BeatCJ

The silver/gray two door under the red four door is an El Comanchkee, too.

The list is long, and I don't pay that much attention. A couple of early 30's pickups, a post war 40's Plymouth roadster, a couple of 1940 Fords, one is original as a driver, the other has a fairly warm flathead V-8, an early 50's Ford, a 67 GTO, a late 70s Cadillac. The '32 T Bucket made it's first trip down the dragstrip the same year I was born, 1961. He has frame jigs to build '32-'34 frames from scratch.

I'm in a similar place, bought a non-running Comanche in early March. I too was getting crank, no start. I couldn't hear the fuel pump. I replaced said fuel pump, but didn't flush the tank well. I just replaced the fuel pump a second time. So, long story short, flush your tank. I had some fine silt, like diatomaceous earth. Vinegar cleaned it up fairly well, but I am concerned about what it may have done to the tank. While you could have an electrical issue, and should make sure you have current, you probably need a fuel pump.

Get it done, like everything you think you would EVER want to do, and you might get $12K. But like said above, it's not there yet. And in my mind, since you are so far along, put the Metric Ton Suspension under it, and drive it for 30 years. I myself can't see why anyone would want a LWB. At that point, you need a full size, anyway. I have two trucks, the Comanche and a DRW 3500. You have done a beautiful job. My Mom has several restored hotrods. They bought all of them for about 35 cents on the dollar. The only one not for sale is the '32 T, because her husband built it, and can never get out of it what he has put in.

I have an '87 Owners manual that I would scan, would that be helpful?

I got mine from NAPA, shipped to me in a 14 year old box from Florida.

I know the AMC 20 is better than a D35, but I wasn't suggesting I use it. In many ways, it's a better axle than a D44. But, for me, it's too narrow in CJ form, and too wide from a FSJ, and 6 lug, to boot. It's an axle that probably was given a bad rap, but also has some weaknesses. Thanks for the discussion, and it all confirms my thinking. I suspect I will have to look long and hard to find a 4.10 Liberty 8.25. Evidently the 4 cylinder models were rare, at least around here? I'll probably find the best one I can, and re-gear it. I have friend that can do it, so no labor cost.

The box was tube like, though. Thanks, Pete.

The release on mine wouldn't pop when I got it. I was able to reach up from underneath and work the wire (I refuse to call those wimpy things rods). To work it, you slide it toward the driver side about 3/4". Then I went after the latches with penetrating oil. Now it takes two pulls on the handle. I think I need to remove both latches and clean them better, then grease them.

OK, food for thought. I'm not of the opinion that a current generation D35 is worth the effort to swap in, though. I don't see myself ever going bigger than 35" tires. I have a couple other rigs for that, someday I will get to them... My goal is to avoid adding a failure point. But my AMC 20 in the CJ survived just fine on 33s, with one piece axles and stitch welds and an Aussie Locker.

What about the older Liberty? If I can find an 8.25 that's the right width and 4.10s, I wouldn't mind swapping from drum to disk. That's really pretty simple. Actually, I could live a long time with drums. I really didn't have that big an issue with 4 wheel drums, I guess it's just what you learned.

Anything other than the size of the pumpkin? And C Clips? At least it's not a 14 bolt. " 'cause TONS!"

Yes. Warming the oil with the bushing in it to 130 helps the bushing absorb oil, and quenching with cold oil helps seal the oil in. But it's not really rocket science. Bushing life is shorter than a bearing, but long enough. I have a similar issue, new AX-15 to old motor, so I will be using a bushing, too. My first Jeep, a 1961 Willys wagon got a 250 Chevy 6 to replace the missing Willys 6. I used a hand drill to ream that out. Work perfect until the pinion seized. Man, I still wish I could have afforded to fix that truck. But for me, money was tight in 1985.

Measure the diameter of the end of the input shaft on your transmission. I would bet it's about 0.590 inches. If so, you have an earlier transmission, 1992 and later are SUPPOSED to be 3/4". I would bet the PO had the year of your drive train wrong is all.

I just looked, the knuckles on the axle I'm not using have the cast in arms. Are 2wd knuckles the same? I have a 2wd I will be swapping out soon.

Depends on shipping, but that sounds good to me. I'll be home about 6:30 my time, so 11:30 am yours?

I will look and make sure when I get home. I have no clue what they are worth. I can see a couple of complete axles on CL and Marketplace that I could probably get for under $100. The bearings,ball joints, seals would be hashed, in my mind, so $100 is just for the hard parts.

Yeah, it's a vacuum disconnect axle. I can probably get those in the mail on Monday. My local Post Office is closed on the weekend.

I have two Dana 30's, one I bought for the gears (that I don't plan to use now) and the other has the 4.10s I want. Shipping won't be pretty, but you probably know that better than I. Are you just looking for the forging? I wouldn't be able to get to it until Saturday.

Well, I finally got a warranty replacement fuel pump. So I pulled the non working pump out, and I used jumpers direct to 12 volts, it's like it's locked up. No pumping at all, no whirring, chugging, whining, clicking. I just doesn't chooch. one thing that worries me, it looked like the pickup sock was covered in clay, or diatomaceous earth. Or, in my neck of the woods, volcanic ash. What the Heck? So I dropped the tank again. The crud (white gray fine powdery coating) is all over the inside of the tank. I suspect it killed the new pump. Now I need to clean it out. I'm going to try acetic acid first, I think, along with a handful of sharp clean gravel. There isn't any rust, so I hate to spend $150+ on a new tank. Anyone else seen goo like this? Sorry, forgot to take a photo last night. I'll look at taking one tonight.

I bought my fuel pump from Summit Racing. US Motorworks 7006A https://www.summitracing.com/parts/umw-usep7006a/year/1987/make/jeep/model/comanche

Rotated. The Cherokee transmission tunnel is taller, so the transmission fits up higher. To make up for it, the transfer case is rotated about 10 degrees counter clockwise (looking from the rear). From what I have read, it doesn't take much work from a BFH to massage your floor pans, the back of the Wrangler transmission can be redrilled with about 10 degrees of rotation, or you can use a thin clocking ring. Not a dropped crossmember, you would need to have it flatter. Depending on the year of the transmission, you might need a non-standard pilot bushing/bearing. A later AX-15 has a 0.750 pilot stub on the input shaft. That's what i just got, and O'Reillys local to me has the right Pilot Bushing in stock. It's available elsewhere, too, Timken Part PB77HD, National uses the same part number. If it's the earlier one, the pilot from the late '89 5 speed should be right. last time i looked, Davy's Jeep has the late model external slave for sale for $150, with the release arm.

It can happen to any of them. The T-19 in my 1987 F-350 needed rebuilt, too. Of course, that was at 329,000 miles, pulling trailers, hauling wood, behind a turbocharged 6.9 liter diesel, with 35" tires. And it's tough to find a transmission more robust than the T-19. Of course, all the gears and bearings were still OK, I just got tired of it walking out of gear in 2nd. One worn out syncro, all the rest were OK.

Thanks for the follow up.

The 727, like you say, is bulletproof. It was used in motorhomes, musclecars, even to pull aircraft around the flight line in a CJ-10 tug. But no overdrive could be an issue if you want to run down an Interstate.