Vakarian

So back in June of 2018 I found this 2WD short bed eliminator one Friday afternoon when I went look for Cherokee parts for my at the time girlfriends 99 sport. Had been dropped off a year or so ago as the owner didn't want to deal with the problems. Here are the pictures of it outside the junkyard before going back the next day to get the truck as it is immensely clean. After getting it home and looking it over I took my battery jump box and started it back up to see if there were any issues besides when they informed me. Known Problems at this point: ► Bad Battery ► Transmission Issues ► Wheel locks with no key So after checking fluids I started the truck up and moved it around the driveway. Took the tags off the Trailbreaker and drove it the 5 minutes to my buddies house to use it tools to get the wheel locks off. This little truck has some nice acceleration and the only issue with the transmission was second gear synchronize was going bad. No really issue but it was still able to be driven and drove it few times around what is called south county to the local hardware store and dump. Got a few compliments on it as it is a nice clean truck. Well after a few test drive it got parked under the car port as other projects on my other Comanche Trailbreaker were picking up. Finally after about a year of sitting under my wooden car port I was able to start work on the Eliminator. Well this list of known problems has now increased to the following: ► Bad Battery ► Internal Slave Cylinder Leaking ► Transmission Issue with 2nd Gear ► Fuel Gauge not reading correctly ► Rear Brake Drums Seized Due to the seized drums and slave cylinder issues, the Comanche did not want to roll liked it had to put under the car port. So I removed the driveshaft and disconnected the parking brake lines. No luck still did not want to roll. Out comes Trailbreaker to pull the truck to hopefully unseize the drums. Well now with the truck out in front of the garage the next challenge was how to get into the garage. THe only thought we had as to use Trailbreaker and gently push the truck as someone steers, however it was too tall. Grabbing the keys to the Cherokee, my fiance looked at me and just walked to her Kia saying "I see nothing and I should probably leave now." My buddy and I just started laughing as she left for work. Her Cherokee was not lifted so the bumpers lined up. Laying blankets over the hood of the blue Comanche we slowly pushed the truck into the garage. No marks or damage was sustained by the truck. There was a mark on the Cherokee but not sure if that was caused by this or the deer it hit....I'm going with deer. Here she is once in the garage. Started working on the brake drums to get an idea of how bad they were....oh they had become bad and I need to get my sledge hammer to beat the drums off. Well that is currently all that has been done so let me know what else you would like to see.

Not to steal the thread but would this cause nothing on the AC system to turn on? The only air the comes through for me is when the fan speed is off and on vent. The fan doesn't turn on at all and all the vacuum lines are all attached.

Picture of the valve is missing but the threads seemed to be 5/8-16 (fine thread) but couldn't find one anywhere. Ordered one online and the wrong bolt was in the correctly labeled package. So a 16mm drain plug was forcible cranked down with Teflon tape. Started to bleed brakes and as of fight now one line is leaking so that is the next step to figure out.

The gen 2 Dakotas also had the ax15. I have a 4WD 2000 year Dakota with the V8 5.2/9 magnum that has the AX15 behind it with the NP231 transfer case if that helps.

Thank you for getting those shoots. Wasn't a big hill but fun never the less.

Looks similar to the design I have on my Comanche just without a brush guard. For additional strength I would recommend that the shackle points are inline to the frame. This would reduce / eliminate any additional stress being put on the bumper as the load path would be directly into the frame and not have to travel through the bumper before reaching the frame.

Been an exciting few weeks here. First the track bar nut sheared off on me causing me to slide into a minor ditch. Found some rope in the truck and tired it back up to proceed the 10 miles home at 35 MPH. Steering was terrible and honestly amazed that it actually worked. Got half down my driveway before the rope broke. Had a second piece to finish the trip. About a week later the following happened causing the Comanche to be sitting in the driveway again. A stud sheared off from the driver side bearing hub causing the tire to fall loose. Lucky i caught it and was able to make it to the shoulder before it completely fell off Jacked it back up after running the few miles back home for tools. Gauged the heck out of the rim so it will become the spare rim after i order a new one. Just had to wait for the new bearing hub assemblies to show up Now this past Saturday, after the the hubs arrives on Friday, the 4.2L in my 88 wrangler decided to blow the head gasket and throw a rod through the oil pan about an hour fifteen from home. Took about four hours for AAA to get me home. So with all this happening, the wrangler is getting stripped of parts to allow the rebuilt transmission I have been working on to be installed in the Comanche. Sunday involved removal of the wrangler transfer case with the transmission following. Going to be taking the bell housing, clutch parts including the master cylinder and clutch plate, and transfer case from the wrangler and put into the Comanche to get the five speed in there. Trying to decide if I should and worth it to rebuild the transfer case before installing.

Bty I appreciate the input and information regarding the oval option. I hadn't planned to much change on the lens themselves except make an upper and lower piece as the printer doesn't have the height capacity for the lens.

Thank you for the feedback and I shall update this thread as modeling work begins. Need to find the box in the garage that I put those spare tail lights in.

Hello Everyone, A co-worker and I are in the process of getting a resin printer and have been thinking of ideas for projects to utilize it in connection with my standard 3-D printer. My initial thought was making a replacement tail light for our Comanches by duplicating the OEM spares I have. However, the lens cover would have to become a two piece as the printer would not be able to do it in one large section. So with that said I would like to request help on determining what section of the housing needs to be strength or adjusted for off-road use and longevity. The two (2) side attachment points that utilized clip nuts was the major area that broke on mine and thought about replacing with a riveted anchor nut but looking for feed back on other weak points. Thank you and will update with modeling work as it is completed.

I installed a 134 amp from a Grand Cherokee on my buddy's and mine MJ. However, due to the larger diameter of the alternator a bit of grinding on the brackets to get it to fit was required.

Oh so CapitalCityPioneer found a factory roll bar for his SWB locally after posting in the areas jeep group. Not wanting to keep it in the back of his Honda Integra and to get it out of the way, we stuck in the back of my MJ as his bed is full of parts. My fiance walked out into the garage and instantly replied how she liked how it looked and said not to give it back. The lucky man got the factory frame brackets with the roll bar as well. His build thread is below but I am still working on reminding him to take pictures as he works. https://comancheclub.com/topic/58824-1988-comanche-barn-find-project-for-a-new-jeeper/

Thanks Pete M! It had me stumped by the single side only bowing as everything was measuring up relatively equal. And yes, helper dogs are the best indeed! Getting the 10mm wrench is a an amazing idea because that size is always need when you can't find the wrench Additionally, while waiting on parts for the power steering to arrive, I have been working on a how I want to move the air intake higher up. Not sure if I want to go the cold air intake route, just want to move intake away from behind the light.

So before assisting my buddy CapitalCityPioneer with obtaining his first Comanche, I had been fighting with some front coil spring issues. The passenger coil spring was aggressively rubbing with the sway bar connect due to some bowing. [passenger of left & driver on right] This had been fighting me for a few days and got me frustrated due to only one side having the issue. Thankfully I had my new shop buddy hanging out with me who enjoyed being "helpful". He doesn't understand the concept of staying clean. I ended up having to disconnect everything like 3 or 4 time and had to re-adjust the control arms to re-position the axle placement. Additionally, found out my sway bar disconnects were too short and was adding to the problem. So after getting that fixed and taken care of, took the truck for a short test drive to the post office down the street to check my mail. Returning home and shifting into reverse with my wheels turned, white smoke began rolling into the cabin. Turns out my high pressure power steering hose had blown and would squirt fluid on the exhaust when wheels were at full lock. Now waiting on a new line to come in as well as preparing to drain the front diff to tap the breather hole as my insert failed to stay in. Now work will focus on finishing the 5-speed transmission as the truck currently has a top speed of 65 mph @ 3100 rpm with the current AX4 and 4.52 gears on 32" tires.

Appreciate that important reminder on the water Pete M. Thankfully we jury rigged the steering and was able to move it into the garage for ease of work.

Rear ZJ disk brakes work but you may need to sand out the center some to fit over the axle shaft center depending on shaft manufacture. At least that was required for me and my new rear axle shafts that I bought for my rear disk conversion. Below is a list of parts I used to complete by conversion and will have to find the part numbers later when I get home, sorry for that inconvenience. However, I still am working on the parking brake setup currently as the wire connecting to the release handle snapped the last time I released my parking brake. AutoZone: 1998 ZJ Rear Rotors 1997 Ford Explore Rear Calipers New hard brake lines and fittings (not required but mine need to be replaced) NAPA: 1991 MJ/XJ Front Drive and Passenger Rubber Brake Lines. TeriFlex: spacer

Thank you Pete M! I did not order a kit as I wanted to ensure the rotors were the same for all four wheels. I just bought the backing / parking brake plate separate forgetting the tapered spacer at first. Then just order new calipers and rotors from the local auto part store. Still working on the parking brake portion but still trying to determine how to replace the release handle as the cable snapped there.

Hello everyone! I apologize for the all the info piled into this post. Been busy and forgot to update the progress of the truck. The truck got front axle reinstalled and moved into the garage for the work on the rear axle swap. Not focusing and remembering I forgot to take pictures of the process on the swap. DANA 44 Rear Axle So in the process of swapping in the new DANA 44, I replaced and upgrade the U-bolts. I ordered 5/8" diameter x 2-3/4" inside width x 7-7/8" long replacements from Plattsburgh Spring Inc [UBoltsDirect.com]. The bolts were larger then OEM and required a bit of grinding to open the spring plate holes some. For the new brake lines I went to NAPA and ordered new front brake caliper rubber lines for a Comanche/Cherokee to use in the rear calipers. All I had to modify to get the lines to work was cut off the joggle tab where the hard line connected for the driver side. For the passenger side the joggle tab gave a nice mounting hole to secure the connection. From there I learned that I am terrible at bending hard brake line but overall it worked out nicely. With the rear axle all that is left is to run the breather line up to the engine bay as a manifold is in the works for all the breathers. The manifold is a project for me to learn the end mill at work. As the brake lines were affected, I took the opportunity to replace/upgrade to a dual diaphragm brake booster. Booster is current now in temporary in place so I can work on determining the required brake line bend and lengths required in case the booster needs to be removed. Additionally, the area in front of the A/C fan was open and built a bracket to hold a relay box and additional pre-wired relay holders that attaches under the hood bar to hold it open. So with that you all are caught back up on the process of where the truck sits. Please let me know of your thoughts or feedback on the anything you see to help me improve the work being done. Thank you and have a wonder day / evening.

Well truck has been down and set on front jack stands. Pulled in the driveway after work and more coolant poured out onto the ground. So out of frustration, I lift the front end and pulled the front axle out. Turns out after getting the axle out I noticed a lot replacing need to take place. So with that new bearing hubs and bolts, ball joints and upper control arm mounts were ordered because they were royally shot on the axle. Also planning on getting new calipers and rotors as the passenger side seemed ot have locked up on the rotor making a nice plateau. While waiting on the axle to get reared geared, I returned to finishing up the transmission. All the internals all back together waiting for the housing to go back on. The following pictures are before I completed putting the detente balls and springs back in. Otherwise I have been working on setting up a new relay box to handle the new lights within the bumper as well as later upgrades since currently the fog light wiring is tired down but is so unclean. I have been enjoying them till the axle got yanked out. First picture below is as I drive down my driving heading to work, while the second is on the main road. Well that is all for now while I continue to figure out why my truck keeps loosing coolant and work to replace the heater core and evaporator in my finance's Cherokee. Otherwise, have a great day everyone.

Finally was able to get the Dana 44 re-geared by a local fellow I was recommended. The previous owner had started to do some work on it and took the brake drums to the dump, so I decided to covert the axle to rear disk brakes. I bought a kit online since the local junkyards were charging a large penny for the parts and for a little more could get new parts. Don't mind the messy garage, in the works of organizing, but my girlfriend got me differential covers as a gift. I saw a discussion and links on here regarding different covers for axles and I left the tab open. Well the kit for the disk brake conversion aligned and bolted up, but allowed a 1/4" of movement for the axle. So will be making a spacer at work via the water jet to take movement out. Additionally, I had to open up the center of the rotor allow it to sit properly on the axle shaft. One the spacer gets cut out , the axle will be completed and ready for install.

Over the weekend I was finally I finished the overheating repairs. With the removal of the radiator required, I decided at the same time to upgrade to a dual electric fan system since I had a fan sitting around that I pulled off a Comanche in a junkyard. Removal of the mechanical fan was straight forward but took a few fit checks to determine what all had to be removed. Initially, I left the fan pulley on to maintain the same belt pattern. However, the studs for the fan were to long so I cut them as close as possible. Still no luck fitting and now there was no going back. So off came the pulley and removal of the studs leaving a what you see below. Then at work on my lunch break I took measurements of the mechanical fan shroud and superimposed the new electric fan. From there I made a sketch to have a co-worker bend me up a Z bracket to secure the fan. I dug through the scrap metal bin and found two angles that I took and used for securing the lower section of the fan into the slots on the radiator. You can make out the three brackets as the fourth holes was aligned to the upper passenger shroud mounting hole. The fan is wired via a fuse jumper into the ignition fuse to start upon start up. Works great but needs an adjustment because when the key is turned off the engine will continue to fun for a few sections before shutting off completely. Remove the fuse jumper and it shuts off normally. Had to buy a new serpentine belt and went with a belt part numbered 840K6. Started the engine to finish the fill up for coolant and the engine was staying at 180 degrees during idle. Upon taking the truck out, it turns out the belt is two long and it slipping. So back to the part store to get a shorter belt.

Thank you for the replies everyone. Went through and check everything again in the fuse box as well as the grounds. After ensuring the ground was good it turned out that the fuse box for the dash fuse was a bit corroded. When I checked and cleaned the fuse, I didn't clean the fuse box side. Now all the gauges expect the fuel work correctly. It seems like the fuel has a bad ground as it moves but is not aligned to the full or empty markings.

Hey Everyone, I have a 89' 4.0 L Comanche where the instrumentation panel won't work except for the turn signal indicators. Everything else won't function including the mechanical speedometer. If anyone has any input that would be greatly appreciated. I have checked the fused under the dash and replaced the one that was broken. Thank you for your time and help.

Found it! Thank you again coolwind57. This will save me some money because I didn't realize that nipple was removable.

Thank you immensely for the response and information coolwind57! Didn't realize they had different threads and made a mess.