88towmanche

Car tabs are a huge mess up here right now - they finally stopped emission testing this year but there are multiple court cases pending over the $30 car tab passing - again. Wifes 2017 Ford Fusion was around $400 for registration this year, could be $30 next year or another $400 - based on States opinion of car value and results of pending litigation. Trailers are not too bad but you have to pay for tabs every year - I have a couple of trailers but usually only keep 1 registered and swap the plate to the one I'm using (wing nuts for quick swap) Boats can be a hassle - All boats in Washington State need to be tabbed in June - start of fishing season so the state is on it right when people want to use their boats - makes for long lines at the DMV late May

Getting hosed in Washington State for sure It's been a huge problem here for decades - around 15 years ago because of how bad the tax calculations are for used cars a voter initiative passed that capped car tabs at $30 for the whole state - the Legislature FREAKED OUT and got the initiative thrown as as "unconstitutional" so the backers changed the resolution to comply with state constitution, got it back on the ballot and it passed again - the Legislature FREAKED OUT again and got an injunction against implementation - but they knew it was not going to go away so they agreed to a $30 car tab flat fee and we have been kind of going with but every year without actually passing a law but they have been creeping the costs back up and I think like 2 years ago they started using the same F'd up car valuations again so the $30 car tab initiative popped back up last year and passed again by statewide vote - and the State legislature once AGAIN got a court injunction to block implementation. Washington State - home of the worst Legislative body in the country. They know the State Used car valuations are wrong, don't care, won't fix - State says a 1988 XJ fair market value is nearly $14,000 and that's what they want to collect tax on - don't care what you paid for it. messed up

This has been bugging me for quite some time. The dismissive tone of this reply did not help. Whoa there hoss - if you are seeing "tone" in this response, my bad - certainly was not intended. No idea the MJ booster upgrade was a Ford vs Chevy debate - the sticky at the top of this page about what was the best thing you've done to your MJ has a lot of people claiming the booster upgrade was beneficial so it was on my punch list as a possible upgrade if the truck needed brake work or if it would be helpful for towing a small boat around. Eagle pointed out that swapping the booster may not actually be that much of an upgrade - and he has a been a good source of information on the Comanche from what I've read so I will reconsider whether I want to do a swap or stick OEM. Rather than type another wall of text, I just said "Ok" to acknowledge that he took the time to provide some information - which is appreciated and part of what makes CC a great resource. Likewise, always appreciate the information that you provide in your posts Minuit - another great resource. No harm no foul intended

Yep - the flying monkeys in Olympia are sure they are getting ripped off by people lying about buy/sell prices and want their pound of flesh. Purchase price for the XJ was less than $2,000 so that automatically triggers comparison to market value The only resource they have for establishing market value on an 88 is Nadaguides.com and when the discrepancy is over $2,000 they use High Retail Nadaguides.com can go pound sand - their valuations are terrible and always have been. Of note: If you run Nadaguides on a 1988 XJ 2 dr LIMITED (instead of anything else) the high retail drops from $13,650 to $5,625 - so next office I go into I am going to claim the XJ is a Limited and see if that calms them down some. The fact that Nadaguides values the Limited XJ as $8000.00 less than a base XJ should be evidence enough that their valuations are shixt. Also, if the I get with seller and we change the purchase price to $2400 it will probably fly under the radar although I'll have to pay another $100 in tax (better than $1000) Or, I can throw that $100 to the seller and have him claim he "gifted" me the car and the State gets nothing.....but I'm not interested in trying to pull a fast one or stick it to the man, just want to get this thing titled.

Might be a parts rig after all.... Bought the XJ for $1400 lift kit & all. Have a Bill of Sale for $1400, says $1400 sell price on the title. State of Washington says fair market value of a 1988 2 dr 4.0 XJ is $13,650 according to Nadaguides.com So to get this titled using a fair market value of $13,650 I am supposed to pony up another $1,200-$1,400 which is about what I paid for the rig. Nadaguides.com does show high retail for the 88 XJ at $13,650 which seems ridiculous - KBB and Edmunds do not go back that far so can't use them....angry dude at the DMV acted like he won the lottery went from pissed at the world to happy as a clam as he gave me the news - so title transfer on hold for now while I research options - might try a couple more licensing offices see if I find friendlier staff, someone has to be able to understand the absurdity....right? Anyone want to buy a rough but restorable 88 XJ? Make you hell of a deal at $6825 can double your money....

Haven't seen that before - you could go with a soft tonneau to hide it if it bugs you - have one on my rig and have no complaints, but would take a hard tonneau in a second if I could find one.

Very nice looking MJ - Is that a hard tonneau cover on the bed?

Ok

Did I get this wrong? There are a lot posts on CC that enumerate quite a few benefits by doing the brake booster upgrade but maybe that is just for Comanches? If the existing booster is bad on the XJ (not confirmed, suspected) thought I would just replace it with a supposed upgrade - if the later WJ booster is not an upgrade for the XJ like is supposedly is for the MJ, will just stick with OEM.

Good question - I don't think so door obviously has a dent - might be making it look like the rocker is damaged in the picture, but will take a closer look when I get home tonight - ran my hands along the rockers and pinch welds all around the rig feeling for rust or paint bubbles and don't remember feeling any damage in that area but was mostly focused on the door itself

No rust I can find yet - could be issues under the carpet but can't see anything from underneath - don't have a lot of rust issues in the Pac NW - they don't put salt down on the roads. Yeah, this one is pretty cool - funny, the wife really rolled her eyes when I first drove the MJ home - now she thinks it's cool and wants me to fix up the Cherokee...so will see if I can get the mechanicals squared away & then reach out to my paint guy.

looking around for a parts rig - figured I'd strip stuff off I want an push it along to the next guy. Found a same year match XJ - this one is a two door Laredo 4.0 5 spd 4x4 Now thinking might fix this one up - super straight, no rust, motor seems very strong and sounds right (no ticking/clunking) needs paint and some interior refresh (headliner) and have few tech questions: 1. Seller threw in a lift kit with the deal (see pic) the box the coil springs are in say Rubicon Express, there are four Billstien shocks, shackles and leaf springs - but have no idea how high this kit will push the rig - easy way to check? Didn't see any markings on the leafs but didn't look too close - I am good with a couple inch lift but don't really want 5" or something that really messes with the steering geometry and have to redo all the brake lines...I guess I can measure the coils or look up the part number and see how much I am looking at compared to stock. 2. I was able to run 31" tires on the MJ with a puck & Shackle lift and WJ LCA's - same with the XJ? Or better off with 30"? 3. Brake is "sticky" - weird deal, sometimes when you push on the brakes they stick or drag but you can put your foot under the brake pedal an un-stick them by pulling on the pedal - this HAS to be the brake booster or something wrong with the brake pedal itself right? No way you and un-stick a caliper by pulling up on the brake pedal.....since this is an 88 and same basic set up as the MJ, should do the WJ booster upgrade yes? 4. BA 10 5 speed - PO says he did a clutch job - no details if he did it himself and/or what was done, looks like a new master cylinder...anyway, after driving it 50 miles home on the freeway found it almost impossible to shift into any gear - shut it off and you can get in the gears, but not while it was running - no grinding or anything, just couldn't finagle it into gear - next morning while cold it shifted just fine, didn't warm it up enough to replicate the problem. Not sure if something is lined up wrong or what - haven't had any problems with the BA10 on the MJ so not sure if this is failure mode or what. 5. Crusiers tips mostly all the same for the XJ as MJ I presume - will get started on that process firs, can see ALL the grounds need to be replaced already. Clock says 125,000 miles - think that may be accurate, does not look to have been messed with much

So I put a pair of those in my truck - probably something I was doing wrong, but if they are not both hooked up - the fuse blows.... Took both the old ones out, put in the driver side new Eramtec and put the fuse in - pop! wtf? Figured I did something wrong or had a bad light out of the box so tried the other one - pop! Moved over to the other side to see if that one would work - pop! Drove to the store to buy another box of fuses. Decided to completely hook both of them up - works fine, but if you disconnect one of them, it blows the fuse. Again I probably have something mixed up or wires crossed, but they have been working correctly for the last 6 months or so as long as they are both plugged in.

Tell me about it - got 5 myself and that is a lot of rolling stock to keep tabbed, insured and on the road.

Didn't you just get that one? Don't think I want another long bed - but the HO/MT package makes that one appealing.....

Looking for a clean, unmodified low mile HO Shorty 4x4 - like everyone else. They are out there - saw one two weeks ago in a Walgreens parking lot, talked to the owner - guy bought it new when he retired in 1991 and had zero interest in selling, 75k on the clock, original paint not a blemish anywhere - wouldn't even consider an offer - told him about CC maybe he'll show up with pics.

No not for my current rig, but on the hunt for a SWB for future project.

Saw that Wildernest on Craigslist almost grabbed it -

You want boltless shelving - Rivetier is a brand Penco is another - note, not all boltless shelving is interchangeable Used is the way to go - craigslist or local material handling junkyard

Rivetier is an example of the go-to boltless shelving for most of the industrial warehouses Uprights range from 5' to 15' Front to back beams 6" to 36" Left to right beams 3' to 8' Shelving decks can be particle board or plywood The stuff at Home Depot/Lowes is cheap versions of the industrial stuff. Most cities have a used material handling company that sells this sort of thing - the one in Seattle is called Rusty Rack - those guys will sell used shelving about 1/2 price of new. You can straighten load beams but you want the uprights with no kinks/bends.

Ok, got the Chinese import seat belt off of Amazon for $49 shipped. Measured it out of the box, overall length on the retracting end was 125" (Factory belt was 105") - difference in length not an issue. The short end of the belt that threads through the seat was really short - like 2-3" shorter than factory - but it does work. The seat belt comes with NO hardware or instructions at all - re-used all of the factory mounting bolts - good luck finding any of these at the hardware store they are 7/16 fine thread pan head torx shoulder bolts - and all four of them are different lengths. The mounting points on the new seat belt were too small to accept the factory bolts so I used a Unibit to enlarge the holes. The retracting bracket would not mount as it is - had to make a simple adapter for make it work - used an old T-strap I had lying around (less than $1 at the hardware store) - cut it down and drilled holes adding about 2" of reach - used a single 3/8" x 1" grade 5 hex bolt with some nuts and washers to attached the adapter - the truck came factory with a shield that sits inboard of the retractor - wanted to re use that so had to stand the adapter off about 3/4" so it would sit without interference (can see how the adapter is off set in pics) Unit is in and works great -

The seat belt on the retractor side is 104" from retractor bolt hole to end of the belt. Most of the 3 point retracting seat belts available new online that have dimensions posted run closer to 140" - that makes them about 3 feet longer than an OEM Comanche belt. Some places will sell custom lengths and some have stock units that are 110" which would probably work just fine. For now, ordered a cheap "universal" 3 point retracting belt off of Amazon - no dimensions posted, suspect it is going to be around 124" based on reviews, should receive today. Need to get one on hand to see if any mounting issues an if there is interference with the b pillar trim - if mounts up ok, then will determine if length is an issue

I bought that airlift helper kit off of Amazon: AIR LIFT 59503 Ride Control Rear Air Spring Kit Current price on there is $261 - can't remember what I paid didn't think it was that much - am sure it can be found cheaper. Have not installed yet - put a small puck & shackle lift on the truck so now need a spacer for the air bag, have that on the to-do list. Figure with 1-1/2" lift, need a 1-1/2" spacer.

The retracting mechanism on the driver side belt gave up the ghost this weekend. Not overly concerned with maintaining OEM parts (don't really want to use 30 yr old junkyard belts) Anyone recommend an after market set of belts? Did the search thing, looks like aftermarket XJ belts are available from places like quadratec but nothing for MJ. Think the XJ belts mounts the retractor on the floor and the MJ mounts about halfway of the b-pillar - this sound right? No problem modding if needed, but would those even work or be too long? Universal belt ok wit me if people have had success with a certain brand or something - just not sure where to start.

The Rockville sub I picked up on Amazon is powered with an internal amp - no need for separate unit. Wiring was pretty straightforward - bought one of the Amp wiring kits, the main power wire for the sub/amp is almost as big as a battery cable - running that through the firewall and routing under the carpet/trim to behind the seat was the biggest hassle (wanted to make sure it was not rubbing/pinched anywhere) - instructions come with all of the components. Replacing the factory speakers was simple - for the head unit, I was able to use the Scosche harness that was already in there, but easy to pick on up from Crutchfield for cheap. Most of the install places I talked to had pricing something like: Head unit install $100 Door speaker pair $60 Amp/Sub $150 So around $400+ to install $200 worth of equipment - I opted to DIY, took a few hours and some youtube vids.