89 MJ

Your best bet will probably be to call chrome shops and ship it to them to fix it.

You are correct, the 2.5L coolant reservoir is not pressurized. Because it isn’t pressurized, I wouldn’t say replacing the cap is top priority, but should get done sometime soon. I could see the water pump going bad. They typically leak out of the weep hole when this happens, but not always. You could also try grabbing the fan and wiggling it or rocking it forward and back to see if the bearings in the pump are junk. If it’s making noise, it sounds to me like it’s no good though. While you’re replacing that, might want to look at doing a coolant flush and using a rust removal product inside the block to make sure that’s all clean along with the installation of a new water pump. Similarly, the radiator could be getting plugged up. There is a slight chance that the addition of power steering contributed, but there is an underlying issue if adding power steering caused it. The addition of the power steering pump is making the engine work slightly harder. In a stock truck or even a slightly modified truck, you should be able to let go of the wheel at 80 mph regardless of bumps and not have any shimmy in the wheel.

Thank you!

Did that front diff sit in a swap or something?

Looks good!

No luck with that either. Probably will just need to post a screenshot or something.

That I do not know, but I would guess a harbor freight one is good enough. It depends on how long they’ve been without grease. I’d say that you’re probably in need of all new joints. The sway bar bushings and track bar joint definitely need replacing though.

A large factor in this is the backspacing of the wheel, but I believe that 33s fit with a 4.5” lift.

Make sure you are using this procedure:

March 2025 - Another MJ Saved from Doom Project TALOS Owned by @87MJROB Build Thread- Year/Model - 1987 Sport truck Drivetrain- 1994 XJ 4.0/ax15/231 and 1998 XJ D30/8.25 3.55 gears Cooling- all factory new Electrical/Ignition- Stock Suspension/Steering- 3” lift of misc parts. Front- 3” rustys coils, rustys trac bar, roughy country front shocks. Rear- skyjacker add a leaf, XJ lift shackle and stock XJ shocks. Interior- Country/Laredo doors cards, bolstered seats, and dash bezel. XJ parking brake handle. VW beetle b pillar lights. Azzy design gauge faces Brakes- Factory new everything except calipers and booster. Lighting- led headlights off Amazon, led front turn signal bulbs, led side markers, led flasher relay. Exterior- Diy front bumper kit with dirtbound tubing, home made rear bumper with metal I had around plus clevis mounts and hitch receiver. Painted dark metallic copper rustoleum. Cut fenders with two sets of rear TJ flares. Wheel & Tires- For now it has some Cragar soft 8s 17x10 5x5 bolt pattern with 32s but will be getting some stock JK Willy’s wheels with 35s once I get them mounted and balanced. Misc- This truck started as a stripped down blown up 2.5 ax4 2wd shell and I used everything I could from a 1994 xj donor to rebuild it as well as axles from a 1998 XJ. Best MJ story- I don’t know maybe when I saved my third Comanche from a local junkyard where it had sat for 20+ years. CC is Awesome! Why? Because it’s mostly Comanche content Congrats, Rob! This truck turned out very well. Great job saving it.

From a brief look at your build thread, it looks like you’ve got the Westin Fey rear bumper. I’m pretty sure those are still available new. Can’t blame you if you’re wanting OEM though.

If you’re digging parts out, it almost seems like you’ve talked yourself into it

That is one good looking pickup.

If you click “Add Files” in the bottom of the reply area, you can add photos

I think it’s probably because those TJ Rubicon axles are expensive. Somewhere in the write ups, there should be info covering a disc brake swap, which should have the info you want.

Ok, figured I’d comment and make sure you knew. I bet it is pretty darn expensive, I know it wasn’t cheap when I was looking it up a couple years ago.

Couple things to say about these points. Your transfer case linkage could just be out of adjustment. It can be finicky. You might want to double check what fluid your trans needs. These new gear oils will eat the synchros, so a lot of times you need to actually run an engine oil.

As far as I know, the base model cluster went unchanged. The full cluster that looks like that ended after the 87 model year.

I believe XJ ones will work, but need some modifications. I can’t remember for sure though.

Your experience sounds about right for DirtBound. I've never ordered from them because I've heard that the wait times are ridiculous. My interpretation of the homepage is that he will contact you in a few days (which will probably end up being weeks at a minimum based on all of the other evidence) and tell you if he's either going to finish your order or if he'll refund you. If you don't hear from him soon, I suppose you might have to call your credit card company or your bank and see if they can get you a refund.

If you've got the time, you might be able to grease all of the joints. It might buy you a couple of weeks on the bad joints.

Lots of this stuff needs a visual inspection while the steering wheel is being rocked back and forth or grab each suspension component and try to move it. There should be no play. These are just guesses, but it looks like you need tie rod ends, the body side of the track bar joint, and at least the steering box side of the drag link.

Unlikely. That’s most likely a front suspension issue.

They have rubber in them that goes bad over time