jeepcoma

Agreed... when and why was it replaced? Also, how did you verify no spark? Best way is with an induction timing light over the plug wires to check if they're firing while the plus are in the combustion chambers under normal conditions. If you're just assuming no spark because you have fuel and compression, it could just be spark at the wrong time; distributor hold-down bolt loose, causing the dist to slowly walk out of timing until it no longer restarts, distributor installed at TDC of the exhaust stroke, vacuum advance port frozen at full advance... If there's no spark whatsoever, I'd check a few simple things first like the plug wire from the coil to the tower is good and tight, the hot leads to the coil aren't all corroded and are in fact properly connected (I had a problem once where the hot 12+V wire wasn't properly crimped into the terminal, if you went around corners a certain way the wire would break the connection and there'd be no spark until you straightened out and the engine would come back to life). Then there are always computer issues, but I know nothing about the Renix.

There were a bunch of threads on this recently. The consensus was to NOT use regular motor oil; despite similar viscosity properties of 10w-30 and 80w-90 (oil and gear have different measures for viscosity, they are not directly comparable) motor oil is for a pressurized pumping system while gear oil is made for lubrication systems where the oil is flung around to lubricate and then crushed up by gears meshing together. Royal purple is good stuff if you don't mind spending the money (it's all I put in my Camaro), I'll be sticking with much more affordable Lucas Oil when I change the fluid in my AX-15.

One question though, you said the front wheels turn together. Did you mean that they both spin the same direction, or just that when one spins the other does too? If they are spinning in opposite directions, you have an open front diff as well.

I finished my rear axle swap today after way too much time spent on it. Everything that could have been wrong, was wrong. Not to mention, working in the cold sucks. My friend let me use his garage at least, so I was out of the wind, but it's still a cold hard floor to be lying on. Beats my driveway any day though, I'm not complaining. And the combination of our tools meant we had all sorts of ways to screw things ups. I'm not sure where all my pics are at the moment I just grabbed the ones my wife took, but if I don't get around to uploading them now I probably won't ever so here are a few photos and details about this phase of the project. This picture was actually last weekend, my first attempt to do the swap. Here's my truck loaded up with tools, air compressor, the new axles, 4-ton jack, some jackstands, fluids, cleaners, and various other crapola. This is why I love the longbed. First attempt was an utter failure. It turns out that a mixture of cow manure and dirt has properties similar to JB weld when applied to car parts. The death toll was two 1/2" adapters total (one was a few weeks ago when I first got it and thought I'd just pop the wheels off to take a look at the brakes. I just sheared it off on the first lug I tried since I was too lazy to find the right 1/2" socket to do the job) and my favorite 3' pvc pipe breaker bar. Before we new any better, we tired the air impact gun first, figuring the nuts were just on there pretty tight. Maybe they had never been removed in 150k miles though, given everything we went through. Most of the lug nut covers were already damaged which made finding the right socket to fit very difficult, but after a few tries we eventually figured out a system: find a tight socket, drive it on with a sledgehammer so that it can't slip, and then with the 1/2" breaker bar and an additional 4-or-so-foot metal rod prybar on the end we could break the torque on the lug nut. Once they were loose, remove the nut the rest of the way with the 1/2" ratchet, and then the fun part of getting the socket off the lug nut it had been hammered onto. Repeat 10 times. Not sure when this picture was, might have been last week. As you can see, all the lug nuts are off but the wheel is still on. About those wheels. If I didn't know any better, I'd say a friend of mine was playing a practical joke on me and welded the wheels to the axles, because nothing, and I mean nothing, will get those off. I had been PB Blasting all week, but it did nothing. We tried hammers. When the hammers didn't work, we tried bigger hammers. When those didn't work, we torched. We hit from the top, from the bottom, from the inside out and both at once while torching, and every time more PB Blaster. As a last resort, we drove around with the lug nuts off (well they were there to keep the wheel falling off, but they were not in contact with the wheel). I hit every bump, nailed every pothole, did donuts in the parking lot and slammed on the brakes as hard as I could. There's no way I can apply more torque to those wheels than that, so that was the end of it: time to buy new wheels and tires (which I had wanted to do anyway, just not now when I'm completely scrapped for both time and money). I picked up some decent turbine wheels with some decent Hankook H714 tires from board member comanche87 not too far from me in East Providence. He bought an XJ to do a 4x4 swap on his MJ, but didn't need them so I got what I needed to continue my own project. After the trouble with the wheels, it was no surprise that I had problems with some other things. Strangely enough though, it was the little things that took the longest, like trying to get the parking brake equalizer free. The locknut loosed about 1/8 of a turn, then was completely frozen. It was so frozen that when I had a breaker bar on the nut trying to loosed it, the square end of the threaded rod twisted instead. I was trying to save the parking brake cables, but ended up cutting them in the morning. Once I did that, I was able to get a cutting wheel up in there and cut the locknut off the rod, and then wire wheel the rest of it and clean it up. I spent a lot of time doing these sort of things, which is a pain in the butt now when I thought everything would go smooth but is the right thing to do in the end. So anyway I did get the rest off. All the suspension pieces were pretty easy, the spring perches and leaves I had no trouble with. Here I am after a total of about... way too many hours, finally relieved that the old axle was out. Past the point of no return, the only thing to do now is put the new one in. Old axle: New axle: First though, some stress relief: And that's all it accomplished. Me: 0 Wheel: about 4 or 5 Get outta here! These shocks are beat. But re-using them for now. Installation was mostly straightforward, some shuffling back and forth and up and down to get things right, with some minor twists (I did buy the axles from board member Twisty though, so I should have expected it). It was modified for SOA as well as SUA, but the shock mount for the SOA setup blocked the shock from the stock location mount on the passenger's side. Also the hangers I had needed to be trimmed a bit so I could get some sockets over, so that added more time. And at the very end, the long brake line was leaking at the block, which I discovered after bleeding the brakes and thinking I was all excited to finish, and all the hardware stores were closed so I had to wait another day. New wheels, tires, and rear axle. Next up later this week, swapping the front axle!

Swapped my stock D35 open 3.07 to a D44 3.55 w/aussie locker. :thumbsup: The front gets swapped later this week. I hope it's less trouble than the rear, and that I don't need 4wd between now and then.

Warwick RI here, right near the malls.

This weekend I hope to swap both front and rear axles on my '91. I've got stock 3.07s in an open D35 (w/C-clips) and D30 rear and front, to be replaced with 3.55 w/ Aussie lockers front and rear in a D44 rear and a D30 w/ 297x solid axles in the front (no CAD) (which I bought from board member Twisty :thumbsup: ). I had planned to do the rear last week, but was stymied by the fact that the rear wheels are frozen solid to the hub. Seriously, I mean it's as if someone took a welder and welded those suckers on. No amount of torching, beating with sledge hammers front and rear, saturating with PB Blaster, and driving around with the lug nuts loosened would get those things off (the lug nuts were apparently tightened with tectonic forces, it took a 4 foot metal pipe breaker bar over a 1/2" breaker bar to get those suckers loose). The entire day was wasted trying to get those wheels off and in the end we got nowhere with it. I'm in a bit of a time crunch to get the truck reinspected so I bought some new (better, 235/75R15 turbines) wheels (from board member comanche87 :thumbsup: ) and so hopefully will have an easier time just leaving the wheels on the old axles, removing the axles, and then putting in the new axle and wheels. That being said, are there any tips for axle removal and installation? Do I need a spring compressor to safely do the front? I've been shooting everything with PB blaster to loosen stuff up. Nothing is really rusted, it's just caked with stale cow crud from the dairy farm I bought it at which seems to have the properties of JB weld. I may or may not try to take the front wheels off before removal of the axle. For those of you that have done this before, can you think of any tips you learned after doing it that would speed things up? Special tools you rigged up to get things done? Things you wished you had known before starting?

How are the bumpers? Not sure when I can get over there but I definitely need parts.

I need stuff! Maybe I can swing by some time soon and get some dibs on things.

Might want to replace the ball joints, you can get all four for about $200 through amazon.com. Check out this post: viewtopic.php?p=139216#p139216 About seals, I too was confused so I started this thread: viewtopic.php?f=2&t=13917

That's a great suggestion, the old fans suck down quite a bit of HP. Going electric will probably have a noticeable affect on highway fuel economy if not power as well. As far as exhaust, ditching the stock manifold for some shorty headers (if there are even any made for this engine) and replacing the crush bend pipes with a nice 2.5" (maybe 2.25" or 2.75", you'd have to do some research for the optimal size) mandrel bent system from start to finish, and a quality cat and muffler will probably give you some noticeable improvements.

Removed my steering column to replace it with another I had bought... only to find out the new one didn't fit. So I got to put my broken one back in while it was raining. Progress? None.

Not sure how much is available for the 2.5, and how much of a difference it will make. For the 258 the GM HEI conversion was pretty popular (I did it to mine, really loved the results) and I plan on seeing whether the same conversion will work for the 4.0. There might be a similar route you can take with the 2.5 but it might not have much effect (if any). I wouldn't bother with multiple prong plugs, just stick with some quality platinum plugs (for longevity) or super-fine tip iridium plugs... if you notice a difference with standard good plugs vs iridiums, then you may in fact have something to gain by replacing a stock or tired coil and wires. Of course, if you're replacing worn-out stock components, you'll notice improvements whenever you replace it. I think any real measurable improvements will be difficult to come by though, and very pricey. You'd probably need something like the MSD control module and all supporting accessories to go with it. For the money, I think you'd be better off improving the exhaust.

I think it's about time to start a thread about my truck since I've been doing a few things here and there and have lots more to do. Hopefully I'll be posting lots of pictures as I progress, and maybe now that I actually started a thread I'll get around to sitting down and writing what I do. So far I haven't done a whole lot, just a few little things. First of course I bought the truck from a dairy farmer in NH and drove it home. It had just about everything I was looking for: long bed (I wanted a work/utility oriented truck, not an off-roader) w/ cap in good condition, 5 speed manual, 4x4 (my best winter vehicle at present is my motorcycle with sidecar), and high output 4.0 that has been well maintained along with the rest of the truck at ~140k miles. Overall the body is in good condition, though the interior is trashed because of the accumulated cow poo tracked in. Sadly once I really started cleaning the inside I discovered that under the rubber mats, the floor was still soaked in water, so I'm guessing I'll have at least one floorboard to fix up (judging from underneath the truck too). I will have my friend who owns a body shop handle those repairs since I'm not set up for it, and one large dent along the top of the trunk bed, but I'll be handling all the little dents and dings and few surface rust spot areas. I got the build sheet information from Chrysler and here's what they said: Thank you for contacting the Chrysler Customer Assistance Center regarding the build sheet for your 1991 Jeep Comanche. We appreciate the time and effort you took to write to us. In response to your email regarding the build sheet for your vehicle, we would like to inform you that according to our records your vehicle was equipped from the factory with the following: Skid Plate Group Monotone Paint Kicker/SRT Livin' Loud Audio System 75 Amp Alternator Nickel Metal Hydride Battery Power Front Disc/Rear Drum Brakes Straight Back Bench Seat Carpets - Floor and Cargo Area Mini Floor Console All Manual Transmissions 5-Speed Manual Transmission Command-Trac Part Time 4WD System Dana M30/181MM Front Axle 3.07 Axle Ratio 175MM Rear Axle 4.0L Power Tech I-6 Engine Tinted Glass Windows Tinted Windshield Glass Front Door Tinted Glass Front Left Side Sliding Window Rear Sliding Window Left Painted Mirror Driver Mirror Heater w/Instrument Pnl Ventilation Analog Instrument Cluster 85 MPH Primary Speedometer Var Intermittent Windshield Wipers Cigar Lighter Shift Indicator Warning Lamp Glove Box Lamp Halogen Headlamps Black Front Bumper Black Front Bumper Front License Plate Bracket Black Grille Black Windshield Moldings Upper Door Frame Moldings Belt Moldings Body Color Drip Trough Molding Federal Emissions EVAP Control System All Radio Equipped Vehicles AM/FM Cassette Radio 4 Speakers Power Rack and Pinion Steering 2-Spoke Soft Feel Steering Wheel Standard Duty Shock Absorbers Rear Shock Absorbers Tilt Steering Column Full Size Spare Tire Tire Carrier Winch P215/75R15 OWL All Terrain Tires Michelin Brand Tires 15X7.0 Styled Steel Wheels All Steel Wheels Pickup Box 5 Additional Gallons of Gas Rear Spring Group I There was also a safety recall on the front disc brakes, apparently they aren't properly plated, can corrode from the salt on the roads during winter here, and separate. I took the truck for inspection and failed safety: the parking brake wouldn't hold and the front needed all four ball joints (so they said). Rather than buying new ball joints and having them rip me off to install them, I bought some axles from Twisty here on the forum and they are perfect for me: 3.54 ratio to upgrade my 3.07 stock, the front with a 1-piece 297x axles and u-joints and the rear an upgraded D44 with the same ratio to replace my c-clip D35, w/ Aussie lockers front and rear. I'm excited to put those in but need to replace the seals first, since they are leaking a bit. I also bought some upgrade items from another board member, a full gauge cluster which I've successfully adjusted the odometer on to match the true mileage (I'll try to do a writeup on this, since I haven't seen one for the electronic clusters, only mechanical speedos). Also my tilt column had extreme slack in it (which failed inspection as well) so I bought a replacement to swap in. Pictures and more to come!

X was '86 only, trim levels went "Custom", "X", and "XLS" was the premium. I've never found anything that says what each trim level comes with other than stickers and decals though, but I think it's supposed to have full gauges and "premium" sound system (AM/FM/Cassette w/ stereo speakers). I'd pay more attention to the options it actually came with rather than the "package level" because with AMC/Jeep it seems like the buyer could mix and match whatever options he wanted into any package.

Yah I'm a little confused too... I plan on stopping there on my way home from work today, I'm trying to make sure I order the right parts. :???:

Ok, so I think I've got this figured out. For the front, I need seals for that fit the non-disconnect version (because they are 297 axle shafts in a regular disconnect housing), which are interchangeable left and right. That would be part number 710068 or equivalent. For the rear though there's more confusion (for me anyway). Are there four seals for this, two inner (to hold the gear oil in the pumpkin and out of the tubes) and two outer (to keep dirt out of the tubes)? Autozone lists three: Timken / Wheel Seal - Rear 9912S $11.99 Application: Dana/Spicer 44 axle Note: Outer Timken / Wheel Seal - Rear 481837 $4.99 Application: Dana/Spicer 44 axle Note: Inner Timken / Wheel Seal - Rear 2689S $17.99 Application: Dana/Spicer 44 axle I think the inner and outer makes sense, but what's this 2689S part for? These are the only details listed, there was no other information I could find.

Yes. The mechanical driven speedo is easy to roll back the odometer on though. I'm doing it on a '91 with the electronic version and it's a lot more complicated, but there are a few writeups for the version you need. Try this one: http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t ... e+odometer And there are plenty more writeups with more details to be found.

Besides the obvious (usb CD drive, which not everyone wants to lug around) another option involves using two computers. Buy a 1 gig SD card (they are super cheap, and should come with a USB adapter for your host computer in case it doesn't have a built in SD reader). On the host computer with the cd drive, insert the CD you want to install and take an image of the disc (usually an iso or img file extension) and save it to the SD card, then put the card into your new compy and mount the image with a virtual CD drive such as daemon tools lite (it's free). Ta da!

The before and after image is linked to the same image file :???: Is that the joke part, that it did absolutely no damage?

Ok thanks. I'm looking at Advance Autopart's site, they list three two part numbers for the front: Part No. 710068 National Oil Seal Front Axle; Left Disconnect or Non-Disconnect; Right Non-Disconnect; Spicer 30-AF 7.125" R.G.; Part No. 710202 National Oil Seal Front Axle; Right; Spicer 30-AF 7.125" R.G.; Disconnect Obviously I need the 710068 for the front left (which is the only one leaking, so maybe I'll just fix that now), but would I still use the Disconnect seal for the right or Non-Disconnect (or would it not matter?) They also list 3 SKF oil seals: Part No. 11899 SKF Oil Seal Axle Shaft Seal: Front; Four Wheel Drive (4x4); Without Disconnect Axle; 2 Required Per Vehicle Part No. 15843 SKF Oil Seal Axle Shaft Seal: Front; Right Hand; 2.131 Inch O.D.; Four Wheel Drive (4x4); Disconnect Axle; 2 Required Per Vehicle Part No. 16083 SKF Oil Seal Axle Shaft Seal: Front; Right Hand; 2.286 Inch O.D.; Four Wheel Drive (4x4); Disconnect Axle; 2 Required Per Vehicle Are these worth twice the price over the national oil seal version? How would I know which I need? Note: advance is just down the street from where I work and can walk there during lunch, which is the only reason I'm checking parts there (they don't have any in stock anyway). I'm also close to Autozone, Napa, and e-distributors; I just need the seals by Monday to get going on this. Thanks guys

Thanks for the link! The solid axle conversion had already been done, and the leak is only on the driver's side outer seal, so it should be far less troublesome. I was considering just doing them all while I had the chance but time crunch will probably mean I only get to fix the ones that are leaking.

I bought some axles from Twisty here on the board and they've got some weeping outer seals I'd like to replace before installing them. Any recommendations for brands? I've found sets from National Oil Seal and Timken among other generic brands. I know there are differences between front left and right for CAD axles, but it's for a D30 with upgraded 1-piece axles, so are the outer left and right seals interchangeable? The rear is a D44, I'm pretty sure the outer seals are interchangeable but is there a preferred brand or piece?

I agree, I've seen plenty of Pioneers with idiots lights (mine own included, confirmed by the build sheet and VIN). I did a lot of searching and really couldn't find any definite source as to what actual differences there were between the different "levels" of MJs (except the Eliminator). It seems like you could order any package with any option you wanted, and there's a considerable about of overlap. $1200 for a 2wd seems like a good price for a good body with the cap, it's far nicer than anything I've seen in my area at the same price. Just my preference, but if you're going with an auto the column shifter is the way to go. Headliner is easy to fix, idiot lights are easy to replace (or some nice aftermarket gauges perhaps?). They're just some minor projects to get your started :thumbsup:

I thought some '86 models came with a full time 4wd option?