NC Tom

Can't do it, Pete. My plate is full. Sorry.

The doors opens and with a loud KERPLANG!! the door goes behind the fender. So from here, I'll try the putty knife thing.

Hinges looked okay.

Nope. I looked at it, but wasn't sure how straightforward it would be.

Impact was ONLY at the front passenger corner. Bent fender, bumper, cracked signal marker.

Hopes this helps. NOTE: The position of the seat on the mount is totally up to the owner. YOU WILL HAVE TO DRILL HOLES. So, spend some time with the mount in the cab placing the seat where you'll want it mounted.

I finally got my rocker style seats installed! This is not a write-up, just thoughts about the process for anyone thinking about adding 90s era rocker seats. I started with a stock bench. Bracket removal was easy enough. Read many complaints about getting the seat belts through the slots in the bench, but the plastic trim pieces in the slots come apart making it a pretty simple job. No need to remove the belts from the truck. I do recommend taking the back off the bench to help with seat removal from the cab. Modifying the rocker seats wasn't too bad. A drill and a grinder was all I needed/used. I removed all the rocker components on mine, drilled some new holes, swapped out brackets on the rockers and reinstalled. Took me a weekend. As a non-fabricator, layperson it really wasn't a bad job. Some complain about the higher seating position. I'm 6'4" (short torso) and have no problems getting in or out with 3-4" of head room. If you are 6' or under, you may actually have more room since your legs don't go forward as much. In short, if I can do it, anyone with a little imagination and common sense can do it. You don't need to buy any overpriced, shade-tree-Joe brackets.

Earlier this year my MJ got in a fight with a snowbank and lost. Took a hit to the front driver area. I pushed out a dent in the fender and now the door and fender jam. It looks like the fender needs to move forward, but I'm not seeing any way to do that. Any ideas?

Bushings are cracked and black, but still there, mostly. I'll check on the exhaust. Didn't think to look at that. Any recommendations for bushing replacements?

Yep. That's all it was all along. As much as I wanted to repair this myself, the old, seized components won the fight and I had to get a pro to do it. For reference: My garage charged $329.00 to replace the joint. I had no other issues, thankfully. However, while I'm adding to this topic, in general my suspension makes a lot of crunch, clank, slap sounds when traveling over bumps, potholes, etc. Other than the U-joint and new shocks, I've not had any work done underneath. Any ideas here on what I should check that would make for a noisy ride? I do not have any current handling issues. It's not a rubbing sound. It sounds like metal-on-metal. I cannot tell if it's more front or rear. Also, It's standard, no lift.

Correct. If I'm following this process to change just the U-joint and NOT removing the axle nut: 1. Remove brake caliper and rotor 2. Remove the three hub bolts 3. Slide out hub, inner and outer axle shafts and U-joint (that's all?) From here it's not clear to me. To replace the just the U-joint, I would still need to remove the axle nut or no? Any seals or bearings need replacing? I've tried to find a step-by-step of video of this process with the axle nut still on, but no luck. OR, just toss the hub, axles and U-joints and replace with CV?

AutoZone showed no matches for my Manche. ? If anyone can post correct part numbers for left and right axles, that would be great! Also, cash-on-hand being short, I can change both axles but would have to keep old hubs for now. Anyone foresee a problem with this plan?

Ha Ha! I believe I heard the collective groan of ALL Comanche Club members when Jeep Driver had to point this out! DOH!

Looking at this part listed as "exact fit." https://shop.advanceautoparts.com/p/cv-plus-new-cv-axle-assembly-ax-9370/11460893-P

Forgive my ignorance. The SurTrack CV shafts look totally different from what's there now. I'm assuming that the U-joint is in the boot and I won't need the Spicer joints I already have?

Axle shafts and unit bearings. I'm assuming I need new axle nuts as well?

Well, thanks for the reply, even though it's bad news. It's been clicking for a while. Have the new joints, but broke my torque wrench and my breaker bar trying to get that f'ing axle nut off today. I'm totally frustrated! I have no other tools to attempt this again. I've been reading that to have a garage replace both joints would be around $1000 bucks. Is that right? What/how did you "cut off" exactly? Nevermind. I reread you post and saw the "I just undid the hub bolts, and slid the whole shaft out and tossed it and put in all new components." part. Can you provide a list of parts so I can look into doing it the same way?

Thanks! Any helpful opinions appreciated!

Eh, not a "complete" novice. I just haven't done too much work on my Comanche's underside. Having watched some vids and read more about it, I'm pretty confident I can get it done. Another question though. Is this particular U-joint one that will cause damage to other components over time or should I jump on this immediately. Full disclosure, it's been "clicking" for a while, I just recently tracked it down and posted the video.

Thanks Pete. Do you think a novice could replace it, or should I leave it up to a mechanic?

I have this clicking from the driver front wheel. You can see in the vid, the Y-shaped piece shifts a bit making a click. Clicking stops when banking or turning.

Anybody tried or seen tried non-fabric headliners? Just thinking, but what if you removed and sprayed the headliner with flat paint or bedliner or something along those lines? And to answer the "why?" question, because it's cheap and easy and I'm broke and lazy!

Adding to what Jeep Driver posted: Can you just buy a straight MJ for cheap and then disassemble/reassemble onto the new frame? Lots of work, but consider it sweat equity.

That worked! Had a little rust on Neg connector and a little white film on Pos. Really bizarre how that works and how sensitive those connections are. Thanks Pete!

Recently replaced.