tbrand

According to Wiki, they left the AW4 in the XJ all the way through its run... maybe that's the way I'd go over a ZJ/WJ in the interest of hardiness. Too bad they're usually much more expensive in the market.

If budget is a big concern then I suggest looking in a reputable? :dunno: JY. The 4.0 is known to run 300k miles, easy. My 87 knocks on start up, occasionally take it to 4k rpm, still hanging in there. Find a motor, see if they will warranty it for any amount of time, if it smokes or knocks after install, get a different one from them or get your money back. In any case, a decent JY won't have a problem with letting you pull the pans to inspect the internals. Lots of goo or carbon - bad, clean decent looking internals probably means regular oil changes and taken care of. I think you should be able to find a decent 4.0 for 3-4 hundred $ just take your time don't buy the first one you find. Do your homework, shop around, pull the pans. Your a smart kid, you'll do fine with a JY motor. Yours knocks on startup too? Mine has a rattle (I assume it's a knock) for 1-3 seconds when it starts, and then it starts to make the noise again when I get up in the 3k+ RPM range. New knock sensor did nothing - maybe the connection? Maybe just the way Renix is?

Heh, sounds like a built-in maintenance timer.

Excellent. That makes me a little more confident about the whole deal. Now let's hope they don't sell it before I can get there.

The one I'm looking at is a '97 with a 5.2 V8. I don't even know if it'll still be available by the time I'm free to check it out, so I wanted to have some knowledge before I even go look.

Any chance you could airlift the whole place to Boise? That's exactly the type of house my wife is looking for, and the type of shop I'm looking for.

Found a decent ZJ locally, in need of a transmission, at a price that would make getting a tranny installed a reasonable proposition. 1. Is this a one-man operation in my garage, or will I need a helpful assistant? 2. Were there any major transmission changes along the ZJ line that make a certain year's unit more desirable?

I believe the preferred order is MJ D44>MJ AMC-20>XJ D44>XJ Chrysler 8.25>Explorer 8.8, but I think someone not too long ago mentioned the Chrysler 9.25 as a workable solution - found in D50's and Ramchargers. No personal experience, but general consensus is, unless you really, really know what you're doing, don't try to set up gears. Buy a used rear end that's in decent shape, change the oil, and weld 'er up.

My daughter's Civic had this same problem a few years ago. But her's would start and run after sitting a couple hours. It was the cam position sensor. Find it inside the timing cover. Hope this helps. later, Jerry Thanks for the idea, Jerry. I'll check that out.

Yep, D16, and I believe you're right on the interference bit. That will be the first thing I check when I get to work on it - if the belt broke, no point fussing with the ignition system.

On the way home from the 4th yesterday, the wife's Civic quit on me in Pendleton, OR. 70 mph down the freeway, then the tach just dropped to zero. Put it in neutral, pulled over, and it wouldn't start. It will crank just fine, but it doesn't even sound like it's trying to sputter to life. I've heard ignition coil, distributor, and timing belt as possible causes. I got a ride back home to Boise, but work takes me to Baker City on Thursday/Friday, so that's as good a time as any to work on it. So, A)Anyone have any brilliant guesses? It's a 1997 Civic with the 1.6L/auto. B)Anyone near Pendleton or Baker City, OR and feel like helping wrench this weekend? I'd like to at least figure out what's wrong with it.

If they're a killer deal, buy 'em and then trade for a set of 31's. Guaranteed someone out there will be looking to go bigger.

Snag the front control arms, if you have equipment/inclination to grind the metal bushing insert down a bit.

I bought a set of WJ control arms, but haven't gotten around to installing them yet, as I have no access to grinding/cutting equipment at my apartment. Might be another thing to think about - apparently they provide a nice upgrade, once you make them fit.

Not if you run 40's on the front and 48's on the back. http://blog.hemmings.com/index.php/2011/06/16/hemmings-find-of-the-day-quagmire/

First off, welcome to the club! :wavey: In a word, no. The Comanche (and its Cherokee sister) are unibody vehicles. The cab does not unbolt from the frame, because there is no separate frame, at least from the back of the cab forward. You could replace the cab piecemeal by welding in replacement bits from a donor, but that would take serious time, skills, and equipment. Assuming you're not an expert body man, you'd be much better off to swap the good drivetrain over to the 2wd truck. You have all the pieces, so it would be a lot of pull from one, put on the other. If you're organized and know your way around a garage, you can do it. The other factor is that the L4 is not much less stout than the V6, and gets way better mileage. Maybe rebuild that, and go from there? Get a 4.0L Cherokee donor? What do you want to do with the truck?

I did.

So, once I've got it lifted up and on the stands, the front axle will just be hanging, yes?

So, I'll be throwing a set of WJ control arms on my truck - uppers and lowers. When I'm lifting it, where's the best place for the jackstands? Should they be somewhere on a "frame rail" or would they be better on the axle? Also, I was planning on just pulling/replacing one arm at a time - is there a better way? I'll be using this thread as a guide. http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=9&t=20533&hilit=control+arm

Ok, so you're gonna scrap the truck. Why do you have to be so heartless and scrap the dog too?

If you can find me decent blue buckets, I'd be more than happy to trade. :D Look what came in the mail today! Can't wait to get those installed this weekend, or perhaps next.

Try a double-edge safety razor. It's better if you do the whole shebang - shave soap, brush, mug, etc, but even with regular old shaving cream I like the shave better than with disposables. You just have to let the weight of the razor do the work, and don't push it against your face too hard. Way cheaper than whatever 3 or 4 blade kits they've got - you can get 100 blades on eBay for $20 or so. Each one lasts me about a week, 3 or 4 shaves.

New rear u-joint in my driveshaft. No more clunking.

Y'all were right. The rear driveshaft/axle u-joint was toast. Popped a new one in there, and boom! No more clunking from the rear end.

Well, it looks like at least some of the vibration's been fixed. All four caps on my rear driveshaft-axle joint were bone-dry, and two of them had ground all their needle bearings to powder. New u-joint is in, and grease has been liberally applied to the other joint. I've yet to take it for a highway run, but there's no more clunking coming from my rear end. What a satisfying project.