Bornindesert

Just wanted to confirm, that a 91' four door XJ front door fits the 88' Comanche. For $50, I can avoid some body work on my '88 passenger and just prep and reshoot the '91XJ door white. I'm pretty sure they do interchange, but before I buy wanted to ask here. Thanks!

Got mine from RockAuto, there's usually a choice of brands and if possible I stick to Made in USA or....eh, Canada Crimps are pretty fail-proof, can't say it's out of the question but I'd double check everything before calling it on the hose.

I'm cutting the little Swiss cheese out and tacking in some new metal

Zack I have to agree with you, thats one UGLy rust spot. I've got mine sand blasted and found some pine holes but nothing that a cat could jump through

It's definitely SUA, the Chevy drop shackles add 3" over the stock MJ. It's a little more lift then I was looking for so as it sits there's some rake. If I modify the shackles I could drop it back down an inch and level the truck out. Also haven't settled on which shock to run in back so can't say how it's gonna ride just yet.

If you call ask for Joe, he's who I spoke with to relieve the CC discount. Here they are combined with a Chevy drop shackle and 31's. About 5 inch gain.

Definitely like the look overall, lift is tight, paint catches your eye and options like the rear bumper a nice fit with the MIL theme.

If you find a clean 00 or 01 and think you can get it at the price you want, just check it out under the hood. Cracked head warning signs would be new water pump, thermostat, valve cover gasket or generally some recent work. Just want to avoid buying it and finding out later theres a problem.

I never thought of that but agree, driver side gets all the splash from then oncoming lane and Indiana definitely likes to throw down some salt :)

I think it would be pretty tough to cut the frame behind the cab and shorten it. There's too much sweep in the rail and it never really flattens to a point where you could take a section. But, looking at the saddles for the front leaf and the rear shackle, there's some room to slide them forward about 5 inches. It would be some heavy duty spot weld drilling, but I bet you could bust them loose and reweld them 5 inches toward the front. Of course, your left with a wheel well that wouldn't work with the the frame mod. Guess you'd be back to hacking the bed up...

The good.... the Bad...bush hog spit a big hunk of wood in the general direction of my Comanche and the ugly.... Go figure, one side is way worse than the other ? Is 15 y/o too young to start learning body and paint ? Run the sand blaster ? On a serious note, if you've recently used a good body and paint product and really liked it, please post it up. I'll need the usual suspects...phosphate rust prep, filler, primer system, feather fill and a top coat system. Nothing too elaborate, will be Arizona pin striped after a few trail rides in the desert... If this is too techy, ok to move...was really looking for some sympathy on moving towards the next phase of the build.

From the looks of it, punched and plugged with a stopper. Makes sense, JY's must have developed many tricks over the years to combat EPA violations. I'd say that's the answer.

Thanks all for the guidance. The inputs on the 8.25 gave me just enough pause to scout out the D44. Just got lucky on timing as I was in the same boat, couldn't locate one either which was why I was leaning toward the 8.25. Got a chance to open it up today. No issues, nice wear pattern and brakes/rotors are fresh. Pinion pointing down in pic. One weird thing tho, there's a rubber stopper located in the cover which looked factory, a drain so you don't need to remove the cover. But from the inside, after a took the cover off, looks like a .45 cal round made the hole! Anyway, was curious if anyone's seen a drain hole in their d44. I'll have to post up a pic. Maybe this Comanche was in gun fight lol

Well, $300 was the deal I got for the D44 that's straight up 91 Comanche. Guess the only bonus was its a TruTrack carrier (thought it was open), and it's been freshened up with bearings, seals, brakes and drums. The WJ was nice enough to bring home the MJ's new rear end, hope she likes it!

Couple of reasons...in Arizona battery life is like 2 years and when they go they go, no fun getting stuck out in the desert after getting back from Dove hunting or whatever. With a pair of jumpers, you can self start. That plus I'm building my old 88 for my teenage son and so...it's an added layer of "McGeiver" just in case stuff happens. That and being a kid, there's already an mono amp and sub that's weazeled its way into the cab. They can draw a battery down fast, so I'd wire the sub amp to the house battery.

Update: Picking up an MJ rear D44 tonight afterwork...guy mentioned in this thread came down to $320. Taps me out for this week, but the money and time saved to convert the $150 Chrysler 8.25 over to the MJ is probably worth it. Getting an extra driveshaft thrown in would have been nice! Still think the 8.25 is a good option tho, like the 3" axle tubes and the rear just looks beefy...comparted to the D35. appreciate the inputs!

Good suggestion, actually wasn't even thinking about a Motorcycle or ATV battery as a second source. The MJ battery holder is pretty much set up for a full size big battery. I bet you could just about sneak a smaller top terminal car battery in there next to say an ATV 12V. Hmmmm. I'll have to check out what's out there for the street rod batteries - thanks!

Haha, yeah I'm still at work so will have to wait until I get home to crack a brew and read the write-up. Thanks guys! ftpiercecracker1, do you run a dual battery set-up down there in FLA?

I've never really paid to much attention to the Diesel Comanches, mainly because I've not come across one or an owner of one. That said, most of the diesel tractors, back-hoes and trucks i've owned ran a dual battery set-up. Question - does the Comanche Diesel engine option have a dual battery set-up? Was just curious if anyone adopted it to thier 4.0L or has done a dual battery conversion.

87Warrior appreciate the reference points on both axles!

And I also found a D44 out of a Comanche, 3.54 ratio and the guy is firm at $400. Any inputs on what others have picked up a used D44 for?

Thanks - and by common you mean it's a very common axle, lots of them out there so negotiate accordingly yup yup?

http://images.craigslist.org/3K33G73J15Ne5K55F6d3l890c7682b3cc1735.jpg Here's a pic

Found a complete 2000 xj 8.25 Axle, it's an open carrier, 29 spline axles, 3.55 ratio. It's been dropped out of a stock xj, comes with the brakes, drums, eBrake cables. This will be a spare for my current D35 in the MJ, or I'll build it with a locker and just swap it in. Does $150 sound reasonable for this used Axle?

Definitely Cherry!