coheed

So, I saw this Comanche on Instagram one day and decided to ask if I could get any info on the camper. The guy ended up messaging me and said he still had it and would sell if I was interested. When he said he still had it I started doing some research to see what I was getting into. From what I can tell this model was first introduced as the Country Squire in the late 70's, as shown in this sales ad>> 1980.Coleman®CampingTrailersFlyer.pdf Then in 1981 they changed the styling just a tad and renamed the larger version the Wrangler and the smaller one the Maverick. These seem to be in incredibly short supply. I can only find a few Facebook posts, including one guy in Uruguay looking for info on his, 2 sales ads, and a few pictures of the Wrangler versions as well as a parts diagram book. The only pictures I have been able to find of a Maverick are of the model that I currently own, and one on a Ranger. Here it is with the first Comanche it was on, and at the shipping location before it went to the guy I bought it off of.

Love that camper shell. Seems like it'll be a good project.

Right? It needs a good bit of work, but it was way too cool to pass up.

Well camping rig v2 has been abandoned, but for good reason. I got a line on an old flip up/out Coleman slide in camper. Only problem was it was 600 miles away in Indiana. Fortunately, big road trips always motivate me to fix things I've been putting off. My valve covers had been leaking, my parking brake cables were stretched beyond use, my exhaust was in absolutely awful shape, I needed a new brake prop valve rod, I wanted to upgrade the tiny front sway bar, and my speedo had been dancing since I got the truck. I swapped the sway bar uneventfully, and I can say it made a big improvement. It was only the 26mm because I failed to measure it at the junkyard but it was only $20. I managed to score a NOS speedo cable, which unfortunately the bolt that holds it to the frame came loose about 200 miles into the trip and it immediately cooked it on the exhaust manifold . I replaced all my parking brake cables, but up in Indiana the teeth in the pedal decided to give up the ghost. I wanted a quick/cheap fix for the awful tailpipe issue, so I just clamped on a 90 to direct it out from under the truck. And when I was replacing the valve cover gaskets I was greeted with this mess. Glad I didn't spend any real money on this 2.8 . Here's the awful tailpipe in question. And the shiny new 90, parking brake cables, and prop rod. New sway bar Saw some good views on the way up. Ended up staying in a cabin at a lake in south IN that was gorgeous. Wish I had more time there as they had a decent amount of hiking trails that also connected to Jackson-Washington state forest. Met with the guy who had the camper and talked shop for a good while. Some people may recognize his Comanche as the pictures float around a good bit. It's a full pass-through setup built on the frame without the bed. It's currently up in his garage needing work, but I may try and persuade him to come do a build thread on here. Super cool truck in person. After some time and a quick price negotiation I was the proud owner of a Coleman Maverick slide in camper. Dry weight was advertised at 730#, but with camping gear, jacks, extra parts, water jugs etc. I'm guessing that I was hauling around 1100-1200#. Surprisingly the old haggard leaves handled it well. It sagged just a bit with all that weight in the back. And the 2.8 was not horribly disappointing, but that's mostly the 4.10's if I'm honest. It didn't have enough umph to get over 65, but I stayed off the interstate coming back anyway. Probably the best pic I'll ever get of the Manche Got it home and opened it up, cleaned it a bit, and assessed what all it needs. Pretty much all the wood will need replaced, but what's cool is the frame is 1" square steel tube, and all the exterior skin panels are aluminum. So the wood doesn't really give it that much structure aside from the roof. It's got a really cool ingenious cable lift system for the roof, and the sides just fold out and are held up with 3/8" steel cables. And the dry weight is low enough that when it's just the camper it sits just a little lower than it does unloaded. Will be starting a thread on the camper in the "Other Stuff" section soon. The floors are getting seriously bad, so that's next before I start throwing money at the camper. Plan on ordering the new Keyparts pans in the next little bit and I already have their brace set, so should be a fairly straightforward job.

If I'm doing my math right this is right at 1200 pounds. Maybe more since there's jacks and such in the back, and gear up front. It currently sits about three quarters of an inch lower than the front, but my leaves had about 350k on them

I have a 228 in the shed that I could potentially take apart. The only difference is the center "diff". I can also say that it will refuse to shift out of the vehicle unless I'm spinning the input. It would also be after Thanksgiving before I could tear it apart

Not nearly as exciting as some of the other gets here, but I ended up getting a NOS speedo cable for $25 the other week

I bought all my parts on eBay. Had to turn down the bolt head on the lathe at work.

Yes, actually they did end up having different free arches. What I did was measure the free arch of each individual leave and got them to average out as best as I could. I ended up not thinking about it when I put the leaves back on, and I should have put them opposite to account for the extra weight on the driver side like you said. I will say it was only maybe 1/4 or 3/8 of an inch difference in free arch, and it doesn't seem to make a difference in ride height looking at the vehicle.

Found another

Similar but different. I did the zone off-road aal earlier this year and it's a slightly shorter one than the skyjacker one you have. The spring pack is definitely stiffer, but the ride quality is much better because I switched from the cheapest Monroe oe replacement shocks to Bilsteins. Yours should ride about the same as long as you've got decent shocks.

I had the same thing and even called and spoke to 2 people earlier this year. If you have any luck emailing let us know. Or maybe we could convince them to do another group buy on them.

I also bought this PRP kit and it fit well.

I'm also interested in this. Are the ko2s known for needing rotated a lot?

I say out

I have the old AMC style factory grill guard and it's really light. We've only got smallish whitetails here, but I doubt it would stand up well to a deer. They do look great though. Another alternative to consider is Affordable offroad. I just grabbed their elite brush guard bumper for $550 shipped to my door (obviously it can be built for cheaper than that), which is half the price of the Warrior or ARB ones. I don't know what the Warrior mount plates look like but the ones on the AO one are decently thick and tie into the frame in a lot more spots than the ARB one. I've only found pictures of it installed on a trimmed front end, but in theory you could run it without trimming fenders or removing the valance. It's def not for everyone, but if you're a cheapo like me and want the functionality but aren't as concerned about aesthetics they have a lot of options. They also have non-winch bumpers and can add a receiver hitch if you want the winch removeable. That said I personally love the ARB. Also, as far as I'm aware the ARB is the only one crash tested. They're made in Australia and they require crash testing for aftermarket bumpers.

This recent renaissance of 2wd street trucks is wonderful, and this one is near the top of the list for me. I've commented on a couple of your FB posts of this truck and I'm still struck at how gorgeous that paint is. Can't wait to see what you have planned for the future.

It's not a bad thing to have the flasher, but just a fyi the Oracle lights don't need the flasher changed. They have resistors built in.

Progress on camping rig v2. Eventually I'd like to get a potable water tank/pump in the unused bit at the head of the sleeping area and a small 12v setup in the spot between the wheel arch and cab on the passenger side. Need another piece of 3/4 to make the removable bit to make the platform go all the way across. I also plan on putting in a long piano hinge so the whole thing can fold in half so i can use the bed easily. Got a phone mount. I also took it out on dirt for the first time since the suspension swap last Saturday. Mainly maintained fire roads, with some unmaintained ones and a little bit of smoother 2 track.

Gorgeous color. Looks like a really capable rig to boot.

I will say on both of my 86s, neither valve had a spring on it. Honestly IDK if I've ever seen one with a spring on it. Also the arm is ruined to the cam as it slots onto an eccentric plastic bushing on the outside of the valve.

V2 of the camping rig is underway. I'm no carpenter, but I think it'll turn out more useful than the last.

Well, the 31x10.5r15 BFG KO2 is only made as a LT now, though I liked the thought of being able to carry more weight. I carry scrap metal and motorcycles fairly often. Plus, the camper top and camping kit that stays on the back 70% of the time. I've carried reno demo loads for friends and new supplies with it as well. The tires have never changed how the handle or behave no matter how much weight I've put in the back. The KO2's are only a C load rating though, so a slightly thinner sidewall. As far as springs go, most companies don't put out spring rates for their coils. Rusty's does and their 4.5" has a lower rate than the 3.5" RE coils I have. Pete is probably right that it may be the short arms or shocks.

The BFG KO2s I have are the LT version. I can say switching to a spring with a better spring rate up front made a light years difference. I also switched from a OE replacement shock to a Bilstein 5100. I didn't notice a change in ride quality switching from the Falkens that were not LTs. I've kept the psi at 30 throughout all the suspension changes. But I have a long bed and keep at least 200-300 extra lbs all the time over the rear.