Money_Pits

Is this Tinken "reorg" like most of the others, caused by the Unions driving up labor costs so high that domestic US companies can't compete anymore? :shake: It's become all too common now............. Even at minimum wage, US manufacturing can't compete with imports from a foreign country that has little to no mandatory regulations, including employee pay/working standards, and when our government has no interest in raising import fees/taxes, I work in a non union manufacturing plant. I can go to harbor freight and pay ten bucks for a Pneumatic Die Grinder when the ones I build cost 6 to 7 times as much. Ours are excellent, but if you are trying to equip more than a few workers, it's hard for ours to come out ahead on value in the near term. I'm sure Timken feels that same pressure everyday too. It's insane how inexpensive import cr*p can be.

They divested out of the passenger automotive segment, focusing on new brand and luxury level vehicles only. This has allowed them to see growth within that business segment by narrowing focus. but that means you won't be finding as many timken bearings for older vehicles anymore. And, no, I can find no deals with Moog, and I see no reason why Moog would buy a competitors segment when they are already competing in it. However, as of late both of these companies have increased over seas production, so Moog may have bought the production centers from timken if they divested those. I know you have to sign up with seeking alpha to read this article, but I didn't want to post anything without showing my sources http://seekingalpha.com/article/3781386-timken-much-higher-quality-company-transformation.

The GM 3.4L v6 Camaro motor is the most straightforward swap, especially if you keep the carb, but even ditching the carb for FI isn't too bad. Some guys have done it here, some good walk throughs, and you can google that swap, it's really common. You can check to see if your Comanche is a late year 86 and has the different firewall to accept a larger motor, but honestly going any bigger than the 3.4L and you'll be wanting to upgrade the rest of your drive train. The ax-5 can hold up to an unmodded 3.4l as long as you are kind to it, but I think anyone would recommend swapping to a different tranny at some point.

On the passenger side outer one, it's completely gone, which is my fault cause I sat in the seat before looking at it and crushed what was left of it. The driver side inner one, where it sits down in that recess, is mostly gone, to the point that the nut is no longer hex shaped but just a lump, though if I can actually cut the bolt off and remove the bracket, there should be enough there that I can get measurements. The driver side outer one is rusted away around the bolt, but I can assume measurements there. I can get height measurements as is, and probably just find some angle iron or something like that to make work, but if I can find some off of a bucket I'll snag them. Haven't had any luck so far. The Comanche still had the foam insert under the carpet, and apparently water got in on a regular basis and sat, eating everything up. edit: Actually making my own makes more sense, since I'd like to see if I can adjust seat location anyway. I'm tall and as of right now it's a bit of a snug fit.

Sorry to kinda necro this thread (I found it using search), but I have buckets and my brackets on both sides are completely rusted through on my resto project and can't be salvaged. I know if I can snag some bucket ones from a junk yard I'm good, but I haven't found any yet. So fabbing ones up may be my only choice. If anyone can help with that it would be greatly appreciated and compensated.

I have an 86 comanche, 2.8 manual 4x4 lwb, gotta fix up. My dad has a collection of soon to be scrapped vehicles that I can yank parts off of, but I don't know everything to look for or what to snag. So, if you all don't mind if I pick your brains, I'm going to list them here and if you could help me put together a list, that would be great and would save me a ton of time when I get to them. First, a 1997 dodge dakota 2x4, 3.9l auto. I know I need to find out what axle it has. Second, a 1993(?, maybe 92) dodge dakota, 318 auto 4x4 Third, a 1999 Ford explorer 4.0l 4x4, possibly the axle? Fourth, a 1998 dodge durango, 318 auto 4x4, though this one I may not get to pick apart since mom has an identical one and we may keep it. Thanks in advance for the help, Money_Pits

Not for sale anymore, now business will be used to help fund the mj. I've decided on the direction I'm going to go in, and have spent the last two months researching everything. First goal is to still get it running and write out every bad part on it. I'm keeping the 2.8l for now, though I had a chance at a complete fuel injected one for $200 (s10 that had it's rear end destroyed), and didn't take it since I didn't think I'd have the money for the rest of the truck. Kicking myself for that one. I'm not looking to make it a wheeler, I'd prefer to make it a good truck that I can use for getting away in addition to some load hauling. So my axle's and drivetrain will work for now, though in the future I'd like to get away from the ax-5, my tj just ate up another one, doing no off roading or hauling. Not sure why that keeps happening. Or why chrysler kept it around for as long as they did.

So, long time since the last update, and I have some sad news. Due to starting my own business, in addition to my other job, I no longer have time/money to dedicate to the Comanche. I'm going to be putting her up for sale if anyone is interested message me. Thanks everyone for the tips and help.

Crash, thanks for the tip. Used some seafoam, plugs look nearly new which is good. Getting the plugs out took way to long, this 2.8 is a pain in the @$$. Almost got it running today. Gotta put some temp fuel lines on it to see if its the pump that's bad or just clogged lines. Thankfully it all turns over nicely. This week I will be rerunning the fuel line from the pump to the carburetor and putting in an inline fuel filter that is easier to get to. Very glad my dad has 350,000 miles of experience with this motor and carburetor system from his S15. Once I know she can run I have to figure out why the clutch doesn't do anything. Or the brakes. I also had the second starter(?) relay buzzing at me. And then tow it up to my garage instead of on the farm so I can begin all the little things through the winter.

When working underneath on a real rusty/dirty mj, wear safety glasses, preferably ones that seal around your eyes. Lost 45 minutes and almost an eye last Sunday trying to get those damn u-joint bolts off to drop the driveshaft when a hunk of rust slipped between my glasses and eye. Invest in a company that makes automotive cleaning/lubricating/penetrating solutions, it'll help you feel better about the amount of money your spending on that stuff.

Well, this truck and I are having a fight for dominance. The only things I've gotten done on it are a bath and an oil change. The 2.8L calls for 5 qts, but when I drained it out I got over 5 1/2 out of it. Good news is that it apparently doesn't leak oil while sitting, bad news is I'm pretty sure some of it was water, seeing as that oil had been in there for 15 + years. I have the old oil sitting to see if it separates. The bolts for the plastic gas tank shield had rusted into oblivion also, so some of those sheared off, and I can't get the small bolts on the drive shaft yoke to break free, which isn't helped by that seal being bad and the whole assembly being buried in grease/dirt/oil. The seat brackets on the interior are completely rusted through and unsalvageable, so I'm going to have to cut them out to get the seats out. And there is 3/4 of a tank of varnish in the gas tank that needs siphoned. Right now, I'm making a list of things to order/find, such as replacement bolts as I'm sure I'll need them, and a replacement tank, as it appears water had gotten between it and the shield, leaving pretty massive rust spots. I expect I'm looking at a year before she's fully operational based on budget and time available. And thanks to everyone who has contributed to this site, the search function has been incredibly helpful so far.

Will be dropping the gas tank this coming week, put it on a temp fuel cell to see what condition the motor is in. Lotta work ahead of me on this one.

So, began work on it today, trying to get the interior stripped so I can see the extent of the floor damage. Sadly, the bolts on the bucket seat brackets have rotted down to about an 11.5 mm socket, with no grip to break them free. My driver's side brackets are salvageable, but the passenger side has rusted completely through and will need replaced. Letting the nuts soak before I cut them off. Imgur is taking forever to load up my pics. Due note, I'm not latching the hood all the way in fear that it won't pull open again later.

Has the 2.8L GM motor with the ax-5 tranny. Not the best combo, but I have a spare ax-5 sitting, and my dad still has half of the parts for the 2.8L sitting in our barn/garage from a mid 80's S15 he had 20 odd years ago. Truck needs a lot of work, but dad's not working anymore, and I'm tired of putting money into things that I never get value out of (2001 neon, I'm looking at you), so we are going to work on it til she's up to par again.

So, picked this up last week. Still working on pictures, they'll be up tonight. has that awesome black paint and bright orange striping, in pretty good shape. Floor boards have gone on to the great beyond. And I'm hoping the frame rails aren't rotting on the inside. Initially looking to restore it, get it driving, and do some reliability upgrades. Going to use it as a light duty truck until I think I've found the majority of the kinks that need worked out. Anyone have any advice on how to modify the brake pedal so my foot can get to the gas pedal? I have really big feet, I'm thinking I may need to modify the hump when I'm replacing the floor boards to make room.

1986 Jeep Comanche Image coming soon, my flip phone will do it no justice Engine / Trans / Transfercase / Front axle / Rear axle / Wheelbase 2.8L/5 spd manual/command -trac/D30/D35 Build date: (its on the driverside door sticker, in the form of month and year) Forgot to look, will update Current Location: Missouri, just south of St. Louis Status: Is it still on the road, is it in the junkyard? Project awaiting work? Project awaiting work, has half a tank of varnish in it, gotta drop gas tank and boil it, clear out fuel lines, replace fuel pump/filter, and redo carburetor. Been sitting for 15+ years, all the hoses and lines need replaced. Notes: Interior is tanish in color, no cracks or tears. Exterior is black and needs some touching up, a few dents, but otherwise in great shape for being in the salt belt. Has factory AC and a campshell that actually fits it. Tailgate is trashed though. Current owner: Mine.