89 MJ

I have to say, I’m surprised by the number of Metric Ton trucks in the registry.

Bump for Pete! After fixing my rusty bed, my only advice would be to buy a solid one like Pete has here. Any body shop could fix the tree dent, if that is what you are worried about. Heck, I’m sure even you, reader, could fix it with a slide hammer, some body hammers, and some patience. It’s better than fixing rust, or worse yet, rust and dents. Remember, time is money.

Bump for Pete! After fixing my rusty bed, my only advice would be to buy a solid one like Pete has here. Remember, time is money.

Bump for Pete! After fixing my rusty bed, my only advice would be to buy a solid one like Pete has here. And if you are worried about the dents, most body shops would rather fix dents than rust. Remember, time is money.

Bump for Pete! After fixing my rusty bed, my only advice would be to buy a solid one like Pete has here. Remember, time is money.

Bump for Pete! After fixing my rusty bed, my only advice would be to buy a solid one like Pete has here. Remember, time is money.

I want to preface this by saying that my Comanche right now is fine, but I am just having some performance issues with it. I shouldn’t even say they are issues, but they are things that are happening that I would rather did not happen. I’ll start with the leaf springs. The leaf springs in my bastard pack in my 89 are all getting worn out. While I am in there replacing springs, I want to go 1.5” higher, for a total of 4.5” of lift and I want Metric Ton springs because when I get my own place, I’m going to have to use it a lot more for truck stuff, and I want it to be able to tow and haul a little bit better without squatting. I see that Hell Creek 4.5” springs are rated at 1440 pounds, does anyone have experience with those and towing and how do they ride empty? Is there one brand that is better than the other? I seem to recall one of the two companies offering Military wrap (also, I don’t know what that means, I just remember that it is good), but I couldn’t find it on either website. Does General spring make a Metric Ton 4.5” lift spring? If so, how does it tow and ride empty Now on to front coil springs. My truck has a lean. The left front corner has always sat visibly lower than the right front. IIRC, when we measure it, it was .75” lower. If I am replacing the rear leafs, I might as well do front coils at the same time. Right now, I am looking at the Rubicon Express coils. Is there anything else out there that you folks would recommend? I know to avoid Rough Country like the plague. Let’s go for steering now. I am looking at a steering box brace because I currently have 30x10.50s and have no plans of going smaller, so I want to deal with this before it becomes and issue. I am looking at this Ironman 4x4 kit right now. https://ironman4x4fab.com/products/xj-steering-box-brace?variant=29782948216920 Does anyone have any experience with it? I am not planning on ordering the drop brackets, but does anyone know if I would need the steering box spaced or not? I would assume that I would. Finally, for some engine upgrades. For whatever reason, it seems like my truck doesn’t wake up until 2,500-3,000 RPM. I have the 96 header and no crush pipe in the exhaust. No plugged cat either. I’m also running 4 holes injectors. I know the biggest performance upgrade is gearing, which is why I have 4.10s in my truck. Would the bored throttle body help wake up my truck too? I know more air usually equals more power. Of course, I’d take more power anywhere I can get it, but it would be especially nice lower in the power band. Long term, I want to run a standalone ECU, cam it and run boost through the engine, but boost and standalone just isn’t in the cards right now. I have already made a prior post about camming it that I plan to look back at. Thanks guys., and sorry about being long-winded.

Very nice truck! CC can host your pictures too! Have you put your truck in the registry?

Looks great!

A good body shop should be able to fix that bedside.

On Monday night, I wirewheeled and put chassis saved on the major rust spots on it. Last night, I got the original throttle cable freed up so I can move the tractor while I wait for my other one that USPS lost. We also decided that we should try to see if it moves. I couldn’t get first or second gear because I think there is some rust on the clutch linkage not allowing it to go into all of the gears and preventing the clutch pedal from returning like it’s supposed to. I put it in third gear while sitting on it and my dad slowly lifted his foot off of the clutch, and it moved! We had it about two feet away from the shop door and it pulled the tires and almost hit it, but we got it in neutral quick enough.

I love these little things! Someday I will own one.

I was raised to respect other people’s time. That is very irritating to me too. I don’t understand how someone can knowingly, and deliberately, do it. I get life getting busy, but there aren’t that many people that could possibly be that busy. I’d say it has to be close to 80% of the people I’ve tried to sell things to on FB Marketplace. I guess there are reasons that I prefer to collect instead of sell…

My mother swears by her instant pot. Too many buttons for me though. I’ll stick with the stove and the oven for my cooking.

Indeed it does!

I finally had a chance to start working on this Bolens today. The engine had a ring of rust in the cylinder, so we short some penetrating oil in there and let it sit for a few minutes. That freed it up enough to let the starter crank it over. Compression is great, as I put the spark plug back in, gave it a shot of starting fluid and it ran for the first time in many years.

Hopefully body and paint work will come in the spring. It desperately needs paint.

New axle seal and wheel bearing are in and I am daily driving it once again until the snow flies. I also took some pictures of it and the Eagle in the yard.

I had to replace the alternator the other day because the old one was busted. I also took some pictures of the fleet out in the yard.

@eaglescout526 is the go to 4cyl guy around here.

My dad and brother did this on a 59 Chevy station wagon. They drilled the spot welds on our skin along with the donor skin, swapped them, and welded the new skin on. They had it done fairly quickly and reduces the chances of warping it.

It turned out great. Too bad about the engine though.

I think Pete is secretly plotting something for the new 86…

Pete, you could get all the hard to access beds with that unit!

September 2021- @knever3’s 87 SporTruck Build Thread- Year/Model - 1987 Jeep Comanche Sportruck originally 2wd 5 ba/10. Drivetrain- 4.7L Stroked 4.0L. 70's AMC 4.2 crank, recon 4.0L rods, '96 head '94 block with main girdle, KB forged pistons, double roller timing chain, brown dog motor mounts. 242 Tcase stock Dana 30 and Dana 35. Custom rear driveshaft, Spicer joints. AW-4 21 spline Cooling- OEM replacement radiator new pressure bottle, mostly stock, haven't even added my secondary electric fan, only mechanical fan. Electrical/Ignition- Stock Renix. Wideband O2 monitor, LCD readout under factory clock, 23lb/hr injectors, 62mm BBK throttle body '99 intake, AFe stainless header, 2.5" exhaust. Suspension/Steering- JKS adjustable upper and lower control arms, JKS shackles, Hell Creek 3" leaf springs, Motion off road coils. BDS Bilstein shocks. Interior- OE black interior, found a leather wrapped steering wheel by chance to finish off the upgraded look. Alpine CDE-149BT radio with Arc Audio amp, Diamond Audio components. Soon to have 12" Alpine sub with Biketronics amp powering components active with Helix DSP. Stereo Integrity 6.5" mids. Brakes- OE replacement Centric rotors, Hawk pads, extended brake hoses. Replaced all brake lines when truck was being built, removed level sensing valve. Lighting- Hella E-code H4 upgrade lights with Hella bulbs, Hella relay harness, Hella 550 driving lights. Led turn signals, Euramatec interior with LED bulbs. Exterior- OE color black LineX bedliner, 3 piece slider rear window, JCR rear bumper, hopefully get a custom front bumper made at some point. Wheel & Tires- 2001 XJ limited wheels, 265/75/16 Duratracs load range C which ride fantastic by the way!! Misc- The whole truck is Miscellaneous! LOL As usual the parts were scavenged from so many trucks, a '90 XJ 2 door mainly. I wanted the C101 delete '90 model as a donor. Best MJ story- This has got to be the best, when I was at work I found a '90 XJ on CL with the 242 tcase that I wanted for a donor. It was about 3 hours away and I was working Saturday-Monday 12 hour shifts. The truck was $800 and I contacted him and said I would even pay him extra if he could hold it for me till Tuesday. He said, don't bother with any more money and said YES and I was super excited! I called my girlfriend right away giddy as a school girl on her birthday! I was thinking of how I was going to get down there all weekend, I called Monday to make arrangements and he said he had someone coming from Chicago to pick it up. I was crushed, how could someone do that?!! I called my girlfriend and complained to her for probably hours for the next month I suppose. Fast forward about 2 months to Christmas day at my sisters house. After the family's gifts were ripped open my girlfriend gave me a note that said look in the dryer. I did, then the next note said look in the basement, I did, the next note and then some more leaded me to the garage with my eyes closed. I opened my eyes to see a black 2 door Cherokee, I held my breath and my comments until I walked around and looked the truck up and down like a supermodel. I opened the hood to see the wiring harness, no C101 connector, opened the door, 1990 manufacture date. I was so puzzled, how could my girlfriend find EXACTLY what I wanted? Well after complaining for forever that day she called the guy on CL selling the Jeep. She convinced him she would come down and buy it. She rented a U-haul trailer and asked a friend of hers to come with her, drove 3 hours, gave the guy $800 and hid it in my parents garage for two months. She then drove the incredibly toed in truck to my sisters house where she parked it in her garage for the surprise. Yeah the guy was a dirt bag, but what a story! I married that girl. CC is Awesome! Why? I found a place to share my thoughts and questions along the way, kept me on track with the build. There are so many people that share the same passion and just want to help. Cruiser54 and Eagle have got to be the most influential, I enjoy Minuit and Ohm's addition since they share my electrical passion. I just wish that someday I could meet up with some of these guys. I would love to take a road trip just to meet up with some people on this forum. Beautiful truck, congratulations! I have to say, I love the OEM+ look that this truck has.