coheed

Then, unfortunately, I had to start heading home. Stayed in Northern NM for a day and a half and my only fellow campers were the birds and chipmunks. Same story in Oklahoma. Only had a family of geese with 2 goslings for company. Oh, and this guy. Stayed at a gorgeous state park in TN that I'd like to revisit.

The sixth and seventh nights I stayed in Kaibab national forest but spent all my waking time in the Grand Canyon. Hiking, taking in sights and seeing wildlife and nature. Accidentally interrupted a pair of grouse mating in the middle of the road. These Kaibab squirrels are the cutest things I've seen in my life. Size comparison of a lifted Comanche with a sizable camper vs what's considered a medium sized sprinter van. Watching the sunset in the Grand Canyon was simply amazing. I stayed so long after the sun had gone down to star gaze, I realized I had been the only person on that side of the park for over an hour. And it was still another hour and fifteen drive back to camp from there.

I wanted a real shower at least a few days on the trip so the fifth and sixth nights I found a decently cheap 70's themed motor inn in Flagstaff. Had some good pizza. But one of the main reasons I stayed in Flagstaff instead of going straight to the Grand Canyon was to pick up my Ovrlnd camper I had built. For years I've gone a few different routes on camping setups in this truck, and I didn't like them for one reason or another. Camper tops are hard to come by and don't really give me as much room as I wanted. I bought the Coleman pop up for the extra room, but admittedly I bit off more than I wanted to chew with that project. This is useable as is, and I retain full use of the bed while it's installed on the truck. It came in at only 340 pounds, so much lighter than 99% of campers of comparable space. And they custom build it to the truck's dimensions, so it fits perfectly. I've measured the 86 trailers bed, and it should also be able to be swapped onto any other longbed if something happens to this one. First addition to the camper. I decided to do the North Rim instead of the south. Two reasons, people and weather. Never been a huge fan of crowds and the Grand Canyons south rim is one of the most visited places on earth. Also, can't stand the heat and the North Rim was about 15 degrees colder on average the few days I was there. But the North Rim is much further drive than the south. On the way up the truck started to overheat a bit. I think the altitude, the prolonged driving at high speed, and the outside temps were to blame. This thing is used to just puttering up a mountain, not doing 75 in a desert at 7000ft. So, my solution was to get more air flowing through the engine bay. I pulled over, loosened the hood, and stacked quarters between the hinge and the hood. I didn't have any washers, which is what I wanted to do, but I had these left over from going to the laundry mat the day before. For a total of $3.50 this dropped the coolant temps by 10-15 degrees and the truck never really got over 210 for the rest of the trip as long as I kept adjusting ignition timing and paying attention. The Colorado First time popping the camper at camp. No matter how many times I drive across this country I'm still amazed at how beautiful some of it can be. Not a bad spot to cook and eat dinner.

So, the main reason I have this Comanche aside from sentimental reasons is so that I have a decently capable camping/ getting way out to get away vehicle. And two weeks ago, I did exactly that. I packed all my stuff up and headed out on a road trip, destination: The Grand Canyon. I stayed in two state parks, four national forests, and visited two national parks. The first two nights I stayed in Alabama and Texas. Crossing the Mississippi Halfway through Texas the smokers window bonding gave up the ghost, so I stopped and fixed it with RTV. These picnic areas in TX are life savers sometimes. Third and fourth night I stayed just outside Roswell. You don't really realize how much light pollution you deal with until you're somewhere without any. Not the best example of astrophotography, but not bad for a phone. And of course, had to hit up the Official UFO Musem to see what they had going on. The fifth day I made my way to Flagstaff but went through Petrified Forest National Park, where I got to see this Willy's pickup that was originally used as a fire fighter truck. Unfortunately, it's been parked there for about 8 years, but the attendant said they have plans to fix it, and the rest of the small fleet they have, up. Original Rt 66 poles. Got a surprise treat coming back from a short walking detour. A mated pair of ravens deemed my truck the proper place to do some grooming with each other. It's crazy seeing remnants of trees that predate a lot of dinosaurs.

There's also the option of getting an auto Camaro and getting an adapter from Novak to run a Jeep transfer case on the back of the 4l60e if you want a transmission with overdrive. That's the route I'm going. The Novak kit includes all the parts necessary to keep the factory Camaro PCM to run the engine and control the transmission. The 93 Camaros can also be found with the 3.4 and the 4l60 with no e, meaning that it's not electronically controlled, so less wiring would be necessary.

It was the McGraw compact one here. I got that because I was worried about the longer one not fitting or working as well in the trans tunnel

So the 16 and the 23 are actually the same size. The vent tube is just lower in the tank making it so you can't fill it up as much. I had a 16 in my 86 and swapped a 23 in with no issues.

@jaredt37 unfortunately no. It's still mid restore and other things have taken priority. I've also realized it's not exactly what I needed out of a camper so I'm going a different route. That said, it's for sale with all the parts I've bought so far for anyone that's interested in it.

Brand new windshield with the rubber gasket. It's like having glasses for the first time. OEM slider. Having more airflow without a/c is great. Mostly complete interior. This is the most interior I've ever had in this truck lol. I want to get some carpet and make a back panel out of plywood or something so I can mount stuff on it. The headliner from @a1500ram fits great and matches the honey perfectly. Gonna slap some spare industrial carpet squares a buddy has on the dog platform tomorrow before we head out for a weekend camping trip.

It's a stock D35. It may be the icon wheels too. They're only 16x7. The wheels look super sunken in especially coming from the 8 inch wide gamblers and inch wider tires.

I mean if time and money are no object the best option would be to cut the fiberglass and extend it to meet the cab. That's a lot of work for a $20 cap though.

That's much better. Ended up with a set of 235/85r16 Sumitomo encounter at's. They're essentially a 32x9.5x16. I wanted to get some 215/85r16s, but I ended up getting these on closeout cheaper than the cheapest 215/85s discount or tire rack had. Even with an E load rating they ride way better than the stock size KO2s on the wheels when I got them and the 31x10.5x15 KO2s that were on the gamblers. They're mostly road biased but had good rain and snow reviews, so we'll see. 80% of my driving is on road and the other 20 is mostly fsr or decently maintained 2 track, so I didn't feel like I needed to go with as aggressive of a tread as the KO2s. They're much quieter than the KO2s, so that's nice. They don't rub the control arms while turning since they're skinnier. We'll see if they rub anywhere else down the road.

I would need honey for my interior, no clue what filament would match that. Suppose they could always be painted. I have a smooth pei sheet on mine and the factory magnetic sheet that creality has that makes a little texture, but it's not as rough or close to original as yours.

Parking this thing next to modern lifted jeeps really shows how small this truck is.

That's fantastic. Are you gonna make these available for purchase, either the finished ones or an stl? What kind of build plate are you using for that surface finish?

Scraped of the rear cab seams as @ghetdjc320 recommended. Pretty clean compared to the floor and firewall. Got a used toolbox to throw my stuff in when the camper isn't on the back. Reinstalled the front flares with new Crown hardware. They weren't the best quality, but got the job done. Since my flares are cut I had to mod the front retainer a bit Built a little platform for my dog and it gives me a little storage spot in it. Getting some new tires tomorrow, and a new windshield Tuesday. The shops also gonna swap my back window out for the slider.

I ordered one maybe 4 years ago and have had no issue with mine. Not the best welds, but they're fine. The "skin" of the bumper is 14ga at best, but the frame is much thicker. Very minimal silicone to cover seams on it. I assume with everything in the last few years they've switched to a different production facility that doesn't have the same QC, but hopefully yours is a one-off miss. I would try and get it swapped without paying on my part and hope I don't get a crappy one. If the second was the same quality, I'd get my money back. I know a few people that work in aerospace and power generation facility building and they are struggling with these issues, so it's easy to assume a company that sells bumpers would have the same problems.

Appreciate the tip. I'll try and scrape it off today and see what mine looks like.

A few years ago when he was still doing them, I had Jeremy restore the original deck in my truck and add an aux input. I chose to go with Rockford Fosgate RFBTRCA transmitter. It simply has a 3.5mm audio output and power input. It's much smaller than I expected, and I just double sided taped it in the back of the glovebox. It would only work if you have an aux input, but it's a good cheap option.

Got driven to work for the first time in forever. Need to get the flares and front liners reinstalled. Don't want crud building up in the freshly cleaned out rockers. These tires are way too tiny

Told myself I was done messing with the truck for the night, but couldn't stop myself from fiddling around. Pulled down my door cards and some of my interior panels so I could clean them off. Ended up putting my door cards on. They're ratty and the PO installed some really large Jensen grills. The window crank hits, but all that said crappy door cards are better than the none I've been running for like 2 years

Got the lower dash and wiring done. New shift boots for the tower and in the cab. Got the center console and the driver's seat mounts in. Need to get some hardware to bolt the seats to the brackets. Reinstalled both fenders with new hardware and a little anti-seize and got the header panel and wiring back in for the front end. Feels good to not have it on stands again. Need to get a few things buttoned up and should be getting a new windshield installed this week and the shop will also be swapping in the rear slider I've had laying around for a while. Really need to get some carpet for this thing.

Was under the dash today and figured out it's actually a brace for the clutch master cylinder. I assume these are only on 84-86 years since the later clutch cylinders have vertical mounting holes as opposed to horizontal ones. Although I can't find mention of it in my 84-86 parts manual . I'll leave this picture here to hopefully help someone in the future.

So I spent an hour combing through the parts manual and could figure out where it goes. I also spent about an hour or so looking at as many pictures I could find of 86 MJs to see if I could find a good one from under the steering column and couldn't. I distinctly remember removing the arm and thinking "why is it so much rustier than the other 2" so I'm fairly convinced it's a steering column brace. Could anyone with an 86 grab a shot under the dash to see if you have a 3rd brace installed?

Got the dash buttoned up aside from radio antenna. Added a blue sea systems dual USB 12v source for charging. Swapped the fog light switch with one for an XJ back wiper, that way I can supply constant power on one throw and use the momentary throw to flash the fog lights instead of trying to use the high beams. I decided to go with a mid 80s S10 steering wheel. I've always loved the way they looked and since the splines are lower than center on the wheel, it will give me a bit more leg room. Much more with the tilt column as well. Also added delay wipers with the "new" column.