Suuperman

I guess I will be the devil's advocate with this one...but RUN AWAY FAST! I think the ZJ is one of the worst vehicles chrysler ever built for jeep. Too many crappy bells and whistles to deal with and is often times tougher than a renix system to dx and fix. And you're looking at a 5.9 limited...both the best and worst at the same time! Horrible front driveshaft. Even more horrible CV front axle shafts. And worse still the aluminum D-44 that basically interchanges with nothing. I think the ZJ is/was probably a fine rig until it gets some mileage on it...then look out. I honestly have not known ANY ZJ owner that had good luck with one. Good luck though :D

While I am with most folks here and prefer the HP 30...I actually swapped in a LP 30 from a 4 bngr TJ to match my 29 spl junkyard 8.25 with 4.10's. I think the HP vs LP debate has been beaten to death. Lots of guys out there run 35's (and some bigger) on their TJ's with no issues. And the XJ weighs less. That being said I have owned 7 XJ's including my current one. 2 of my 7 were '99's...I honestly think '99 was the best year for the XJ. I wish to hell the MJ would have run through the same year as the XJ...I'd give up body parts for a '99 (not a converted one) MJ!! Also don't overlook 2 doors. I am on my 2nd 2 door XJ and am liking it more and more each day. There have been 2 late model 2 door 4x4's for sale here recently and I really wished I had the $$ to get them. I think the 2 door models will fetch a slightly lower price than 4 doors will. I only paid $150 for the one I'm driving now :D

look at the honda passport as well. Basically a rodeo rebadged for honda...came with the same D-44 rear. And 4bngr rodeos often had 4.56 gears (with the 44 rear)

I had a '99 2wd 4.0 5spd. Got 18 mixed and 21 hwy. I had a '99 2wd 2.5 5 spd. Got 20-22 mixed. Got 25+ hwy

I think it's your ignition switch on the column up under the dash. My '90 XJ did exactly this...cranked and ran fine but those items and a few more were out. Fuses were good. But on my ignition switch there was a bad spot. I am guessing it is the keyed source that 'completes' the circuit allowing 12V to go to those things. Replaced the switch and no problems since.

SMALL block vs BI BLOCK refers to block size in general. A 440 mopar (dodge) is ocnsidered a BIG block as the block is larger in size to the 360/318 etc which are considered SMALL blocks. LONG block refers to another term entirely which any engine can pretty much be. As for a chebbie 350 being the easiest V-8 to swap into a 4.0L jeep...UH-UH. The AMC V-8's and I-6's all share very similar motormounts. I can't remember which side but you only need to unbolt one mount from the block and put it on the AMC V-8 to make it fit in an XJ/YJ/YJ/MJ etc. That being said and to answer his earlier questions...yes you will have to upgrade pretty much everything else. The AX-15 tranny will bolt up to the AMC 360 easily enough but would probably not last too long. However the later NV-3550 used in the last XJ's and late model TJ's would also work and would handle it a fair bit better. Also on the big full size jeep board IFSJA there is at least 1 person over there that is mating an AW-4 to a 360 in a full size wagoneer. You could also use the entire engine and drivetrain from an '81+ grand wagoneer. Get one with the 360/727/208 combo. it will be drivers side drop. ROb the axles from it too. I did this in a YJ and it worked with some minor fab work. The NP-208 t-case is a nice big chain drive case that hold up well behind the AMC 360 (and was used in ford and dodge's full size trucks as well.) This would honestly be the easiest and cheapst way to get a V-8 into an MJ. You can buy and complete running waggy for under a grand (done it) and then other than swapping the needed motor mount possibly moving the tranny X-member (I did not have to in my YJ) you would need to make provisioons for a shifter to the trans and t-case and then get new driveshafts. unless you have a D-44 rear axle... swap the rear axle. The front D-30 may hold up ok if you don't run a big tire and don't beat the snot out of it. Mine holds up ok in my CJ5 with the 304 and the CJ D-30's aren't quite as strong as a later model XJ D-30 is. So it can be done but will take a fair amount of work...maybe even more than fair depending on your mechanical skills.

If you can get them running you could easily double your money. I've seen piles...RUNNING but piles go for $1000+. E-bay is your friend in selling things like that. You can also part them out and make a fair bit from them.

SWEET!

With my 'upper heater hose' comment I meant to put int here you use one from a ZJ. It is already 'molded' (bent) and is a fairly easy fit. You will have to cut some off of it as it is too long.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/MOR-63745/ Here ya go. The rad caps should be on the right side of this page.

I bypassed/deleted my heater control valve as well (it leaked). I notice no ill effects from it. My heat works fine and it doesn't make it hotter inside having the heater core always in the loop. You can use the upper heater hose (t-stat housing to firewall) and then whatever size hose the bottom heater hose is from the water pump to the firewall. it eliminates the rats nest and does away with multiple potential leaks. I know it is 'supposed' to be there but it hasn't hurt anything on mine. I did it to this XJ my '91 MJ (miss that truck) couple years ago with no ill effects there either.

I'm using a moroso water neck and cap. The cap says on it that it's a 12-16 lb cap but I believe the catalog rating was 15 psi. And I was off in my 'measurement' on where it sits inline. It's actually about 10" from the radiator. This way it will clear the battery and the hood (so it doesn't hit when you close the hood). If memory serves the neck was $29 and the cap was $9. Then the only other thing you need is an overflow bottle (or modify your closed system bottle to work as an overflow). Just make sure the filler neck you get has the overflow nipple on it

I've seen 2 on ebay over the years. They were both Canadian fire trucks. WAY cool and real...came from the factory that way. I think they did sell a FEW in the US...and I believe production numbers in the US were a grand whopping total of 5. Kind of like the ever elusive crew cab FC. I saw one earlier this year on e-bay and liked to have peed myself wanting it so bad! Of course my 'pipe deam' is an FC van. Never seen one except in books.

Are you needing the inner seals (just off the carrier) or the spindle seals, or the hub seals? NAPA and advance carry (or can get) all of them If you want a good online source go to the Bronco Graveyard. I've built 2 ford front ends and am getting ready to pick up a 3rd for my '88. They have it all at decent prices.

Unless you really want or need to put in a new radiator with the filler neck on it you can do this conversion for under $50 and it requires no other sensor moving or anything. Plus when you need to replace your 'closed' radiator it's several $$ less than an open style rad. You just need to get an inline filler neck from the summit catalog and then convert your bottle to an overflow OR get an actual oveflow bottle from a junkyard. The neck will run you about $30. Cut the upper hose about 3" or so off the radiator and put it in. You may have to cut (section) a little more of the hose out to get it all lined up right. It works great. I have been running my '90 XJ like this for 6+ mos now (and we had 100* plus days here this summer) and my buddy did this on his daughter's XJ and his MJ many years ago. Both are still like this today and are working great.. I need to look at mine to remember which brand filler neck I used but I believe it has a 1.25" end on each side. it puts the filler at about the same height (maybe even slightly higher) than a '91+ filler would be so it's easy to fill etc. I can take pics if you like.

There's an old fella in our town with a '92 metric ton. BEAUTIFUL truck. A buddy of mine and I have both tried to talk himout of it but he won't sell. Good luck with the purchase. I paid $500 for my '88 4 bngr with a bad head gasket.

No...the D-35 is probably the most commonly used rear axle in the smaller jeeps (except CJ's) from 1986-2000+ regardless

Nah...not afraid. I love the 8.25 axle but can't get the gears I want in it. If I could run 5.13's or 5.38's in the 8.25 I'd go there since I know where a fair few are in the JY's around me. And the XJ/MJ 44's have become pricey and are no less $$ to build plus the only matched front axle for bolt patterns is the rubicon front D-44 and those are even more $$. 60 would be too big unless I find a good deal on a semi floater and having run a 9" in the past I am not a big fan of the LOW pinion on it. Hung me up pretty good a few times and that was on 35" tires. I would really love to run a LP 44 up front and then in the rear also so I can drop down to 5.89 gears. Make the 4 bngr a little more peppy! Just thinking of the spool route which is the only reason I'd get rid of the clips. I like the strength and cost of the full spool but if the c-clip eliminators+spool cost around the same as getting a detroit or comparable auto locker I will just go that route. Decisions decisions! Something else may come along before my neighbor even gets ready to pull the 8.8 from his truck. :hmm: :D

I think I have finally figured out my axle selection for my MJ. My neighbor has an extra HP-44 I can get for CHEAP. I;ve used these before so it's a no brainer. BUT he also has an 8.8 in his '88 F-150 that he plans to replace with a 9" (matched set for the front axle he plans to use). I know the explorer 8.8 is somewhat popular across the board but I've neve run an 8.8 at all. 35, 8.25, 44, 9", 60...but never the 8.8. I'm planning on radius arming the front ***IF I find the front end has welded on wedges I may go leaves up front...no poking fun I have done it once before and it worked great*** and then SOA the rear with 5.13's and 35's. I figure the 4 bgnr should pull them fine as I have ran 4.88's in 2 different TJ's with 33's under the 4 bngrs and they did well and the are heavier and somewhat less areodynamic than the MJ. I guess I am just asking if anyone else has run the full size 8.8? Also I am pondering running a full spool in the 8.8 ***again no poking fun as I have done this on 2 rigs in the past so I know what I would be getting into***. My question here is the C-clip eliminators. How hard of a job is that and where is a good place to get them should I go that route? THANKS!

In the MJ I had a couple years ago (my '91) I took out the bench seat and put in buckets. BUT I wanted to have a 3rd seat/seatbelt option since we have kids and I hated the tired old bench seat. I used the center front seat/armrest from a grand wagoneer. It fit perfectly between the buckets and made an great armrest when I was by myself or only had one passenger. Then it folded up to make a perfect kid's seat and the stock center seat belt stayed in place and worked perfectly. Then I just used some aftermarket cupholders on the trans hump (this was a column shift truck). I will probably do the same thing with my current MJ and I think I have enough room to put one in my CJ5 as well (our kids are all still young).

We are now fairly certain is is indeed the head gasket. We did a compression check and the noise is coming from the #1 cylinder which only has 60# while #2 is 140+ and 3/4 are at 120 each. So it would seem #1 is bleeding into #2 causing the noise and the lower compression on 1 and higher on 2. So now to pull the head and then hope the head isn't warped and replace the head gasket. yay. On a positive note it is running fine again...I think I got one of the sensors wet or something.

'88 MJ 2.5L TBI without A/C. Had a bad exhaust/intake gasket so I replaced that and went ahead and put in a new exhaust manifold. It was making a very loud noise that we thought was just a major exhaust leak and possible vacuum leaking as the gasket was broken in 2 pieces with part of it around the #4 intake port. Cranked it up just now and the noise is still there...definitely not an exhaust leak. Truck runs great...doesn't miss, no high/low idle and it revs fine when you give it gas with no hesitation or stumbles/backfires. Sounds almost as if it is blowing air or sucking VERY loudly...actually sounds like one of those fireworks you set off on the ground and it spins around until it takes off...but the sound cycle is not quite that fast. When you give it gas and the RPMs climb it all but goes away but as the RPMs come back down it gets noisy again. When you turn it off you can hear it go FFFFF FFFFFFF as if it is puffing a last little bit of air. Coolant appears to have no oil in it and vice-versa. I would think it it had a head gasket that bad it would not run as well or it would smoke...it does not.

I think the 'wag sag' terminology comes from the sagging rear driver's side on a many waggies due to the fuel tank being on the drivers side. Which of course the MJ has the same deal. However MJs weigh a fair bit less than FSJs...especially over the rear end so if you are worried about sagging springs...just swap sides with them when you put them on your MJ. The MJ springs may have a stiffer rate though...waggies show 2 different rates...one a good bit lower than the MJ and one that is slightly higher.

My 4 bngr MJ has the dummy light gauges pod. I got a full cluster from the junkyard yesterday but from a 6 cyl jeep. I have swapped from 6 cyl to 6 cyl with no trouble in the past. What will I need to do to make the gauges work on the 4 cyl MJ? I know it's a 'bolt' in procedure but ovbiously the senders are different as is the 4 cyl vs 6 cyl wiring harness. :D

I found your post on that. if I understand correctly the pictures you showed are of yoru 3 link...and the 3rd link so to speak is the upper arm on the driver side correct? If so...and you feel you really need the '4th link' which would obviously be ont he passenger side why not just fabricate the passenger side upper frame mount to be the same as the driver side? After reading your post on that though I don't see why you want the extra upper arm...? I doubt your nose dive will be fixed by it as I have had more than one short arm lifted rig have a dive on one side or the other...and it's usually the passenger side that does it. That being said look up rusty's or rubicon express's lolng arm kits. They use the method your originally described above and welded brackets to the lower long arms in order for the upper arms to mount to. If you are wanting your uppers to be 'long' arms as well you will be getting into a fair amount of fabrication that still will most likely not change what you are wanting to change. A little off topic...I notice you are from the Arnold area? I'm originally form St Louis and have relatives in Imeprial, St Louis, and Fenton.