glundblad

Bored with a Comanche? I've never heard that. :hmm:

It seems to produce much more results than it did previously on the same search criteria. Dunno why.

How much lift can you do to the front of an MJ before you need to start swapping out things other than the shocks or run the risk of DW?

Very valid question. I wanted to remove them because I didnt think I would be able to get new links slid over those spacers in the bolts. Those links were very tight even though the bolt was removed. There was no way I was getting new ones on without replacing those rusty bolts too.

I am in the process of replacing my sway bar. I was able to successfully unbolt it from the frame. As I unbolted the sway bar ends from the sway bar links, I snapped one of the links off. So I thought now would be a great time to replace those too. I am trying to unbolt the vertical sway bar links from the front axle. IT APPEARS there is a nut and star bolt holding them on. I can take the bolt off but the sway bar link will not loosen and the star bolt will not turn, EVEN WITH THE NUT OFF. :wall: I fear I am stripping the guts out of the star bolt. I have PB blasted it all week and put a torch on it for about a minute. It will still not turn. Is that bolt theated in that hole? I have tried tapping it with a hammer too. It acts like it is welded on. I am trying to keep my composure but my head is getting sore from repeatably ramming my forehead into my bumper from frustration. Any help would be appreciated.

First of all, don't sweat it. Everyone goes through this. It is the yelling that is shaking you up. Not the clutch. I never had anyone help me. I learned on my own. If they did, I think I would have been in the same situation you are today. I would have been intimidated by someone barking or laughing at me. I don't know why this helped me but it did. I sat in the car with the engine off, running through the gears in order to make sure I knew where each of them were. To go from second to third for example, I always wanted to go up, then right, then up again. That always kept me from finding third (Gearboxes actually work diagonal from 2nd to third, rather than up, then right, then up again). I should point out that to me, 5th feels like it is up, to the right, then up, unlike going from 2nd to 3rd. From there, I practiced clutching while I shifted with the engine off. There is a certain way I use my left foot on the clutch so it doesnt jerk but I am sure it is different for everyone. But I think you need to learn to keep your heal on the floor somehow when you let up on the clutch. Practice releasing the clutch slowly with the engine off with your other foot slowing accelerating on the gas. Then go to a deserted county road and stay out of the McDonalds drive through for awhile. At takeoff, I had a tendancy to give it a little too much clutch and too much gas causing the engine to race but that kept it from getting stalled. After a little while, I learned where that sweet spot is where the clutch lets off and the transmission takes over. Remember after you learn what you are doing, keep the rpms under control at takeoff and after you shift, get your foot completely off the clutch. It is a pedal, not a foot rest. Hope this helps.

Yeah, they have bumpers, but not factory replacements. They have the Fey universal step bumpers. Better than nothing ... but not much better. They're pretty ugly. I have a Fey. They are ugly. Much better than a 2x4 though.

I would take a black rear bumper.

Paul, thanks for the help on the interior by the way. :cheers:

That looked like a great truck before he cut it up. I wonder if we can get PETA after him for doing that?

Thanks for the comments from everyone about my truck. We enjoy it quite a bit. It was great fun going to junkyards with my sons looking for parts. That is how we spent our entire summer that year. I also need to thank many of you for the valuable advice you have given me over the last couple of years. I wish I joined CC much earlier than I did. In hindsite, I wish I would have gone the extra mile and had them pull the suspension and engine. Then paint everything and put it back together. I think I could have flown under the radar so the wife wouldnt have known. I could have blamed the price increase on poor estimating from the body shop. I offered to let Paul borrow it but so far, he hasnt taken me up on it. I bought some OME coils & shocks per Don's recomendation. He thinks they will raise it about 2" in the front. I look forward to doing that. I will let everyone know how I like the OME coils and shocks compared to OEM. And yes the wife is a little sharper than when she was young. I don't know what happened. She is almost 50 and that isnt even a good picture. I think I would win one of those nice wife/ugly guy contests hands down. :shake:

I have the same year engine as yours along with the same transmission and gearing. I have figured out that the gearing is so high, I rarely use 5th. I really understood what was going on after I added a tach (and posted questions on the forum). I thought about changing the gears to 3.55 or 3.73 but I figured out I would have the same result keeping it in 4th gear with 3.07. Then 5th is available for the interstate if needed (any who wishes to argue this point please chime in). I have 28.9" tires btw. I see you are in Michigan. I am about 40 miles west of Ft Wayne, IN. I don't drive my MJ right now due to the weather but if you are curious, contact me some saturday if you wish (in the spring or summer after the salt is gone). Just give me as much notice as possible. You can drive mine and see if you are having the same trouble. That assumes it is a close enough drive for you.

Dang, I wouldnt care how much that cost if I had the money. I would buy it. That thing is absolutely fantastic.

Regarding Tiger, I don't think he should apologize. I think it is embarasing that he did. He didnt do anything to me. He should be apologizing to his family.

Those look great. I have the same obsession with my b-pillar lights. I may give these a try. I thought I saw that you didnt buy them through Euramtec but I didnt see where you bought them? Do you remember the name of the store?

Those look great. I have the same obsession with my b-pillar lights. I may give these a try. I thought I saw that you didnt buy them through Euramtec but I didnt see where you bought them? Do you remember the name of the store?

If you are a little patient, I may be able to give you mine for free. It is for a Renix 4.0 and has the red fonts. All the gauges work. I have a blue font cluster I need to swap in. Assuming it works, you can have my red font Renix cluster. Just pay for shipping.

Unbelievable. They say old cars are safer than new ones. Also, the green police say SUVs are not as safe as cars. They are much safer as long as you don't drive them like a Ferrari. I remember about 7 years ago, a lady pulled out in front of me when I was going to work. I was driving a Tahoe. There were fluids leaking all over the road as we waited for the police & tow truck to arrive. Eventually, it was all cleaned up and the tow truck left with the car. Then I drove to work...

I have the old rusted ROL fog lights in my '87. My understanding is they used ROL on the early AMC Comanches and then went to the Marchal fog lights. Does anyone know if either of these are still available anywhere? ChryslerPartsDirect.com lists part number 55054739 as "Blazer Type". They call them "Factory Fog lights". Does anyone know if those would be ROL or Marchal or would they be some POS I could get off ebay for $10?

Does anyone have strong opinions about either of these springs? I found them at napaonline.com I am trying to soften the ride on rough washboard country roads. These are variable rate coils and rated for a comanche with a 4.0. The poor thing feels like I am beating it to death driving down our roads. Both are Napa part numbers. One is rated at 152 (their part number NCP 2775361) and the other is rated at 126 (their part number NCP 2775359). But they are both variable rate so I thought the softer coil would work well. I am leaning toward the one on the second one. Too soft?

I live on a very rough dirt road and would like to improve the ride of the comanche. The rear springs were shot and were replaced a year ago. The front coils are shot too and need replaced. Can anyone make a recomendation on excellent front coils? I would like to keep it at factory height. I don't want to raise (or lower) the front. My understanding is not only are there different coil heights but also different coil tensions which may alter the ride quality. Per CWlongshot's recommendation, I thought I would get a set of 4 Bilstein 5100 shocks for it. What is the proper way to measure to get the right shocks. I always thought the rear of my mj sat up considerably higher than others on the road for some reason. I would think that would have an impact on the right part numbers???? So simply telling the vendor I have an '87 comanche would be only half the story. Also, I am curious. This truck is sitting at factory ride height in the rear. The new leafs raised it 3/4" (but on one side only :yes:). Does anyone know why the rear of this truck sits higher than the front? I have not seen too many unaltered MJ's like that (I don't remember of any actually). Is it because of the D44? It has always been like that.

I paid $50 last summer for a pair at a Jeep junkyard. They were in near mint condition. So much so that I am afraid to put them on. I thought that was a little high. A little while back, I found one plain NOS tail light and paid $40 for it. I thought it was well worth it assuming someday I find the other NOS taillight. But $100 - $300 is unbelievable. I don't get it.

I thought that was funny but my wife didnt. don't know why? :dunno:

Yes, I hate to admit it but I too was drawn to a web site that actually listed the part number. Usually when they are obsolete, no part is listed. I was actually nervious when I made the phone call. The guy at the other end of the phone was very helpful, didnt laugh or anything when I told him what I wanted. He looked it up and said "hmm, that part is no longer available". But I didnt give up. Then I asked about the tail lights. Oh well. At least tires are still available.

Sorry dude, the factory bumper is no longer available. In fact, I just called a Jeep dealer yesterday to verify that. I have been looking for one too. For me, it is difficult to find one at a junk yard in good condition in the rust belt too. I have a Fey on my truck and I really like how it looks. Others may argue but I believe it is made much better than the factory one. You can see it in my signature. I like it much more than the factory bumper but I would still rather have a factory one because it is a factory bumper :huh???: (don't try to figure me out). You can still get the frame hitches although I am not sure the specs. I know there are other posts around that discuss it but what I don't know is if the frame hitch is compatible with the Fey.