I bought an XJ

Taiden wrote: Is that highway or mixed?

Mixed. Highway PR for jeep is 26mpg, mostly 55mph, on summer gas. Winter blend hwy seems stuck at 19. Around town seems 17-23mpg all year. This vehicle responds more to fuel change of seasons than any other vehicle I have had.

Here is some data; odometer in "D" and fuel in gallons in "E." each row represents a fill.

Sorry its not allot; I erased some on a phone-reboot, and most other data is in a notebook. I lost allot of corvette data....

I'm sorry it's a screen cap; I don't know how to share spreadsheets on the internet.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote:

Taiden wrote: IIRC the later XJs all have the Chrysler unless it's towing package then it got a Dana 44

Not from what i've found... Mine has a Dana 35 and ABS. Seems for 97-01 only non-ABS had the Chrysler and the 44 wasn't available after 1990. The good news if you have a Chrysler 8.25 is that a rear disc conversion will be REALLY easy for you.

I never found a woodgrained, quad headlighted WAGONEER version WITHOUT a Dana 44! Our JY near me had a few of them. I paid $100 for my Dana 44 by asking for the rearend, never telling them it was what it was. Had they known, it would've cost 5 time that.

I put in a mini spool and YJ flexible brakelines (longer) and swapped it in in a couple hours. Best $200 I ever spent!

Replacement rear leafs are cheap... Get the HDs off of rockauto or quadratrec.

Is the rear bitch bolt actually bad or do people overplay it? Supposedly one of the leaf spring bolts fits into a welded to the frame nut that has too small a weld and it can pop off and just spin. Kind of don't want to deal with that.

Not sure... haven't done it yet, i'm going to have to with my lift.

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Replacement rear leafs are cheap... Get the HDs off of rockauto or quadratrec.

Yup I got the heavy duty springs on the rear of mine. Did the replacement in a half an afternoon. Use automatic transmission fluid on all bolts to break them loose without snapping them off.

I replaced a bunch of bolts during the swap anyway as I replaced the rear shocks at the same time and did manage to snap the capture bolts for them. Easy to fish a bolt in there though using fishing line. If you need details I can provide them.

EricM wrote:

92CelicaHalfTrac wrote: Replacement rear leafs are cheap... Get the HDs off of rockauto or quadratrec.

Yup I got the heavy duty springs on the rear of mine. Did the replacement in a half an afternoon. Use automatic transmission fluid on all bolts to break them loose without snapping them off. I replaced a bunch of bolts during the swap anyway as I replaced the rear shocks at the same time and did manage to snap the capture bolts for them. Easy to fish a bolt in there though using fishing line. If you need details I can provide them.

That would be awesome!

Joey

Also in for details! I'm going to have to take a weekend here soon and redo my entire suspension and steering on mine.

Ok I'll write it up and link up the pics I took.

http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/sku/Monroe/Shock_Absorber_and_Strut_Assembly/TS58594.html

Anybody have any opinions on these? Sounds like it would help, but some people say it might put to much of a load on the upper shock mounts?

Joey

Finally got the XJ in my hands today. It's a great car. It's a little clunky out back, and the tires are a little loud as well. The engine is seeping a little bit of oil. I will change the valve cover gasket soon and the oil pan gasket when time permits, probably in spring. It definitely smells like a smoker car, but it could be worse. It's almost too cramped. My e30 is definitely larger inside. In the e30 I can put my seat back too far. In the XJ it's almost not back far enough.

The total cost thus far was $1300 for the car, $30 for gas, and $460 for complete brake job, center brake hard line, and new battery. $1790 thus far. I think it's pretty decent.

I have also noticed that the front steering is a little stiff, and the front seems to studder a little in tight u-turns. Is it possible that the tcase is stuck in 4wd?

The a/t is pretty awesome to be honest. I love it. I must be getting older.

I doubt the tcase is stuck in 4wd, you'd feel the back hopping as well.

My truck does the same thing, and it's most certainly not stuck in 4wd based on the nice burnouts and drifts it does in the rain.

Taiden wrote: I have also noticed that the front steering is a little stiff, and the front seems to studder a little in tight u-turns. Is it possible that the tcase is stuck in 4wd?

It might need new u-joints on the front axle shafts. Does it click or pop when turning?

PseudoSport wrote:

Taiden wrote: I have also noticed that the front steering is a little stiff, and the front seems to studder a little in tight u-turns. Is it possible that the tcase is stuck in 4wd?

It might need new u-joints on the front axle shafts. Does it click or pop when turning?

Common Jeep issue.

Common don't worry about it or common it's probably worth checking out?

Taiden wrote: Common don't worry about it or common it's probably worth checking out?

Mine's done it for quite awhile... it's weird, and i'll check it out when i do the suspension, but if i wasn't doing the suspension, i'd probably not bother.

In reply to Taiden:

How tall are you? I'm 6'2" and I'm comfortable in my XJ. It's a small interior, but I wouldn't say cramped. Mine even has less headroom because of an aftermarket sunroof a PO installed.

Taiden wrote: Common don't worry about it or common it's probably worth checking out?

Common its worth checking out.

I just drive on some dirt, dump the clutch a little and see which tires spin.

Joey

I'm 6'3". I just wish the seat went back one more click.

The detailer picked it up today. He's steam cleaning the entire interior, running an ozone machine with the heater on, and "ionizing" the vents whatever that means. Should run me about $125-$150 when all is said and done. We'll see what happens.

My gripe about the XJ interior is it makes you feel like you're in a car, when you are actually in a 4x4 truck that is much more prone to rolling over.

bad front u joints can actually be one of the many causes of death wobble

No death wobble!

Kenny_McCormic wrote: My gripe about the XJ interior is it makes you feel like you're in a car, when you are actually in a 4x4 truck that is much more prone to rolling over.

My title for my old XJ called it a wagon!

Got the Jeep back from the detailers today. I'd say it was a $120 well spent. Interior is clean now, and smells much better. We'll see how it holds up, though.

The shocks are definitely blown, so I have to decide what I want to do about that.