Bornindesert

Ditto on RockAuto - good shipping if you can combine multiple items from a single location and apply their discount (that you get when you place orders). Sweet truck - what's underneath the Comanche emblem? XLS? I've always owned 4.0L XJ's/MJ's, but decided to build a 2.5L MJ 4x4 for a shop truck and hoping it's going to be good on gas. Mine also has a 4 spd and I wish it had a 5 spd. I think it's great that there's still an economical option for small/mid size trucks that are USA built.

The three puller holes were completely plugged with dirt and grime, had to be first found because it was not obvious they were even there, then chased with a Tap to clean them out.

There's a very good chance it's a bad harmonic balancer. Had the same persistent squeak on my Sons truck and finally someone on here recommended that a new HB would fix it and it worked. After I bought a harmonic balancer puller, realized that I could have used the old steering wheel puller I had. The bad HB had an irregular rubber ring and was slightly offset. Wore out. I bought a Dorman from RockAuto but can't argue with going with a Mopar OEM replacement.

I had a bad front passenger u-joint and it was more of a repetitive clunk when you turned it certain ways like parking at the store. This stuff can be hard to pin down. Try moving the track bar at the axle, sway bar links, maybe even the motor mount?

I have the 242 (it was added) in my Wht 88 MJ. Really liked having the Full-time when I lived in Indiana, would deliver trailer loads of hay all winter long and got great traction on the streets, pulling out from a dead stop at the light or stop sign...NP :thumbsup: In Arizona, not so wet and nasty...and was looking at a SYE for it, not much out there unless you go with a Hack n Tap. So, just echoing benjy_26's point on the fact that there's more options available with the 231. Now that my son is driving the truck, he thinks it's cool driving around in Full-time going on and off dry pavement and dirt roads (we live on a dirt road haha)! The next two MJ's on my build list are going to be 231's, and would like to add the four-gear planatary and SYE at some point.

I guess the only thing I've noticed about he LED version is that it's a more white light if that makes sense. Not bad, just different that the softer light you get from the old incandescent bulbs. They light up the cab just fine, would get them again.

There's a Skyjacker XJ rear spring set - on Amazon its Skyjacker JC25RS 2.5" Softride Leaf Spring and listed for $209.99 free shipping. But, I thought that MJ rear springs were MJ only, not interchangable with XJ? So, Zack did you have those General Spings or Hell Creek rear spings in mind when you responded?

Was looking around and could only find OME rear 2.5" springs for the YJ :???:

Good suggestion - did you have an OME P/N for those rear springs? Are they specific to the TJ, MJ or XJ?

For the inner something like this works

Yeah but the 27 spline D30 reverse high pinion? That a screaming deal for 3.54 and up.

It's great to see Hells Creek producing springs again. Last year when I ordered they were in some translation and you couldn't get them at all. That said, I'm happy with the General Springs MTs, they were very easy to deal with and they shipped out same day. Either way, now we have some options if you opt for leaf spring replacements.

You basically have to call them at General Springs and ask to speak with Joe. He knows about the CC discount and can take the order if you decide to buy.

Good question, only thing is the MT General Springs are not factory stock springs. They're aftermarket or designed to have the same number of leaf's as the factory MT springs but could have a different arch. The ones that General Spings sells also have the military wrap.

I know, my son and I were just talking about SOA and there's no way with those MT springs. I told him basically we'd put the old leaf's back in if he wanted to go SOA and clean up the bottom of the axle. 87Warrior, agree - those look exactly like the ones we put on, so maybe more like 2-3 inches and yeah you're right about forward of center. I was going by the General Spings input (and there's an old thread on here somewhere) that they'd provide around 3" of lift over older 4-leaf packs. Also, have been considering less shackle too...but the kid likes the way it sits so I'm leaving it alone for now. We did pick up the front another 3/4" over the Holidays to even it out, one of the nice things about the ACOS.

Cool, changing out injectors is a basic chore almost all cold weather 4.0L drivers must dive into at some point. Are you going to attempt the oil leak next? Very common to run down the back of the motor, the culprit being the valve cover. Don't know why, but my Jeep mechanic friends used to say...they all leak back there. I'm having some oil leak issues too but I think it was a bad pan gasket install. Probably will need to drop it again and spring for another gasket.

1-2" drop shackles with new MT General Springs

Those are exactly the shackles I used on my White 88 Comanche, with new MT General Springs. You'll net about 6-7 inches of lift with that combo over stock rear springs/shackles. The 2" drop shackles will drop a Chevy 2" but raise a Comanche more like 3-4". You can subtract the eye to eye mearsurement of your Comanche Shackle from the pictured shackle and divide by 2, to get an idea of what you'll net for a lift. You'll have a huge rake if you don't get up around 5-6 inches in the front. I went with OME spings ( 2") and aCOS upfront. I'll post a picture

No. Preload is set by number of pinion preload shims and pinion nut torque. You could use a 250 ft lb TW and get an idea of the pinion nut torque required to get it to break free, loosen. Pry the old seal out, drive new one in and reassemble to the same nut torque plus 25 in lbs. You'll likely have a similar condition, some play in the yoke. Might by you some time, dunno.

Here is a pic of the inch pound TW, the small one with the little black knob. The running torque that Eagle describes is sensitive to the pinion nut torque, so you would creep up on the 160 ft lbs and take a measurement at like 25 ft lb increments. Without any preload, the situation you describe, the initial in-lb measurement you get with axles in and tires off would be added to the 15 in-lb target for preload without carrier. Make sense? The only variable would be old seal verses new seal, so add 3 in-lbs. Most would advise against installing a new cone roller in an old race. Would it be an improvement to your current situation? Probably. I'd lean toward re-using the old roller bearing if it didn't look like a South Bend Indiana road in May...full of pot holes. Remember, you may not be able to even get the roller out so the next step would be pulling axles and carrier and drive the pinion out.

There's no crush nut on the Dana 30 front axle, but if you have a Dana 35 rear axle it uses a crush ring. With the Axle under the Jeep, and wheels down you shouldn't need a yoke tool to torque and un-torque the nut. Biggest problem I think you'll run into is getting the cone to come towards you after you pull to yoke out. If it slides off, great. You could then grab the shims and slide them off. The race, if they make a tool to pull it out off a Dana 30 I've not come across one. Not saying it's not out there, but without a bearing race puller there's no way to get that sucker out. If you pull the diff cover, axles and carrier, then you can punch it out with a drift pin or brass rod. That's more than I think you want to get into at this point so it really comes down to just a pinion seal, pull out a shim if you can get the cone bearing out and reassemble. Before you pull the nut, put a socket and Rachet on there and get a feel for how much resistance you get when you twirl it, wheels off.

The pinion bearings are preloaded such that when the yoke is rotated the torque is about 15 in-lbs with the carrier, axles and seals removed. So, it sounds like your axle has some wear on both bearings. What establishes pinion preload are shims behind the outer pinion bearing cone & rollers and a shoulder on the pinion. Since the outer cone & rollers have a mild press fit on the pinion, you normally have to drive the pinion shaft through the housing, again with the carrier out of the way just to add or remove shims. Removing pinion preload shims would basically be part of a rebuild or ring and pinion set up. Basically, you could remove several shims, regain pinion preload, replace the pinion seal and reassemble. It's recommended that you replace the pinion nut any time you've disassembled the axle. With the carrier installed and a new seal, probably adds 7 to 10 in-lbs above the target of 15. Pinion nut torque is 160 - 200 ft lbs. There are some decent write-ups out on the web forums. I don't know of any short cuts, sorry. I went all the way and rebuilt / regeared both axles and did the set ups according to the procedures I gleamed off the web. Here is one off the tools I made to torque the pinion nut while the axle was out of the vehicle.

Agree with 64 Cheyenne. Both lines are available from RockAuto. The pressure line has hard lines at both ends (pump & pwr steering box) with crimped hose in between...the big crimps, like AC lines if you have AC. It would normally be replaced as an assembly. The return line is just a hose (pwr steering hose) that is crimped to the reservior port and also the hard line at the steering box. These are the little crimps that are more like small rings, can be cut with pliers or wire cutters. When you replace the return line, use hose clamps at both ends. If you think the leak is coming from the return line at the reservior, you could cut the ring crimp and replace it with a hose clamp. This is where mine was leaking from, but it was a crack in the glue that attaches the reservoir port to the reservoir. I wound up replacing the hoses and reservoir. FYI, it can also overflow if it's overfilled, looking like a leak or escape from the cap if the cap is not screwed on tight. All the fittings, pressure pump port and steering box port are a PITA to crack loose. If you go there, be patient and use a good quality wrench or big adjustable. Access makes it even harder to get in there.

I'd consider going with the Hellscreek 3" lift, definitely a good quality option. I'm not an authority on lifts, so would get some other opinions. Here's mine, if you are committed to a 3" lift, then new rear HC springs are a good way to get there. For a DD, even better. I'd match them to a straight up 3" lift front coil lift, no spacers. At 3", you can probably get away with stock arms, pitman, steering linkage and just add a decent adjustable track bar. You'll need new shocks all way around. You'd be in the 31-32" tire range. You'll sacrifice some ride comfort for better articulation, which means everything when you wheel off-road. Towing is more engine, transmission, hitch and brakes, so wouldn't think you'd gain or lose going with a 3" lift.

Nice upgrade on the sound system! So, probably a few ways to go with the axle. Easiest would be to not touch the pinion nut, assuming it's not producing an obvious leak at the pinion seal. You can still drain, pull cover, inspect, pull axles, pop out the carrier, do the ball joints and remove/install the axle seals. Would spring for a Lublocker gasket, knowing you'll be going back in at some point. Replacement bushings are available for the axle end of the upper control arms. They're a pain to beat out and press in, so if they are half way decent leave them alone. Problem you may run into with the axle out of the vehical is cracking the axle nuts, having weight on wheels makes for an easier anti-rotation method to compensate for the brutal torque you'll need to break them free. I used a torch to make life easier, knowing I'd be replacing the stub axles anyway. With new Unit bearings ($200), axle seals, ball joints ($160), rotors and pads ($100 plus) and LubLocker ($30) and fluids you'll already be into the axle for some change. Those are all good maintenance items that won't prevent you from upgrading later on. And yes, If you plan on keeping the stock axles for now, would consider just pressing in some u-joints.