MYE Jeep

Interior photos added!

I went to pull the parking brake lever yesterday (Hand brake), and it completely gave out. I believe the PO converted it from a footbrake to handbrake at some point, as I'm not sure if the MJ ever came with a handbrake from the factory, and my Comanche is a melting pot of diversity when it comes to random parts being swapped into it by from other cars by the PO. I crawl underneath, and I can obviously see why its not working, the rod that the cable is normally tied to is bent, and when its pulled the cable pretty much just slips off the rod. I hop on the trusty internet to see if maybe I'm missing a clamp or something that holds it together and I can't find any information, or pictures even of a similar handbrake linkage configuration. My questions are, is this even a Cherokee handbrake? Am I missing a part that holds it together? What the heck is going on under here? Any ideas for a good fix? Thanks!

I actually got in touch with the guy in Santa Cruz that had the D44 listed for sale(The link you sent me). He's working up some shipping quotes for me at the moment and will either be shipping it to me or meeting me in Vegas on his way to Moab! Should be a great setup for me! Probably will have to end up re-gearing it down the line, but will bolt in for the time being so I'm really excited about that! Now I'm just trying to decide on the leaf springs, either the standard or MT, I can't decide haha

Haha thank you so much for clarifying that for me... I'm sitting here going.. "man this is really starting to get complex with all these spline counts". Makes total sense now, the splines are on the axle, not the output shaft of the diff. DUH. I guess I could've crawled under it and found that out really quickly! I've heard the 8.25 and the 8.8 are kinda the way to go with these for best bang for the buck, however as far as drivetrain I'm sort of trying to keep things as original as possible, or atleast "original factory options". So I think I'll probably make the search for a D44, even though its probably the harder and more expensive route lol

Dang! Thanks so much for sharing! from what I’ve gathered the spline count for most D35 rears is 27, and the spline count for the D44 is 30 right? So would a D44 swap require a 30 spline driveshaft as well to complete the swap? Or how does that work?

The Dana 35 in there is likely from a 95 Cherokee. How rare is the MJ D44? Is it worth it to look for one of those instead of swapping to the 8.25?

Perfect! Thanks so much for all of the assistance will this! You guys all seriously rock! Another question, since I'll be pulling out the D35 to do all of this, I'm wondering if it might not be a bad idea to have it rebuilt, and also try to add disc brakes. Has anyone tried using a kit like this or similar to achieve this? https://www.quadratec.com/products/12700_1001.htm

Hmm, okay that makes sense.. but brings up another question, let’s say you angle the u-joint of the axle between 1-3°, all is good in the universe and your driveshaft is a happy camper. Forgive my ignorance, but what measurement dictates where the cradle should be mounted along the axle for the leaf pack to rest on? Should the leaf pack cradle be welded as close to level as possible, while the axle rests within its 1-3° angle? Thanks in advance!

@ghetdjc320 Man you are a wealth of information! Time to get the credit card out! One question I have, as most of the JK/JKU kits I work with are direct bolt on with minor cutting and drilling.. How do you determine the pitch angle of the rear axle when re-welding leaf brackets and shock mounts? Just whatever gives the best angle for the driveshaft? or is there a more scientific and methodical approach to this? Thanks a ton!

As far as rear leafs, it seems most people have been pretty happy with the General Springs, however it looks like there are 2 options on their site, either 1200lb payload or 1700lb payload, then theres talk of a military wrap design? Which of these seems to be the most favorable between the designs for ride quality?

Thanks so much!! I have a little build thread on this page if you want to check it out!

Wow! This was incredibly helpful and insightful! Okay so on my list now: Front: Currie Steering System CE-9701 New Front Track Bar (Ironman 4x4) Do I need to remove the drop bracket currently on from the Rustys kit? Stock Size Pitman Arm Springs (BDS 034301) New shocks (Fox 2.0 maybe?) Tie Rods - Any brand preference here? Rear: Replace Leaf Pack - Brand preferences here? Replace Shocks (matching brand to front) New shackles I'm sure Build or replace D35, and add shock and leaf brackets Hows this sound so far? In addition, I was hoping someone might be able to chime in on why a factory front driveshaft won't fit back in the Comanche? The measured distance is like an inch or two too long to fit based off of the specs I've found. Any idea if this is just because of the 6.5 lift? Maybe after going closer to a 3-4" lift the geometry will line up better? Also in regards to the 4 link setup, since my factory brackets are gone, could I simply use the existing brackets from the Rustys kit? or will all new brackets be needed? Trying to find all the right parts on Ironman 4x4 site but I'm not sure which one comes with all the correct brackets and linkages for the 4 link setup. Thanks a ton guys! I really appreciate you all helping me set up my Comanche to be driveable!

More progress coming along! line x bedliner, some more trim bits, and the JCR Roof rack mounted with Rigid Chase lights on the rear!

I was thinking about just getting a 3" or 4.5" kit from Zone or BDS, I have wholesale pricing on Zone through my office so I could get the whole kit for close to nothing, then probably just keep the long arm kit, no sense in taking it off IMO. I've heard negative things about AAL kits, but I'm wondering if I just took the front end of the Zone kit and pieced it together with an OE replacement leaf pack and some rear shocks measured to fit wherever i end up putting the rear axle (soa or sua).

Thanks so much for the input guys! I really appreciate it. XJ axle mounts adds up, the PO said he swapped a bunch of things from a 95 XJ if I'm not mistaken. Would I be better off just grabbing a different axle instead of cutting and welding up new shock mounts for the D35? I know they are notoriously weak axles, but if the truck is mostly on paved roads or dirt roads and not crawling is it that necessary to swap for a stronger one? @Pete M Hmm, I wonder why it was removed... I've looked into getting new leaf packs, but I keep finding information that replacement ones typically give you more lift, and right now everything is pretty level. at the moment.. I've read that some leaf packs will give you about a 3" lift, which would actually be fine if I went back to SUA I suppose.

Okay here’s some photos of the current setup, like I said, I don’t know what is factory, what is Comanche, what is Cherokee, so any input would be greatly appreciated!

Great to know in regards to the shocks! I’ve been going back and forth on different brands and I will definitely check out accutune. All of the suspension was installed by the PO, this Jeep is a hodge podge of mixed parts, some high quality, others not so much. I’m currently in the waiting room waiting for my truck to have the bed Line-X’d but I will check out what’s going on in the front. There’s definitely a track bar relocation bracket but I honestly can’t tell what on the front end is aftermarket, and what is factory. I know there were a large amount of parts on it swapped with a 95 Cherokee. The pitman arm looks a bit longer than it’s supposed to, but I could just be crazy. I’ll take some photos this afternoon and perhaps someone can chime in and let me know what I have going on under there and what I should keep vs. toss. My 2018 F-150 has been giving me tons of problems and just fell out of warranty so I’ll be selling it and making the Comanche my daily driver so I’d love for it to be comfortable and nice to drive! updates with photos soon!

So I may have found part of the problem, I found a P/N stamped on the rear shocks and looked it up, turns out they are KYB Gas-A-Just shocks which are notoriously stiff shocks! So my next step is deciding whether to stay SOA, or go back to SUA and buy new rear shocks accordingly. I've always heard good things about OME, but from what I've read they don't make anything for SOA height shocks, so I would have to go back to SUA if I want to run OME. (Correct me if i'm wrong)

Thanks for your input! I'll look into these!

Different than the cherokee, however if you have easy access to a junkyard cherokee it looks like you could probably modify a cherokee one to fit. Not positive on this but they are fairly similar. There are some Comanche ones on ebay in various colors, but pretty spendy $$$

Hey all, Here's the story, I bought a 88 Comanche last year and have been slowly restoring it. Most of the body is finished up so I'm looking into suspension options. Current setup from PO: Rusty's 6.5 Long Arm Kit Rusty’s Trackbar and drop bracket Rough Country 6610 Pitman Arm JKS Swaybar End Links Bilstein 5100 front shocks KYB Gas-A-Just Rear Shocks SOA w/ stock "eye bolt" shock locations Anyways, the ride is absolutely terrible. I mean, probably the worst ride of any vehicle I've ever driven. It feels like a skateboard going down the paved road, un-driveable on any dirt roads. Insanely rough ride, and just feels unstable at freeway speeds when you hit a small bump. I'm not opposed to tossing out the Rusty's kit, and I'm not stuck on a 6.5" lift kit. My fenders are already cut, M Notch fender flares installed so there plenty of clearance for larger tires even with a lower lift. I own a Jeep rental company in Arizona so I don't need to use this as my "wheeler", and honestly after all the work that has gone into restoring the body I don't have any intentions of rock crawling and ruining the new paint, this is more of a weekend camping rig that should be enjoyable to drive. So between a 3" - 6" lift kit what is everyones experience for the softest ride, high quality build lift kit? I'd like to be able to drive down washboard dirt roads at higher speeds comfortably. Budget isn't an issue, I'm happy to pay the money to make it nice to drive. Additionally, the PO didn't have a front driveshaft in when I bought it, he said he had a custom one made at some point but the vibrations were a big issue, I've measured out the distance and it doesn't seem like a factory driveshaft will fit back in for whatever reason. So if reducing the lift size would allow me to put a factory front driveshaft back in, that would be great! Please share your experience with different suspension setups and let me know your feedback. I'm open to all options!

Good call, I'm usually more of a lurker than a poster on the forums so I'll make a post in the tech section. Tires are set at 32psi, BFG all terrains from the PO. they are pretty sun baked and crispy so that could be part of it, sidewall flex may not be what it used to. I'm wondering if maybe the shocks are adjustable and maybe set to max stiffness so replacing or readjusting the shocks could be a good place to start.

Alright guys, the exterior of the Comanche is nearly complete. I’ll be taking it in on Monday for a Line-X bed liner, then I can put on the JCR Roof rack! My big question now is the lift… currently it has a Rustys 6.5 long arm lift, but it rides like absolute garbage, I mean like a skateboard loaded up with cinderblocks. Almost undriveable on paved roads, let alone offroad! I own a Jeep Wrangler rental company in Arizona, and we use Teraflex kits on all of our fleet Jeeps, they are stiff but still very comfortable on and offroad. I know the suspension design is quite different in these trucks vs the wranglers, but is there any kit that makes driving these things less awful? I’ve had cherokees in the past that drove down washboard dirt roads at 60mph and felt like butter, this would rattle your head off at 10mph. Outside of building a 4 link kit and putting adj. valve shocks and springs, are there any lift kits that can help soften the ride? I’m not opposed to ripping the rustys kit off and tossing it in the garbage at this point. Budget is not a problem, I just want something high quality and smooth. Preferably between the 3”-6” range. Also not opposed to being closer to a 3” lift so I can use a stock front driveshaft as the stock driveshaft is too short to fit back on the truck with the Rustys kit it came with.

I want to give a huge shoutout to Corbeau Seats! @Andy in Pa provided me with some information about how he was able to get Corbeau to build custom seat brackets for his Comanche to increase the level of headroom in the cab by lowering the brackets by about 1-3/8" . I reached out to Corbeau to ask if they still had the plans to replicate the brackets they made for Andy back in 2019. Not only did they still have the plans, they offered to take my recently ordered brackets in exchange, and pay for the return shipping! I had not previously dealt with Corbeau before this, but after seeing the quality of their seats, and the level of customer service they provided, I will be a Corbeau customer for a long time coming. Really looking forward to receiving the new brackets in the next couple weeks and actually being able to sit in the truck without my head hitting the roof! Damn being tall...

I’d be interested in buying a set if this ever came to fruition! sorry to revive a dead thread!