Can´t help myself
 

Hey gang, I´m back on the forum after several years with some exciting news. I´ve got another post about being torn between a 1990 4runner and my beloved 1986 XJ with the 2.8L. I´ll update that post with the scoop on that situation, but in the spirit of this thread I´ll stay on topic. I´ve already posted pics and info of my 86 in this thread several years back. The last thing I did with the old beater was drive it 13 hours straight from New Mexico to Texas in 2014... It´s been started and run a few times since then but for the most part it´s been sitting. So of course now I´m going to revive it in a short couple of weeks and drive it from TX to the southern tip of Florida. I plan to start work next week, unless I find something horribly wrong with the vehicle once I’m there to look at it. I know it definitely needs a significant amount of work put into it before I feel like it will be safe on the road. It was already a little sketchy when I made the trip back in 2014.

Tentative plans so far include power steering pump and box replacement, and probably the pressure hose/lines as well. It leaked pwr steering fluid for years, and the steering was so loose I could turn the wheel a few inches before the wheels would respond. Also want/need to do all the suspension, linkages, tie rods/ends, check out braking system, flush/change fluids and the list goes on. Everything on the vehicle is stock, and has probably been replaced at some point if not multiple times. A/C delete. Baling wire here and there.

I’m mining the forum for good posts on older model cherokees, specifically with the old 2.8leaker. At this time I’m really just trying to focus on making it safe and road ready and will consider some builds when I get it to FL, but if I’m going to be digging into it so deep then I want to consider options for reasonable swaps and upgrades that won’t add much time to the work I have to do. I’m clued in to the Durango steering box swaps but not sure if its worth it for my plans for using the vehicle, but I’m up for discussion! Any tips, advice, or leads on good info will be greatly appreciated. If you think this is a bad idea, you’re not alone. I just can’t help myself. In 2016 I drove a factory original 1971 Fiat 600R from central Argentina up and over the Andes Mountains to Lima, Peru. Before I bought the Fiat, this 86 Cherokee was my only car, then enter the 1990 4Runner. It’s a personal problem.

There should be a pressure switch on that power steering hose. It is supposed to operate a fast idle vacuum motor on the carb. Make sure you have that working to avoid stalling at idle when you turn the steering wheel

That’s awesome, thanks 4.3L XJ! Alternate/OEM Part Number(s): 53000970. That’s what they’ve got listed on rockauto, so I imagine that’s probably what you’re talking about. That’s a great thing to keep in mind as I go in on that system. THere’s little chance it’s been changed since 1986 (this is a family car so I think I’d know), so even though it’s a pretty basic part I’ll consider getting a new one if I’m going to redo that whole system anyway. I just wish the little thing didn’t cost 60 bones!

I’ll be checking out your posts to see if there’s anything in there that will help me out. We’re dealing with very similar rigs so I’m sure there will be. I’m about to start bringing my old 86 back to life, and a road trip’s gonna happen when I’m done come hell or high water. So far this is what I think I’ll really need to do (bear with me, I’m not a pro mechanic I just drive ‘em and fix ‘em when they break, so I’m probably omitting or misnaming lots of parts):

-vacuum line... i hate this idea, but it might be a good call for me to replace most or all of the vacuum lines. The carb doesn’t have many miles on it but it has been sitting... but the vacuum lines are probably all original haha
-air filter
-in-line fuel filter... when I did the carb the last time, the hard line got messed up, so to save the carb from potentially dirty gas for the time being I think I can modify the current carb fuel line to accept an additional fuel filter. Hopefully that doesn’t make an issue with fuel pressure and engine performance
-front and rear springs... the shocks are “old” but I don’t think they actually have that many miles on them. part of me feels like, if I’m going to do this, maybe I should find a cheap aftermarket upgrade that’s for sale somewhere, but time is an issue... but if I just use new stock parts now, then I won’t want to throw more money at the suspension later...
-Power steering Pump
-New/remanufactured steering gear box
-new power steering pressure hose, and probably the associated pressure sensor (thanks again for the tip I got here from 4.3L XJ)
-sway-bar(s), tie-rod, tie-rod ends, pitman arm, steering linkage, steering damper
The stuff above is what I’m really not sure about. I’m probably naming some parts that don’t need to be replaced, and I’m probably mis-naming them, and omitting things that do need to be replaced. I wish I could start crawling around under there now but I won’t have access to the car until early next week. Is new pitman arm necessary? Tie rod ends yes... steering damper yes?