chopper35nj

Recently I serviced the rear D44 in my Comanche and found that I have an open carrier. I would like to add a traction adder but, the cost of aftermarket lockers both selectable and automatic and limited slip diffs are absurd. I don't want an automatic locker because of the poor handeling charicteristics and I don't want a spool or Lincoln locker, this will be my DD when finished. a selectable or limited slip will suit my needs best. So, has anybod got any experience swaping a factory limited slip from a JY out of say the Honda pasport or Isuzu, mabe a Dodge or Ford? Any info like compatibility with the case, spline count, gearing would be helpfull. I have searched my local JY's for Comanches and and XJ's. I have found only 2 MJ's and neither has a D44 and looked under at least 100 XJ's and found only 1 D44 and it also had an open carrier. Options..... Thanx Eric

Thanx for all the input guys, I appreciate you taking the time. In my excitement of my new project I seem to have forgotten some of the most basic mechanical principals and practices, after 25 years of turning wrenches it makes you feel kind of stupid but I never took the time to jack up the truck by the pumpkin and spin the wheels (both forward = limited slip, one forward, one back = open) Duh!!!!! I did service both diffs. but I guess I just couldn't justify the cost of the lube lockers. Felpro paper gaskets and a tube of RTV Gray, some fresh 80/90 and I'm ready to roll. Damn Flint, I wish I had thought of that. I could have easily welded bungs into both covers while I had them off..... Next time. Thanx Eric

The search function on this forum is killing me. I have tryed searching the forums because I know that there is an answer already out there, but it keeps reducing the search criteria to a single word and not returning any usable results. My 89 Comanche has a Dana 44 rear end but the I.D. tags are missing, I want to service the diff and need to have everything on hand before I start, gasket, gear oil; etc. but what I don't know is, are all the D44 rear ends limited slip and what oil I should use? What friction modifier? Are the lube locker gaskets worth the money? What sealant should I use? I am told that there is now a better sealant than RTV blue for diff covers. Any input appreciated. Thanx Eric

Hey Cruiser, I think we are on the same page. I just replaced all of the ground cables with battery ground cables from the part store. My braided cable was corroded badly, just made sense. Thanx Eric

That looks familliar. I also just got a new project about a month ago. My floor pan on the DS was actually worse than yours but I was spared the PS floor. I got new replacement floor pan from www.c2cfabrication.com, prety good price. when I got into mine I had every intention of welding in the pan but there was so much rust that I decided to cut out all that I could, slather on 2 thick coats of por15 and then I screwed it all down and sealed it with a factory type seam sealer on both sides and then layed on 4 coats of rustolium on both sides. If the POR15 were a weld through coating I would still have welded it but I'm not sure well it would have held up. Marine Clean then Rince then Dry (very well) POR15 Eric

Funny I should notice this now. I just spent the whole day doing just what you suggested, plus diaelectric grease on all connectors. That 10 pin connector that you mentioned is the one that I removed, it was too badly corroded to save and my running problem was the ballast resister, I replaced the terminals...no more problem. Thanks for the input, good advise. Eric

Never mind......... bad conector on the funky lil resister next to the EGR solinoid. Thanks for looking. Eric

Brakes sorted....I think. Engine running perfectly, New exhaust installed, sounds great. The next on my to do list was the head lights and turn/marker lights. The truck was a plow rig and had had the wiring bastardised by the previous owner. Removed the inline conectors re-soldered all the wires and shrink wraped them, done. Then I seperated the 10 pin connector from the wiring loom to the lights in the header panel. The conector was corroded beyond repair so I cut off the conectors and installed jacketed spade terminals on the six wires that run the front lights. In the conector attached to the main wiring harness there is a heavy gauge red wire that is a constant hot and a light green w/black stripe wire, they both apeared to terminate in that plug, there were no wires in the the recieving connector for them to go to. I fugured the constant hot was for fog lights and acording to my Haynes manuel seems to confirm that and I can't find anywhere in the schematic a light green w/black stripe in the front lighting system....so I clipped and capped them. So......here's the problem, since doing this the engine won't run, it labors to start races when it does and as soon as the engine builds vaccum it dies. WHAT THE HELL DID I DO? HELP!!!!! Thanx Eric

I would never weld my front spiders but the cad makes a lunch box locker a selectable locker.

OK, here go's....The master was indead bad, leaking at the rear seal, exchanged it (this is why I don't usualy buy parts from Advance) bench blead it rock hard- no air, installed it, blead the system, good pedal....skip forward 12 hours, no pedal...............WTF. Not a single leak that I can find. The rear shoes are adjusted propperly as I just replaced the parking brake cables and adjusted, adjusters are free and in good shape. I am begining to suspect the metering valve, I took it apart, cleaned it and replaced the O-rings on the shuttle valve. I fear it may be sticking or staying open/closed because the brakes are now inconsistant somtimes they're there, sometimes theyre' not, not real safe. When they are not and I try to pump them up the engine races (vac leak in booster? also reman from Advance), but if I do have pedal and step on the brake no racing so I "think" the booster is good (any thoughts?) When I do have pedal the rear brakes lock up with the slightest pressure. So, here's the question, since the load sensing valve has been removed and the rear wheels are locking up, should I go for the XJ metering valve with the proportioning valve? Seems to like a good idea to me, they are esentially the same vehicle after all. Thanx Eric

Wow, Ok I was thinking that port was wrong, You got me thinking when you asked wich was plugged and how, I went out and looked at my daughters XJ and the front is plugged and the bottom one is the one being used. Now I am really confused. lol Thanx Eric

I'm not getting bad peddle, getting none. Yes the height sensing valve was removed previously, the truck had no working brakes when I got it, that's why I replaced everything. The line on the bottom of the metering block is plugged with a brass plug, the rear line is now feading from the port on the front of the metering block. Any ideas? Thanx Eric

Is there a secret to the Comanche's brakes? I have replaced the master cylinder, brake booster, ALL brake lines and rebuilt the metering valve (new O-rings). The weight sensing valve in the back was deleted by the previous owner so, that isn't an issue. I bench blead the master cylinder before I installed it. I have blead the brakes with 3, count 'em 3 differant methods. (1) reverse blead (2) one man bleader bottle (3) good old fashioned pump, pump, pump....hold crack the valve. Still, no pedal...at all, nada, nuthin............. I am no amature, I have litteraly blead and replaced hundreds of brake systems, it's what I did, I was a mechanic before becoming disabled 2 years ago. I know that this is the most rudimentary of hydrolic systems, no air.....good pedal, air.... poor pedal. I can't find a leak anywhere in the system. OH, one more thing, I started the engine to see if I could get any help from the booster again nothing, but! the engine races when I pump the pedal. In 25 years of turning wrenches I have never encountered anything like this.. It's gotta be somthin' stupid simple and I'm just too close to it. Help me out here PLEASE!!!!!! Thanx Eric

Hahahahahaha, well fortunately the accident was declaired the fault of the other driver, good for my insurance premium but I'm still not sure that she wasn't texting. Jim, that airbag and seat belt thing..... not a chance, my daughter is a total jeep chick. Eric

Yes, they are big, fitment was a bi!^*h, and it's been a while since I put that fan in my Cherokee, several years in fact. My Cherokee had a "police" spec alt. (110 amps, I think) so I never worried about it, it was a public service vehicle in a former life. I do have to say that once I got the two relays figured out with the help of JP mag, you could not over heat that thing. You could actually feel the air draw from in front of the grill. Eric

Yes, the measurements from pin to eye AND overall lengthare the important factors........ These are the specs for the Comanche, All years (A) 26" (B) 31" © 10 1/4" (D) 1 1/2" capacity 1280 lbs. $174.68 ea. These are the specs for the Explorer 1991 to 2001 (A) 25 11/16" (B) 30 15/16" © 6 1/2" (D) 1 7/8 capacity 1100 lbs. $128.78 ea. These are the specs for the Ranger 1986 to 2003 (A) 25 5/8" (B) 31" © 6" (D) 1 1/2" Capacity 1250 lbs. $77.95 ea. Pin Placement for the Ranger is almost perfect, But looking at measurement "C" it apears that these springs would lower the truck nearly 4" (bad) but a spring over with one of the explorer options would give just a slight lift over stock. After this research I have found that the Comanche has considerably more arch than prety much anything out there, this raises a huge question for me. If all the springs that I have looked at have less arch than the stock comanche how does a bastard pack with AAL give any lift? Everything that I looked at has less arch then the stock comanche springs, including the infamous Dakota/Durango and S10 springs that are suggested so often here. I think I would like to hear from sombody that has some real spring experience to explain this to me, you know? like I'm an idiot, because that's how I'm starting to feel. Thanks for any help Eric

Easier to get, Rangers are everywhere, and the explorer springs are almost identical in pin to eye measurement as the comanche. Theoretically, better ride, slight lift and $50 a pair at any yard, all good reasons if you ask me. Eric

Anybody ever tryed to put Ford ranger springs under their Comanche? They do have slightly more arch but ar only about 3/8" shorter that stock Comanche springs and have a slightly softer rate. Any thoughts??? Thanx Eric

Best advise for an improved electric cooling fan IMHO Ford 2 speed from the junk yard $10-$20 anywhere. Three times the volume of the jeep unit.

I am new so, just today I put up an avitar as an identifier, it is a picture of my old 1988 cherokee that my daughter now has the day of her first accident, take a look its over there <---------. One hour after I put up this avitar she had another accident in the same XJ and destroyed the new front bumper, entire header panel and grill, left fender, hood and I suspect the radiator as there is now trans fluid in the coolant. The paint is 3 weeks old, I jinxed it. I won't be waiting too long before removing this avitar. Eric

Load sensing valve was deleted before I got my new project(89 4.0, auto), so given their total lack of availability I just today installed a new metering block with a proportioning valve to compensate. I know that it's not the same thing but will this get the job done. I have no plans for hauling huge loads but it is after all a pickup so I'm sure that it will happen and I do plan to do some towing, safety is of great concern to me. Any thoughts? Thanx Eric

Thanks for the input CF, I get the fuel tank vent and filter on the end of the hose. There is only one problem there are only two lines coming from the canister, one to the intake manifold and the other to the air box. There does apear to be a boss on the canister for another line but no line and no barb for a line, upon further inspection no hole either, are there different versions of this canister? Does the fact that my truck is a long bed have anything to do with it? Fuel tank vent under the bed? Any other sugestions for what else I can remove to simplify/eliminate the vac systems? Thanks Eric

Sorry, Gotta get used to puting ALL of my info in the posts. It's an 89 long bed with 4.0 and an auto. Why the fuel filter? I was just going to put a vac plug on the port. What is FWIW?

I have been working on cleaning up the mess of vacuum lines on my Comanche. I deleted quite a few lines on my old XJ so this should be essentially the same but I don't know the system well enough to know everything that I can remove. I have already removed the vacuum storage canister in the front bumper and have run the heater controlls to a constant vac line from the manifold, I have removed the heater controll valve and run the lines directly to the heat exchanger. I have also removed that tangled mess of a vacuum manifold from the front of the engine and routed all of the lines to a manifold vac source. I believe that I have kept all of the essentials in tact. Somebody please explain to me what the large (charcole???) canister behind the oil filter is for and if it is really nessesary. On my XJ I removed the large line that went from the canister around the fire wall along the drivers side fender to the air box and just plugged the port on the canister. Today while cleaning up the system on my Cpmanche I noticed that the only other line from the canister just go's to manifold vac, so I want to just remove that canister, should I? With that canister out of the loop on my XJ it passed emissions no problem. What else can I remove? I am not concerned with the CAD as I will be changing over to a cable actuated system. Is there a vacuum actuated componant to the transmission? I do intend to drive this truck on the street but as I said, with the mods that I have made so far my Cherokee passed emissions easily. Any other suggestions? Thanx Eric

I just purchased an all stock exhaust system from the exhaust manifold to the tip, I got every part including the hangers, isolators and gaskets from NAPA for under $300. One thing I did do is get a mufler that is 2.5" in and 2.5" out with the same orientation as stock and a 2.25 to 2.5 reducer for after the cat. I'm taking the tail pipe to a local mufler shop and letting them use it as a template for a 2.5" pipe then returning it to NAPA, It's a good thing that I have a good relationship with these guys. They know that that's what I am doing and are fine with it. I know that it's not the manderl bends that you are looking for but they are smooth (the bends in the stock tail pipe remind me of the stock air intake tube) and the pipe does not collaps enough to make a real difference with the increase in pipe size. For the last thirty years of my life I have lived in very rust prone areas and have never had good luck with SS exhaust, they still rust out over time and IMHO does not justify the added cost. Run 'em till they rust and do it again, It's just the nature of the beast. Chopper