M1A1TankerTom

Exo Cage Completed!

RCV axles are in! Easy install, just have too grind out the knuckles a little. Been in a couple weeks now and love them. Today i cut the rear fender openings. Came out pretty good. Next week the comanche is going in for some major work. Traded a big block 396 to my fab guy and in return the comanche is getting some sliders and a full exo cage! I also started collecting parts for rear SOA and long arm front. Pics to follow.

Ukiah, CA.

My buddy is big into Volvo. When i swapped out my Dana 35 and lp 30 he wanted them. Said Volvo guys use them all the time and is considered an upgrade.

Ukiah, CA...also willing to pay for shipping.

Looking for a set of stock 4x4 comanche leaf springs in good shape. Don't want a rusted out or sagging set. Was planning to pick up a pair from my local junk yard but they want a ridiculous amount for them. Let me know what you got. Thanks!

Ya i plan on running a Clayton long arm set up. Still looking into steering setups...kinda like the wj conversion, but that's more than i wanted to spend on steering at this time.

I don't actually have a set of stock rear leafs yet, will probably get the best set i can from local junk yard (they have three comanches). Track bar and brake lines are already covered. Thinking i will end up picking up some 6.5 coils, new shocks, and figure out how i want to handle the steering...and should be good to go.

Looking for what front coils to purchase that will best match a rear SOA. From what i have found seems like 6.5 is the way to go. Can everybody with rear SOA please post what brand and advertised lift front coils you are running in the front .also would like to hear if you are happy with said coils (do they match rear on height). If ya got pics that's great also.

The comanche says f#ck you to U Joints! Took the plunge on RCV shafts. Best shafts money can buy (so i have heard)... Plus a "it breaks you get a new set" warranty for life! Thought hard about putting money into the Dana 30 or not. Decided i already have enough money wrapped up in gears, lockers, new hubs, new ball joints, etc...might as well stick with it. Figured these will do the trick for when i step up in tire size down the road as well.

Ouch!!!

Sooo, yesterday i took a little trip out to cow mountain and ended up snapping my drivers side axle shaft :( I'll post pics when I'm not on my phone. Thinking about picking up a set of RCV shafts. Also did some body damage which made me realize i need some sliders in a bad way!

I installed new locks in both of my doors. There is a flat piece of metal that slides between the lock and the inside of the door metal that holds the lock in place. I used a screw driver to get in there and slide it out of place. You might want to double check and insure you have the right locks...I remeber all the auto stores I went to sold me the wrong lock even though its what their computer shows as the right part. I ended up buying them from teamcherokee.com

Never been bothered for not having fender flares. Bumper came out of Santa Rosa, CA. And everybody knows that tankers lead the way! Lol

picked up a set of Lebaron hood vents from a guy off pirate4x4.com So today I got to work and made some templates to lay down on the hood I started by drilling out the corners so they were rounded. I cut out the left side with a cutting wheel and the right side with a jig saw. If I were to do it again I would only use the jig saw. I then painted the vents black, threw another coat of paint on the hood and BAM...the comanche has hood vents! I used angled aluminum as mounting brackets. All in all they turned out great. Looks good, I just finished so I don't really know if the temp dropped at all.

Today I had a little time to work on the Comanche so I addressed the cooling issue. Originally I was thinking of going with an electric fan but I decided to swap the original fan clutch for an upgraded ZJ fan cluth (Napa Auto Parts #272310). I heard from Naxja.org that this fan spins at 30% faster speeds than the stock fan. Ended up working out great. After the swap I drove up a local uphill climb of several miles and my temps remained under 215 degress, which is much better than the last time I went up the same incline and my temps reached 245! here is the ZJ fan # 272310 fresh from Napa Here is the stock fan clutch next to the upgraded ZJ fan clutch installed on the fan. You can obviously tell the new clutch is much larger than the stock unit. Originally I was planning on replacing the factory fan with an electric fan but decided this upgrade was worth a shot. Glade I did, it really works. Still might replace the factory electric fan with a Ford Taurus fan but I guess time will tell.

TMan, long time no talk. Truck is doing great and the motor mounts are just as great. I have to say though installing the one side was a pain in the butt. Glade to see you picked up another Comanche. As for the rear bumper I could not be happier with it. Obviously a few of you liked it also because my buddy called me and said he needs me to bring my comanche back to his house to make a jig because a few of you contacted him about having one made. my list of things to do next on the comanche: hood vents, replace fan with electric, long arms, skid plates, sliders, and a cage. Although these things might have to wait a while as I am in the process of buying a house.

here is my other rig also. Just picked it up a couple of months ago. 1999 XJ, 4.0 motor, auto tranny, 8.25 rear end, HP 30 front, only 100K miles.

I had the bumper built by a guy I found on craigslist. He does fab work out of his garage. After building my bumper I was pretty damn impressed. We actually ended up becoming friends and go wheeling together when our schedules both allow. He said he is willing to build more comanche bumpers and can make any changes you want, says he is also willing to ship. His name is Jesse, here is his email: balterbuilt@yahoo.com

Suspension: -Front HP Dana 30, 4.88 gears, lock right locker, Ruff Stuff diff cover -Rear Dana 44, 4.88 gears, Detroit locker, Ruff Stuff diff cover -4.5 inch lifted springs and leafs -Rubicon Express Super flex control arms -Rock Krawler track bar and bracket -Iron Rock Offroad HD tie rod -Sway bar removed -new spicer ball joints -new 760X u joints -new drive shaft u joints -all new moog tie rods -new Timken hub assemblies -RockCrawler black weels -33X10.5X15 KM2's -Diff breather houses routed under hood -Bilstien shocks -Crown extended brake lines Motor/Tranny: -Brown Dog HD Motor Mounts -New tranny mount -Had to replace exhaust manifold due to crack in original -Converted to open cooling system -New water pump -B&M tranny cooler -Removed AC condenser for more radiator air flow -Red Top Battery -Flowmaster exhaust -K&N air filter I am sure there is more, but this is what I can think of off the top of my head. I still have a lot of stuff I would like to do as time and money allows. Here are some more recent pics I have taken along the way. Dana 44 rear Snow Trip Rear Bumper Poser Shot How she looks now

I have had my comanche for over two years now and have never started a build thread. Figured it was time to have a place on here to post all of the stuff I do. I started out with a 1989 Jeep Comanche, short bed, 4.0 motor, AW4 auto tranny with 120K original miles. here is a pic from the guy I bought it off, this is what it looked like when I got it. I don't have pics of everything I have done so I will just put together a list of the mods I have done so far. From here on out I will make a better attempt to document things. Here is what she has now: Body: -97-2001 front end and fenders -cut front fenders -IPF headlight housings -EAutoWorks headlight harness -Hella headlight bulbs -JCR front bumper -Custom rear bumper -OD Green paint -XRC 8,000 winch -97+ Door seals

Did some wheeling today. Had a really good time. Did not break anything and the Jeep did great. I should start a build thread to put these pics in but until I do I figured I would throw some pics up here for all you guys.

If you had a comanche that does a little street driving but is mostly used for wheeling would you rather have a 4.5 long arm lift with 33 inch tires or a 6.5 long arm lift with 35 inch tires? Why?

I ordered these: http://motionoffroad.com/catalog/index. ... ts_id=1662 I ordered half of my parts from motionoffroad and the other half from rockauto.com, I have to say this is one of the few times that I ordered something off the internet where nothing came damaged, sent the wrong part, or somehow ended up having a fubar experience. Also a big thumbs up goes out to motionoffroad for cutting my shipping prices in more than half after a simple phone call, thanks guys!!! The shocks ride great, put my old ranchos to shame! Also wanted to say that ball joints are not fun to change :(