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With the Comanche front axle out, we used this time to drop the oil pan and change the rear main seal with a new seal and oil pan gasket. I really like the Fel Pro gaskets for this! Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Got the Comanche axle completely out from under the truck. There is some work to do on the front end. While we're doing that, we are taking the front axle to get new gears and a new Eaton Truetrac! We'll be using Motive 4.10 gears and G2 master install kit. The great folks and David at Texas Auto Gear are going to regear the Dana 30 axle. Earlier in the project we found and swapped a Ford 8.8 rear axle with 4.10 gears and limited slip differential. We had to regear the front axle to match and I found a good deal on the Truetrac. I thank the guys at TX Auto Gear, they work fast, do quality work and are really cool!

Thanks JMO! I really appreciate it! Once I got done with the floorpans, the rest of the project is going so much faster now! Still have some more rust to fight under the battery tray but I already have the best solution figured out for that one!

Thanks Jeep Dreams! It's not going to be all pretty and matchy match at the end. My goal is to have a solid and capable truck when done with the main part of the build!

The Comanche front axle (HP Dana 30) is temporarily coming out so it can go to the gear doctor

$215 Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Surprisingly, the 30 year old Comanche leaks. Bad! I have 2 hopefully not 3 places to restore trying to avoid having an inch of water in each floorpan. Starting with replacement of the windshield. This was really cool and I thank the team from Eagle Auto Glass in Magnolia for checking this out, great communication and then a fine job installing. I also deleted the original chrome windshield trim for the later model Cherokee rubber trim. Chrome trim is for sale if anyone needs it, send me a PM.

Want to buy Passenger and Driver side bucket seat trim lever. Let me know if you have a set laying around. Prefer black or gray. From early model I think '86-'94 MJ and XJ had the same ones. Could be wrong on those exact years. Thanks!

The main Comanche brake line that runs to the rear brakes was extremely rusty and pitted. I decided to make a new one. Ordered some nickel copper brake line and stainless spring wrap. Brought the old line home and started bending to match as close to the original as I could. Went back to the truck and routed it and got it installed, along with the Rusty's extended rear line to the top of the rear differential. Turned out real good! More to come with the braking system!

When installing a Long arm suspension upgrade on a Jeep Comanche or Cherokee XJ, you have to pass the point of no return! It requires cutting off the original control arm mounts. It's a difficult project. There are multiple layers of metal and the Comanche even has an entire outer brace over the top of the typical Cherokee mounts. I took my time and made as precise cuts as I could. Even with that it took me 4 cut off wheels, 3 die grinder cut off wheels and 2 sawzall blades. Then I arrived at a bunch of hated spot welds. Luckily, I had the spot welds cutters from Blair from the previous floorpan project. I drilled them all out to remove all of the brackets, welded any holes that got too deep and finished the project by adding primer and paint!

We got the new Rusty's Off Road cross member installed! It looks sweet!

On the Comanche project we started looking at the new Rusty's cross member. The Comanche has a side brace that is different than the Cherokee. We had to drill out a few spot welds and cut a notch in that brace. The cross member side plates will fit in there. I got to paint inside that brace, so that's good! Making best use of time I went ahead and primered and painted the front driveshaft which was very rusted! Looks awesome! Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

Some shiny new parts showed up for the Comanche from Rusty's! 6" coil springs, Track Bar, long arms & a super beefy new cross member! More updates coming soon!

Comanche project is really moving forward.. my brother welded on the shock mounts while showing off his safety splits! We removed the front bumper and built 2×4 jack stands boosters. The Jeep is set up for the whole next phase!

On the Comanche, we got the rear axle reinstalled, UBolts cut and torqued to 150ftlbs "Errrrrrr Click!"

A couple of misc steps on the Comanche before we get to some major component upgrades. My brother helped relocate the rear brake line mount and drilled and tapped a new spot. The suspension lift we are using has wider frame brackets so I needed to notch-out the side frame support. Got this all done and cleaned, primed and painted

More new parts to fix up the Comanche! We are installing the 4wd cable shifter. The original 4wd linkage is temperamental and sometimes works and mostly works against us trying to shift into 4wd. It's a fight! We got rid of that headache and frustration and added this Savvy Off Road cable shifter. The mounts are robust and hardcore while the stout cable shifts like butter!

On the Comanche, we took advantage of the time with the rear axle out. Primed and painted the new gas tank, gas tank skid plate and UBolts.. it started raining so had to rapid transfer into the garage and make do with the space I could find

Comanche axle is out, we set up the proper pinion angle with the new drive shaft and tightened the UBolts. Got the spring perches welded in place. I'd like to take credit for the awesome welding here, but we decided to take it to some pros that my brother knew. I'm sure they were very impressed with my tack welds!

Awww Yeaaaah! More new parts showing up! The Adam's team made this driveshaft perfect, added the Ford 8.8 conversion flange and balanced it before shipping out! We set it up and measured the pinion angle before we weld on the spring perches

Sad face is right! It's a lot of work to fight 30 yr old rust and then try to prevent! Please let me know if you see me doing anything way wrong during all my updates! Your advice would always be appreciated Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk

We got the Comanche console installed! Because it originally didn't have a console we were missing 2 of the 3 mounting points. I ordered the upgrade metal mount from JCR off-road for the rear and then we created and welded the front mount from some stock flat 1/8" steel. Drilled holes for the mounting screws and used Uclips to screw into. As everyone says that JCR mount is really well done. We had to bend and fit it to make it level and expand the mounting holes for the bolts we wanted to use. We drilled through the trans tunnel and inserted bolts up from the bottom, washers and nuts on top and then covered the bottom with silicone under the truck. Bam! new center console!

This is back dated a bit... but it was very exciting to start receiving new to me parts for install instead of constant rust fighting! 97+ Cherokee console because I sold the bench and went with buckets

On the Comanche paint and rust protect project.. got the entire underside painted with Rust-Oleum Pro Enamel. Also, based on a great recommendation from an experienced Comancheclub member @Jeep Driver, I added majic catalyst hardener in the paint mix. It finished super nice and smooth and much harder than other parts I've already coated.. Sweet! ... And we reinstalled the NP231 transfer case with Slip Yoke Eliminator

Lots of patience needed, not much room to work.. primer is all done!