mvusse

Maybe we can continue in person if you can get to Papa Bears before I have to leave.

Dunno. Knowing me I would be there 'till 10pm talking about Jeeps, but I got a wedding to go to at 4 I believe, so I can realistically only stay until about 3.

What the AW4 bolts up to depends on what it was on. If it came off a 4.0 (most likely as almost all 2.5s have a manual behind it), it will only bolt up to a 4.0. As for the 231 transfer case, it came with different input shafts depending on what transmission it sat behind, and sometimes with the same transmission there is a difference in what year. I would go with 4.0/AW4/231 combo for the simple reason it is the most common combination out there and thus the easiest to find a donor for. Again, if you go from a 2.5 to a 4.0 having an entire parts vehicle (XJ Cherokee works for everything except rear driveshaft) is a must because there are a LOT of little parts and parts you wouldn't even think of that need changed over: transmission cross member, engine mounts, radiator support, little bracket in transmission tunnel for the transfer case shifter, stuff like that. Staying with the 2.5 is less work, but still there are a number of little detail parts you'll need. I converted a 96 4.0/AW4/2wd Cherokee to 4wd using a 96 4.0/AW4/4wd Cherokee as a donor. After I had stripped the donor I was expecting to do it in a weekend: take 2wd stuff off Saturday, install 4wd stuff Sunday. It ended up taking all weekend to remove the 2wd stuff and gut the interior (seats and carpet) to have the needed access to the steel floor, then 5 evenings to install the 4wd stuff and all day the second Saturday to put the car back together again. I have a pinched wire somewhere shorting out because now when I turn on the lights the fuse for the dash lights blows immediately. It was fine for about a month after the swap. Haven't had the gumption to try and find it yet, though.

The AX4 and AX5 are fine behind a 2.5. The biggest problem is with people adding gear oil which contains sulphur which eats the synchros. 10W30 works way better. But I don't think you'll be happy with a 2.5 pushing 33" tires unless you move to at least 4.10 gears.

Finding a 4.0 litre 4wd automatic Cherokee for a parts rig is easy, as there are a million of them. Finding one with a manual transmission will be a bit harder. Replacing a 2.5 with a 4.0 is quite a bit of work, though. Pop the hood on any 4.0 Cherokee or Comanche and notice all the differences between it and your 2.5. If you can find a 2.5 manual 4wd Cherokee (any year) you can swap the transmission and transfer case and related parts and keep your current engine. The only manual transmissions that bolt up to the 2.5 are the AX4 and AX5 (which is the same as an AX4 plus one additional gear. Everything inside (except for 5th gear) interchanges). The much stronger AX15 could bolt up to it if you can find the holy grail of bellhousings out of a 2.5/AX15 Dakota. I think there's only one out there and someone on here already has it.

Got a good AW4 with a good torque converter in Strasburg, OH. You can have it for $100. It's a 2wd one out of a 96 XJ, but that shouldn't affect the torque converter.

I would leave it alone.

To keep the electronics plug and play and not have to splice Chrysler stuff into Renix stuff you should stick with 87-90 (91?) for the parts truck. Reason I said 97-99 for the axles is because the front would still be high pinion (86 through 99) but give you the single piece passenger side shaft without the central axle disconnect (92 and newer? Or any year with Selec-Trac) and also gets you the larger stronger u joints (95 and newer or any year with ABS). It also gives you the 29 spline 8.25" (late 96 through 01) which is about equal to a D44 whereas the earlier 27 splines ones have shafts nearly as thin as a D35.

Not supposed to be any play. The most common track bar problem is the hole in the frame bracket being wallowed out. New track bar will not fix this. New bracket will. Problem is, I don't know if the bracket is available outside of a junk yard, and getting one from a junk yard may not be any better than what you have now.

I'm still good for Saturday 1pm.

I would not regear or rebuild the axles unless you have a cheap line on the parts and know what you're doing. Swapping in an entire axle with the gears you want is much cheaper and they are plentiful. Also try to find something better than a D35 for the rear. 97 and newer Chrysler 8.25" out of an XJ are a great upgrade, plentiful in junk yards end it is relatively simple and cheap to cut off the perches and shock mounts and have new perches welded on. I would get a similar year (to your MJ) parts XJ for everything except the axles. Get the axles (both) from a 97-99 4.0/auto with an 8.25" in the rear, as that would get you best combination in parts for both the front and back.

ZJ (and TJ I believe) and probably some others use a tie rod end sort of end on top instead of rubber bushings. They do not fit correctly on an MJ/XJ sway bar, but could work, somewhat. I say use the links with the bar they were designed for. On a stock rig with the loner (newer) links I have never seen one bend or break, just on lifted rigs or using the older short links. Problem I have is that they break when twisting the top nut to remove them, or they rot away to nothing between the bushings.

What size tires are on it now? Is it 2wd or 4wd?

4.0/5 speed should have come from the factory with 3.07 gears. Only way to tell for sure is to pull the cover and either count the teeth or read the stampings in the edge of the ring gear.

Assuming you stick to an 87 4.0/5 speed, I do not believe there is a difference between the Cherokee and Comanche dash harness. I might be wrong, but I believe all the stuff that is different (like longer leads for tail lights etc.) is a separate harness.

I agree with most of what was in the above post. Except ... Lifting an MJ or XJ with the stock track bar actually pulls the axle over to the driver's side, not to the passenger side. Not that it really matters -- either way, the wheels will be off-center to the long axis of the vehicle and it will be impossible to properly align the tires. :thumbsup: That's what I get for posting in the morning before I've had my tea. Fixed in original post.

YOU DO NOT NEED A DROP PITMAN ARM! There are reasons to get these, thay are almost all based on a leaf sprung front suspension. It will make the drag link not run parallel with the track bar inducing bump steer, it will also cause increased stress on the steering box bolts due to the additional leverage probably causing the bolts to rip through the frame rail. That being said, yes the front suspension setup is a 4 link with panhard bar. You need all 4 longer control arms because that much lift with the stock control arms will swing the axle back too far. You also need a longer track bar (panhard bar) to center the axle back under the vehicle as with that much lift it will swing over to the driver side quite a bit. Also needed are: shocks brake hoses sway bar end links and for the rear: spring perches shock mounts brake hose Also if you have a D35 rear axle a new axle. A pair of springs for $130 is not a lift kit, it is one part out of many needed to do this. A complete kit for that much lift will be $1000 or more. Then you need 33" tires to make it look right which will be another $1000 or more, new rims for the tires which will be $200 or more and you're looking at spending $2200 or more. There is no way to lift a Comanche that much and have it still be safely drivable for less. If you're looking to run 31" tires with a bit of lift, look into a "budget boost"

Former coworker bought a WJ a few weeks before he quit. It had 225/75R16 tires on it and that was also what the door sticker said. It was the Laredo model with a 4.0, but not up country. I believe it was a 99 also.

Now that Pete refreshed my memory, yes, either the 3.1 or the 3.4 or both are internally balanced, so you may need to have your flywheel rebalanced neutrally.

Any REAR WHEEL DRIVE 2.8 will bolt up, they were commonly found in S10 pickup trucks. So will any rear wheel drive 3.1 or 3.4 (out of a Camaro for example) for a bit extra grunt. They use the same block so all your accessories and carburetor will swap over.

I run generic 235/75R15 on the Purple People Eater no problem. I had 235/75R15 Wintermarks on Wilbur soon after I got it and they rubbed the lower control arm when steering at full lock. Not badly, but enough to be able to hear it. Tire sizes for supposedly the same size tire aren't between different brands and even within the same brand between different models. Most 31s barely measure 30. Theoretical sizes (typically actual size runs smaller) height x cross section: 205/75R15 = 27.1x8.1 225/75R15 = 28.3x8.9 235/75R15 = 28.9x9.3 245/75R15 = 29.5x9.6 255/70R15 = 29.1x10.0 The first two are the two most common stock sizes, the third one is what the vast majority out there actually runs (from what I've seen in junk yards and all ones I've bought). WJ front lower control arms are fully boxed and a lot stronger than our stock stamped steel ones. They also have a bend in them to clear larger tires. Stock WJs run 225/75R16 (29.3x8.9) or 235/65R17 (29.0x9.3) depending on what size rim they came with. To make them fit the steel bushings in them need to be trimmed flush with the rubber. A $20 angle grinder with a cutting wheel will do this in a few minutes.

I believe 2000 and 2001 are low pinion, 86 through 99 are high pinion. Also 86 through ??? (91?) with Command Trac have a vacuum disconnect, any year with ABS has larger u joints, 97 (95?) and newer has the larger u joints regardless of ABS. The axle shafts with the larger u joints fit in any non-disconnect D30, so they do not have to come out of the axle you are getting. They can fit a disconnect D30 as well with the addition of a (non standard) oil seal in the passenger side of the diff. So if you can''t find a 4.10 high pinion 30 with larger joints, find any high pinion non disconnect D30 with 4.10s, then find any D30 with the larger u joints (ZJs with the 4.0 and TJs have them as well) and swap the shafts in the yard before you pay for it.

I would get an AX5, same as the AX4 with the addition of a 5th overdrive gear. Don't know if your transfer case has the correct input shaft to bolt to an AX4/AX5, but an AX5/231 combo should be easy enough to find out of a 4 cylinder Cherokee. Everything else needed like clutch pedal and master cylinder, linkages, shifter etc. can come from that same XJ.

Classic 2 Current makes beefy Cherokee floor pans. They're like $40 or so each through Rock Auto (so $80 for both sides). If you cut the top lip off the "frame" rails they fit a Comanche as well.