pizzaman09

That's the plan!

Picked up a 2009 Honda Civic Si as the replacement for the Oldsmobile. Drove all the way from Erie, PA down to Vilas, NC which is just north of Boone to pick it up. It's a clean southern car with burned up paint. Very pleased with it. VTEC is real. It doesn't keep up with the 99 BMW M3 but can get moving, handles nicely and rides very comfortably.

I've found most people driving XJs love the MJ and we give each other thumbs up. There is also a local CJ5 driver that has geeked out on my MJ. Not too many waves, not really any love from the new Jeep crowd. There is another local MJ, we have yet to meet up.

Is that a bed level prop valve?

Had the wrench set on tighten instead of loosen taking an oil drain plug out of the aluminum oil pan in the BMW M5 I used to own. Stripped the pan, couldn't find any place in town with an M12x1.5 helicoil kit. Ended up converting to M12x1.75 and helicoiling for that. It was very challenging to get that very low sports car off the ground far enough for a large long drill in a big old 18V DeWalt drill to drill straight into the oil pan. I've also broken off my fair share of brake bleeding valves requiring a quick run to the auto store to acquire a bleeder repair kit. Dropped a 21hp Briggs and Stratton single cylinder vertical shaft engine on my foot because I had managed to pick it up from the crankshaft on one side and the flywheel on the other, it rotated and I lost balance. Hurt my foot and broke a corner off of the Briggs Crank case. Make sure you have a hand on the block, not just the rotating assembly.

I had a driveshaft shortened for a Ford when we manual swapped it. It was a great option, just went to the local heavy duty truck shop which built drive shafts. They also fitted it with new Spicer u joints. Price was way less than any other option and I'd argue the quality better.

This channel on YouTube has some amazing interviews from the engineer who did the 4.0L development and he did a lot of work with the racing teams. https://youtube.com/@amxj?si=-XkhJ22f0ivzaams

Renix is obscure. Anyone you ask to work on it will be learning with you most likely. Pete's advice is solid, just find a reputable shop that works on solid axle vehicles and have them do the mechanical work.

The link attached to the shift arm was mounted with the angle attachment tab bent out and it mounted pointed towards the front of the truck. On the transfer case bracket I had it installed on the farthest out hole. After that, I had someone shift it from 2WD to 4Low and adjusted the turnbuckle part accordingly. All T case positions line up perfectly with the markings in the truck and the shifting is super smooth. There is a bit of effort to shift from 2wd to 4hi, due to the t case lever angle at the 2wd position, but that is my only complaint.

I second Luk for quality. I also highly recommend this metal slave cylinder if you need one. https://www.oreillyauto.com/detail/c/power-torque/power-torque-slave-cylinder/ptq5/cs2326?q=CS2326&pos=0

There are a lot of different transmission and transfer case combos with the Comanche, I have an AX-15 with an NP231. I can tell you what my baseline settings were on the linkage if you go with this option.

A mighty fine looking truck. I am guessing it's an automatic truck as opposed to an AX-15 manual as stated or had it been converted? You are absolutely right that the Comanche is the best mid sized truck ever built.

I went with the knock off Azzy design, it works great but was the most fiddly install imaginable. I took it apart and put it back together probably in 50 different permutations. That said, it sounds like you are looking for the cable shifter.

I'm in aerospace. Specifically helicopter rotor elastomeric bearings, so products like the bearing that holds the blade to the rotor or a rod end that is used to apply pitch to the blades or on the end of a lead lag damper. My twin brother is an engineer in heavy duty diesel engines for the most well known independent diesel engine manufacturer. Crankshaft bearings are a fun topic, I understand it's challenging to beat the performance of a leaded bearing. The 35 inch tires will be a nice upgrade, less diameter will produce a nice gear ratio improvement.

This is a mighty fine looking Comanche. I work in engineering rubber parts. Those cracks in the tires are due to tension combined with ozone attack, most likely caused by load from the rubber tread blocks while driving. In theory the cracks will coalesce and create a larger crack. Generally I'd say those tires look really good. I'm not worried about these tires as the tread has belts and fabric reinforcement under the tread with rubber sealing it from the inside. The trouble with knobby MT and AT tires is the tread blocks roll and cause a lot of tension in the rubber where you see the cracks when ever excessive acceleration or braking load is input.

Installed my under bed rail lights. I started with this kit from Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B07KXR799K?psc=1&ref=ppx_pop_mob_b_asin_title I was skeptical that the adhesive backing would stick to my sprayed in bed liner, so I utilized magnets to hold them under the bed rails. I used 13 each of these wonderful adhesive backed magnets: https://totalelement.com/collections/neodymium-block-magnets-with-3m-adhesive/products/1-2-x-1-2-x-1-16-inch-neodymium-rare-earth-block-magnets-n52-with-3m-self-adhesive-30-pack Two magnets were placed at each end. 9 other magnets are spaced every 6 inches. I then reapplied the red film from the adhesive backing on the lights to prevent dirt sticking to it. The light strip is 5ft long, it fits perfectly under the bed with just a few inches to spare at either end. View of the lights up front. In theory they are weather sealed. A hole was drilled in the back top corner of the underside of each bed rail 1/2" diameter then painted to prevent corrosion from inside and outside. Dorman rubber grommet 90300 was used for the wire pass through hole. Rubber grommet installed. I ran both wires together and connected them to each other in parallel near the wire harness for the rear lights at the bumper. I then ran a heavily insulated lamp cord from the rear of the truck to the front bumper to connect to the unused fog light circuit. Generally the rear wire harness was followed up to the back of the gas tank using zip ties along the way. Then I followed the inner edge of the tank nearest the driveshaft and then the hydraulic brake lines to the engine bay. I think I made a connection to the power steering line then ran the wire above the front rubber splash guard to the front bumper. A connection was made with a weather proof connector that was connected with non weather proof butt crimps....🤫 The results are awesome! Very bright without being obnoxious. The fit under the rails was perfect. Due to the magnet mounting I can move them about a bit to angle them on the curve under the rail to shine them towards the center of the bed. This helps prevent shadowing that many people find when installing these lights. Only two holes were drilled and are sealed in an inconspicuous place, the lights are completely hidden unless you are laying in the bed of the truck looking up under the rails.

Cool stuff! Thanks for the info, I'll probably dig into this.

There is a connector in the b pillar if I remember correctly. Also my truck was technically manufactured in 11/89.

Adjacent to this topic, if your truck is pre wired for the cargo box light, should there be a connector near the switch panel for it to plug into a switch? I just hooked under rail lights up to my unused fog light switch and would like it if it could be turned on with the headlights off.

I have long skinny arms, I did mine in place from under the dash. It wasn't all the difficult but I think I broke the cable clip on the old cable when pulling it out of the dash. It didn't matter since I was replacing it.

I suspect your analysis is correct and you'll want the MJ XJ version else you may hit your shifter into the dash or seat due to throw.

It might be worth throwing some special oils at it to help it out. I'm a big fan of the royal purple syncromax, it's done wonders for the warn out synchros in my various cars.

It sounds like you need a decently high ratio in your axles to make that drive well and not be sluggish.

Never mind I figured it out, I had to edit the original post.... I am item in the For Sale section that I have sold. I can't seem to figure how to edit the title indicating that my item has SOLD. I was able to ad a tag saying SOLD.

I fully agree and have run into this issue with other cheap LEDs. These Sylvania bulbs do an excellent job spreading the light. The white plastic around the diodes appears to be used for diffusing the light. When following truck, the rear lights are now modern bright and well diffused as opposed to being like two candles similar to my 62 Austin Healey Sprite. I'd upgrade that car too if it wasn't positive ground...