mvusse

Autozone here has two gaskets. One Felpro one for $38 that is special order/internet order only, and a $4.99 cork one. I'm just using the cork one. Is the expensive one reusable?

My 17 year old is still mad at me for wrecking my F100 before she got to drive it. My 11 year old told me I have 5 years to lift the Comanche and put bigger tires on it. She hopes to get to drive it some at Badlands in July. And congrats on the new arrival. Life as you know it is over, you are now at the beginning of the rest of your life. :D

What I mean is the engine creates vacuum. Why not run a vacuum line from the engine to the dash switch to the disco, instead of using the aquarium air pump. There's a 4 liter 6 cylinder vacuum source 3 feet in front of you, so why use an external pump?

Someone just posted a 4x4 Cherokee for sale for $100. no dash or wiring, but all the 4wd stuff is there. There's the donor for whoever needs one.

I still need to pull my valve cover. The CCV valve is plugged up, causing oil to leak out the breather and onto my air filter. Don't know if mine has a gasket or not, but it will after I'm done with it.

Why use an aquarium pump instead of engine vacuum? Or are you running a diesel engine?

One addition to my to-do list: -replace ds u-joint.

Laws vary by state regarding mud flaps, bumpers and how far tires can be outside the fenders. Some states don't require rear bumpers, which might have been a good thing for Toyota 4wd trucks in the 80s. A rear bumper was optional on those (and quite an expensive option). Most states do require them now, though, and at most x inches off the ground, to prevent people from being beheaded when they rear-end you. That is why semi trailers all have low rear bumpers now. As far as mud flaps and fenders, that may have to do with your tires kicking up stones off the road into someone else's windshield.

You could run a vacuum line to the dash, through a selector valve to the disco. That way you can manually engage/disengage the axle by turning the valve left or right.

Sounds like you have short somewhere, Probably insulation rubbed off a wire somewhere against the body. I would check the wiring from the firewall clear to the light sockets on the front.

Makes my life easier also. I just rotated my tires and found a bad driver's side U-joint. Feels like all the needle bearings came out/were ground to dust in one of the caps. Thing is, I swear I checked them 2 months ago, and they seemed fine then. I greased the ps one, but the ds one has no grease fitting.

I'd think best airflow is where the radiator mounts in the stock location: the front. If your engine runs too hot, I would get a larger (thicker) radiator if that is an option, you could probably gain a bit by running transmission fluid through an external cooler and then the radiator in-tank cooler. Some electric fans on front to push the air through (in addition to the regular fan behind) might help. Assuming this is in a Comanche, which never came with a V8, do you have a fan shroud? They make a HUGE difference. If there is none available for your setup, see if you can modify one that already fits the radiator to the fan, or one that fits the fan to match the radiator. There are also products available that reduce the surface tension of the coolant for better heat transfer. Also running more water/less antifreeze will transfer heat better also. And then the obvious ones: a cooler thermostat, or high flow thermostat, and a high volume water pump/smaller pulley on the pump. Just about every one of those are simpler than a rear mounted radiator, and might work better. An unusual way to do it that might work is to mount a second radiator in front of the current one. Run the coolant through the rearmost radiator first, then the front one. Should give you more efficient heat transfer from the coolant to the air. Besides that, if you run uncoated headers, they release a lot of heat into the engine compartment. Enough so that it can cause an engine to overheat in city traffic. If so, you might want to replace them with stock manifolds or ceramic coated headers, or at least wrap them with exhaust wrap (high temp insulation), to keep the heat out of the engine compartment and blow it out the tailpipe, where it should go. Good luck and have fun!

Comanches are much harder to find that Cherokees, and newer Cherokees with less rust are a plenty, whereas Comanches were discontinued in 92. I have a fender from a 96 Cherokee Sport on the driver's side, and one off a Cherokee Laredo for the passenger side (but not yet installed). I have the Comanche and Pioneer badges I took off the old fenders, though, and they will be going back on after (if) I ever paint it.

Are the fender liners the same, or are they different as well? I believe you pretty much summed up everything I can think of.

Not only that, but if the system has been open you have air in it. Air is mostly Nitrogen, about 20% oxygen and a little bit of s bunch of other stuff, INCLUDING WATER VAPOR. If you do not pull a good vacuum to get the water vapor out, the water will condense up and freeze when the AC is running. Ice crystals are like sand, and will destroy the bearings inside the compressor. If you are technically inclined, buy a vacuum pump and adapters, take a course on automotive A/C systems, and do it yourself. Or, just to be sure have it done professionally. But by now the compressor might already be junk as you say it seems to have seized.

Someone in RI (Oceanstatejeeps or something like that) sells entire header panel/grill/lights assemblies including wiring harness every few weeks on Ebay. They are take-offs off Cherokees. But I'd guess any junkyard would be a good start, if for no other reason then to check how much they want for it. If you also want to do the fenders, for some reason junkyards (at least in my area) wanto $30-$40 for one, even though new ones are <$30 from Keystone. But from a junkyard you might be able to get one with the flare and liner still attached for no extra money.

I have not had an alignment done, but was planning to *after* replacing suspension components. No reason to pay for it now, only to have it done again in 3 weeks. Same with tires. They are not in the best of shape, but I was planning to get new ones in July (so I still have almost new tread in Badlands). So my current plan is, in order: -rotate tires -press new bushing on the spare lca and install it. -press new bushing on the just replaced lca (assuming it's still good) and -install it on the other side. -decide whether or not to do uppers as well. -replace shocks. -have a wheel alignment done. And, I agree with Eagle to a point. It was hitting the bump in the road that *caused* (as in initiated) the DW, but something on the vehicle was failing to do it's job of stopping it. I have never had a vehicle before that could not hit a bump in the road at 75mph without starting to violently shake side to side and that shaking can only be stopped by slowing down to 25mph. And even though I have never owned a Jeep before, I cannot imagine any car being allowed to be sold where that is inherent in the design. Therefore, there is something broken or worn out (or out of alignment or balance). If only there was an easy way to find out exactly what the problem is, I could fix that first, and do the rest at my leisure. Any problem with my plan of attack? Or the ordering? What is the consensus (or personal opinions) on urethane bushings as opposed to rubber? I know they are harder and transmit vibrations more easily, but basically, would rubber work better by dampening the vibrations more, or would urethane work better by not being as flexible? Personal opinions are fine, as long as it doesn't start an argument between posters. :roll:

Just for clarification, 75mph was fine for 10 minutes or so. It wasn't until I hit a bump that things went wrong. Also after I had replaced everything I played with the steering some, and the only thing that moved was the wheels. Before the body always shimmy sideways a bit before the wheels would turn.

Ultimately, you'd be limited by the HP of the engine. I have seen lawn tractor races where mostly stock looking (but heavily modified, I'm sure) tractors go 50-55 mph.

Okay, I replaced the track bar bracket, which relocated the front axle back where it belongs: centered (and got my steering wheel pointing straight ahead now as well). I also replaced the track bar itself and the ps lca, since they both had problems in the hope of fixing my death wobble. Thinking it was gone, I got brave on the freeway and when I hit a bump at 75 mph, it was back. Holy crap I'm gonna die! Actually, I have since learned that even though your teeth are being rattled out of your skull, you still do have steering, so I pulled into the safety zone and slammed on the brakes. As always, around 25 or 30 mph, everything straightened out, and I continued on my way home at 55 now. When I got home I checked all bolts, and everything is still tight. So now what? I think I'm going to replace the other lca as well, just in case. If that doesn't fix it, I'm thinking new control arm bushings, Definitely lower, maybe upper as well? Any other guesses? This weekend I think I'll start a thread in the projects section, and recap everything so far, and then keep it up to date. This truck is becoming more of a project every time I work on it.

Body parts from any MJ with fit, they never changed them throughout the entire 86-92 run. 84 through 96 XJ (Cherokee) parts will fit from the seats forward. The seats themselves are the same, but use different brackets, and I think the doors interchange with 4 door Cherokee front doors. I've seen a few people on here sell tailgates, check the clasified section. What some people have also done is replace the front with one from a 97-??? Cherokee. It will fit, but the line are a little off. If you replace the fenders with the same range, the lines will line up. Some people have also gone the other way and installed a Wagoneer front on their truck. If you need a bed, you may have to go far south to find one (Texas, Nevada etc.) Nothern ones seem to all have holes rotted through, and nobody makes aftermarket parts for them.

I had found this: http://www.jeeperz-creeperz.com/lift-shackles-rear-p-4001.html?manufacturers_id=2&osCsid=de3fe93edf2271ca325a90978a7583ea How come they look different?

According to the listed part number, they are 1" lift. But the ones pictured are not Daystar shackles. Either the picture is wrong, or the write-up is wrong.

E brake? What's that? The front cable is missing, both rear cables have rusted through, the equalizer and spring are missing. I never did try to push the pedal down, though. Isn't the light supposed to come on when you first turn the key on as a test? I will fix the parking brake at some point in time, but with an automatic transmission it's not that big a deal. I have more important issues to fix right now.

All right then. I'll adjust the drag link after work tomorrow Wildman: Thanks for the parts and meeting me halfway. I worked off breakfast with a 20 mile bicycle ride on the greenway trail there, and got burnt to a crisp. Entire head (maybe a hat wouldn't be such a bad idea now that I have no hair anymore) and neck. Average mileage for 215 miles was 21 mpg. Better than I expected. 8)