shark

How did you prep the block for paint? what paint did you use? whats going on with the exhaust manifold?

damn, you got me. :doh:

It doesn't sound like you really understood what I wrote. Yes, I ran the 3.73s with 31x10.50s. But it was NOT an optimum combination, and it was not done by prior intention. I bought the 3.73 gears to run in my XJ with 30" tires, but then the MJ came along with a lift and 31" tires (and stock 3.07 gears) before I had installed the gears, so I put them in the MJ. As I said ... the end result was exactly (and I mean EXACTLY) the same as stock tires with 3.55 gears. Not bad on the street, but nothing to brag about. And not nearly enough crawl ratio off-road. IMHO there is no question at all that 4.10s would have been MUCH better. Thanks for the info and clearing up my concerns. I'm definitely sold on 4.10's.

Got the fenders off this morn.

do the trannys behind those 4 bangers have simlilar gear ratios? i was hoping to get at least some sort of a performance benefit from them as in stock gear and tire size vs. 3.73 or 4.10 and 31"s. what was the stock tire size anyway? shouldnt i have 3.09 stock gears with my combo of 4.0/ax15? yes they have similar gearing. I think what you're experiencing is simply "different" than what you're used to and not anything necessarily bad. :thumbsup: just gotta drive it more so your shift patterns adjust. not "experiencing" anything just yet. still in the planning stage. just trying to figure out what i want.

I have posted several times that the setup I had in my '88 MJ was 3.73 gears with 31x10.50-15 tires, and the overall final drive ratio (as proven by speed-to-RPM) was exactly the same as my wife's XJ automatic with the stock 3.55 gears and stock tires. IMHO 3.73s are better for 30" tires -- which was my plan when I bought the gears. I think 4.10s are a better choice for 31" tires. And even that isn't anything "extreme" -- that's for general purpose, combination daily driver and light trail use. For a dedicated trail rig I'd look at 4.56 gearing. i had 3.73's in mind at first until i saw that chart and read a post from someone on this forum. made me think i was missing something but i do see how on the chart that 4.10's and 31"s are in the green. i was under the impression that it would be more in the red. 4.10's are less common in those 8.8's but common enough. hope i can find one with with a "4L10" on the tag. limited slip would be nice.

Yes. The pumps are the same... All you need to do is take your pump out of the sender unit assembly, and put the new unit in. Its not that hard really. But... With the condition of your sender unit assembly, putting that thing back into the truck is just asking for trouble. Rob L. the sender was what i was mostly referring to. someone on NAXJA said it might be able to be cleaned but the sender itself is too delicate to be swapped between assemblies.

i was gonna pull it to put on my '93 XJ but it was damaged :(. I'm going to be putting a 97+ front clip on project shark attack.

do the trannys behind those 4 bangers have simlilar gear ratios? i was hoping to get at least some sort of a performance benefit from them as in stock gear and tire size vs. 3.73 or 4.10 and 31"s. what was the stock tire size anyway? shouldnt i have 3.09 stock gears with my combo of 4.0/ax15?

You don't need the XJ spring plates. The MJ ones are fine. If the stud bothers you you can revers the sides and put the stud in the front or you can cut off the stud with a cut off wheel. this is true but if you did have some XJ plates sitting around it would be silly to modify the MJ plates. I have a bunch of XJ parts cluttering up my garage to its my first instict to try and use some of that junk. even if you didnt have them, theyd be super cheap at a junk yard with no modification required. i wouldnt make a special trip for them but if you were there... I think the word 'modify' is too much for what you have to do here. It takes like two minutes to cut off both studs with a cut off wheel as opposed to driving all the way to a yard and buying a set of cherokee plates. if you read past the first sentence and you'd see i wasnt talking about making a special trip for them. when i do my 8.8 SOA swap i will reach for my XJ plates that i already have from a previous project and use them as opposed to cutting the studs off and ill save myself those 2 minutes. just pointing out that they can be used without having to change them at all if they are reasonably available to you.

I'm planning on putting an 8.8 in my MJ equipped with the ax15. 3.73's are common. i want to run 31"s. this chart http://jeeptalk.org/gear_chart.php indicates the combo will be very mild. that surprises me. with such an increase numerically in gear ratio over stock i imagined the combo would be borderline extreme even with the larger tires. what do you guys think about this?

You don't need the XJ spring plates. The MJ ones are fine. If the stud bothers you you can revers the sides and put the stud in the front or you can cut off the stud with a cut off wheel. this is true but if you did have some XJ plates sitting around it would be silly to modify the MJ plates. I have a bunch of XJ parts cluttering up my garage to its my first instict to try and use some of that junk. even if you didnt have them, theyd be super cheap at a junk yard with no modification required. i wouldnt make a special trip for them but if you were there...

seems like just welding some tabs on the housing would be just fine and you could go to some xj spring plates.

is there a way to combine parts from a new cherokee unit and an old comanche unit and have it work correctly?

The comanche at the yard had the wood grain side decals. The ground behind the tail light looks good and i also jumped the ballast resistor to no avail. I have researched the fuel sender issue and heard how they arent made anymore. thats why i was at the junkyard. think of how many of those senders were lost to the clunker program. what a shame.

do you have any pics of your set-up?

i was thinking the same thing. on xj's there are a few harness wires grounded to the engine block right below the coil. i bet that one goes there and it will actually be grounded.

I put electrical tape over the hole in the buzzer on one of my XJ's and it mellowed out the obnoxious tone enough without getting rid of the headlight reminder.

I tested the voltage to the fuel pump. Only about 9 volts. I was told it should be 12 volts. I thought I got lucky early in the day when i discovered the one of the wires going into the pump was severed. crimped it back together and still nothing. So i went off to the junkyard to find me a donor MJ with the correct pump. Only one in the yard was a v6 long bed. I got the VIN so i will register it. I thought it was neat that they put it next to a waggy. The trip wasnt a total loss. I came home with some other goodies. Coil spring spacers for $5 each. 97+ washer fluid reservior for $10. Spotted an old CJ with a 258. i wanted to stop and pull the crank for a future stroker project but i had to fight the urge and keep myself on the current task of finding the pump. I'm so easily distracted. I went home and decided i might as well pull the pump assembly. can't say I'm surprised it doesnt work. I didnt let that stop me from pulling the grill and header panel. Ran out of time. couldnt get the fenders off today.

yeah, Ive checked the oil multiple times. Surprisingly the oil looks great. i poured some seafoam in there to clean out the oil passage ways once it gets running and ill do an oil change shortly there after. i inspected the plugs and they were covered in oil. that alarmed me at first but i think its seeping down and in from the leaky valve cover gasket. ive seen that happen before. I'm going to test the voltage to the fuel pump and sender this morning.

I already replaced all the fuses before i tried starting it. I don't remember thinking there was anything wrong with the block but I'm definitely going to double check on that. Will a fuse block from a same era XJ work? Also, I believe the fuel pump to be bad. after cranking the starter over and over to no avail, i checked the pressure at the fuel rail and nothing. I had had my brother turn the key to the on position while i was under the gas tank and i don't hear it pressurize like i am used to hearing with my XJ's. There is also no signal from the fuel level sender. I replaced the fuel pump relay with a known good one. nothing. replace the pump and sender or what?

Well I figured I would start with the obvious stuff first to try and get this thing started. The battery was obviously toast. The starter would barely even turn over with a jump. I believe this jeep was sitting for many years. There was even a birds nest next to the battery. I drove over to the junk yard and purchased a nearly new autocraft silver for $25 smackeroos. Then i went over to Advance and got some 2 gauge battery cable at $2/ft and some terminals. She still doesnt start but the starter turns real good now. The 2 gauge might be overkill but it sure gets the job done. It almost looks like the stuff some kid would run to power his 1000 watt amp in the trunk of his honda.

no, i didnt know that. do I need to replace the fuse block and/or the master cylinder?

I have no idea. The first i saw of it was on CL. I bought it a week later.

I plan on making this truck my daily driver. Going to repaint it black. small lift. maybe 3 1/2 - 4". 31"s. going to swap the d35 for an explorer 8.8 with deeper gears. 97+ front clip and doors. and A/C. I've got lots of work ahead of me. This 4.0 is covered in oil. I'm thinking bad pcv and valve cover gasket. Hard to tell from the pics but its super crusty. The intake is even covered in oil. It's not looking good in there but some seafoam should help. Broken heater valve. One of the heater hoses had been looped back to eliminate the broken valve. The title says its a black truck. Looks like the PO had an accident. Every single fuse was cracked. Ive never seen anything this bad. Finally got me a manual jeep with 7 ball shift knob to boot. What was wrong with the paint used in the early 90's? More evidence of neglect. Freebie:Helper spring. The rear bumper holding on.