SBpunk

Getting close to cranking my Comanche over for the first time in over 6 months. New gas tank and empty lines so between letting the lines prime for a few seconds, changing the oil and (maybe) pulling the spark plugs and dumping some MMO down anything else you guys suggest? Thanks

OK got impatient and decided to get the gas tank back in. New tank and straps.

Not 100% but I think just new seals and a block off plate for the vacuum panel on the axle. I'd say go all out and just throw in a new axle but then you're looking at tie rod ends, steering and ball joints.

I'd be a good time to get some solid axle shafts and get rid of the posi lock.

Just did this / in the process of. Brakes are exactly the same with the exception of having the piece that holds your rear load sensing valve. You can use some metal wire/hanger if you want to keep it or can delete it which takes a little more work. You can reuse your ubolt plates with the shock mount in them but you'll need longer ubolts. You should replace them anyway they're pretty weak. Driveshaft will have to be shortened by a few inches. The easiest way to get the right pinion angle with the leaf perches (you're probably going to need to just get new ones) is find someone with a small burner box welder. Get the axle set in with tires and what not and bolt the ubolts to the loose perches snug. Use a floor jack to get your pinion angle and tack weld the perches. Doesn't even have to be pretty just steady enough to where they won't break when you pull everything back out and take the axle to a welder. That's the most difficult and expensive thing to do. I screwed up and didn't put the axle in to get the right pinion angle and had it up a bit too high. Used shims to get the angle back down. Waste of money since I was being lazy.

Ok probably the last update until the weekend unless we get some time off. Gotta wrench on my other beast to fix a power steering leak. On the bright side the comanche is on her own weight no jack stands (notice theres still 4 and a floor jack just incase). Going to torque to spec later and grease the rear shackle. Might move it up a notch too since the larger diameter tube on the 8.25 and the thicker leaf pack under axle dropped the back end a bit more than I expected. Project this week.... fun

Yeah thats what I kept telling everyone when I wasn't too drugged up to talk. Front ones are going on soon too lol. Was worried about the length since I did another inch on my shackles but the 8.8 is going to have the shock tab welded up higher in the back. won't even be maxed out at full droop.

She was inside somewhere. She told me when she found me I was in the wash room (right inside from the garage/house) saying I needed to go to the ER over and over then I picked up my phone and called work to tell them I dropped the truck on myself and thought my collar bone was broken. I don't remember much until I got to the ER. Told the desk I broke my collar bone and needed to sit down then passed out. Woke up to them wheeling me in a wheel chair hitting every bump possible. Thats about when that other pic of the hospital bed was taken.

Made some progress today. Rear tires are about ready to go on. Thanks to hornbrod I was able to get the rubicon shocks off. They don't fit right and was a pain. U bolts were cut down to size and brakes were tightened down. Hopefully by today or tomorrow she'll be on her own weight. Will make it easier to put in the gas tank if I can lift from the axle instead of the unibody.

Dang you lucked out. Hope the jeep was alright. I lucked out too if it would've been any higher my neck would've been snapped. Lower and ribs couldve gone into my heart or something. I don't mess around with jack stands anymore. At least 4 and the floor jack pre positioned.

Mean shoot me a PM with the price with the custom L two stud end and a PayPal address on the 4 gauge

Jack stand that broke on me was old. Didn't have any stickers or anything on it. There was a fracture in the post that I didn't see and when I was messing with the brake lines it cracked in half on me. New jack stands think they're going up to 19 inches or so. Buddy at work bought me a small 2 ton one as a gag gift. Another friend came to the house on Halloween with his kids and a Tonka truck ductaped to his shoulder. I use three ton red jack stands same ones you can get at walmart. At least 4 under the vehicle plus my floor jack itself. Didn't have the heart to tell him he misspelled queso hahaha (I didn't know it meant cheese in Spanish until a few years ago and used to order cheese queso all the time)

Gotcha wasn't sure how much of the prep work they did. Figured this was a pub discussion since its not really tech sorry about posting in the wrong area.

Ok had a couple minutes between work and heading to Kansas decided to get the shackles and shims on for the axle. When the axle was welded up the pinion angle was way to high and from what I've read thats worse than being low. So instead of grinding and getting it re welded I decided shims would work for now. Got a Ford 8.8 4.10 LSD going in the back in a few weeks so not really too concerned. Brake lines tonight, run the breather tube to a higher location, add fluid, drill out the u bolt hangers, slap on the shocks and the tires will be ready to go back on. Axle is sitting on the spring weight for the first time since before the accident. Got some aftermarket u bolts and they ended up being way to short. Got a second set that are stupid long and way thicker so now I have to drill out the plate so they'll fit. Planned on sanding them down anyway.

Has anyone had their truck painted at MAACO? I know they have a rep for being $#!&e but I'm not looking for a 2 grand paint job. Just something that looks decent and can bring the stock colors back while getting rid of some of the surface rust accumulating. Thanks

Of course I didn't save any. I'll take some pics when I pull them out and weld everything together once it all fits decently. Lol yeah took longer than I care to admit and the first couple tries didn't end well. Flight/Fight doesn't really work in that kind of situation just freezing. I keep tires and jack stands all over now and don't work on it unless the wife is home.

Nope I put them in there. Used to have a bench seat but thats sitting in my attic. Used the original driver side bucket seat bracket. The passenger side was half the bench seat bracket and half XJ bracket. Used 1inch square tubing on the inside of the seat instead of the outside to keep it lower. Also used a chunk of the tubing to extend the seat brackets out to line up with the MJ seat bottoms so the back end would sag eventually. Ill see if I can find a pic or two

Appreciate it. I use a few more jack stands now and double check the metal on them for cracks. She'll be back on the weight of the tires here pretty soon as still going to have stands under until the gas tank is back in and the rear drive shaft is pulled.

Empty Post

Long bed is great for every day use. If you're going to off road it chopping the bed down gives your a larger wheel base over shorts. Seems like more people make aftermarket sliders and what not for LWB comanches too for some reason.

Appreciate it. I thought I read something about the housing being different but no one confirmed it. Saves me time. Now I get to just pull the hydraulic steering cooler for the MJ. Is it necessary? No. Is it over kill? Absolutely. Am I still going to do it? Yes. Same reason I'll be running an 8.8 with 31's on a daily driver hahaha

Really? Hmmm might look into it. Was going to do this just until I could get an Eaton but if it isn't an issue I might just do a garage install on a lunchbox locker

I've dealt with them in Alaska and here but never with a NP242. Everyone will say just forget about full time but then what was the point of swapping out the 231 (besides it being busted to hell)

That's what I was thinking. AX15 and auto lockers don't do well in Oklahoma (ice) figured limited slip might be a bit easier and if I can get the whole set up for cheap might be worth attempting.

Is it possible or has anyone tried it? The little research I've been able to find on it leads me to believe it might be. The carrier for the HP/LP are the same part numbers from what I've read. The splines are the same and the length of the shafts shouldn't matter if its going into a HP D30 from a MJ/XJ correct? Thanks