BustedKnuckleJK

Nice and congrats to the Chief. As a thank you for his service, someone should help him in post retirement take up the hobby of getting that puppy fixed up a bit!

So not to get long winded, but just wanted to say thanks to this message board and all it’s members. Seriously. These rigs are hard to find, and as I said in my first post when I joined, they’ve always been my unicorn. In regards to my MJ, I stared with nothing, and I still have most of it left. With how cut throat social media has gotten over the years, it’s still refreshing to me to see a dedicated board, filled with a plethora of information, devoted towards a common love. It’s the same for me here as it is on the CJ2A boards, and reminds me so much of what my beloved CherokeeForim once was. As I was cruising home tonight in the MJ, I was thinking about how astounding it is, that a truck I pulled out of a field, after total abandonment, is now again in daily, active duty. The tasks I ask of it, the easy commute it provides, the weekly gas statio conversations, where someone comes up to me and says “Oh man! My father/uncle/grandfather had one of those!” All of these good vibes, none of it could have been possible without the painstaking input from all the members of this site. The organized data from years and years of advice, trial and error, and new ideas from members past and present. It’s an invaluable resource to keep a legend alive. My MJ is soooo not wining any beauty contests. Nor is it the fastest. It’s certainly not the most comfortable, and hell, it isn’t even 4WD [yet], but it is mine. You all have not only helped me capture a unicorn, you all helped me get it back on the road with years of wisdom at my fingertips. So cheers ComancheClub!

Well, that’s a thing I guess.

Oh snaps, first off: You work for Publix, fellow southerner!! Hell yeah! sexond off, that’s an amazing price man, seriously. Third, as stated, a “realtor” isn’t really needed, since you know the landlord, and you could cut out the middle man, just my opinion. Why pay points to someone. Now, all honesty, I just skimmed the post. Didn’t read in depth. i agree on the home inspector, and you’ll need it if you’re doing an FHA loan. On that note, you work for Publix, which means, you’re in a hurricane prone area. Spend the extra couple bucks and have a wind midigation done on the roof!!! Seriously. Even if it’s not up to spec [not sure about Alabama, but in Florida we go by Hurricane Charlie code] it’ll save you coin on yearly home insurance.

Found a swank new shift knob on Amazon for $15 that matches the thread pitch. It’s actually an OEM part for Honda Civic SI.

Kendrick Castillo was a hero last week when he attacked one of the highschool shooters to save the lives of his classmates. He suceeded in saving lives, at the cost of his own. It takes a special person to have the courage to do what he did. And the more we learn about him, the more awesome he gets. And it turns out, the kid was an aspiring Jeep guru, his XJ being his pride & joy. So to honor him, over 600+ Jeepers from around Colorado rolled out in his honor. Rest easy Kendrick, thank you for what you did, and may you always 4x4ever.

Well let me know, I can scope it out if you're really interested, it's about 2 hrs north of me. I can store it for awhile, but transporting it I'd have to somehow get it on a trailer.

Lmfao, shows what I know, and with the wood block there I was like "Dang how long has that been sitting! I have no room, or need for it unfortunately, and I'm literally, the worlds worst welder.

Their fair, he smashed in a bit of the frame cross member, and a few rust holes in the bed, and no tailgate hardware. Edit: Damn, he dropped the price apparently, $400. https://tampa.craigslist.org/pnl/pts/d/saint-petersburg-jeep-comanche-truck-bed/6839670119.html

I mean I agree to an extent, but I should clarify: it's ready to be a trailer, its sitting with the frame rails lobbed off where they meet the cab frame. I mean if I were in his position I'd be holding out too, but I kinda hope he drops the price so it sells vs. potentially getting fed up with no offers and just sending a perfectly good bed off for scrap.

So as I progress in piecing the MJ together, the BA10/5A, has decided to turn itself into a martini shaker. I'm not heartbroken, it's the reason I got the truck for free by popping a new clutch in it. And I know it's stretched, something they were nutritious for, as 1st, 3rd, and 4th are all a waiting game until you can engage them without grinding anyway. So, the thing is 2wd. And I'm of the mindset of if I'm going to lug another transmission under it, may as well go all out and do a full driveline swap. D30s are a dime a dozen in my area, heck there's 4-5 listings locally of D30/D44 package deals for under $400. Driveshafts I'm not worried about, as there's a driveline shop in town I've used before to make driveshafts pretty cheap. My trouble is, which transmission to go with. I can find 42RE all day long, but I'm not a huge fan of them, plus making a TCM work in a Renix era rig is just out of my wheel house. Ultimately, I'd love to have an AX/15 or NV3500 in it, and both are available, with the NV's out of JKs being a bit more plentiful than AX15s that are demanding a pretty penny. The Comanche is a cheap rig, so I'm looking for cheap options. This puts me into old XJ autos, which isn't a bad thing. I'm obsessed with Aisin AW-4 transmissions, as in all my XJ's, I never once had an issue. But, I'm a bit fuzzy on when they started, I want to say 93. Anyway, I found a Facebook listing about 3 hours away from me, a kid is selling an auto trans & np231 t-case out of a 91 XJ. He had it listed for $250, says it was fine when he pulled it, but he used the XJ for it's engine only, and sold off the axles. Obviously how true that is up for debate, but I messaged the guy anyway. I asked if it was an AW-4 transmission, to which he replied "No, it's 2wd, 4wd, not all wheel drive." So it's clear he doesn't seem to know which model it is either. But, just in a two minute conversation, he took another $50 off, saying he really needs it out of his garage at this point. So basically, an unknown auto & t-case for $200. But, I'm not sure of the fitment/control for it. It "should" bolt up if it was out of a similar Renix era XJ, and the only money I'd be out really is what I have into the new BA10/5a clutch kit, clutch master, and u-joints. So, thoughts, opinions? Thanks in advance, and I'll be doing some more reading tonight on the matter.

Theres a guy locally who's had an MJ bed trailer for sale for almost a year, hasn't come down on the price at all, and won't just part it out. Wants $700 and the bed is perfect.

On a trail ride years ago.. Florida, for those wondering, is FLAT. Needless to say, this “trail ride” was a pretty boring dirt road for miles & miles. So I hopped out of line and started blasting through a slightly flooded area off the the side, maybe 2-3” of water. Great fun and entertainment for everyone. Well, eventually my luck ran out, as just through some tall grass, it got a bit more wet than 2-3”. Stopped as fast as I could, and luckily enough interior stayed dry, but it did require a pull. 😂😆

This. I've scored a lunchbox locker, and very questionable welded spiders before. Forget the tag, what's the actual ratio of the r&p? MJ was basically where I left it in my intro post back in November status wise, aside from some minor electrical junk. It saw daily driving duties since then up until last Friday. Rear brakes locked up something fierce, so it's sat in the driveway all week. I've had new brakes sitting on my work bench for 4 months now, just no real time to get into it. I put a floor jack and stands under it tonight... then lost all motivation and went inside, showered and had beer instead, lol. But that'll be the Sunday morning project I reckon. I've been waiting to payoff and cancel a stupid credit card, which I did today, and I promised myself as a reward I'd source a tailgate, interior lights, and speedo cable for the MJ, so I'll be way more active on here again.

Dude! This swap is so kickass, and cheers on the detailed pictures. Very well done!

Back doors are likely the same stamp used on JLU, keeps production costs down I'd guess. Going on Jeep.com they have JL base starting at $29k, so I'd imagine you're not touching a "Gladiator" for under $35k everything said and done for a base model. They don't have Gladiator listed yet. It'll likely be 3.6L Pentastar, 2.0L "Hurricane" turbo 4 cylinder [from the Alpha Romeo 952], and a rebranded eco-diesel 3.0L , same prospects upcoming for JL. I'd be surprised if they weren't all 8 speed autos. I'd be better with the Scrambler nameplate, seeing as how that was a CJ of it's time. Just because it was called a Gladiator during the concept built off an [unreleased at the time] JKU in 2006, doesn't mean you have to keep it, you know. All things considered though, I've always been keen of Mike Manly, his years with Jeep and as he got more say in design, he was always adamant about staying true to the loyalists, and he really does mean it, I think anyway. He was at EJS every year for the past decade, wheeling with owners. Now with him as top dog at FCA, I think Jeep will get some special attention from him. Hopeful anyway. Side note: Huh, apparently you can still buy a JK or JKU on Jeep.com. That's pretty rad. Gladiator or Scrambler or whatever the official name is, we'll know all about it come November 30th, as it'll be debouting at the LA Auto Show.

Thanks all. Don't have any of it buried, we were sort of on a time crunch. But as luck would have it, as we were leaving, and moments after I said &quoute: "That went pretty smooth!" that was the moment I caught a piece of wood in one of the trailer tires. Luckily enough, another shop I also running at the time was nearby, so we stopped and I patched the tire. While waiting, my buddy snagged a candid photo. She's rough, that's for sure. But like I said, it's just a daily to tool around in, and get my "real Jeep" addiction fix. That was about 2 months ago. Since then, I've done the clutch kit, [BA10/5], rear main seal, clutch master, and replaced the crushed oil pan, and oil pump. Being a former Renix owner, I also replaced the usual suspects without questioning them: Radiator, coolant bottle, hoses, water pump, valve cover gasket, u-joints, coil, plugs, wires, belt, idler pulley, dropped tank and acid cleaned, rebuilt the fuel pump, and filters. My buddy that helped unearth it also recently got his first Jeep, an XJ, so I've been helping him get that running, and tossing him a few spare XJ aftermarket offroad parts, in exchange I got the like new stock tires off his XJ. Also stripped the interior, reupholstered the headliner, tore out the rusted and busted bench seat, snagged some nice XJ seats from the junkyard and sort of bolted them in for now [already have the seat bracket thread printed for the next project haha] and threw some cheap carpet in it so I can tolerate sitting in it. Valvetrain and crank were SSSLLUUGGGEDDD. I spent about 3 days on and off just cleaning out as much crap as possible. Filled the crank case with 3 qts of oil, 2 qts transmission fluid, and 1 qt Marvel. Engine has had about 2 hours of total running time on that concoction. Got it all insured and registered, and hung an already beat up tag on it, matches the patina quite well, lol. I drove it down to my shop for now, so I can work on it throughout the day in my downtime, instead of late nights in the driveway. It's all little things now. Changed the oil already, looks like it broke the sludge up that I couldn't get nicely, runs like a sowing machine. Doesn't get near 210*, and it's still running straight water, figured I'd do that to cycle all the crud out, then do a proper flush and add coolant. Working on electrical for the next few days, eliminating ground loops, sorting/cleaning the fuse block, replacing light sockets and switches, etc. Past that, it's just bolt the seats down correctly, throw in the rest of the parts awaiting, master/booster, rear brake hose, clutch hydraulic hose, get a dang shift knob, sand down the bed and bedline, rebuild the wiper motor, and maybe find a tailgate. Thanks everyone, and again, thanks for the helpful forum. Reminds me of CherokeeForum days. She'll be a great daily! Had to throw a JK pic in there, simply because I tribute my XJs and CJ on it to piss off the JK guys.

Nah, let him have to drag it down here to Florida. I'll give him $450 and a Starbucks giftcard. I need a parts rig at this point lmfao.

Hey everyone, lurked for quite awhile, finally got some time to register! Name is Patrick, livin' in the tropical paradise that is Southwest Florida. Longtime Jeeper, specifically XJs, had five so far [so far.. as in there's a 50/50 shot of the wife filing divorce if I drag another one home]. Had a handful of WJ's and ZJ's, and the garage currently consists of my JKU, the wife's Patriot, and a pile of a CJ-2A that I've been lugging around for 2 years without actually working on, lol. The JK has outgrown daily driver duty at this point, with 37"s and 4.88 gears, Yukon lockers, it's not exactly economical. So I needed a new daily. And it came from an unlikely source. A customer of mine [I run an automotive shop] made a comment one evening about the trailer on my JK. I explained what I was doing [moving the CJ to my new house]. He said he needs to "Get that ole' Jeep outta my yard." I'm like dude, I've known you for 8 years, you never said you had a Jeep just laying around. He goes on to tell me it's a Comanche. I corrected him naturally, telling him he meant Cherokee, the little boxy SUV, because of course, there's no way on earth he's hidden an MJ from me all these years. "Nope, the little pickup truck. Ran great. Clutch gave out in 99' so I parked it in the field." Mind you, I was already going to make an offer on what I thought was an XJ, but now he confirms that there's basically a unicorn at his house. MJ's for me were always the holy grail of Jeeps. My wife laughs at me for giggling like a kid when I see one at an event. So, sight unseen, with no info on it, I ask. "How much?" He laughs hard, "If you can get to it, it's yours. I haven't been back in that field for a few years. If it's still there, I know I have keys and a title for it." A few months later, with the help of a friend, and cutting our way through brush for an hour, spending another hour manuring a trailer out there, using the JK winch to pull the MJ up on the trailer... I've got my last piece of the Jeep puzzle. With the tech help of this forum, and some old XJ tricks, I've spent the last two months [depleting my bank account on RockAuto] getting her running and back on the road. Tomorrow I'm finishing the master/booster, then going down to the DMV to hang a tag on her. Another MJ saved thanks to you all! Glad to be a part of it!