Pete M

Is this the half-ton Dana 44 (with radius arms) or the 3/4 ton Dana 44 (with leaf springs)?

Yup. It was in pretty rough shape.

I always leave a calling card with the junkyard MJs I see. 8) MJs have a tendency of attracting the attention of MJ junkies. I see it still works. :D

I had to put something in that correlates with the post count. You crossed over from the 25-to-50 "can spell" to the 50-150 "comanche fan". Essentially it's meaningless. You could have put in your sig and avatar from the very start. :thumbsup: If you have any difficulties with the avatar, just email the original photo (along with your screen name so I don't screw it up) to me and I'll take care of the rest. :cheers: petermontie@hotmail.com

Rule #1: Only wheel where you are explicitly allowed to wheel. Rule #2: Never wheel alone. Rule #3: Use your head and look before you leap. It's easier than you think to get yourself helplessly mired if you don't follow #3. If you go farther than your longest strap and someone needs to venture in to help, there's a chance you can both get stuck. Sanctioned muddin' events are the best. There always seems to be one of these around (I'm referring to the dozer, not the Bronco, but either one will do :D ):

Yup. In base models.

The addresses will look like this (but with IMG tags):

Make sure you get all the bolts. It makes the job much harder if you miss one. :roll: I know. Also, PB blaster (or other rust penetrant) is your friend. :D

He's got an 86 with the v6, it should be an AX-5 (with a tiny, tiny theoretical chance of a T-5).

It's important to know your spokes from your holes.

that aint true lol they may not be legal tho lol :brows: True dat. That place out on brest rd was pretty sweet. Too bad they closed it off.

He might have had the 4.6L in there. That engine SUCKS in a fullsize truck. My uncle had one a few years back and it couldn't get out of its own way.

There's no wilderness in my town either. I gotta drive. :(

My water pump had maybe 10 thousand miles on it when the bearings went. :dunno: That's why I didn't think I needed to worry 'bout it. There are different categories of failures: What could fail and leave me totally stranded? (bad CPS, blown rad hose, hole in bottom of gas tank, busted drivetrain parts if I'm on a really tough trail, etc) What could fail and make life hard, but still might let me get to civilization? (flat tire, slight leak in radiator, busted drivetrain parts if I can be yanked by a buddy back to the main road to call for a tow truck) The waterpump started leaking half way through my last day of wheeling. I figured no problem, I've got extra water. Then it started throwing the belt the next day on the way home. No problem, I can easily pull over and put it back on. Then, a few hours into the drive, it started eating the ribs off the belt one at a time. No problem, I've got a spare belt. I finally gave up when I had two 4-ribbed belts and there was a truck stop up ahead. If I was closer to home than 11 hours, I would have been able to limp home. As it is I got within a couple hours of home and called for a buddy to come out and give me a ride to the store. Swapped in another pump and away we went. I still don't carry a spare water pump. But I do have another replacement belt. :brows:

You routed power through a relay, yes?

Everything heavy in my truck is thoroughly secured. :D I bet my life on it.

Out of curiosity, have you set up gears before?

See here: http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11077

What don't I carry. I'm sure that list would be shorter. I carry all of the typical wheeling failure items (stuff like U-joints, shafts, ti-rods; both Ford for me and Jeep for other people) as well as typical automotive failure items (fuses, relays, light bulbs, tire plug kit, radiator hose repair kit, etc) and then I also carry the typical maintenance items (a brake bleeding kit, funnels, various fluids like oil, grease, water, etc). And don't forget the tools needed to carry out these repairs (floor jack, a pipe for extra leverage, hi-lift, silicone, toolbox) and items like bailing wire, duct tape, etc. On long trips where I drove the truck I've even been known to carry weird items like spare ECUs, E-fans, a headlight, even a complete engine gasket kit (it was in the garage and took up almost no space in the truck box, how could I not take it? :roll: ). Whatever will fit in the boxes in the bed. I don't like relying on the kindness of strangers if I don't have to. And yes, my truck weighs a lot. I don't mind that at all. :D A few quick failure stories off the top of my head: When the E-fan decided to not come on (never did figure out why) in the dunes, I dug a switch out of my box of goodies and hard wired the fan to the battery for the duration. I blew a bead on one trip and had to search out someone with air to re-seat it (there were a few hundred people around so it wasn't a huge deal). As soon as I got home I bought a Co2 tank and have since re-seated my own as well as others' tires. I've handed out a fuel pump relay to a Jeeper in need. When the Fram oil filter decided to fail on me I didn't have any oil or a filter or a pan to catch oil in. Now I have a full oil change (and the tools to do it) with me at all times. The one thing that failed and I didn't have a spare was that water pump on the return trip from Moab. Worse part is that someone actually mentioned that in their list of what they thought I should bring and I thought I'd be fine. :roll:

Taz did a write up on the procedure. It might take a couple tries, but once you get the hang of it it's easy. :D http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?t=11077

That'll happen. :D

For what it's worth, the "C" in Dana 35C doesn't stand for C-clip. It stands for "custom". Apparently Chrysler was ordering incomplete axles from Dana and that's how Dana was labeling them. Or something like that.

I did that to the ol' Escort back in the day while pushing it out of the garage. :roll: Not too bad, but enough to wrinkle the fender a bit. And friends of my sister did that to my 86 MJ. They clipped the door on a tree while pushing it in their backyard. If I remember right, I believe that was the last time I ever loaned out a truck to anyone. :mad:

Yup. The AM radio came standard with 2 speakers.

5 1/4"ers in the doors, 4x6"ers behind the seats in the side panels