Pete M

high miles mean little to our engines. :yes: what you change in your truck when installing a later model engine depends entirely on how much you convert. you can swap in a block and change almost nothing. or you can gut your truck and do a complete conversion. or something in between. if you swapped the entire wire harness, then you'd simply need to swap the speedo sender unit into your t-case and plug in the new wires.

muffler shop. they have welders and they don't charge astronomical fees. just do the work yourself to remove the old perches and figure out where the new ones go, then haul the axle to the shop. what rear axle are you looking to use?

this one?

one is the main line running to the rear. the other is the emergency line running to the rear. the front valve is only a splitter or combination valve (not a proportioning valve), and in the event of a loss of front brake pressure, it diverts rear power to the emergency line, which bypasses the rear height sensing valve (which is our proportioning valve) to give full power to the rear. run a search for "prop valve" or something like that and you should find the various methods of removing the rear valve if you choose to do so.

take pictures! :clapping: or better yet, video!

doesn't even look all that bad. :dunno:

yup. just gotta replicate the system as you see it in the 97. take photos. lots of them. and be sure to grab the heater hoses too. the late model XJs don't have that silly heater valve that gums up in my trucks.

splicing brake lines is a BAD idea. the system can produce way more pressure then those compression fittings can handle. plus as paradise said, if the line is bad in one spot, it's likely bad in others too. You need to replace the entire line. You can either get some bulk tube and rent a double flaring tool, or you can buy the long lengths of pre-flared lines and just connect them together. I've done both and the pre-made lines were easier. also I highly recommend a small brake tube bender. :thumbsup:

sure it's not the filler tube rotted out? I've heard they are on ebay for about 100.

any competent local shop should be able to fab one up for ya. :thumbsup: but yah, we're pretty much on our own when it comes to rear bumpers.

then you merely have the consequences of a spool with the 260 joints. :D

a 4" lift and a Dana 44 should balance each other out and your driveshaft should be fine as-is. :thumbsup:

what's wrong with the current engine?

do you have longer lower control arms?

time for a donor XJ. :banana: maybe a 91+? :brows: then you don't hae to figure out that mess of vacuum lines. just swap everything over. :D

It's kinda a rule of thumb; the better your traction, the further you can go, and the worse you get stuck when you do get stuck. (and you will get stuck :D ) having an extraction plan is paramount.

yeah, get going on building that garage. :D congrats on finally being able to get the ol' girl going again.

is your driveshaft too long? I'd have thought that a mild lift would counteract the Dana 44 addition.

sounds like you have 4" TJ coils up front. :dunno:

depends on your location. some drain fluids as the cars come in, others drain them as they go out.

no need to get a perfect seal after all the oil have drained out. :D

drove the 86 over to grandma's house ('til the issue with the city is ironed out). a whole 2 miles. I LOVE THAT TRUCK!! it's such a pile of crap. :D I mean it. If you saw it in person, you'd say, "wow, what a pile of crap. what makes it go? prayer?" but it's MY pile of crap. and it's a working pile of crap. bite me Riverview. :D and ever since the muffler exploded. it's my very loud pile of crap.

are you sure everything is tight? U-bolts? lug nuts? maybe bad bushings? bad U-joints? is the driveshaft straight? rotted frame?

I would, but I don't own a 2.5 yet. :(

with a 4" lift (driveshaft is now short an inch) and a Dana 44 (snout is 1" longer than a Dana 35) added to the mix, your rear shaft should be about the right length. don't forget to install new U-joints. old joints don't like changes in their operating angle and that can cause vibrations. death wobble is a horrifyingly violent shaking of the front end that makes you slam the brakes and pray to god that you don't hit something. Is that what you're experiencing?