buckwheat

For cheap aftermarket look at Fey/ Westin. They are somewhat close to original. For more expensive, check out jcroffroad and nates. jcr has a really nice build it yourself bumper. I haven't looked as much at nates, but others have it and use it.

Make sure to look at your harmonic balancer. The rubber inner ring likes to disintegrate which causes it to wobble and creates sounds + eats belts. Also make sure to check for any coolant or oil leaks. If that stuff is dripping onto the belt it can cause lots of noise.

Honestly my pan looks pretty rusty. Are there any good quality replacement pans that anyone knows about?

So I pulled all the bolts for the oil pan. Any advice on how to break it loose? That thing is STUCK to the bottom of the block.

87 MJ with 4.0L engine and BA 10-5 tranny. Recently I took my MJ on a 1900 mile drive across the country. At about 950 miles I noticed it was running a little rough and had a slight knocking/ tapping sound at idle up to ~2500 rpm. I checked all fluids and topped everything off, including front and rear diff, transmission, transfer case, and engine oil. I also replaced the air filter because it had foamy, cream colored crap in it, basically soaking the entire thing. I am guessing it was extremely aerated oil and water. Drove it the 950 miles back home. The tapping/ knocking sound was about the same. Sometimes it wouldn't be there, and at times it would get a little louder. I had no real choice, so I kept driving. At about 1800 miles into the trip there was a snapping sound and the tapping/ knocking got a lot worse. I finished driving it home and parked it. To my knowledge it was not producing any smoke from the tailpipe at any point. I never saw any kind of cloud behind me as I was driving. Today I started looking at it. The brand new air filter has about 1/3 of the length soaked in oil, but not foamy and creamy like before, just plain oil. I drained the engine oil and if you look really close at it with the sunlight shining directly into it you can see a bunch of glimmers suspended in the oil. I also tested compression on all cylinders. Number 1 through number 5 all had ~ 125lbs (wrong unit of measure I am sure, ignore that), but cylinder 6 had 0lbs. Also the spark plug from cylinder 6 looked black and oily. The other spark plugs ranged from the perfect camel brown to sort of white/ lean mixture looking. Finally, I decided to remove the valve cover to get a look at the lifters and push rods. As soon as I removed the first valve cover bolt, coolant started pouring out. Several more of the VC bolts had fluid behind them as well. I didn't think the VC bolts went into the water jacket? All of this to ask for your opinions. What do you all think might be wrong, and where should I go from here? I was thinking to remove the oil pan and take a look at the crankshaft and bearings and the piston skirts. Anything else I need to do or look into?

For me (I have huge hands) I found that I needed even more room than just removing the clock panel. So I went underneath and removed the speedo cable from the retaining bolt right below the firewall. This is outside the cab. This gave me enough slack to push the cable into the cab and pull the gauges out a solid foot. Plenty of room to work and fiddle with connectors.

In that case, check out a fix for it HERE.

AMC86kid: Try the following next time you have a question. go to Google and type in "site:comancheclub.com" followed by the keywords you are interested in. Then read the first five links that come up. If you do not find your answer by that point in time, feel free to start a new thread. You have asked some good questions, but as stated, a LOT of your questions could be answered by searching the interwebs a little bit. Keep going and keep asking, just try and do some research first.

@ PIKE: Sorry to go off topic, but what tires do you run? I have looked for a narrow 33", but the best I found was BFG 33x10.5x15.

My assumption would be in using a tach from a 6 cylinder engine in a four cylinder engine doesnt work. Since it is based on the ignition system, wouldn't that change based on how many cylinders are firing? Sorry if this is incorrect information.

Lizard Skin has 3 products that you can apply, but do not have to. Since my truck is a daily driver I put down the ceramic coat, the sound proof coat, and the top coat. However, you can do only one of those if you are interested in only one item. I have noticed a big improvement in sound and heat conservation since I sprayed it. Its only been in for four months, but the top coat seems strong and has not scuffed or peeled at all. Just food for thought.

I would recommend you do Lizard Skin for the interior. Costs more, takes more time, but a much better final result. My truck is quieter now than when it had carpet + jute backing. Well worth it. As for the bed, have you thought about herculiner?

I might be missing it, but would this work on Renix also, or only HO?

I have been considering getting LED headlights. The only thing that worries me is winter driving. I have read that ice and snow will build up on them since far less heat is generated. Is there a way to cope with this? Also interested in your opinion when you get the lights installed Tex06. Having a cheaper option that trucklites would be nice.

IMO for $1400 it better be a damn easy process. So easy that when you are done paying its already installed for you.