xj92

If you get a YJ bushing, it fits in the stock oem track bar, but uses a 1/2" bolt. Just FYI. I used that and drilled the hole bigger on mine. No slop as mentioned by stacks.

I want to build my MJ into a crawler. The current step in that process is to bob the bed so I have a better departure angle. I cut out a 14" section today and will hopefully get to work cleaning it up and welding it back on some time Monday. Did most of it with a 4.5" angle grinder, then used the sawzall for those places I couldn't reach with the grinder. Click the thumbnail for pics.

Drained all the fuel this morning by jumping the fuel pump relay pins, thanks for the tip.

I need to drain the fuel tank so I can drop it tomorrow, unfortunately it's at 3/4 right now. I tried a siphon tonight, but could never get it down to the fuel, there must be something there blocking it. Can I simply disconnect the fuel line at the pump, point the hose into my gas can, and fill it up? All I would have to do is turn the key I think, because that usually pressurizes the fuel system. Am I not thinking of something that would prevent from draining it this way?

Any updates on this? I'm planning to start my bed shortening project soon. I probably won't remove the bedsides or use fancy bulging bedsides, but I'm going to take around 15" behind the wheel and probably 10-12" before the wheel, depending on fuel filler and gas tank limitations, open up the wheel wells for 37s, shorten the frame to match, cut the driveshaft for the shorter wheelbase, etc. I'd love to see more if you've made any progress on it.

I run the 97+ on mine. I think they look clean and good. When looking for pre-97 in the junkyards, 99% of them were broken in one place or another, and post 97s just don't exist in the yards around here. I ended up ordering my mirrors from junkyards on car-part.com and paying about $40 shipped for each one. If you remove the interior door panel, you'll see a phillips head screw IIRC that holds the triangle piece in place. If you have to buy bolts to put your mirrors on, get allen-head bolts. If you get hex-head bolts, there isn't enough room for the socket to fit over the bolt head on one of the three.

Thx for the tip, I saw the other thread today as well with a diagram so I'll be messing with that soon. What a luxury it would be to have a fan with 4 settings :D

My heater fan will only turn on when it is turned to hi, so it is either on high or completely off. My MJ is an '88, but the heating/cooling parts are a mix of junkyard parts based around matching a '93 XJ style setup. Anybody know how to fix this or had this happen to theirs?

The ax-4 (4-speed) or ax-5 (5-speed) that is behind your 2.5 isn't even close to being beefy enough to last behind a 4.0L, and the bellhousing pattern doesn't match up to the 4.0L either. If you swap in a 4.0L, you'll have to modify your firewall and the front radiator area of your jeep because it is an '86. The dimensions of an ax-15 are different. It is usually all bolt-in for most Cherokees, but yours might not be because it is an '86 and they didn't have the 4.0L until '87 IIRC. One popular swap is to put in a 3.4, which will mount up to your ax-5. A better option, unless you have a lot of money into the BODY of your XJ, is to simply buy one with a 4.0L/AX-15, then swap everything you want from your cherokee onto the 4.0L one and sell your current one.

Just buy some arms the length you need ($130 at Rusty's) or build them. The steel is cheap and the ends can be as cheap or expensive as you want. Even if you don't have a welder you could buy a $20 grinder with cutoff wheels, get everything ready, and then have a buddy weld it all up for you. 6* of caster is fine though.

If mine ever gets that bad I think I'd rather just create new frame rails from 3/16" steel, chop off the back section completely, and graft them in right behind the cab.

I made my own stiffeners for my last Cherokee out of 4x6 box steel (1/4" wall) that I cut in half. I made the same relief cuts all the ones being sold have now and welded them up later. I also did all the holes and rosette welds. I now have an MJ instead of the XJ. If somebody offered an elegant enough product for the right price, I'd buy it. It's a pain drilling all those holes especially. Now if I get my plasma cutter before I do it next time that's another story, but with a hand drill and 4.5" angle grinder doing it yourself sucks. I also burned up my cheap hand drill with those hole saws, but didn't have any more trouble after buying a nice Milwaukee corded drill. It really did stiffen everything up. Rode much nicer after that and rocks didn't hurt it.

You could also just replace the passenger side axle shaft with one from a non-disco model. If you do this, careful when putting the new axle shaft in not to push out the seal in the pumpkin.

I have a ruffstuff cover on my rear D44 and it's been bulletproof. I made my own for the front D30 using two stock D30 covers and it has been plenty strong as well. The ruffstuff one was about $100.

Is the camshaft profile different between '87-'90 & '91-'93? How about the crank? Will the '88 block, crank, & cam work with the '93 harness, distributor, & sensors? '90-'93 Cam Part #: 83507203 '87-'90 Cam Part #: 83500249 '90-'93 Crank Part #: 4713051 '87-'90 Crank Part #: 83504658 If that were the cause of the no start, wouldn't it blow out black smoke, backfire, whatever? It doesn't even act as if it wants to start, just sounds like the starter cranking and the engine doing nothing. When I first checked for spark it sparked normal through the gap. Last time I checked it was sparking other places due to the plug being covered in fuel & other deposits, which must have accumulated during all my attempts to unsuccessfully start. If I clean off each plug, it then sparks normally in the gap again.

5-speed will allow me to regear for better use of the powerband. It'll be geared lower around town but still have the higher gear for the highway. I did put the 4-speed back in for now though, only because this is turning into a never-ending project.

New '93 2.5L flywheel is on and it still won't start. With the old flywheel it sounded like it was close but like the timing was off. Now it doesn't even sound like it's close to starting, it just cranks & cranks. I'll have to re-check all the connections again another night. Anybody have any other ideas? Feel free to ask questions. Thanks

Have a local shop with a good reputation rebuild it. Upgrading to a 91+ engine isn't worth the work because there are a lot of changes, and any junkyard pre-91 engine is already too old to make it worth swapping in.

I end up buying a lot of bolts, nuts, screws, etc. from the local hardware store, but some are hard to find, so when I'm at the pick'n'pull or the junkyard getting something else, I grab as many screws, nuts, bolts, etc. off of cherokees and/or comanches. Just makes it easier in the future and they're usually free as long as I'm buying something else there.

I just went to autozone and ordered one for a '93 Cherokee 2wd 2.5L manual. $60. It'll be in Friday. Does it just depend on whether it's stick or auto, or specifically on transmission model (ax-4 or ax-5 vs. ax-15 or nv3550)?

Forgive my ignorance here, but I just can't see removing and reinstalling the old 4 speed manual. I'd rather do an AW-4 or even better an NV3550 (I'm aware of what it takes to convert the bellhousing & stuff). The flywheel is attached to the engine, not the transmission, correct? Does the flywheel part # depend on which transmission I have in it? Will a '93 flywheel bolt up no problem to the '88 engine?

Plugs are gapped, and yes, I have replaced the injectors as well (the TBI injection just has one on top of the throttle body whereas the MPI has one in the intake manifold right next to the head for each intake port, total 4). I haven't pulled the plugs and smelled them to see if gas is getting to them, but it is getting to the fuel rail and at least 2 of them would have to be clogged to cause this. I swapped in a '93 distributor and all the other sensors along with the wiring harness & ECU, manifold as well. I don't believe the distributor can be indexed, it just fits in one way and relies on the sensor there anyways. Correct me if I'm wrong. I did replace the CPS with a 91+ CPS, but this is the first I've heard that the flywheel is different. So I guess the flywheel is next on the list huh? Anything along with it that I need to replace?

Here's what I have: '88 Comanche 2.5L with: '93 harmonic balancer, A/C Compressor, Power Steering Pump, Alternator, Distributor & sensor, engine wiring harness & computer, chassis harness, fuel pump & sending unit, intake manifold, fuel rail, injectors, etc. etc. '93 4.0 throttle body 91+ 4.0 62mm tb spacer (I know people say it is faster with a smaller bore, I plan on playing with this once it is running by testing it with and without the spacer). When I try to start it, it just won't run. If I hold the throttle wide open, it might stay running for a few seconds, but still doesn't sound right and will die immediately after letting off the throttle. It won't even do that all the time with wide open throttle, sometimes it won't catch at all. I think I read somewhere that if the sensor at the back of the engine/front of the transmission bellhousing is bad it wouldn't run. Any other ideas? I pulled the boot off each spark plug and checked to make sure they were sparking, which they are. The plugs are new, but are the ones spec'd for the '88 engine if that makes a difference. The cap & rotor are new, and spec'd for the '93 distributor I put on it. It has fuel pressure at the fuel rail. Even if an injector was clogged, I think it would take at least 2 clogged injectors to make it not run, not sure. All the stuff I've thrown on is from the junkyard, so it is all suspect.

You should put the axle in a jig before welding the tubes or risk warping the housing.

My favorite is trying to remove the torx bolts after a bad front-end collision that wraps the bumper around the bolt heads. I've had to do it 2 vehicles now and always have to find a way to pry/bend the bumper away from the bolt heads and then get fancy with extensions, angles, wrenches, whatever can get in there.