Comanche County

Well, after years of consistent JY'ing, I finally found my second manual 4.0 XJ. Going to pull an external slave AX15 from a 99 in a day or so....guess my point is that its tough to find a manual XJ or MJ on the cheap so modifying the rod is the easiest solution unless you get lucky and find a manual jeep.

My MJ will get a V8 and one tons soon, but it'll be a magnum 5.9/46RE, I already have them sitting in the garage after scrapping two 5.9 ZJs, but I'm too dumb to figure out the wiring so they're going to sit there for now.....Yes, its much easier to do a 5.3 LS, and common sense says go GM. Novak makes bolt on motor mounts, they produce awesome power and get really good mileage for a v8 and there are turn key harnesses available in the aftermarket. Its tempting for sure, I say if you don't mind the cross pollination then go GM. I wouldn't but I can't blame anyone who does, its a nice power plant. Just don't go old school carbureted SBC, that went out in 75'...old SBCs devalue any Jeep IMO.

96 was an odd year. Early 96 models have OBD II piggybacked on the old OBD I harness. It is a kludge, and the worst splice job I have seen come out of the factory. Later 1996 models use the 1997 harness. I found this out when I swapped out Sparkles (early 1996) 2wd AW4 for a late 1996 4wd AW4 out of a parts Cherokee I had acquired. I swapped in the new transmission complete with bellhousing and CPS. Then I found out the CPS used a different plug than what my harness had. Ended up using 7 extensions and two universal joints to swap it without having to drop the tansmission again. I didn't know that, good to know info Mvusse. All four XJs I've owned have been 96s', but I never had a single issue with any of them that required me breaking into the harness. Bought one near new in 97' and put almost 200K on it and only had to replace the TPS once...that's it.

Carnage! :thumbsup:

I hear ya Don, IMO diamond plate is for semis, chicken coops, and hog trailers...its like a zit on a swim suit model, just a distraction from the good stuff. But hey what ever floats your boat.

If its hardwood, then its worth ~ $150 in the winter. Other than scrap value, a salvageable D44 would be a nice surprise if its under there.

I think 96' XJs are the year to have, for one reason - OBD II. That's why I think some mechanics shy away from earlier models. OBDI and Renix/AMC year jeeps take a little more "elbow grease" if you will, to figure out electrics, vacuum, and engine sensor diagnosis. Personally I think the older jeeps are easier to work on, but I've never had to deal with rust buckets with corrosion issues in the wiring.

Yup! ...and your friend is lucky to have a friend like you.

GoJeep's build is awesome, but hey, old and rusty is cool too.

Yeah cab vents and a roll bar of some sort.

Yeah you're right, I was reaching on #10 and like H3resq said, shouldn't be two MJs there... :D

You're right about the new JKs, there's a quite a few in our local club, so nice! Most capable Jeeps ever period, but how do they earn their keep? They're too expensive for someone running a small business to use it as a runaround vehicle and it doesn't have all that much storage space.

I carry 24/7, anyone driven through Savannah late at night? Its a great tourist city by day, its quite something else by night. My little brother got car jacked and essentially kidnapped once, it can happen anywhere.

Thanks for the input. :thumbsup: Great points, but such high fallutin' Toyo fanfare is not within the rules, (which have not been set yet) :yes: and the rules do not have to make sense at all,,,,its Jeeps only. Yeah we could really get into which Jeep has earned more the XJ or the MJ, but I'm kinda basing my order on the more blue collar get dirty kinda work. But if not, then I'd have to agree with you due to sheer numbers, the XJ surely has "out earned" the MJ, but, you can throw 2K lbs worth of bricks in an MJ in a heartbeat and that's a little tougher to do that with an XJ. Of course my criteria is not scientific based, its more of a system like on "Who's line is it anyways", where the points don't matter. :yes: So I still place the MJ above the XJ...(okay, okay, I'm like Simon Cowell, judging a 20 something year old hot chick against an ugly dude who's played guitar for 30 years,,,,,,I think MJs are just sexier whether they can sing or not, I like em and they get more points) :brows:

Okay, caught myself thinking about what Jeeps were the most capable and what Jeeps have earned their owners the most money. This list was just off the top of my head...but civilian Jeeps only. One could easily make the argument that the WWII MB, GPW or Korean War M38 earned its due more than any other Jeep. But I'm keeping this list to "Civilian" Jeeps only and to what Jeeps have earned their owners the longest "lively hood"....read on and comment, rearrange the list whatever.......I really do think the MJ is high on the list, I'd like to place it first but I'm trying to be impartial.....anyway agree or flame my list, no worries bros! Its just for fun. . :MJ 1: . 10 Most capable and "worth their weight" civilian Jeeps of all time: CJ-2A, CJ-3A, 3B, and early CJ-5 Agri-Jeeps with dual output PTOs or single front or rear or front output PTOs with farm attachments. They had post hole diggers, buzz saw pulleys, mills, disc blade attachments, etc....They worked farms around the country from the 40' to the 60's cheaper than you could buy a similarly capable tractor. Like their predecessors that won the war, these jeeps assisted in placing the American heartland as the main food exporter of the world, where it still is today. DJ3A, DJ5 - I hate to put it above the Comanche but these postal Jeeps have logged millions of miles delivering our mail. As innocent as they are, they've done more work than any and second only to work done by WWII and Agri-Jeeps. 87'-92' Comanche Metric ton 4x4s - no vehicle has matched the payload and towing capacity with as high a fuel mileage ever. Still seen running around and used by lawn care and home improvement small businesses around the country to this day. 87'-92' Comanche, 4.0L or 2.5L 2x4s,,,,more or less due to the same reason as above, but tons of these were used as simple parts runners for untold how many auto parts stores, lots of mileage and earnings for these seemingly simple Jeeps. 87'-01' XJs, still performing soccer mom duties, pet grooming, lawn care, and delivery duties, etc to this day. So many produced, and so many still earning their due. M715 - Long and storied service in wild land and airport fire fighting duties all around the country. J10 or J20 4x4, 6 cyl, or v8, any year. Lots of hay and feed hauled by these, just not at the fuel savings of an MJ. I just don't think their service years were as long as MJs due to reliability reasons. FC150 or FC170, any year, good payload, lots of farm related duties, PTO attachments for farm duties, but drivability was marginal with top speeds around 45-50 mph. Tie - LJ, CJ6, and CJ8, any years - Good mileage, small payload. Could probably place the CJ8 above the others in terms of work done over the years, but they're all jeeps from the same DNA essentially. Reagan had one, and hauled firewood with it, but not as much as an MJ could. :brows: CJ-10, The perennial airport tug for decades, probably towed plenty of U-2s, Blackbirds and F117s in secret locations that we'll never know about. Doesn't really fit the criteria of a civilian Jeep but I was running out of ideas when #10 on the list came around. :thumbsup: Honorable mention to the CJ5 - due to the thirty plus years it hauled families out on weekend trips for fun and adventure. That's got to count for something...just not a work related Jeep.

Was in 2/75 Rgr Bn doing PT that morning on the west coast when it happened....marched in to my guys and said, "Get ready, we're going to war!"

Nothing says "I care" more than a set of Boggers.

Love that site! Should be easy to do, just would need a 110-12v converter. I have a bunch of those laying around from old cell phones chargers and such. Funny thing is it still has a rear light warning like on all ZJs.... :rotf:

:thumbsup: I should be there, just the wrong weekend for me.

:bowdown: :thumbsup: :bowdown: :thumbsup:

Nice wheeling pics! :thumbsup:

Looking good!

Nice job!

Such good work, any updates? :thumbsup:

Its got a TJ engine,,,or airbox at least. Nice work, I think its cool that its over in Europe. I mean how many comanches are in Greece anyway? I'd like to see a shot of it parked in front of the Parthenon. Some extended cab Dakota jump seats might look right at home in it.