gogmorgo

I've seen a similar setup on 20's or 30's cars being used by postal vehicles to get through snow in some of the northern states. It's pretty cool, but I don't imagine it would do too well over anything other than soft terrain. Jim, the screws would have to be counter-rotating. If they were both turning the same way, the vehicle would want to scoot itself along sideways. Although it looks like the screws can be independently reversed, as they are both turning the same direction in the shot of it going sideways — that or one of them was freewheeling.

Sounds like a bad thermostat to me, or one for too low a temperature (should be 195°F). I can have heat from my blower within a few minutes of driving even at -32°F with the block heater left unplugged. I've never had it happen to me (knock on wood) but many people say they've had brand-new thermostats go bad on them. It's recommended to spend the extra money and get the Mopar one from a dealer. Cardboard in front of the radiator works, but it's a bit of a bandaid solution and doesn't actually fix your issue.

Who in their right mind would take a 4runner over an MJ? :doh: Oh well. His loss, your gain. It's a great looking truck. :thumbsup:

Not familiar with Renix system, but from location, my guess is that's your crank position sensor plug. The cps is on your bellhousing, and no, your truck will not run with it unplugged. Find your cps pigtail and plug it back in.

Huh. I guess chalk it up to electricity being black voodoo magic. :dunno: There's only one wire between the headlight switch and the beam selector switch... Oh well. At least it works.

The reason I said it wasn't the headlight switch is because the power is split between the lights after it goes through the switch... If the high beams worked, then what was wrong with the switch? Good to hear you got it working, though.

If you've got high beams, the headlight switch isn't your issue. I don't know how the putco harness is set up (I made my own) but if there are any fuses in it, check them first. Also try swapping the low and high beam relays to see if the low beam relay might be bad. Are you sure you don't just have two burnt out low beams? Other things to check would be the high/low beam dimmer switch, as well as wiring in between the headlight switch and the the headlights. A test light would be useful to see "where the power stops", which is more than likely where your problem lies. At the low beam relay socket you should have power from the headlight switch at pin 86 when the low beams are on, and constant power from the battery to pin 30. A multimeter or ohm meter would be useful for testing continuity to ground from the relay socket (pin 85).

Check the classifieds section on this site. Just so you know, any XJ Cherokee front bumper will fit onto your MJ. You might want to check your local Craigslist, as well as 4x4 accessory retailers if you don't mind getting new.

Honestly, if it were up to me, I'd just replace the ignition switch, make sure it's got all the right fuses in the right spots (see the above wiring diagram) and call it done. It's lasted longer than I've been alive as it was. But it's up to you. I don't see how a breaker could harm anything, but everything down from where you'd put the circuit breaker is fused or on a breaker already. Glad to know I could help. :)

When you took the column apart, did you remove the lockplate (metal gear-looking ring) and a really stiff spring that puts pressure on it from behind? If you don't have that spring in there (or the lock plate) your steering wheel will wobble around a lot. That spring also puts pressure on the bearing to keep it in place.

If you check out this wiring diagram, (click on it to zoom) you'll notice that your set of non-functional components all take power from a brown wire from the ignition switch. Could be something came unplugged, a wire broke, or something's corroded. Could also be a bad ignition switch, which isn't uncommon.

Yes, I have driven a car with and without the sway bar attached. It made the difference between cornering level and shattering expensive carbon fiber bodywork every time you turned the wheel. Oh, and that thing where you don't make it around the corner...

Clear your browser's cache, and try again? Did it happen more than once or just one time?

I bought my General Grabber AT2's online from Canadian Tire, but I doubt they'd ship them to you... unless there's a Crappy Tire down in VA. It's a pretty good tire, even in snow and on ice. Only times I've been stuck in snow, I've been pushing it with my bumper and had the frame and cab sitting on top of it with the wheels off the ground, and that's with open diffs. They wear pretty well, don't make a huge amount of noise on the highway, and look pretty aggressive. Before I put the Grabbers on, I had the BFG Total Terrains. Or at least three of them... it was like that when I bought it. Don't remember what the other once was, some cheap thing, originally on the back but I swapped it to the front. All four were at about half tread. They sucked even in the wet. After the first snow we got, I knew I needed something better, and replaced them with the Grabbers. The difference was amazing. It was snowing while I was having them installed, and they honestly felt better in the snow than the BFG's did on pavement. The Grabbers also hang onto gravel roads a lot better than the BFG's did as well, although they do like to throw rocks.

Since when was the VW Beetle intended to do anything at speed? Your MJ's suspension was designed to be run with that front sway bar. Without it, is it "A properly tuned and designed suspension that takes into account a vehicle's center of gravity, roll center, and weight transfer characteristics"? Considering the fact that there's a track bar on the front axle, not to mention that whole solid axle thing, I can state with reasonable confidence that very little thought was actually given to on road dynamics. Your MJ's suspension is intended for off-road use (ground clearance, suspension travel, and durability) and the sway bar is one of the few things that make it functional on the road. Come the next time an idiot cuts you off, or something (or someone) wanders out onto the road, and you have to swerve to avoid a collision, you'll find yourself experiencing quite a bit of body roll due to all the things that make your MJ decent when not on the road. I'm sure you know what happens when you have too much body roll, let alone the fact that suddenly you have significantly less traction. For the sake of your MJ, please put the sway bar back on. Just because all of the different strokes aren't always wrong doesn't mean all of them are right. None of us here want to see your MJ on it's roof, wrapped around a tree, inside a small child, or anywhere else you didn't intend to put it. You shouldn't either. If you really want to disconnect your sway bar for offroading, and don't want to spring for disconnects, you can unbolt the bottom of the end link and swing it up out of the way, ziptie or wire it in place. Then be sure to bolt it back up before getting back on the road.

The IROC got a 12.7:1 ratio, same as the ZJ, which would likely be a better swap.

You realize you just resurrected a 3.5 year old thread, eh?

Long block vs short block has nothing to do with what engine it is. Both are terms describing how assembled they are. Basically, a short block is missing the head(s) and a long block isn't. A long block still isn't typically a complete engine, though. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Long_block

Airing down might help in snow, but it won't on ice. Your contact patch gets wider, but it also tends to come up off the ground in the middle of the tire. You want as much tread as possible down for the ice.

I definitely grabbed a MotoRad tstat when I got mine. Don't remember if it was just a "normal" one or their "Fail-Safe" line. It's only been in there a couple months, and so far so good. Even without the block heater plugged in I can start it at -30ºF and have heat within a couple minutes. The gauge does fluctuate a bit, but then again, when you've driving around mostly below 0ºF, you've got a lot of cooling with the thermostat open. It typically sits just under the 200ºF mark.

We've got a Honda CBR 600 RR that's been sitting on the work bench completely torn down for the last month. We just lightly coated the cylinder walls with clean motor oil, and left it wrapped in a garbage bag to keep dust off. Admittedly, that's storage indoors in a warm, dry environment.

Any chance you'd have a picture of the rear set up?

Looks a bit like a giant dog kennel... :idea: The PO didn't have a pet bear, did he? :yes:

Does anyone have more input on this? Anyone tried it out?

What's the "jiggle valve" for, if you don't mind?