Originally I was going to build my 92 chevy 3/4ton 4x4 to get me in and out of my hunting club but then my life changed, time slipped away, season is coming and I don't want to depend on my wife's 2wd cherokee to make it home if it happens to be muddy out. So believe it or not my wife is the one who convinced me to pick up my new to me 1990 Jeep Cherokee Lerado because it has a slew of goodies already on it (to the best of my newb knowledge). I'm running through the standard "change all the fluids" and check everything out stage and realized that I don't know squat about the axles. It appears the front is a straight up DANA30 and it is suppose to have a Lock Right Locker in it. It appears the vacuum gizmo on the passenger side is completely disconnected and one side has a CV joint in it instead of universal (the other is in the trunk). The rear appears to be a DANA44 with a Wilson truss on it, disk brakes, & it is supposed to have an OX locker in it. Geared at 4.56 with auto tranny & 35x12.5x15 tires. (since it has the control & the cover I'm guessing so) Questions & Pictures below....

CONFIRM or DENY -> DANA30 front axle?

Front axle brakes, as you can see no backing plate. How bad is that and more importantly can anyone tell if those are factory 1990 front calipers & rotors?

CONFIRM or DENY -> Rear Axle = DANA44

Rear Axle -> Wilson truss, what exactly does that buy me?

Rear Axle, Disk brakes (should be drums I thought) can anyone tell me what rotors & or calipers those might be? I'm assuming there are a few standard swaps used more often than not, I've found some but can't identify yet.
Also...how bad is it to not have an emergency brake set up?

Front Axle -> Vacuum activator, disconnected. Does this matter since it has a locker inside? Is there anything I should make sure of so water doesn't get in?

1990 Jeep Cherokee Lerado as it sat when I bought it. 400K on the body. ~80K on the original build with all of the Rusty's parts (bumpers, lift, rock sliders, front arms, adjustable link, etc), axles upgrades, etc. ~10K on rebuilt automatic transmission...all for the $2000.
Yea the doors probably have rust in them or at least dents that were filled with body filler and painted over. The interior is burgundy w/a grey drivers seat and no carpet. It ran fine when I bought it, put some
fresh gas in the tank and now it doesn't want to start (1/4 tank for varnish smelling gas). Should have drained it but NOOOO I had to try to mix in some fresh & see if I could just run it out.
The battery is shot & I'm thinking I have a fuel pump & or fuel regulator that needs to be replaced BUT I'm thinking for my needs I probably did pretty good over all. I'll find out
once I've gone through it all & have it running again. Never know this might push me over the top to where I might have to visit the local off road club.

PLEASE comment on the good, the bad, the ugly...but please try to be helpful.

 

2000 isn't bad. Exspecly if its alread got 4.56 or 4.88 gears

 

The won't start problem could be battery related. The Renix ecu needs to see 300 rpm from the starter to fire the injectors. I read that somewhere recently probably the factory Jeep service manual I picked up on Ebay
74Plb

 

Could be a few things. I put the battery on "renew" on the fancy charger, hopefully that will save it...but even jumped off the starter seems to be weak too.
I'm was leaning towards a weak fuel pump because it was acting exactly the same way my wife's suburban did when the fuel pump was to weak to pressure up the injectors.
It would start sometimes, got worse, & eventually just cranked without starting until I replaced the pump. Easy enough to figure out with a fuel pressure gauge.

ACTUALLY I let this sit open overnight, I checked the pressure on the fuel rail and there is next to nothing. I hear the fuel pump solenoid kick over but no pressure at the rail.
So I'm going to order a new fuel pump & get a new starter because they aren't that expensive & I'm not interested in wondering if I'll end up stranded in the woods. I'll probably
go ahead and upgrade the cables to the starter & alternator while I'm at it. Can't wait to get this thing on the road, but have to wait for my RockAuto order till next week. :-(

 

Should be 30ish psi at the rail. I've been rejuvenating a 90 XJ 4.0 as well.
I bought a 1990 Jeep Eng, chassis & body service manual off of ebay recently and it has been a big help.
Checkout cruiser54.com, there is a ton of great tips on Renix 4.0's. Cruiser has helped me out immensely with the rejuvenation of my XJ Limited
74Plb

 

CRUISER54.COM is definitely a help. Haven't made it though the whole web site yet but it is going to be helpful for sure!!!

I was going to run up and get a fuel pressure gauge, looked for the connection, saw it was a schrader valve (looks the same as my 99 suburban), powered up
the ignition, heard the pump click like it was getting power & pressed on the valve...barely a trickle came out. Its dead as a door nail or clogged real bad or both.
The gas in the tank is years old & I made the mistake of thinking it would be a good idea to just add some fresh gas and run it till the old stuff was gone. Instead
the pump is dead. Next time...DRAIN THE GAS stupid (stupid being me) clean the lines then put in fresh & see where things are at. Live and learn, use the excuse
I want to make sure it is reliable. :-)

 

I was thinking maybe some old junk in there just clogged it up if it ran fine for awhile.