mvusse

My buddy's Cherokee had 3" lift springs in the front and 2" blocks in the rear, and it was squatting pretty good. But then again, I think the springs might have been sagging, 'cause after taking out the blocks, the 5.5" lift springs should have brought the back up 3.5" And it looks more like it went up the full 5.5".

Cards (and sticker and fridge magnet) arrived. Thanks! Correct address on the envelope, but my name is not Darren Sproles... :D Jeep on! Marcel (van de Vusse)

Kersplat!

Two parts of my lift kit arrived today: the rear leaf springs! For some reason the box with everything else got stuck at the Akron, OH DHL warehouse :cry: So I started on the rear of the truck, but then my daughter came over to make out her birthday party invitations, which we then had to deliver and I ran out of daylight. Broke off a shock mount :mad: Out came the axle: And the old springs: Here's the new 3" lift ones from Motion Offroad: Look ma! No wheels!

Two pictures of my buddy's XJ. 5.5" lift is too much for 31" tires.

Some new pictures. I want to compare flex before and after lift, so here's the before. Stock rear springs, 1.75" spacers up front, sway bar disconnected. Inside (lower) edge of front wheel is up 24.5" before rear wheel started to lift.

Slip Yoke Eliminator.

Well, went over to my buddy's house for a bit to help him finish installing the tow hooks, and fix the rear brake line so he can drive his XJ again, but as he pulled it out of the garage we noticed a problem: the ears on the drive shaft are hitting the slip yoke because of the U joint angle being too steep. The yoke is also pulled out of the transfer case a bit more than I'd like; not enough that it will fall out, but enough to probably wear out the oil seal in short order. This is a 1990 2 door XJ with AW4/NP242 and (now) 5.5" lift rear springs. He was going to take a die grinder to the yoke to make it work as a temporary solution, but we will need to do something for the long term. A SYE kit is probably out of the question for the time being, so would a YJ slip yoke work? The way it is made it seems like it can go on a lot steeper angle, but does it use the same the same U joints and does it have the same spline count and diameter? I believe a YJ slip yoke is also a bit longer, which would be a plus. Alternatively, for added length, would this yoke work, even though he would still have to take a grinder to it, it seems to be a lot longer, but what about U joint, diameter and spline count?

I just measured an old stock set of springs I have sitting in my basement. They each have a broken leaf, but that should not affect measurements. Center of front bushing to center of center bolt is 25 3/4" in a straight line, or 26 1/16" (+/- 1/16) following the arch of the leaf.

When you replace the distributor cap you should ALWAYS also replace the rotor. When you replace the cap and the plugs, it only makes sense to also replace the wires. Also, make sure your odometer is correct. Either check is against a measured 10 miles you can find along the road in some areas (a measured 10 miles against a 1/10 mile odometer will tell you how far off you are to 1%) or check against a GPS. The odometer and speedometer run of the same cable. If one is off either from running the wrongs size tire, regearing the axle or replacing the speedo gear with the wrong one, the other will be off by the same fraction. And as Wildman asked, how are you calculating your mpg? The only accurate way is to always fill your tank to full, where the pump shuts off (but don't try to top it off, as that gas will only end up coming out of the vents on top and hopefully in your charcoal cannister, if it and it's lines are still there and operating), let it go down to 1/4 or 1/2 tank before filling and averaging that number for 3 or more fill ups.

It makes sense if on a 2 week canoe trip, or backpacking the Rockies (or Alps). I know from experience near the end of a 3 week canoe trip, after you've run out of the good stuff like fresh veggies, milk and bread, and you are living on canned tuna, oatmeal, rice and powdered milk, a canned cheeseburger would taste mightily awesome.

87 4.0/AW4 3.55, 235/75R15 I get about 18 around town, 22 on the highway, 24 if I don't go over 65mph. Those numbers are corrected for tire size and double checked with GPS. I got 13-14 around town at first, 18 on the highway. Then I found a broken plug wire cause me to run on only 5 cylinders.

But MMMMMMM that triple bypass burger look good!

I'll fill the cooler if you change your plans and join us wheeling Oct 25. ;)

FINALLY! According to the clock, the shop got power back around 9:30 am this morning. My boss called me at 10 to let me know, by 10:30 I was dressed, lunch packed and in the shop! At least I gotta make money for 6.5 hours this week. We also have an order for a custom office, and a commercial order for who know how many hundred cabinets for a hospital. Unlimited overtime!!!!

To all people running a 3" lift on their Comanche: What shocks are you running in the rear? And to all people running a 4.5" lift: What shocks are you running up front? If possible, I'm not only looking for the brand, but also model number. Or what stock application the shock is supposed to be for. I'm trying to find out what will work, like a stock 95 Dakota rear brake hose being 7.75" longer than a Cherokee one (and Comanche?) with the same (correct) ends.

True enough... My family has had just about enough of me talking about the '88 and what I'm going to do with it. At work they were getting tired of me talking about my truck. But then one of them got a Cherokee with 2" blocks in the rear and 3" springs/lcas up front. Just lifted the back with 5.5" springs (and took the blocks out) and putting spacers, adj track bar and swaybar disco on the front. That 5.5" almost makes his 31s look too small, though. He's all gung ho about going to Badlands next month.

He probably had a bad day, and needed someone, anyone to vent at. The one time that surprised me was year ago, when I lived pretty much across the street from a McD. I'm sitting at a stop sign, waiting to turn left (which would take me in front of the McD exit after about 200 feet. Traffic clears and I pull out. As I pull out, a truck pulls away from the drive thru window, heads for the exit quite fast and pulls out without stopping RIGHT IN FRONT OF ME. This was in my little Geo Prizm. I stomp on the brake locking up all 4 wheels and lean on the horn as he looks at me with surprise showing on his face, along the lines of "where the heck did that car come from" and floors the gas, which is about the only thing he could have done to prevent a wreck. The ds rear corner actually goes over top of my hood, which is pretty low to begin with and even more so since the car is nose diving from the brakes. A few blocks later we get to a traffic light that goes red as he gets there, so he get out of his truck and walks up to my window. You all know what I'm expecting, but I roll down my window anyway. "I'm so sorry about that, man. I never saw you coming. You okay?" Left me speechless.

One way to get more performance is to swap out your Renix engine for a Chevy 383 stroker. I know a few people have swapped in a 350. If a 350 fits, a 383 would as well, since it's the same block.

When I first got the truck, the transfer case rear output shaft seal had been leaking, and when I drained it what came out was black, burnt transmission fluid. Only 4 oz. of it. I refilled it before the July Badlands trip and not since. This afternoon I went to drain it, getting ready to replace the seal when I noticed that the seal had not been leaking any more. #@^ I thought, it must be about empty again! So I drained it, and it was full. The fluid came out mostly brown, but still smelled like transmission fluid and still had a reddish tint to it. Brown was probably from rinsing remains of the burnt stuff off. So no need to replace the seal, and refilled with fresh fluid. It's about time something went right! I also fixed my transmission fluid leak. There was a loose connection in a cooler line. Tightened it 3 turns and no more leak. And got the refurbished sender unit assembly installed. Hopefully that solves my fuel leak, but with Ike, gas prices have spiked and I'm not filling the tank until it has dropped and stabilized again. Since Monday just the station down the street from me has been $3.99, $3.98 $3.96 $3.94 $3.89 $3.84 and now $3.82. Sometimes it changes 3 times a day! But now I have a coolant leak at the lower radiator hose. Easy fix sometime this weekend. Might try to find the source of my power steering leak while I'm in there. I also did about 3 hours stop and go slow speed offroading (dragging fallen trees into the clear and carrying cut up logs out of the woods at work), with no overheating. And I got an email from Motion today that (part of) my lift has shipped. I believe my rear springs might be on their way On a side note, the shop is still out of power meaning I'm still not back to work. If power is not back by Sunday, anybody have any ideas? Will travel for work Sunday-Wednesday. Pretty much a jack-of-all-trades (master of none).

If starter fluid down the carburator doesn't make it fire, it would most likely be an ignition problem. Either timing (unlikely, unless you did something to it) or no/weak spark. Check plugs, wires, cap, rotor and coil.

I think it may just be that you're making a sharp turn in 4wd. Even if it is on dirt or gravel.

Hard to beat propane for reliability, mainly because of simplicity. But propane (or LPG) as an automotive fuel is extremely expensive in the US. And it may not work too well in Michigan winters. When the weather is too cold it may not gasify readily.

To make sure it's not a fuel/fuel delivery problem, pour some fresh gas down the carburator and see if it runs fine for a few seconds on that. Next would be to pull the spark plugs and see if they are fouled. Then take a timing light to make sure they are all getting juice.

What engine you got in there?