coolwind57

Newby story here, so you guys that know this stuff like the back of your hand: bear with me. I'm at the grade-school level of MJs. I thought this experience might interest those not so familiar with MJ/XJ rear ends. So I was at the junkyard yesterday and ran into a fella that was pulling an axle from an XJ. Being the proud new owner of an MJ...and desperately seeking knowledge, I was asking him about XJ/MJ rear ends. This guy is a serious off-roader. He had cooked two rear ends in like that last year. I told him that I had the D35 and he confirmed what I had already read, that it is a basic, road-happy, medium-duty choice. I told him that my truck was serving as transportation to work, light/medium hauling here and there and occasional drive-in-the-woods to pick up a load of firewood duties. He said I'd likely be just fine. He loves the D44s he said, but his choice for his XJs were 8.25s. His opinion was that the D44 is awesome and slightly better, but the 8.25s were plentiful and as hard as his is on rear ends, he rates availability higher on his priority list than slightly better strength and durability. One interesting experience he shared was when he cooked his last one. Said he just came off the trail and was at a traffic light in town. Nothing appeared out of the ordinary, no noises, nothing. The light turned green and he found that he just couldn't move. Said he dropped her in 4wd and drove her home that way. Now there's a tip that this newby will remember. BTW, I will be on the constant lookout for a D44 from an MJ. I'll take it easy on my D35, and If I ever cook it, then I only want to do a swap one, final time.

Totally digging your work. Very clean and I'm super impressed with that CAI.

Thanks for the reply. Yes, I am doing it because I have to do something. I just like the newer type of connectors instead of once again returning the sockets to the old fashion push and rotate type. The rear glass I pulled was a three pane. I know guys get told us all of the time, but I did search the "how to" articles and can no longer find the post about these new sockets. That's why I was asking. I was not aware of a headlight relay upgrade, so I'm anxious to look it up. Thanks again for the warm welcome.

Newbe here. Just bought a 97K mile long box/4.0/Auto, 1989 base model. It has the common non-working front signals. I have been reading prior posts regarding this issue and I'm ready to try replacing the front bulb sockets. A couple of weeks ago I found a post about replacing with the newer upgraded socket/bulbs in later model XJ. These sockets use the newer push-in type bulbs (as apposed to the current, old-style push and rotate-type). I'm heading to the junkyard in the morning and I'm thinking I'll go with these instead of buying the Dorman HELP replacement sockets that some have. Anyhow, for the life of me, I cannot find the post here where a guy used these newer upgraded sockets. I'm just needing to know if there were any issues with them and maybe anything I should be looking out for at the junkyard regarding front signal swap in general. Is it a direct 3-wire cut and connect? Wire colors correspond, etc? Any of you guys done this upgrade? They do have a Comanche there, but it's in pretty bad shape. I did remove the rear sliding glass (by hand, no tools) already and I'm thinking of grabbing that heavier-built rear bumper it has as compared to mine. Speaking of rear glass: Anyone needing the rear glass molding? I have an extra in good shape. Thanks for accepting me, Moderators. Really appreciate this site and looking forward to learning from you Veteran Comanche owners.