Mark Serva

I've had a couple of with 4 bangers and 4 spds back when they had Twin I-Beams. I got almost 30 mpg on the highway IF I had a canoe on top. And, I carried over a ton a coupld of times yet the front end was floating. Glad to hear, somewhere, a single cab long bed still made. I thought Chevy the last a couple of years ago. I'd buy another Ranger if they went back to I beams. One of the reasons I like the 2wd Comanche as the front end is, essentially, like and I-beam sans the king-pins.

Good point. I like to see truck doing something. A show truck seems like some sort of OxyMoron. However, I do appreciate folks who preserve excellent specimens almost like endangered species. And, if we ever get away for all this useless crap they hang on vehicles, sort of like the crap the put on computer upgrades, maybe somebody would put an old classic back into production. A fantasy, I know.

Well done. Just fixing it up as you use it. Brilliant as a functional restoration. Thanks for sharing it with us!!!

Really good looking job. And kewl to keep it Jeep. Maybe that's a now line: Keep it Jeep. I've got an 86 with the one year bumper and mounts. Got rear ended. I think the delux chrome bumper is restorable yet the mounts were too bent. Am running it all bent down as my police state is full of cameras and they don't seem to get a good pic of my bumper. Still, when I leave the cameras I'll go to your conversion. Well done!!!

I haven't had much luck with LEDs. I have found some don't actuate a blinker/4 way relay so one needs to get relay for LEDs. Some require 2 or 3 pin and some have a grounding wire. All kind of a hassle. Then, of course, I figured out that although LED themselves last 20 to 30,000 hours, the little electronic circuit that runs them is lucky to run as long as a regular GE or Philps incandescent, stock bulb. And, since most of this stuff comes out of China one has to deal with what they should say on their packages: China puts the C in Cuality! I'm going to use up my LEDs, doesn't take long, and go back to incandescent. Keep Jeepin on!

I think it's all been said. However, your first pic look like straight links. Most and my link have and offset bends in them. Still, the anti-sway/roll bar looks too long. Am hoping you can just drill another couple of holes in your after-market brakets. Also, at the risk of stealing your thread--what about just deleting the sway bar entirely? I think it's better off-road. However, if you do much highway, especially lifted you might need it to recover from a death defying swerve.

Not to steal your thread, yet I just got some of the longer ones which are too long--especially as I lowered my anti-sway bar to accomodate yet another part, a radiator, that didn't quite fit. I suspect alot of part houses are pushing the envelope on dimensions and such know we old Jeepers are getting too many parts NLA (no longer available). Not to steal your thread, yet does anybody have a source for shorter links, maybe about 5.25 inches? I have a 1 wheel drive Comanche that only goes off road on gravel yet am thinking of just deleting my front sway bar all together. I drive like an old lady so it doesn't matter much to me. At least until I have to avoid some puke who cuts me off on the highway. Any thoughts for On-Roaders as to deleting a front anti sway or anti roll bar? Thanks!

I've not found a thing. Seems like there would be enough of us out there with Jeeps or S-10s to warrant aftermarket production. If I could get one intact enough to reproduce might be an interesting project for a fabricator making 10 at a time or so. If I took mine off, wouldn't be able to drive the airplane sound around. Maybe somebody here has an expendable Y-Pipe they could share with us or a fabricator. I'm sure a compromise Jeep / Chevy one could be made with just the square flange (for the cat. converter) for the Jeep version. The Chevy S-10 version looks a little shorter without the flange. Easy enough to just saw off after delivery. I suspect both S-10ers and Jeepers would be thrilled to buy, especially something longer lasting an adaptable retrofit. If I could find a NOS one, I'd probably have it chromed of ceramic coated for longevity. Something to consider for the aftermarket, small run folks. Keep on Jeepin' on, Mark

Thanks, will check out the Isuzus since they had same 2.8s. Just hope made better rears than engines.

Have and old Dana on my Comanche with one broken bolt on cover (held together for years with small C-clamp) and no leaks. Yay. Anyway, she's old, maybe 250K miles. 2 WD longbed I need to get up a gravel road. Works 2 out of 3 times if I have the right weight in the bed. Anyway, would like to put some sort of posi or limited slip in. Too old to put a lunchbox aftermarket in there. Love that Toyo rears have that drain plug and I really don't need bullet proof just dependable. Looks like the later IFS are 6 lug. Any suggestions as to Toyo rears that would fit my '86 Comanche, 2WD?

Thanks for responding and posting a pic too!

Sorry to hear one of us had such a bad experience with a rebuilt. I scored a rebuilt and did the swap. Pretty easy peasy yet as I was using bolt-in rubber plugs to fill the sensor holes I didn't need (kept the carb) I sneezed and dropped a little nut down the open engine. Removed it and the oil pan to find the nut stuck up in my cam area. What a PITA! Still have the old Weber aftermarket carb which I tried to rebuild to no avail. Doesn't run so well due to the crappy carb yet in certain speed ranges can really feel the increased power for the 3.4 over the 2.8. Seems GM fixed most of the 2.8 problems with the 3.4 except I used some Pontiac Fiero valve covers (with silicone gaskets) to fix the topside, endemic oil leaking. Guess it's classic GM thinking just fixing the Pontiac versions and letting the rest leak. Also, I made the mistake of not R&Ring the torque converter as it started leaking soon after the engine install. I replaced, cleaned or rebuilt pretty much everything else I could under the hood. Pretty happy with the change, hope to install a new Weber this summer--just don't look forward to the jetting hassles. If I didn't have the Weber already, I'd probable put a simpler Ford or MotorCraft 2100 series carb on instead. Good luck with everybody's swaps!

Not to steal a thread as my dash is in pretty good shape yet I removed a bunch of parts to clean up, change radios and lube some sliders and such. Also, I got a good deal on a factory, NIB, bench seat cover in Burgundy. Of course my interior is baby blue--a color I never liked. I plan to change color to the burgundy all over. Anyway, my point is, I never liked the creaky, plastic 80's dashes. And, I know I'll have to go back into the rats nest at some point to re-vacuum tube and swap the heater core. Am thinking of modding more of a race car dash with shelves instead of glove boxes. I'm pretty good with such things yet wonder if it will kill the collectable value of my Comanche even tho I plan to be buried in it :-) I know Jeeps tend to be modified yet I don't want to ruin this and I plan to not cut any metal--just do a simple off-road sort of dash over the original with a simple toggles and analog guages. What do y'all think? I appreciate your opinions.

When my 2.8 crapped out (Diz siezed and broke my camshaft--first time I've had that) I put in a 3.4. Plenty of help here on that. Had a few hassles yet nothing unexpected. Currently, need to replace my Weber carb, yet other than that engine runs peppy, plenty of torque and seems good on gas. Very pleased. Main thing is to rebalance new flexplate, nothing fancy, just some cutting off weights, rewelding on other side and balancing with lawn mower blade balancer. No high tech or machine shop time. Runs so much smoother it's really nice and no problem getting chevy parts and all cheap. Also, since it's such a tiny v6 I think it's easy to get to everything under the hood, sparks, dizzy, oil filter all easy to get to.

Hoping to. If I can get mine back on the road by then. Hope to be swapping a dead 2.8 for a reman 3.4 next week. It will need a road trip to break it in. Anybody interested in my junked 2.8? Would rather get a little bit than pay all that shipping for the core deposit. If so please tell me and I’ll bring it with me. Do do you know of any camping, more like crash sites, available up there? Thanks mucho, Mark