DesertRat1991

Welcome! Nice truck. That graphics package doesn't look OEM. Looks like Grand Daddy had a sense of style!

I haven't found a really good solution yet. I remember back from my BMW modding days that they used to make a wheeled vertical stand for the convertible hard tops. I'm thinking about trying to adapt something like this to work for the truck cap.

The one near Phoenix has been updated with pics. Asking $5500: https://phoenix.craigslist.org/cph/cto/6100979955.html How often do you see 2 diesel MJs for sale at the same time? It would be nice to see at least one of these go to a CC member.

1998 Comanche w/ 31k on the odo. It would interesting to get a peak at the VIN. Is it a chopped up Cherokee? Or a stretched Comanche??

Honest assessment? I'm not sure I would recommend a 25-30 y/o vehicle of any type for a novice wrench turner. However, if you manage to find a 91 or later truck you'll at least have access to OBD-1 DTCs to help you along. On earlier models, you pretty much need to rely on your personal experiences and skill with a shop manual to diagnose problems. The truck is easy to work on. Lots of room in the engine bay and underneath. Motor-wise, they are as reliable as XJ Cherokees. You'll get 300K out of a well cared for motor. The downside is that certain Comanche body and electrical parts are more scarce than their Cherokee counterparts.

This looks like the same truck: https://vimeo.com/158204149 There's a supposedly "rust free" diesel Comanche listed on the Phoenix area clist right now. No pics though.

If that 86 is a (relatively) rust free south-west truck, I say restore it, or leave it be.

Looks good! What shackles are you running? So far the numbers seem to add up. My stock 4x4 sits ~1.9" higher in the rear with a camper shell mounted. Sounds like these leafs are adding +1.25-1.5". Add another ~0.5" for new JKS shackles and it looks like a 3.65-3.9" lift could be needed to level the front. The RE coils would come up just short.

lol, what an adorable turd of a vehicle... The defrost doesn't blow warm enough to keep the windshield from freezing. And it comes with a dashboard inclinometer...for serious offroading, just like your $65,000 Ford Raptor!

After staring at this for a few minutes, I still can't tell where you sleep. Looks like only 1 person really fits on the floor. Is there a flat platform you can lay across the cabinets?

Wow, I would think high clearance vehicles would be more suceptible to this kind of thing but OP's vehicle sits pretty darn low. Doubt it's some random tweaker, these thiefs had hacksaws AND jacks.

Most lift kits are fully reversible. But "purity level" will suffer with lifts above 3". More mods required.

It'll be interesting to see how much additional rake these leafs put on non-MT trucks. I wonder if adding ZJ V8 coils up front would be a good option to help level things out.

It would be awesome if you guys could post some before and after ride height measurements on these.

Yah, that's an old school anti-theft collar. Haven't seen one like that in years.

Nice find. What's the story behind the pool noodle..??

Typical dusty southwest engine bay, but otherwise very clean body panels. https://phoenix.craigslist.org/wvl/cto/6068973474.html

Great read! Congrats to fiatslug87. Was the bullbar on the red Pioneer ever a factory option?

These always catch my eye when browsing ebay: Chrome 5-star

Great video. How hard would it be to make an off-road bumper for pre-97 vehicles that doesn't require hacking up perfectly good Comanche fenders? Surprisingly hard to find.

Anyone know if Dakota shackles will fit the Comanche?

Welp. This map explains why I never see any Comanche parts for sale in my neck of the woods... Next, we need a list of junkyards in the Atlanta / Birmingham / Nashville areas that will ship parts for cheap. Data is beautiful!

This is very cool. Thank you! I'm kind of curious about the "full vinyl bench seat" option though. Is your entire bench made of vinyl, with no cloth on the seating area?

Tell us more about the behavior of the temperature needle: It sounds like the needle rises, then stops and holds steady at the bottom of the red zone? You talk a lot about idling, what happens once you start moving? Does the needle drop back down to nominal temp? Hold steady at the elevated temp? Or continue to rise? Also, what is the part number and source of the replacement temperature sender you bought?

Wow, someone rescue that thing before he junks it!