navigator

on being stuck in 4WD, this is my extra vehicle so I don't have to drive it. i sprayed under there with PB Blaster and cycled from 4lo to 2 hi and backed up about 50 feet and i'm pretty sure it is unlocked now. i was able to turn a pretty tight circle in a cul-de-sac without the front tires barking. ON the tranny plug, thanks for the info. I might try to grind down an old extension and see how that works or if I am in the parts store anytime soon i might see if they have a tool for it. I expect if that plug is hard to extract it might just bust a ground down extension. Anyone ever tried to get a replacement plug and weld a bolt/nut to it or something for future removals?

thanks guys, there is no light in my MJ but many of the dash items aren't working exactly right so maybe it is there and not working. I can feel it pulling on pavement when turning and it would sometimes bark the front tires a little so i am pretty sure it is in 4WD. It also does fine going straight. I checked the fluid on Saturday before my little trip and it was good though it wouldn't surprise me if it needs changing. Is there regular transmission type fluid in the xfer case? It seemed a lot thinner than gear oil. one more thing, how do i get the plug out of my manual tranny to check that fluid? It doesn't look like a 3/8 drive extension will fit and i would expect a 1/4 would be too small/light. thanks again, Chris.

i read through one of those oil filter review threads one time and the orange fram I believe was the worst on the market. They are put together poorly and have a bad leak down valve which allows all the oil to leak out of the filter when your car is parked which means it takes that much longer to get your oil pumping at startup because you have to fill the filter again. i think if you move up to the better grade fram you are ok, or even the super-tech from Walmart is a big improvement over the orange fram. Wix and Mobile1 make good filters. Most decent oil filters are made by champion labs.

i did some reading on jeepforum and found some hints to try. putting in reverse, shifting while in neutral, shifting in various speeds as well as crawling under there and making sure everything looks ok with the linkage. any other ideas?

I did a search but it didn't like "4wd in" from my "stuck in w4wd" terminology. I recently bought an 88 comanche. It is an I6 manual 4X4 with a D44. I had been doing some steering column work on it and drove it around the edge of the field and put it through all the 4wd cycles just to make sure everything was ok. yesterday I was going down the highway on about an 8 mile drive. When i pulled into the parking lot i realized it was still in 4hi even though the shifter says it is in 2wd. any ideas for what to look for? I'm unsure what transmission or xfercase is in it though i am pretty sure everything in it is stock. thanks in advance! Chris

one school of thought though is that the smaller diameter rim 15 inch means you have more tire available and a bigger footprint if you air down. A lot of folks seem to think that less rim and more tire lets the tire protect your rim better. I'm not sure how much diff 15-16 inch would make but you don't see folks wheeling much with 18 or 20 inch rims. I'me the type though that if a deal came up and I liked them I would get them as long as they fit.

I'm sure there is a guide somewhere x inches of lift = size Y of tire but I would do it this way. If your current tire is 31X10.50 inches and your desired tire is say 33X12.50, that is a little over 1.5 inch height difference total. Let's just round to 2 inches. Since that 2 inches in height would be spread over the top and bottom or from side to side, divide that 2 inches in 1/2 to get 1 inch. You would need to make sure you can fit another inch in the hole you have and allow for wheel travel. the 12.50 is also about 2 inches wider than the 10.50 so you would need to allow an inch outside and inside as well. Turn your front wheels full lock to see how much clearance you have on either side. remember all tires of the same size aren't exactly the same dimensions, there is a little variance. you can get approximate sizes at the link below. Also, keep in mind how much your current tires are worn. if you have worn out 31X10.50's there will be more difference in the height and width. http://www.1010tires.com/TireSizeCalcul ... ion=submit

That's not lazy, that is good customer service. That guy will remember you when he needs a set of tires. I worked in a tire shop when I was in high school and college and we had a hand tool that could pull them out without breaking the tire down if the valve stem was in decent shape. WE also had an air tool that would shoot them in from the outside. It was pretty slick. if you want to do it yourself though, you can get a little valve stem tool for a few dollars. It has a little T handle that you can pull it in the hole with. Use a little soapy water as a lubricant. It also has a core remover which you will likely need to get enough air volume to get the tire bead to re-seat. If you don't have a tire hammer to break the bead, I had a guy tell me one time that you can prop a board on the bead and use it like a ramp and use a car do drive on the board to break the bead. I've never tried it before so i am not sure, proceed with caution. BTW, if it is a large tire/wide rim, it is a real pain in the rear to get a bead to re-seat if you don't have the tools and know what you are doing. The air will just escape from around the side of the rim. If you keep the one side seated it is possible to lay the tire down flat facing up and lift up on the tire at the same time having someone put air in it, again it can be a pain. You might also be able to prop up the tire edges with blocks and such and put the air in yourself. so if you like doing painful stuff for cheap (like most jeepers) you can get a tool for $3 to remove the stem and get a stem for $3 and spend 30 mins doing it yourself or you can take it to a shop and get it done for $5-$10.

ok, i think I have found one for a 94 XJ with cruise, i'll go look at it. Will it works since mine doesn't have cruise? That shouldn't matter should it?

many thanks. Does it have to be exactly like mine (tilt, no cruise, floor shift) or can some of the options be different? I can take mine with me to make sure all the plugs are the same but is there anything else I need to keep an eye out for?

will swap into my 88 MJ. it is a 5 speed in the floor with tilt, no cruise. my housing is actually busted where it should hold that plate in that has the problem with the screws backing out. just curious when shopping around which year mj and XJ will be an easy swap.

my 98 Ford Explorer came from the factory with synthetic in the rear end. In my maintenance book I remember reading something to the effect of "don't even check it unless you suspect a leak" because removing the plug would open it up to contaminates. I still don't buy synthetic = more heat. Synthetic = less friction. less friction = less heat.

very cool thread, I was reading some of WFC's stuff recently. pretty cool stuff.

we got my son a 98 XJ for his 16th BDay. It was that purple color and he had mentioned before he got it wanting a white jeep. The paint wasn't in bad shape but there was some missing molding and we were going to try to get it painted white for him. i called several shops and if i removed everything and they only had to "shoot it" it was going to run about 1200. I've never used rattle cans to paint a car with but I used it to help camo my boat. I bought a quart of olive drab from bass pro and then a rattle can of black to break up the OD. I did that a few years ago and the OD looks good and the rattle can has faded a lot. not sure what a whole car would look like after a few years.

oh, now that makes sense!

well, I fixed the pic, maybe it will be of use to someone later! Thanks again everyone.

sweet, not only did I get a sweet running no rust MJ for $600, but it has a D44!

BTW, sorry for the huge pic, and yes I know it is leaking and dirty :-)

i think so but kind of hard to tell based on internet images. Can someone confirm?

thanks folks, I didn't get a chance tonight, maybe tomorrow.

i looked at it again last night. I was able to see the place that I think I need to get to for removal. There is a type of universal joint but up above is a bolt that I expect holds everything in place. I sprayed it with PB Blaster last night and hope to look at it more tonight. Any suggestions before i get started?

are you looking for a replacement because yours is wobbly or for some other reason. For one that is wobbly take a look at this write up, it is pretty good. http://www.fiero.nl/forum/Forum2/HTML/088020.html

ok, I got my steering column apart, tightened up the 4 bolts and put everything back together and i still have wobble. After tearing it back down again. i see that the plate that the four bolts screw into (lower housing bolting plate) is not positioned into the steering column jacket. I've pulled everything down again and need to actually remove the main shaft assembly in order to re-position the plate. I removed the bolts from the floor board and removed the bolts from the dash and the column is free except for in the actual engine bay where the shaft ties into the rest of the steering components. my problem is i can't really see how to disconnect the shaft in the engine bay. I jacked it up and put it on jack stands and can't really see from the bottom. I can kind of see it from the top but i'll have to start removing stuff to actually get in there to disconnect it. Anyone done this before have any better suggestions? Can I get to it better from the wheel well or something?

this is the first I heard that synthetics cause more heat. I would think less friction = less heat.

not to hijack the thread but i just bought a comanche and if you look in this pic there are several hoses going to one central contraption. one larger one from the top of the valve cover to the little contraption thing and from the contraption thing to the airbox. What is the contraption for? Can I bypass it? My hose from the valve cover is broke on that hard plastic part and we have it hose clamped in place but wondering if I could just by-pass the whole contraption.