I've got a 98 XJ 4.0. 188,500 miles on it and have been slowly replacing all the stuff that naturally wears out or breaks for the past few years. I'm keeping it, dammit. Still most probably the best car ever made.

I'm finding, though, new parts are getting harder to find. The latest is a tailgate lock actuator. Can't find dealer stock, and the aftermarket seems to have just left the building. Any recommendations on where/who is still a reliable North American supplier of NOS, or new parts like this? For the moment, this part in particular would be nice. Thanks in advance!

 

And you probably won't. Not from an official source anyway.
Some NOS might pop up on Ebay, Craigslist or the marketplace but.....
I think the part number is 55295716AB.
Now I am not seeing that available from any US sources but Mopar sites in Canada seem to be showing it in stock.

https://www.moparwholesaledirectonli...tor-55295716ab

Thing is will they ship to the US and do they actually have one.
Many times you will find something you want on a Mopar site.
Order it, they whack your card, then get the SOL email, and wait a week for the refund so....

 

That's interesting. I was thinking that because they made so many XJ's over the years and a lot of the components went unchanged, they would be fairly available.

I have just changed my mind from wanting to do up a Squarebody Chevy truck to doing a Cherokee. I know with the Chevy's, you can get just about every part for one.

 

There is pretty good aftermarket support for the XJ for most repair parts, but most of those parts are inferior quality, no matter who the supplier is. If I absolutely really need something that is OEM, I raid the pick and pull. When I'm there, I grab anything that could potentially go bad in the future and have a stockpile of sensors, switches, door parts and anything else that still looks like it is in good shape and load up.

 

Great idea on picking up "extras" when at the yards. I'll keep this in mind when its time to go shopping.

 

I've been doing this, now, regularly, but you have to kind of load up, since you don't know how much usage a part actually had over its life. Most of the time I've had good luck, but there were several duds. Overall, it's a good thing these rigs are pretty stout and uncomplicated.

 

Really appreciate the reply. I hear you! Before ordering, I sent a message for confirm in-stock status. We'll see how that goes... I'm hoping we'll start to see more 3D printed parts soon. I've replaced many switches and various important plastic parts already, but more are inevitable. Good with that, though!