JACKED88

Pretty much anything will do. I use a pc of broom stick stuck in the throttle body. A screwdriver handle works good too. Anything that'll hold the plate at least half way open.

I'll give it a try but I'm sure yall are right about my arms. I have another problem. (imagine that) My sway bar ends are coming in contact with my springs. It's like the sway bar ends are too long. Question ..... does an 88 2x4 MJ and a 89 4x4 XJ run the same sway bars? I ask because I don't know which one the previous owner used in the 4x4 conversion he had started on this truck. His donor vehicle was a 89 XJ 4x4 Limited. My truck is/was a 88 2x4 Eliminator. Also, the pre-owner used stock end links. Again, I don't know if their the stock MJ links or from the XJ donor. Yes, I know I need to replace them. (or go the cheap route and extend um) How much longer are the end links supposed to be for a 6" lift? Or .... do I need drops for it too? If so, how much?

OK, obviously my next question is gonna be if any yall have a set of used drop brackets for sale? I've priced new ones for a 6" lift from $180 to $220 bucks. (funny how things work out because that's the exact amount I don't have) LOL!!! I did a little homework on suspension geometry and understand how and why my control arms could be/are making my truck ride so rough. Without going into detail ..... I get it. I agree I need new shocks. So who makes a good yet economical shock for mostly street use?

Thanks guys. I'll take a look at my control arm angles and maybe even take a few pix of um. Which control arms are you talking about needing drops. Upper, lower or both? Air pressure is 28psi. Since they were suggested, how much $$$ are long arms?

I'm running 6" 180lb springs (180's being the softest I could find) and a pair of Pro-Comp ES-3000 shocks. I'm also running adjustable upper/lower arms, adj track bar w/drop and a stock sway bar. What can I do to soften the ride? Would removing the sway bar help? Or would that give the truck too much roll when cornering?

Spring perches on the top side of the axle. That means cutting off your stock perches, buying new ones and then welding them to the top side of the axle. Also gonna need longer u-bolts and longer shocks. Going that high in the rear your gonna need a front lift to match. My truck is SOA and I put 6 inch lift 180lb springs in the front to level it out. Plus adjustable upper and lower control arms, an adj track bar w/drop bracket, longer shocks and longer brake lines/hoses. Oh and I'm running 33" tires. Unless money is no object, I'd say go the low budget 2" pucks and longer shackle route. That along with some 2" taller tires would give you 3 inches of lift. With that your Mamche should get you just about anywhere you wanna go. Hope this helped. Good luck with it. Robert

Because they no one makes them anymore, so there getting harder to find Yeah, what he said. But more like damn near impossible to find. Consider yourself fortunate to have one.

NEVER ..... EVER ..... PASS UP A FACTORY MADE MJ RECEIVER HITCH OR A STRAIGHT REAR BUMPER.

At this point I don't blame you. Sometimes it's better to just walk away for a while before it really pisses you off. I've got a 1991 E250 Club Wagon van with a 7.5 / 460ci that I haven't registered for almost 9 years. (2003) I quit driving it after burning up the torque converter and ultimately the transmission. Note to self .... DO NOT TOW 23' CHRIS CRAFT THROUGH HILL COUNTRY IN OVERDRIVE!!! Anyway, I replaced the trans with one out of a 97 truck. I was told by a trans shop that other than needing to swap the linkage it would work fine. Wrong!!! After swapping the linkage and installing it, unlike my 91 trans the 97 model doesn't have a speedo gear on the output shaft. Apparently sometime prior to 97 Ford went electronic and put the speed sensor in the rear axle. Even so, up until a year ago I used to slowly drive it around the block or just up to the store every now and then just to make sure it'll still run. Not having a speedo the shift points are a little erratic hence the reason I don't drive it much. About 6 months ago I charged the battery and tried to start it. Wouldn't start. Switched over to the auxiliary tank and it started. The main tank fuel pump had quit working. I replaced it and everything was fine. No more than a month later the auxiliary tank pump quit working so I replaced it too. Again everything was fine till a couple of months ago. It would run fine and then all of a sudden start acting like it was starving for fuel to the point of dying now and then. If I let it sit for a few minutes it would start and run fine for a while. Then it would repeat the problem. When I replaced the first fuel pump I also replaced the fuel filter so I knew that wasn't the problem. As luck would have it, the third high pressure in line fuel pump quit working. I replaced the pump and tried to start it. Wouldn't start. Now what??? Within the past 6 months I've replaced all three fuel pumps and the filter. Not only did I replace the two in tank pumps, I replaced the entire assemblies. (pump and sending unit assemblies) To this day I still can't get it to start. I've done everything I can think of with no results. I refuse to think both of the new tank pumps have quit working yet I can't hear either of them coming on. I've replaced the pump relays with no results. That was over a month ago and I haven't looked at it since. So ..... as you can see your not alone. I'm in the same boat as you are. Had I not walked away I was threatening to throw a molotov cocktail at it. :fs1: (In which would have been a real shame considering the van only has 97,000 miles on it and other than having the wrong trans and this new problem it's in really good condition) As for the transmission, I haven't really needed the van nor have I been able to afford another transmission for it. Why have I kept it all these years? Because I like it and it's in too good of physical condition to let go. That and I couldn't get what I think it's worth with the wrong/improperly working transmission in it. Thought this story might make you feel better. Your Manche isn't a POS. It's just being stubborn. (like most of their owners) :wall: LOL!!!

Just curious ..... prior to your current problem, have you done any other work on it recently? If so, what? Why do I ask? ..... My son has a 500+/- hp stroker in his 95 GMC Yukon. After blowing up three 4L60 trans we decided to replace it with a built 4L80. We fired it up, filled the trans with fluid and away we went ..... for about 2 miles before the engine quit running. Long story short, while replacing the trans and doing the additional wiring for his Optishift transmission controller we missed seeing that a couple of his FAST EZ-EFI harness wires were touching the header. Sometimes it's the little things that come back to haunt us.

Damn, you've got everybody stumped on this one. :dunno: Considering we're both old school, this might be like the blind leading the blind but I'm gonna try to help the best I can and in doing so we'll learn as much as we can along the way. OK, You've already replaced the distributor in which came with a new Ignition Control Module. The ICM in the distributor has outputs for a tach signal to the tachometer and a high voltage signal from the coil to the distributor. The only reason I'm mentioning the ICM is because you said you aren't getting any tech signal while cranking. Check all the wires going to/from the distributor plus those connected to the ICM. (thinking out loud) You have injector pulse. You put fuel directly into the throttle body eliminating a fuel delivery problem and you have spark. Air, plus fuel, plus compression, plus spark = run. Unless .... everything is out of time. Even then you should at least get a pop or backfire out of it. You said number one on the distributor is in time with the crank. OK, since the distributor is turned by the cam in which is turned by the crank via the timing chain theoretically the cam should be in time. Even if it's not .... as before, you should at least be getting a pop or backfire out of it. I have a couple of other ideas but lets go back to your crank pos sensor. I know you've replaced it but did you check the wires for damage like being burnt/melted on the exhaust manifold? Be sure to check the harness plug too. Naturally we're hoping it's not the high dollar ECU. When and if it comes to that I'd try a used one before throwing another $180 bucks at it. Surely your local j/y has a few 91-96 (I think) XJ's you can get one from. Hmmm .... the 5 speed and auto might use a different unit. Source .... O'reilly Auto Parts. Yes, the Cardone and BWD have different part numbers. However the ACDelco shows the same number. Don't give up. :ack: Robert

Do you know anybody who has another Jeep and or it's ECM you could barrow?

Just to rule it out, do a fuel delivery test .......... Remove the air intake and pour a little gas into the throttle body. Crank engine. If it momentarily starts/runs you have a fuel delivery problem.

What? Are you some kind of girly man? Jeeps don't do beautified. But ...... if it's a beauty contest you want, I think mine looks purdy just tha way it is. :thumbsup: :bowdown: :bowdown: :bowdown: As for beautifying it ...... Yeah, it needs a paint job and I have everything for a black interior conversion. I'll install it when I can afford to have the seats recovered in leather. (two tone black and gray) Every Sat. a local hot rod club meets in a nearby parking lot. Took it up there a few months ago and got all kinds of comments on it. Considering the company it was in, (50+ awesome cars) it felt pretty good.

:rotf: When the heater control valve went out in my old Dodge I put a brass faucet in it's place. Total cost .... about $8 bucks. Being nice and toasty in my truck .... priceless.

Thanks John. I too think it's great that although most of us don't personally know each other we can come together to share our common interest and knowledge in a project that will benefit fellow members. Your offer to help get this project kicked off is very generous. However for now I'm going to ask you to hold that thought till we're closer to production. At that time your contribution/pre-payment for a set of brackets will be greatly appreciated. Thank you for your support. Robert

Update .......... Tim and I are getting closer to making the hitch brackets a reality. I have received Tim's cad drawing and will soon have a sample set cut for proper fit. With that said, I need to know how many sets you guys want. There is however one little catch. That being I don't know what a set is gonna cost me. All I can tell you is I'm not doing this to make money. Whatever the brackets cost me is what I'll be selling them for. If I had to guess I'd say $30-$35 bucks a set/pair would be high. (but don't hold me to that) More later. Robert

Somebody correct me if I'm wrong but I believe the door window weather stripping is the same as whats on a 4 door Cherokee. There's plenty of Cherokee's out there plus I'm fairly certain your local Jeep dealer should still have some in stock or be able to order um for you. Hope that helps. Robert

E-mail sent. (but forgot to include contact info) See additional e-mail.

BUMP ...... Still have access to water jet. Waiting on a reply from TrerraWombat. (Need proven to fit samples and program for water jet) Robert TerraWombat ..... we aughta talk. How bout sending me a p/m with your phone number?

So is this to say the ball is back in my court now? If so, your going to have to send me everything you have. Be it a program a water jet can read or sample pcs that can be duplicated. Ideally both. Let me know what you wanna do. Robert

Oops, sorry about that. Didn't know or had forgotten that joke (or one similar to it) had been posted before. CC needs a link for jokes.

I saw a radical muslim slip and fall into the San Jacinto River today. He immediately disappeared from sight. Not having a phone I rushed home to notified Emergency Services. It's now been two days and nobody has showed up to rescue him yet. I'm starting to think I may have wasted a stamp. :doh:

The following conversation was heard on the VHF Guard (emergency) frequency 121.5 MHz. Iranian Air Defense Radar: 'Unknown aircraft you are in Iranian airspace. Identify yourself.' US Aircraft: 'This is a United States aircraft. I am in Iraqi airspace.' Air Defense Radar: 'You are in Iranian airspace. If you do not depart our airspace we will launch interceptor aircraft!' US Aircraft: 'This is a United States Marine Corps FA-18 fighter. Send 'em up, ……… I'll wait.' Air Defense Radar: (total silence)

Next month. I am going part-time and eventually being replaced at my current job (by choice). Without a steady influx of income, I'm gonna need something to pay the bills :) Sounds great. Keep us posted.