? If not, did you get a custom tailpipe or use an adapter to mate the 2-1/2 outlet to the 2-1/4" tailpipe? I've thought about doing a Cherry Bomb, but the price is about the same as an OEM replacement muffler, and the replacement has a lifetime warranty compared to either one year or no warranty for the glass packs. I plan to keep my XJs and MJs for a looooooooooong, time, so "lifetime" warrantees mean something to me.

There's an old veteran (you can imagine how old he must be if I'M calling him "old") who drives around Waterbury with twin American flags on the back of his Chevy pickup. I think the flags may be 4' x 6' -- they seem a bit larger than the typical 3' x 5' flags you see, but they may just look bigger on a truck than they do on a house. He has 1-1/2" steel pipe shoved into the stake pockets to support the flags. You'll be amazed just how much drag a piece of cloth creates at 45 MPH. Unfortunately the MJ doesn't have stake pockets, so you have to look for other solutions. The key is to be sure you have a strong enough pole. Then maybe stand up the pole in a corner of the bed and use hose clamps to attach it to the tie-down loops? Dunno. Personally, I wouldn't do it at all ... not because I'm anti-flag, but because I'm pretty sure whatever I do is going to break, and I don't want to dump an American flag in the dirt.

Excellent point. The release bearing is not under load when your foot isn't on the clutch pedal. Sitting at a light with the tranny in gear with your foot on the clutch pedal means you are sitting at the light with the release bearing under load, spinning around and gradually wearing itself out.

Not according to the parts guru at Bradshaw Jeep. Problem is, I can never remember if it's the early AX-15s or the late ones that you can't use GL-5 in. Redline is safe for all of them, so that's probably the best default solution.

Who cares if it runs? Engines are easy -- I worry more about terminal rust-out. (Of course, that's because I live in the rust belt.)

It's definitely three. I've replaced a couple of handles. The third is out of line from the other two but I don't recall offhand if it was higher or lower. But definitely three.

It depends on what year AX-15. The factory recommended lube changed. Some years have synchros that get eaten up by the sulpher compounds in GL-4 and GL-5 gear oils, and for those years you should use GL-3, or a syntehtic that does not attack the synchros. Redline is reported to be safe; Mobil-1 is reported not to be safe. Dunno about others. Pennzoil Synchromesh is specifically formulated for the NVG 3550 and 4500 trannies. I have discussed this with Pennzoil directly -- it should NOT be used in either the BA 10/5 (Peugeot) or AX-15 (or AX-4 or AX-5) trannies. I'm not sure just what would happen if you did, and I was going to try it in my BA 10/5, but Pennzoil's engineer told me no so I have several quarts of the stuff taking up space on my shelf.

Most likely you would be in neutral. If you did this while under a lot of load (while accelerating or decelerating) you could strip a synchro or something like that, but more than likely you'd break the shift handle before you could yank it out of gear. By feathering the throttle it's very easy to dump it into neutral without using the clutch, and it doesn't hurt anything. It is even possible to shift up or down without using the clutch, as long as the vehicle is moving. When the hydraulic line on my XJ blew out on the MA Tpke a couple of years ago, I drove from Worcester, MA, home to the New Haven, CT, area without a clutch. It isn't fun and I don't recommend it as a regular practice, but it can be done.

Are you certain? "The" factory XJ manual for 1988 was the 1986 Cherokee manual, with separate add-on volumes for the transmission; engine; transfer case; electrical system; and I think something else that I can't recall at the moment. It did NOT include the MJ, which was also a 1986 FSM (for the MJ) with supplementary books to cover the equipment that didn't exist or wasn't used in 1986. Bwteen the XJ and the MJ I think I've probably spent about $300 for factory service manuals, and that only covers the transmission and transfer cases I own. I haven't bought a FSM for the 242 transfer case or the AX-15 tranny because they are covered in the '94 XJ/YJ manual, which I have. I just hope there weren't a lot of changes in the intervening 6 years.

I've had two Renix CPSs fail, and both gave me readings that were within spec, yet would not produce any spark. But I had to read the resistance at room temperature. I dunno how the factory expects you to test a CPS with the engine at normal operating temperature when the engine won't operate ... but let's not go there. I carry a spare in each vehicle.

"Stock"? or "Original"? All of my XJs and MJs have "stock" exhausts. None are the factory original, but after trying a 2-1/2" turbo muffler cat-back in the XJ and suffering loss of low-end torque and a drop in gas mileage, I'm sticking to the OEM replacement stuff. Pipes are cheap, the mufflers come from Auto Zone with a lifetime warranty so I'll never buy another muffler, and the performance is back to what it should be -- what's not to like?