89 MJ

Welcome to the forum!

It can be fairly affordable if you have a paint gun and an air compressor. The harbor freight guns will do.

I also like KYBs. I also like Monroe’s, but don’t get the cheapest ones.

If your drums are working fine, I’d just stick with those for the time being. I would look for a manual harness for a Renix. HO doesn’t really have many, if any, benefits.

Just to clarify, you are talking about just swapping the engine, correct? Or are you talking about swapping all of the wiring too? Personally, I wouldn't bother with swapping the engine if they are equally healthy. I would keep that 94 engine to build the stroker out of though, that way you can have the engine built and then just swap it in when its ready. In terms of intake, I don't think you'd actually notice a difference on a stock engine. If I recall correctly, you just need to find the correct pilot bushing to mount the AX-15 to the 89 engine. Depending on the type of wheeling that you want to do, 33s, 4.56s, and long arms might be overkill. Since you have the long arms, I'd stick with those, but it takes a lot more work to clear 33s than it does 31s and you only get an extra inch of ground clearance. Plus, most of what I have heard says that you need at least a 4.5" lift to clear 33s without cutting. I would look at 31s and 4.10s.

And all of the plugs looked even? Might be a bad fuel pressure regulator.

Looks like a nice one!

Did you pull a spark plug to see how that looks?

This thing doesn't look that bad either. Definitely seems fixable.

And they've been around a while too. My parent's had their stuff on my mom's TBI 46 Chevy. Good stuff that never had any problems. My brother has some of their stuff on his J10 too. I'd use them in a heartbeat.

I am a little familiar with their small block Chevy stuff. Seems like a good company.

I like KYBs and the higher end Monroe shocks. Though if money wasn’t an issue, I think Bilsteins would be the way to go.

Yes, that would solve the problem. But wheel spacers on the front tends to lead to it being harder on wheel bearings and ball joints. Same applies for wheels with a lot of backspacing. It’s a combination of both, really.

How mechanically inclined are you? At this point, any XJ is an old car and will likely need a good chunk of work done to it. A low mileage one will probably have leaks from sitting and a high mileage one will have a lot of worn out parts. If you're not mechanically inclined, its going to take time and a chunk of money to get it all squared away at a shop, providing you can find a shop that will be willing to work on something that old. For most of my life, I have daily driven older vehicles, but I think its a good idea to have one fairly modern vehicle you can just jump in and drive if the older car is down for repairs. Has she driven your MJ? If she's used to newer stuff, she might not like the XJ. I don't think there is any particular year to steer clear from for an XJ, short of maybe 84-86 because they are unique. I also believe in sticking with what you know and are comfortable with. If you have an REM and are experienced with Renix, I would look for another Renix one. If you don't have much experience with Renix, it might be better to stick with an HO. I don't think year or mileage matters as much as how well it was taken care of. If it is a nice Jeep that has been well taken care of, it will last you a long time. I also think buying a nice 4x4 XJ for $5000 or less are gone. From what I've seen, that is a price for a drivable project. If you are looking for one she can just jump in and drive, I think you'll be looking at spending at least $7500. You could probably find a 2wd or a 4 cyl for less than that.

I will say, spacers on the rear do look better, but before you make that decision, I think you should know why the rear axle is narrower than the front. When you go around a corner, a narrower rear axle does a better job following the front and allows for tighter turns. A wider rear axle means that the rear tires will be outside of the fronts, possibly getting closer to obstacles. The rear axle is narrower for handling reasons. With the relatively small spacers you'd want, you're probably not talking much difference, but just making you aware.

Just watched it! I was nervous when you drive into that soft, off camber spot. Glad to see you backed up out of it.

1:18 Toilet paper tail near wall or away from wall?

Good catch! Looks like a nice truck.

Found a pic of my 85 Limited parts car from 8 years ago today

I’d try cleaning the old IAC first. And definitely swap that gasket. That might be causing weird stuff too.

October 2025 - @AnotherOldJeepGuy's Original Owner '90 Year/Model - 1990 Comanche Pioneer Short Bed, Automatic (Nobody wants a manual in daily Dallas rush hour traffic!) 1J7FT36L6LL229268 Drivetrain- Oil is on the monthly refresh plan since that's about how often I have to add a quart. I don't do a full oil change but I do replace the filter periodically. I have the stuff to replace the RMS and oil pan gasket as soon as I can convince myself I can successfully do this job. Getting the pan off seems questionable without removing other things I don't want to remove. And It seems like driving out the old gasket could easily go very wrong and I really don't want to pull the engine to "fix my repair". Most recent related repair was putting in a new transmission shift cable, getting the new one through the firewall in the orientation needed was lots of fun..... Park = Reverse, Rev=Neutral, etc., kinda Cooling- MJ Cooling - New Radiator in 1998, and again in 2017. On 4th Water Pump, #5 is in the garage with the tune up pile. Driver Cooling - Started out R12, replaced with R134A in 2012. The R12 system was colder. Biggest recurring issue here is the vacuum lines are turning to dust and I have to patch them often if I want the airflow to come out anything other than the defrost vents. Electrical/Ignition- Tune-Up, along with Fuel Pump replacement in 2015. The stuff for the next tune up is in the garage and the tune-up is on the todo list. Ignition switch was once replaced in a local shop, since then I have no power in the ACC position. Unfortunately since I don't use that much, it went unnoticed way to long for me to take it back and have them fix it correctly. Fortunately, I don't use that much. Suspension/Steering- Steering is very "active", that is, there's plenty of play. My son recently drove it for the first time and he was a little concerned he could keep it in the right lane at first! In 2008 a local shop told me they needed to "Tighten the Steering Column because they tend to come loose", at that time a spring was determined to be bad but with no replacement available, resulting in my column shifter now flops freely. Interior- Headliner was recovered in 1998. It needs done again badly but as long as I don't look up, it's fine. Brakes- They appear to work, so far when I want to stop I stop. ~440 Hertz road noise goes away on veer left Lighting- My records show I replaced my front lights in 2000, I didn't remember doing that. I have considered some of the documented mods to improve lighting but have not dove in. I would also like to modify my backup lights so they provide some usable lighting, but have not dove in here either. More to do items I guess. Dimmer no longer dims unless you call off a dim setting. Dash lighting is either on or off. Replaced the interior cabin lights recently, the originals never really worked very well, and really didn't fit in the designated hole well snugly, the replacements are in there snug and working. They will be difficult to remove however should the bulb be replaced. Exterior- Sometime in the 90's there was a crappy paint class action law suite against Chrysler, and I was actually contacted by a lawyer to get my name on the list to collect a new paint job. I still have the crappy paint I did once in probably 2022 take it to a paint shop to ask what it might cost to get it painted. The shop told me they would not touch it! Not because they loved the minor rust showing, but because the prep for the paint job would take way too much time. In 2024 my MJ had it first fender bender. I was able to remove the fender and hammer it back into shape for the most part, but there are a few wrinkles remaining, and my bad paint has been scraped off in a few places. Was a bit surprised I could actually get a new bezel, it started out all silver. Wheel & Tires- Recently replaced all the lug nuts, some of the old ones had lost their caps. The rest were OK but pretty warn. I couldn't justify new wheels, but shiny new lugs nuts, the one piece kind, was not a hard sell. When driving from Texas to West Virginia a while back, and running into icy roads, I stopped at a convenient store and bought about 20, 10-lb bags of ice and put them at the back end of the bed. Turns out that ice was pretty helpful for improving traction, on ice. Not as good as studded winter tires or tire chains, but in a pinch it helped. Misc- I replaced the original in 1994, then again in 2001 with a Blaupunkt San Jose MP3 in 2001 adding MP3 playback capability. With the San Jose I swapped out the front speakers and added some tweeters in the location where the power window switch would have been if I would have had power windows. In 2004 this radio decided to draw a lot of extra current and killed my battery every night, but a successful repair of the unit and it stopped doing that. Since that time the San Jose malfunctioned and not being able to find a satisfactory (IMHO) replacement I now have 3 more Used San Joses with different issues with attempting to restore one fully functional one from the four that I have on the wish list. I was hoping the internals were marginal enough that I could swap parts around, they are not all that modular, so this wish list item may remain indefinitely! I temporarily installed a Kenwood, it died in about 5 weeks, sent it back. Currently San Jose #4 is in there. Some of the more interesting of my threads, well in my opinion anyway.. Stalls At Rapid RPM Decrease, Foot-Off Accelerator, Otherwise Runs Fine Replaced Valve Cover Gasket now engine runs very rough. Weird Bulb "Fix" Wiper Stuck in Intermittent - Long Delay (1990) - Fixed Best MJ story- Many years ago when my MJ was a young pup, I had a dalmatian. He was a big fan of riding around the neighborhood in the back, I suppose he though the Jeep was a fire truck. He was also the reason I have a rubber truck bed mat, actually purchased for a Comanche which you could do from Sears at one time. The bed was too slippery for him to stay standing without it. He stayed in the back when I went into places and was very vocal if anyone got close to "his" truck. His favorite stop was McDonalds because he knew that I would return with some chicken nuggets. The mat is still there. Of course these days I would no longer recommend doing this, and wouldn't do it myself, times have changed. But Hooch enjoyed tooling around the neighborhood for a lot of years and was well known for doing so. All he needed to hear was "truck" and he jumped in ready to go. CC is Awesome! Why? When I was employed full time I was less likely to tackle too much maintenance, but some. I say that I have an ASTM (Advanced Shade Tree Mechanic) Degree. Before CC, it was only a STM degree. The folks here are very knowledgeable, and always willing to help. But beyond just the pure expertise and helpfulness, the CC community is loaded with just good folks. It may not be impossible to find a disagreement (but rare), but it does seem to be impossible to find any arguments about being right or wrong! It would be nice if the mold used here could be used everyplace else!

That is awesome

Looks good. As long as those old wheel cylinders weren’t leaking, you should be good to go

Remember larger tires will throw off your odometer unless you changed the speedo gear. That doesn’t change your drop in fuel mileage though. If you have a REM, I’d recommend going through all of the values you have on that and compare them to expected values.

Stock gears and tires? Do you have a REM?