Eagle

An automotive wheel/tire is a gyroscope. Its natural tendency is to rotate true to its axis. If it wobbles, that means the wheel/tire is not balanced. Irrespective of loose track bars, loose tie rod ends, or anything else that may contribute to the severity -- none of those factors can cause death wobble. If anything, a properly balanced tire will cancel out any tendency to wobble, due to the gyroscope effect. The track bar on my original '88 Cherokee went bad late in the autumn one year, and I didn't get to replace it before the snow flew. I drove it to work every day for the entire winter, with about a quarter turn of free play at the steering wheel, before the snow melted and it warmed up enough for me to replace the track bar. There was never a hint of death wobble. Have your tires balanced.

The '89 keys don't interchange between the doors and the ignition. I discussed making my original '88 Cherokee into a one-key vehicle with a professional locksmith. The bottom line is that the door keys are "5-bit" keys (five tumblers), and the ignition keys are 6-bit keys (six tumblers). There's no good way to make one key that fits and operates properly in both keyways.

Rustoleum is paint. I would use bedliner.

You have the correct tank. Notice in the parts diagram above, both the 16- and 23-gallon tank take (2) #9 straps and (1) #11 rear strap.

The 16-gallon tank for the longbeds is the same, 3-strap tank as the 23-gallon tank. It has internal baffles to stop filling at 16-gallons. It was used on the base models with small tires to keep the gross vehicle weight down. AMC did the same thing with the Cherokee.

1986 only had the longbed, so the 23-gallon tank is correct. The 18-gallon tank is for the shortbed, which didn't come until the 1987 model year.

That's you clue as to which way to orient the assembly. "Left" is driver's side.

Have the crack welded up, then install the brace(s). Be sure whoever does the welding knows you'll be adding the brace. The weld should get good penetration so it can be ground fairly flush on the underside to allow the brace to be installed, without removing all of the weld.

I would put the adjusting sleeve on the driver's side. That puts it on the same side as the adjusting sleeve for the drag link.

The slider mechanisms are the same between the Comanche bench and the Cherokee buckets, it's the floor pedestals that are different. So you can remove the seats from the pedestals and mount the buckets to the MJ pedestals. One thing to be aware of is that many of the 80s Cherokee buckets had a "rocking chair" feature that allows for adjusting the angle of the seat base separately from the angle of the seat back. The seats that had the "rocking chair" function (typically found on the higher trim levels) will put the seat a couple of inches higher when installed on the Comanche buckets. This isn't a problem if you're less than 6 feet tall. It can be an issue for taller drivers. The seats with the rocking chair feature are easy to spot -- they have two levers for adjustment rather than the normal one lever.

Very common. The factory had two repair kits to address it, depending on how bad the crack was. It can (and should) be welded up.

I salute my brothers and sisters in arms. Today is our day. May it find you healthy and at peace.

Also, the transfer case shifter, the shifter gate that bolts to the floor, and the bezel for the transfer case shifter opening in the console. The best source is to pick up a complete Cherokee donor vehicle. Be sure it's a 2.5L, because you can't just bolt a transfer case to your existing transmission. You will need the 4WD transmission, and you'll only find the AX-4 or AX-5 behind the 2.5L (or the 2.8L V6).

It's not a myth.

They forgot the track bar!

And you seriously don't think that's weird? If I saw you doing that in my yard, I would call the cops. Just act like a civilized human being and knock on the door.

I think it looks a lot weirder to have someone snooping around a vehicle parked in the driveway rather than just knocking on the door and introducing yourself. I've had more than one person drive into my place and just start looking over my Cherokees. They usually aren't very happy when I walk up behind them with my hand on a gun and ask "CAN I HELP YOU?" in a very loud voice.

Yes, it is. I hope whoever made that reinforced the "frame." Back in the 1950s, AMC pioneered the use of unibody construction for automobiles. (Actually, Hudson did, starting in 1948, but Hudson merged with Nash to form American Motors in 1954.) My brother and I bought a 1966 Rambler Classic in 1966. All Ramblers were unibody, but the convertibles had the floor section considerably beefed up to prevent them from folding in half.

A fusible link is a terrible idea. A fusible link is a wire that self-destructs if overloaded. When that happens, instead of just popping in a new fuse you have to replace the melted wire.

How are your springs twisted? Is it possible that a previous owner did a spring-over conversion by swapping in an XJ rear axle without relocating the spring perches to the correct location?

You have a manual transmission. That means you have a clutch, and the XJ and MJs have a history of the clutch master cylinder leaking brake fluid onto the fuse panel. Brake fluid is rather nasty stuff and it doesn't play nicely with electrical connectors. The fact that the terminals for the turn signal fuse fell off (did I read that correctly) suggests to me that you may be in need of a fuse panel.

I've seen a number of SBC V-8 swaps in Cherokees, and they ALL had massive cooling problems. The best swap for the 2.8L is a later GM 3.4L V-6 out of a rear-wheel drive car like a Camaro or Firebird. It's the same basic block as the 2.8L so it's a bolt-in swap. You can do it carbureted (although that Jeep carb is trash), you can do an aftermarket throttle body injection, or run it with the GM multi-port injection. The biggest headache (and it's not big) is that the 2.8L was externally balanced -- it has a weight at one spot on the flywheel. The 3.4L is internally balanced and doesn't need that weight, so the flywheel from the 2.8L has to be neutral balanced. And automotive machine shop should be able to handle that.

I didn't say you can't use the rubber trim on an MJ. But you can't just remove the stainless steel trim and install the rubber without taking the window out of the vehicle. As others have already explained, the rubber goes onto the glass first, like a perimeter gasket, then the entire assembly is glued into the vehicle.

It doesn't work that way.

Good plan.