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Been wanting a tilt column with modern controls in my 79 cherokee for a while now, but wasn't sure what, if anything would fit. I saw in another thread where a member used a column out of a XJ. So I figured I would give it a go. My cherokee has factory intermittent wipers, and so do the XJ's. I always hated reaching down to the dash to hit the wipers, and wanted controls on the stick.
A trip to the pull a part junkyard scored me a complete column from a 93 XJ, no key though. I got the intermittent wiper module and pigtail, plus the pigtail for the headlight dimmer switch. (witch I ended up not needing)
First order of busniess was to remove the bottom mount that bolts to the XJ firewall. This peice is paper thin, so be real carefull when cutting it off. I used a 4.5in angle grinder with a 1/8in cutoff wheel, and cut into the column a bit. I didnt know it was that thin. Hind sight, I would have used a dremel tool, or a hacksaw.
Heres the offending peice that needs removed.
Next part I didnt think to take any pictures of. But there was a cable that attaches to a little arm/nub on the column. This cable runs to the stock XJ shifter and prevents you from turning the key all the way off unless its in park. I couldnt find a easy way to disable this annoying part. Long story short, just remove it. Simply take a pair of plires and rotate the nub 90 degrees, and pull straight down to remove it. Its now disabled.
I find out a new key cylinder for these are $50! A trip to the local locksmith gets me a key made for it for $25. Fresh coat of paint and its ready to go.
I yank the old column out and go to bolt this one in. The bracket that bolts to the dash is just slightly diffrent, a hair narrower. No problem, as the one from my old column bolted right on to the XJ column. The column fit through the firewall plate just fine. Column is just a little bit shorter, but the steering shaft takes up the extra length.
Now to hook everything up. The ignition switch, the plugs are simply upside down from how they were on the original switch, so flip the plugs over and plug them in. Turn signal switch, plugs right in.
Dimmer switch. I unbolt and unplug the factory foot dimmer and look at the plug, other than a couple plastic nubs on the plug, it looks the same. I cut the nubs off the plug and plug it in and test. It works perfectly! Now the XJ dimmer switch has 1 extra terminal in it. This is a constant 12v power in. This allows you to flash your headlights by simply hitting the dimmer. Ran a hot wire to it and it works like a charm.
Now the fun part, the wiper controlls. I wanted to use the XJ wiper module because I figure the stock fsj switch/modules are probably gonna get hard to find and very expensive. So a little time with the wiring diagrams for the two wiper systems, a little frustration and head scratching, I finally have success! Since the stock wiring plug for my jeep had female spade terminals in it, I simply crimped some male terminals onto the plug for the XJ module and pluged them in. I was not in the cut and splice mood..lol. Module fits nicely where the old one did.
Pic: you can see the dimmer switch and how the stock wires plugged right in, and how I simply plugged in the wiper module.
My stock steering wheel and horn button/horn button parts simply bolted right on. I now have tilt steering, with headlight dimmer and wiper controlls on the stick.
The last part I forgot to take any pictures of, was the steering shaft. The XJ column used a 1in double D shaft, where the fsj used splines. The fsj shaft is 1in dia. Some searching online found me a u-joint from flaming river that will work. http://www.flamingriver.com/index.php/products/c0005/s0004/FR1789-18
I had already replaced the rag joint at the steering box with a u-joint almost identical to this one a few years ago. I welded it to the shaft. So I would do the same here. I removed the steering shaft, cut off the old stock upper joint (witch had some play in it) and welded on the new one. I welded only about 1/2in at a time and let it cool off, so I didnt overheat and melt the seals in the u-joint.
All and all I am very happy with the swap. The u-joint was the most expensive part of the whole deal. Any questions I will try my best to answer.
A trip to the pull a part junkyard scored me a complete column from a 93 XJ, no key though. I got the intermittent wiper module and pigtail, plus the pigtail for the headlight dimmer switch. (witch I ended up not needing)
First order of busniess was to remove the bottom mount that bolts to the XJ firewall. This peice is paper thin, so be real carefull when cutting it off. I used a 4.5in angle grinder with a 1/8in cutoff wheel, and cut into the column a bit. I didnt know it was that thin. Hind sight, I would have used a dremel tool, or a hacksaw.
Heres the offending peice that needs removed.
Next part I didnt think to take any pictures of. But there was a cable that attaches to a little arm/nub on the column. This cable runs to the stock XJ shifter and prevents you from turning the key all the way off unless its in park. I couldnt find a easy way to disable this annoying part. Long story short, just remove it. Simply take a pair of plires and rotate the nub 90 degrees, and pull straight down to remove it. Its now disabled.
I find out a new key cylinder for these are $50! A trip to the local locksmith gets me a key made for it for $25. Fresh coat of paint and its ready to go.
I yank the old column out and go to bolt this one in. The bracket that bolts to the dash is just slightly diffrent, a hair narrower. No problem, as the one from my old column bolted right on to the XJ column. The column fit through the firewall plate just fine. Column is just a little bit shorter, but the steering shaft takes up the extra length.
Now to hook everything up. The ignition switch, the plugs are simply upside down from how they were on the original switch, so flip the plugs over and plug them in. Turn signal switch, plugs right in.
Dimmer switch. I unbolt and unplug the factory foot dimmer and look at the plug, other than a couple plastic nubs on the plug, it looks the same. I cut the nubs off the plug and plug it in and test. It works perfectly! Now the XJ dimmer switch has 1 extra terminal in it. This is a constant 12v power in. This allows you to flash your headlights by simply hitting the dimmer. Ran a hot wire to it and it works like a charm.
Now the fun part, the wiper controlls. I wanted to use the XJ wiper module because I figure the stock fsj switch/modules are probably gonna get hard to find and very expensive. So a little time with the wiring diagrams for the two wiper systems, a little frustration and head scratching, I finally have success! Since the stock wiring plug for my jeep had female spade terminals in it, I simply crimped some male terminals onto the plug for the XJ module and pluged them in. I was not in the cut and splice mood..lol. Module fits nicely where the old one did.
Pic: you can see the dimmer switch and how the stock wires plugged right in, and how I simply plugged in the wiper module.
My stock steering wheel and horn button/horn button parts simply bolted right on. I now have tilt steering, with headlight dimmer and wiper controlls on the stick.
The last part I forgot to take any pictures of, was the steering shaft. The XJ column used a 1in double D shaft, where the fsj used splines. The fsj shaft is 1in dia. Some searching online found me a u-joint from flaming river that will work. http://www.flamingriver.com/index.php/products/c0005/s0004/FR1789-18
I had already replaced the rag joint at the steering box with a u-joint almost identical to this one a few years ago. I welded it to the shaft. So I would do the same here. I removed the steering shaft, cut off the old stock upper joint (witch had some play in it) and welded on the new one. I welded only about 1/2in at a time and let it cool off, so I didnt overheat and melt the seals in the u-joint.
All and all I am very happy with the swap. The u-joint was the most expensive part of the whole deal. Any questions I will try my best to answer.
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