89 MJ

I like my Luk clutch kit. It has been perfect for daily driving without being too stiff, but it still doesn't slip when off roading, towing, or when I dump the clutch like an idiot (which is rare, but fun).

They actually do really well for things like crawling because they aren't designed for speed and are designed to be worked hard. Some of them even had factory locking rear axles.

And I would think that a bent axle would have a more evident mark on parts of it and a harder to see mark on other parts. If the mark was pretty even, that would have me thinking that the shaft was fine.

Out of curiosity, did it have a fuel shutoff at the tank? I know all of my garden tractors (and my fullsize tractor) have had one. Of course, adding a secondary one is never a bad idea, especially if the original one was hard to get to.

That looks like a very nice, honest, original MJ. Great find! In terms of the ticking sound, it sounds like it could easily be either a lifter, piston slap, or an exhaust leak. I'd check for the exhaust leak first. The factory manifolds are known to crack and the intake and exhaust manifold bolts are prone to loosening up over time. That Lancia looks like a very cool project!

No movement in the ball joints is good news. That will save a headache and some money. The parts that you took pictures of are your sway bar end links in the first picture and your sway bar bushings in your second picture. The good news is that those are fairly cheap and easy to replace. I don't think that I will be the source of your troubles though. The job of the sway bar is to control side to side lean in corners for the most part, so in the grand scheme of things, it isn't necessary. You could pull the sway bar and end links off and then drive it a little bit to see if that fixes the issue, but be warned, the handling will be a little funky. If it cures your problem, then order the sway bar bushings and end links. If it doesn't fix the issue, maybe try the test again with the vehicle's weight on the ground. Really, it looks like you need end links and bushings either way, but I don't think that it is the cause of your issues.

Missing all of the badges is the big one. The shininess of the paint also isn’t quite right. If you look at the engine bay shots and front suspension pics, they are nice, but clearly original. The paint is way nicer than the engine bay or underside though, pointing out it’s been painted. This is especially evident by looking at the firewall. It should look the same as the paint on the body.

I’ve always wanted to try this. It looks like a blast

That does look like a nice one. Looks like a fairly recent repaint, but it looks pretty unmolested otherwise.

July 2025 - A 2000 Swapped Shortbed Owned by @grainofsalt Build Thread- https://comancheclub.com/topic/73595-1990-shortbed-with-2000-swap/ Year/Model - 1990 Jeep Comanche MJ Complete drivetrain swap from a 2000 Jeep Cherokee XJ 4X4 Drivetrain- 4.0l Straight six AW4 Automatic transmission NP231 Transfer Case With slip yoke eliminator High pinion Dana 30 front axle 29 spline Chrysler 8.25 rear axle Regeared front and rear axles with new 4.88 gears Cooling- Stock Electrical/Ignition- Stock Suspension/Steering- Rubicon Express 6.5” front coil springs Ebay 4x4 LCA's Control arm drop brackets Spring over rear factory rear leaf springs Bilstien shocks Rough Country track bar with 9/16” JK bushing upgrade Steering box brace Interior- Factory 2000 XJ interior New ACC carpet TrekArmor JK seat covers Brakes- Factory from 2000 XJ Working XJ handbrake using XJ long side e-brake cables Rough county extended braided brake lines front and rear Lighting- Stock JK Wrangler taillights with factory plugs Exterior- Paint is F8 green from a 2018 Dodge Hellcat Notch Customs cut out flares Jeepsticker.com reflective stickers Wheel & Tires- 285/75R17 Falken wildpeak M/T 17X9” Rocktrix wheels Misc- JCR Vanguard PreRunner Front bumper New ACC Carpet Spray in bed liner Cheap bluetooth radio XJ soundbar behind the seats XJ fuel tank in the spare tire location Best MJ story- Took the truck to a car show and a kid walked up to it and did some chin ups on the front bumper. CC is Awesome! Why? It's a great place to share build ideas and showcase your handiwork with other enthusiasts.

Generally, I can't stand black wheels. They actually look really good on this truck though, especially with the black bumpers, grille, and headache rack. That thing looks huge with the 5.5ish inch lift, in a good way.

Location and severity of the rust are two big factors here. Realistically speaking, it sounds like you're selling a project because you've got parts you'd sell with it, even if a buyer doesn't care to fix the rust. If the floors and rockers are decent and only will need patches, you could maybe get $4000-$4500 for it. If it needs full floors and full rockers, maybe $3000 to $3500. I'm seeing some good parts though, AX-15, sliding rear window, full gauge package, looks like the Warrior products front bumper, nice wheels and tires. If you were to swap in the AX-15, clean the truck up really well (from what I'm seeing in the pictures, it looks like heavily oxidized single stage paint, so I'd wash it with a scotch brite pad), take good pictures all the way around the truck, including some up close pictures of the rusty spots, and combine the pictures with a well written ad that highlights the good parts of the truck and mentions that its not perfect, you might be able to get $5500 for it.

I know for sure the TCU is different between HO and Renix. I think a manual to auto swap also requires a wiring harness swap, or at least adding the auto trans harness. Looks like this thread has more details.

Looking good!

It is entirely possible that the wiring is bad, but I find it unlikely. There is probably a spot of corrosion somewhere on the ends of one of the wires preventing the starter for engaging. Make sure all of your grounds are good (engine to body ground and negative battery cable) and make sure the battery cable and the other wires going to the starter at the starter end is free of corrosion too.

Double check all of your connections at the battery and at the starter. Make sure that you clean both ends of your battery cables, including the little one that goes to the starter. From my understanding (which is probably wrong, I have never used a battery tender), a battery tender is only used to maintain voltage or do minimal charging. Put the battery on a real battery charger and then try it again. To me, it sounds like there are problems with either the battery or the connections. The battery dying after three weeks is also a little bit suspicious. That shouldn't happen. This points to there either being a draw somewhere or the battery going bad. But one thing at a time, lets try to get the truck running first. Out of curiosity, how old is the battery?

That looks like a really nice truck.

Those are good reasons. I’m glad to hear the front is going to get narrower.

Why the switch to different flares in the front?

Send @krustyballer16 a pm and he’ll get you squared away.

That looks so much better. I think purple would be really cool for long term paint.

You are correct. If you’ve got a helper, you could just watch all of the steering linkage as they turn back and forth. If you’ve don’t have a helper, you could set your phone up to take a video and do the same.

Shiny. Side note, I hate trying to take a decent picture of chrome.

Still for sale or for sale again https://www.facebook.com/share/166xvgAstr/?mibextid=wwXIfr

You might be able to look into a shipping company that will just hook onto it and tow it down for you. I would assume something like that exists.