89 MJ

Seeing that reminds me that going south for school was one of my best decisions ever. I do not miss the cold one bit.

Have you verified that you are getting spark? Are you sure the CPS is in spec?

October 2023 - The Twins' 2nd Comanche In spring 2022 my twin brother and I purchased a farm with the goal of cleaning it up and building a house on the property. We knew immediately we would need a truck and very much didn't own one. We had previously owned an 88 SporTruck that we had purchased in an epic Roadkill style adventure with friends, purchased randomly on Craigslist in Los Angeles and then driven 3,500 miles home to Erie, Pennsylvania. It was an awesome truck but we sold it at the end of that year. We instantly regretted it and three years later stumbled upon the need and the right truck at the same time. A perfect 90 Eliminator with almost every option we wanted popped up in Redding, PA just 5 hours from home. We sorted out a plan to purchase it and brought it home! It needed a lot of tune up, but Cruiser54's list got everything sorted out. We use our Comanche as it should be, as a truck. 1600 lbs of concrete in the bed and a 48" trenching machine in tow. Estimated 5000lbs of trailer and contents plus 1000lbs of material in the bed. A corn crib folded up and placed in the trailer, only weighed 2300lbs , the lightest load we took to the scrap yard last year. Another view of the crushed corn crib. Build Thread- Year/Model - 1990 Eliminator with 265k miles. Drivetrain Engine: 4.0L, never been opened up, has upgraded injectors Transmission: AX15 with advanced adapters external slave conversion kit Transfer Case: NP231 Rear Axle: Dana 44 with LSD, ordered from the factory Front Axle: What ever is stock, it has a working CAD system. Cooling- Stock Renix closed system, new Dorman expansion tank with the original cap. Works great now that it holds pressure. Electrical/Ignition- Stock Renix, original French coil, with new cap, rotor, plugs, and clocked distributor. Electrical system in the truck is again stock with grounds sorted out for reliability. Suspension/Steering- Suspension Shocks: Rancho RS5000 fronts, KYB in the rear. Springs: original, regular payload with no upgrades. Steering is unmodified Interior- Standard Eliminator interior in grey. Updated interior B pillar lights. Head unit: JVC KD-T730BT rocking some random mix CDs. REM II 4.3 Clock Panel. Recovered headliner and sun visors with repaired and working vanity lights Tilt wheel Looking to upgrade the seats with new foam, new upholstery and heated seats pads wired to two OEM rocker switches to the right of the steering wheel. Brakes- Front are stock rotors and calipers with Hawk HPS pads. Rear, the big drums that came on the Dana 44 Original brake booster, works enough for boost, the pedal is the best feeling pedal in any vehicle I've owned. Still has the load sensing valve, appears to work. Lighting- No mods, new replacement Sylvania sealed beams. Missing the factory fog lights. Planning to do some under bed rail lighting, likely hooked to the fog light switch. Exterior- Been repainted by a decent amateur by the last owner. New Graphics were applied. Just had the bed done in Line-X to replace the slide in liner and gain access to the tie down points. Fey rear bumper, I love how sturdy and nice it is to tow with a bumper mount ball. Wheel & Tires- Refinished Eliminator wheels with BF Goodrich KO2s with the white letters facing out. Misc- This Comanche had dealer installed AC. Additionally I added factory cruise control with the clutch kill switch. The original owner drive the truck 239k miles, then sold it back to the original selling dealership after 16 years of ownership. The dealership turned it into their parts running truck and used it for another 15 years putting just 11k miles on it. They sold it to a previous employee of the dealership in the same town it had always been in who used it to tow his boat for a year. I bought it off him and have already put another 15k miles on it in 1.5 years. Best MJ story- Its too long for this post, involves buying my first Comanche in Los Angeles and driving across the country. Before seeing it in Craigslist the day I looked at it, I didn't even know that they existed. CC is Awesome! Why? It's your one stop shop for all your Comanche questions! I've spent a lot of time on Internet car forums, several quite excellent but this one ranks number one for professionalism, depth of knowledge, and general willingness of members to help. Plus, you all are willing to share and sell parts! As you all know by this point, I like to see MJs that are family projects. I also really enjoy seeing these trucks getting put to work, but still get cared for. @pizzaman09 does a great job with both of these. Congrats!

I also found a picture that my family took when I first got the tractor and was driving it home. Of course, I needed the SMV triangle and I got a license plate off of a semi trailer belonging to the person I inherited the tractor from. I taught a friend from college how to drive it. Me putting it to work moving cars at the estate sale for the person I inherited the tractor from.

It looks like I forgot to update that I changed the charging system. Either the generator or the voltage regulator went bad and we had a GM one wire alternator laying around, so we figured that we might as well upgrade. I included some pictures featuring a customer car in my dad's shop. 58 Corvette factory fuel injected car.

I've got one. I think it was pretty common on white trucks. Seems to have been common on the dark blue trucks too. My truck was originally white. Now blue bucket seat trucks seem to be rare. I'm trying (not super hard) to find a set of very nice blue buckets for my truck.

Should have the top graphics. The ones on the silver truck (which I believe is @acfortier's truck) were the Pioneer stripes starting in 1991. The other style was used from 87-90.

Yes! Love to see its getting three pedals!

Looks good in there. I wasn’t sure about it before, but I really like it now.

2 door XJs have different window regulators. Regulators from any 84-96 4 door XJ would work though.

Buy a high altitude CPS and keep the original one as an extra. It’s the same concept as the CPS mod.

September 2023 - @JZLAJeep's 89 Field Find Family Project Build Thread- https://comancheclub.com/topic/69832-89-field-find/#comment-732342 Year/Model - 1989 Comanche Pioneer, 4X4, 5-speed, Long bed. Drivetrain- Factory 4.0L Renix engine. Originally had BA10/5 but swapped to AX-15 and transfer case from a XJ and rebuilt driveshaft. New oil pump, fuel pump, alternator, crankshaft position sensor, mounts, and transfer case linkage. When we got the MJ the motor mount bracket on the driver side was sheared off. Had to extract the 3 bolts to reinstall the bracket and mount. Cooling- Factory cooling system, flushed, soon to have electric fan from a XJ. Electrical/Ignition- Factory. Replaced ignition switch, repaired wiring damaged by mice when the Comanche sat in a field. Soon to have wiring for electrical fan and fog lights. Currently jumpered fuel pump. Suspension/Steering- Factory height. Replaced driver side track bar bracket, sway bar bushings, rear shocks, straightened steering wheel while replacing ignition switch. Interior- Dark blue. Bench seat, recovered headliner, replaced mouse eaten sun visors from a XJ, added oil pressure gauge because the factory gauge on the dash wasn’t working, added dash mat, new windshield. Will have rubber Army surplus flooring when we get to it. Brakes- Factory. Replaced rear drum pads, no modification to front disks. Lighting- Factory. Replaced all bulbs. Still working on interior lights and will be adding fog lights. Exterior- White with gray Pioneer Livery. Bumper from a first generation Dodge Dakota. Replaced front bumper and added a grille guard from a XJ. 10 slot grille found in a junk yard. 97+ wiper arms. Rough, but don’t have to worry about scratching it. When we got the pickup, the driver side fender and front clip were removed, but in the bed. The rear bumper was a 2x4 steel tube. Wheel & Tires- Phone Dial wheels (including spare), 235/75/R15 Cooper Discoverer AT that were take-offs from a TJ. Replaced spare tire winch. Had 4 different size tires and 2 different style wheels when we got it. Misc- This pickup is likely never going to be a looker, but it has been a great project for a dad and 4 sons. We also own two XJs and needed a MJ to complete our collection (XJ Wagoneer anyone?). Great little pickup that does pickup things and is fun to take off-road. Our repairs are often of the “good enough” variety given the overall condition of the pickup. We are glad to have put this pickup back on the road! We had been working on the Comanche for about 6 months and finally trailered it to the in-laws farm shop to work on it all week between Christmas and New Year. Drove the Comanche back and pulled the empty trailer back at the end of the week. Best MJ story- Best story still has to be how we found the Comanche. The 5 of us were traveling back from an afternoon of Jeeping in our XJs on Zach’s 16th birthday. We were driving home on the highway and Luke pointed to a field near the highway and said, “I think that’s a Comanche.” We stopped on the shoulder and walked to the fence and it was indeed a Comanche that had a bed full of garbage (and some parts) and looked like it hadn’t moved for a while. We found the house, knocked on the door, left a note when no one was home, and to our surprise they called us and said they’d sell. Jared and Luke and Jared’s friend (with truck and trailer) went and purchased and brought the little pickup home. Bonus story, when working on the Comanche during Christmas break, we wanted to remove the 2x4 steel tube bumper and replace it with the Dakota bumper. While using a Saws-All to cut off the steel tube, Jared cut the last little bit off and the steel tube came down on his toe. After hopping around with it for a couple of weeks we took him to the doctor for an X-ray and found that he had broken his big toe. CC is Awesome! Why? We’ve appreciated all the answers to our questions and reading posts about topics we didn’t even know were questions. We also made a new friend with @eaglescout526 on our summer vacation to Phoenix who was kind enough to supply us with a few parts we’d been looking for. We look forward to continuing to participate in Comanche Club! I really like this truck. I like the 10 slot grille and the bull bar a lot, but I especially like that this truck is a family project. IMHO, working on the vehicle with friends or family you love is more important than the vehicle itself. Congrats @JZLAJeep and family!

New sediment bowl installed, along with a rebuilt carb and new valve cover gasket. It runs better than I ever remember.

This was my dad’s 54 Studebaker Conestoga 2dr wagon. It had a 355 SBC with dual quads and a 5 speed. It had a Mustang II front suspension and a Ford 9” in the rear with 4.10s. Roughly a 2” chopped top. Sold in 2005 and went to Minneapolis, MN. Then sold again in roughly 2015 and went to Belgium.

I had a roll up on mine. I like them better. They take up less space when they’re folded up.

August 2023 - @Silverhawk1991's 88 Chief Build Thread- Year/Model- 1988 Pioneer (converted to Chief) Engine/Performance - Stock 4.0, Was rebuilt at around 150,000 miles. Has about 30k on the rebuilt engine, sitting at 189k total. Drivetrain- AW4, 3:55 gears, Dana 35 rear, Dana 30 front with CAD. Full transmission rebuild performed last month. Cooling- Converted to open system. Electrical/Ignition- @MJCARENARemoved the C101 connector, did all the ground upgrades. Suspension/Steering- Stock except for 1 3/4" coil spring spacers that I just added to level the truck. Interior- Gray, bench seat with added headrests. Brakes- Upgraded to a 95/96 brake booster and master. Lighting- Stock, with added 5x7 halogen lights on the sportbar and fog lights Exterior- @MJCARENAadded the Comanche Chief decals and pin striping. I repainted the trim pieces flat black and added the factory original sportbar Wheel & Tires- 31x10.5x15 Pathfinders. 32x11.5x15 BF Goodrich AT are ordered, we'll see if they rub. Misc- Has the full skid plate package, (front, transfer case, and gas tank). Has the tow hitch. Previous owner had the bed sprayed with Line-X. I want to say that 99% of the credit for how clean this truck is goes to @MJCARENA, he did a fantastic job preserving it. Since having it, I've done: Full A/C system rebuild, full transmission rebuild (RIP my wallet), added the factory sportbar and lights, replaced 4x4 vacuum tubes, and have plans to add a hidden bluetooth module to the stock stereo. Best MJ story- Almost everytime I take this truck out, I get a comment or two. After owning the truck for just a week, my wife and I were getting coffee. The guy in front of us in line said "Nice Truck!" and paid for our coffees. I told my wife "see, it's paying itself off already!" Second best story is winning my local car show in the 1982 - 1999 Truck category, beating some seriously suped up Toyotas. CC is Awesome! Why? I was able to reconnect with the previous owner ( @MJCARENA, build thread here: https://comancheclub.com/topic/24594-mjcarenas-1988-mj). He told me all about the truck and was glad I salvaged it from the intermediary owner, a young kid who wanted to chop it and lift it. I've learned so much about this truck from this forum, and have been able to do so much little maintenance to it from just reading through everyone's posts.

3.55 gears are installed in the front axle. I'm not going to get time to do the 231J transfer case yet this summer, unfortunately. It drives like a new car now.

Get it now. There’s that other 15% of the driving you’re not happy with.

Probably going to do a FSJ t-case shifter. Or something along those lines.

Yes. It even bolts up to the trans, however I’ll need a slip yoke eliminator, I’ll need to make a transfer case shifter, and a few other odds and ends. Not easy, but not too terribly difficult.

8.25 swap is done. Not to prep for a 231 install, regearing the front end, and putting a locker in the back.

Thank you!

July 2023 - @NorthwestMJ's 87 Overland Build Build Thread- 87 Overland Build Year/Model - 1987 LWB. To be honest, I’m not sure what trim level, but something tells me it might have been a Pioneer? Drivetrain- Engine is a 4.0 from a 2000 Cherokee. All I’ve done to the engine so far is add a K&N cone filter. AW4 and NP231from the same Cherokee. Stock Front and rear driveshafts with 1310-1350 conversion U Joints on the axle ends. Axles are the wide Dana 44’s from a 2021 Rubicon. Cooling- No name (but yet good!) 3 Core Aluminum Radiator. High Output electric fan from the 2000 Cherokee with auxiliary switch for independent operation. Electrical/Ignition- Stock ignition with XJ harness stripped of unnecessary stuff and lengthened for the Comanche. Suspension/Steering- My suspension and steering are quite the Frankenstein setup. I have XJ/MJ ACOS spacers set up at 3”. 4.5” Zone offroad coils paired with aftermarket Fox Shocks from a 2020 JL Rubicon (Not the orange stock ones) up front with a Spring over setup in the rear with 4.5” Zone add-a-leafs with Bilsteins. Total lift is about 8-9” front and rear sitting on the ground. Steering is Steer Smarts YetiXD with the Drag Link modified to fit the Comanche and the Track Bar is an Evo JL one cut down to fit the Comanche as well. Currently running a stock steering box from the 2000 Cherokee but will more than likely swap that for the PSC Big Bore here in the next couple of weeks. Interior- Interior is a meddling of the dash and seats from the 2000 XJ and black trim from the Comanche. Door Panels are from another 2001 XJ because I liked the bad @$$ wood trim. Redid the headliner to black and dyed the visors to match. Also have the Dirtbound offroad comanche mole panel up top. Brakes- Brakes are the big brakes from the 2021 JL Rubicon on all 4 corners. These are paired with a stock 2000 XJ master cylinder and a ZJ proportioning valve. Lighting- Trucklite LED headlights with Rigid Cubes on the front bumper. Everything else is stock but converted to LED. Tail light lenses are the Key Parts ones. Exterior- RCI Bedrack with an iKamper skycamp 2.0 with a Dirtbound Offroad DIY kit bumper on the front (Manta Ray rings a bell but can’t remember.) Dirt Bound Sliders and Quarter Panel Armor I made myself. Flares are Napier Flares. Wheel & Tires- Rubicon Wheels from a 2014 Rubicon with 37x13.50 Patagonias. Misc- Lots of weird odds and ends on the truck. My favorite thing I made was a socket adapter that allows me to raise and lower the spare with a battery impact! Best MJ story- Finding this thing! Found it on Craigslist while I was at work. Emailed the guy as fast as my fingers would go offering to buy it sight unseen. Tuned out the seller was a good buddy from a while back that I had lost track of! He messed with me on the phone and I thought that I had found a Craigslist killer! Luckily he finally told me who he was. CC is Awesome! Why? I love the community aspect of Comanche Club. People have been very supportive and I even found a new friend on the forums (That’s you @WranglerMangler)!

8.25 going in…

Finally found a 3.55 rear end locally. It’s an 8.25, but thats just fine. Got it and a matching front D30 for $75.