ExpatMJGuy

The tire's date code is 068 with comes out to 6th week of 1998 according to the calculator I used. And that makes sense considering the SE wheels were still used on Cherokees and Wranglers at the time. The one that is near it ending in the 29 has a letter before it. I'm struggling with the rim. I've heard there is a way to date code it but am lost as to how to read it.

This isn't really a repair, so I dropped this here just looking for a way to date things. TL;DR Is there a date code hidden in the stamping on the rim in the pic? So, my parts MJ came with 4 oversized Wrangler wheels with the 5x5 lug pattern. They used adapters and I guess one broke on them cause they had three 5x4.5 aftermarket wheels that were ABSOLUTE garbage with one on the truck and two in the bed. The old aftermarket wheels were basically slashed and didn't even hold air. The wrangler wheels are way too big, and I only have 3 adapters. They rub when I barely turn the wheel. I have no idea who thought this was a good idea. Prolly the same idiot that waterlogged the engine. They are complete set as junky as the tread is, so I want to sell them as I own nothing with a 5x5 lug pattern. I'm a complete MJ and XJ guy I still need to be able to roll this thing around, so I decided to hit up the FB Marketplace for some dirt-cheap rims that fit properly with crap tread as they just need to roll on my property and eventually on a trailer when I sell the hull. So, I picked up some basic rims from guessing by the tire date codes most likely came from a SE Cherokee or Wrangler in 97 or 98 considering Goodyear Wranglers were the factory tire for my 96 Cherokee when it was new in 96. Set of 4 complete with center caps and tread that holds air for 50 bucks! I figured it was a huge score cause center caps if I decide to sell them go for like 45 bucks each on eBay and the Wrangler wheels should go for more than the $50 I paid. Knowing good year Wrangler tires the factory tires for many Jeeps out of curiosity when I got home later that evening, I ran the DOT date code on the tires. 23years 11months and 19days! So, gauging 24-year-old tires in the middle of Winter I'm assuming a 1997 maybe 98 vehicle was where these things came from. But 3-digit codes were reused every 10 years back then so is it possible these could be from an 87? I wandered if I could get the date off the Rim stamping. When I looked, I didn't understand what I was looking at and google searches weren't fruitful. I know that there are some MOPAR parts specialist here so I figured I'd throw it out there and see if the community could answer the question. How old are these rims? Can I read the date, and if so, how do I do it?

No he’s not on my list. He blocked me. He was blocked from the FB group by the group moderators. That most likely deleted his post. This is why he’s smart. He gets caught and then he gets blocked. Once he’s blocked all his post with all his evidence goes away within that group. Others in the group over the next few days won’t see it outside of the cases someone makes a separate post like our group did. I bet I’m still blocked personally by him. So if for example, I’m in a Subaru or Volkswagen FB group as well I’ll never see that he’s posting there to warn others to not trust him or kick him out unless I cold post like this. Seems like all you can do.

You know that’s not a bad idea. Just don’t know how to deal with him when it comes to Facebook directly. Especially someone in my shoes that’s blocked. I can’t even see he exist in Facebook anymore to report him. He also apparently has multiple profiles. He’s not dumb he’s just Has no patience with a temper. He’s smart enough to know that if you are discovered, block someone quickly so they can’t see the post anymore. And you can’t see the post because the person that blocked you created it. Once you can no longer see the post you can’t comment on it or report the listing, and it makes it hard to warn other buyers. Unless you make a whole other post in the group yourself and post stuff like this like what happened today.

Listen boss, I'm glad you did too. If anyone has a foothold in other auto forums or especially other FB Automotive Groups I highly recommend getting the word out. Too many people work to hard for what they have so this looser can come in and take it. With the only exception being food to survive when ALL other legit resources are EXHAUSTED, there's nothing I hate more than a dang thief.

Bruh... I want that bumper too! Cue the original series Star Trek fight music! That would be amazing in a few years once were overseas!

Upon doing a little research the guy likes to use eBay listings to steal his pics and wonders over to FB to different FB auto groups and scams them. Figure it's worth while to post in all my automotive circles cause he seems to float. Who knows next thing you know he'll wonder into VW groups. I mean seriously, the guy had to be trash. He wanted $50 bucks for taillights!

Well today was an interesting day on Facebook. Had no plans to spend as much time there as I have today but such is life. I wish I had more pics but things went south rather quick before I got pics. Luckily a Fellow FB member gave up some pics and allowed me to use them here. This morning I was looking at a pic of a good looking Tan MJ. CLEAN! Looked more like a 6 to 8k price tag Jeep with the two pics we got. Poster said parting out due to bad engine. First SEVERAL post are why are you parting out such a clean Jeep for a bad engine?!? His response was "Frame Rot Real Bad." Many posters were like "well depending on the scenario things can be fixed." To me honestly it didn't add up. It just looked TOO NICE for total rot. Every time someone pressed he always had short answers. So then of course the vultures started circling on parts and pricing. He was vague with answers on prices too and some prices didn't jive. It didn't add up. I couldn't shake the frame thing, and as you guys know from the 18k post, @Pete M will tell you, even when it makes more financial sense I'm not about watching a good Jeep go to soup cans. Honestly I suspected something wasn't right or he was a new Jeeper that needed "Educated." So I decided to stop messing around and call him out, but more in an educational type way. I explained to him the numbers on these Jeeps and that clean title ones are getting harder to find. As forceful as I can without being rude I demanded to see the pics of the bad on the car. A few hours later he sent not 1 but 3 mad responses. First off he called me an "entitled little kid" and that he doesn't have to prove anything to me in his first post. I can't remember what his exact words in the second post were and I can't make this up but he said something to the effect of "Why the hell are you caring how many are left? You are acting like there are less of these things than Ferraris out there?! No one gives a crap about Jeep Comanches!" And his final statement was "Go the hell home Boomer!" I started reading more responses about how when buying parts he was getting them to pay for parts with PayPal using friends and family. Even after the guy declined and said I'll add extra to pay the fees for you he still wasn't interested and he suddenly got belligerent with the guy on messenger. I wish I could have all these comments back but right after I gave this response he blocked me. It said something along the lines of " Pretty Brave words coming from the other side of a keyboard. I'm 32 and not a Boomer or a kid. I served 15 years in the Army so you can have the right to call me entitled. I worked for that so by no means entitled. You obviously don't know what you have, a simple google search would tell you that ACTUALLY there are more Ferraris on the road in the US and Canada than Jeep Comanches. And you don't know know what you have because the Jeep Comanche is a Unibody up front and frame on the rear. And you said "Frame" It doesn't normally just rot in the spots there is an actual frame. If it's the floor board only it can be fixed! You are DEAD WRONG about no one caring about the Jeep Comanche. There is a forum website, clubs, and multiple FB groups dedicated to it and the community within it is strong. I was hoping to get pics so that I could help you with your Jeep either by helping you find someone in that strong community to A help you get it repaired, or B find someone who might be interested in the bad chassis as is. And now with you calling me out not once but 3 times and getting so worked up over pics I really do suspect (I did all along but hey give the guy benefit of the doubt) that you are lying to me. Especially now that I'm seeing other posts that say that you are only accepting friends and family for payments in PayPal after someone is willing to pay fees. Now that seems shady." I never got a reply instead I thought he deleted the post, but a guy posted a pic I left below and I got in on it. He said what had happened and I then found out he didn't delete it but blocked me so I can't see it. Mods caught it though and blocked him. Come to find out he's lurking around all the FB vehicle forums requesting money like this in a shady way. He's on the FB Tacoma pages and uses different variations on his name with multiple accounts. BOLO So here's the pics along with his mug shot. BE ON THE LOOKOUT. If your on these forums dealing with people beware. If you don't know people don't use Friends and Family on PayPal. All this is up on FB right now if your in the group and wanna have a laugh. If not it's not a bad place to be.

That hopefully because a smart Jeeper already took them! I guess it would depend on its title status is. Such a large pull a part probably isn't gonna go through the effort to find the title to sell you the truck. Honestly the title is probably in file 13.

I absolutely hate when people take door panels off just to use them as matts to lay on when they do their work. WASTEFUL. Somebody really needed that. Especially in a color like light blue.

Depends on the type of inspection. In most states they likely won't notice or care if it's just emissions or safety. The guy doing the inspection is most likely doing one on the dash or door and looking at one or the other, not both. In GA IF you live in a metro Atlanta county or Metro Savannah county you need emissions only IF it's between 3 and 25 years old and diesel vehicles are exempt. So for 2022 registration 1998-2019 vehicles require inspections. Normally they scan the barcode on the door to get the VIN and the person doesn't even look. I'm talking about export and import and going through customs at international border crossings at the port. There will be an asbestos inspection and cleanliness inspection before it is even put on the boat, There will be a basic roadworthiness inspection that covers a few items by the Australian Federal Govt at the dock, then there will be a certificate of roadworthiness inspection from the New South Wales state govt as well once it enters the country of Australia before I can register it. I'm trying to be real particular as I know they go so far to ensure the engine matches what is on the title and emissions label on the firewall. It MUST be the same engine type it left the factory with. These are all reasons I'm trying to keep everything stock and original as possible till I get onshore and know what is allowed from fellow Jeepers. I've been in the middle of a RA Flare the last few days so I am a few days behind pulling the dash apart, but was looking for ideas before I got there.

Hey everyone. Moving from a grey interior to a black interior. Looking for ideas on how to swap the vin plates from one dash to the other dash without looking like I swapped the VIN plate off the dash. It's important it doesn't look sketch because this vehicle will most likely be exported when we move in the next couple years. Even though I have clean titles for both my vehicles the VIN numbers need to match what is found elsewhere on the vehicle when it goes through customs inspections.

@tugboat95I have to agree. Enjoy yourself. You only live once! I medically retired from the military after 15 years in Nov of 2019. I unfortunately jumped out of too many airplanes and suffered a major back injury that followed me for 10 years through to the end of my carrier. The current army Physical Training program has basically transitioned to Cross Fit and the new PT test is basically a test based on how well you can perform certain CrossFit moves and reps. Yes there are even deadlifts on it now! I was barely hanging on without running and in pain up from daily activities up to that point. When I went to to have my permanent profile reviewed an honest conversation came up with the doctor and my ability to keep up with these new PT standards and it was determined that as hard as the old PT program was on me, the new PT program would definitely do more harm than good for me, and so it was time to go to the medboard. On my exit physical it was also determined I have Rheumatoid Arthritis. So my immune system attacks my joints. With the pain I was in, I was a realist and in the end I honestly knew this day was coming. There was a lot of hoarding money and prepping for an uncertain financial future even before we went to the medboard. But on the other side of retirement with a solid lifelong retirement income, I feel better about spending on such things. I'm also lucky enough to have a wife with a scientific background whose carrier is thriving now that we're not moving across the country at the whims of a branch manager at Ft Knox. We're actually moving to Australia based on her work. I decided to take a year off when my medboard was completed. I wanted to take time to decompress and heal physically and mentally. Then about a third of the way into my rest period COVID went down and I was like "good time to be in a rest period." I don't off-road much due to pain being jarred on trails. Outside of that, Jeeps are a great retirement project! I try to spend at least a few minutes with them each day even if I feel bad! I can easily research the Jeep and lookup parts online when I feel bad. I do more physical work on my "better days." Word of advise as u build your garage. ALWAYS build bigger than what you think you need. Ex: If u think you need a 2 car, you need a 3. Remember the space to store your tools and do prep. Also remember your ceiling height because if you don't one day you'll want a lift. This is where I am right now. I was in the military, and even though I was a mechanic even then my priority wasn't building cars when we bought our house. But here we are and were coming up 2 years into what was going to be 1 year and I'm ready to go back to work least mentally! But I'll be selective for work because I can be! Hopefully at a restoration shop somewhere where I can learn!

@tugboat95 I understand the nostalgia. Fortunately yet unfortunately my first car was my dads last car which was a 96 xj. I got it when I was 15 a month from my 16th birthday. And even more unfortunately a year after that a distracted driver crossed the center line and hit me head on before I even knew what happened. I used insurance money and bought another 96 Xj with more miles and options in a color I would have picked and I loved it. I felt not just the nostalgia but the fact I lived after such an accident to be a miracle. I drove that same XJ for almost 20 years! High school, stored in basic and deployments, drove it across the country when I got pcs orders to Fort Bliss and back home later. Looking back I prolly could have kept it longer but it was pretty worn out and transmissions cost money when your a new parent of a second child. I’ve had a TJ a KJ and a few more XJs since then! But I originally fell in love with the XJ platform. Fast forward even more so into home ownership which is synonymous with pickup ownership. I bought my first truck to haul stuff from the hardware store. Now I can’t picture life without a truck. Man the things I’ve done with my pickup trucks. One day I saw an MJ go down the road and I was like, “I want one”! I almost traded my 2000 Frontier for one about 4-5 years ago. But didn’t because I looked at it from a practical standpoint. It didn’t have an extended cab and I have kids. Fast forward to now I have a 2019 Frontier with a crew cab cause I have teenagers and I’m in a different place financially so that I don’t have to make it a work horse or a commuter so the time is right. I also have teenagers willing to help me do the work. And listen I get chopping these things up when the title is crap. Take the rare parts off them so they can be reused the turn them into whatever off road buggies at that point. Just save the Rare parts when that happens. Again after hunting rare parts it’s just sad to see the MJs and the rare parts get destroyed by people and on the trails. I have a clean title vehicle I’m taking Parts off right now. I will most likely let it go at a loss due to its condition after what I take off it. It sold prolly be parted from a practical standpoint,but it’s worth seeing them alive to live another day rather than wasted by being chopped up at this point when it can still be revived. My thinking at this point even though it might be a loss at this point the parts I take are worth money in the end and I’m still coming out cheaper than piecing all the parts I’m after individually. But seriously when hunting proper parts for a complete restoration, times are tough out here and the supply chain is getting attacked on all sides and I’m finding sometimes it’s by people in our own community and that’s what really stings at the end of the day.

I feel it’s a possibility but the correlation prolly isn’t there. Well there’s 18,600 “registered” MJs and prolly at least triple that in a garage, barn, or driveway just sitting. So 11k is a fair number. But owning an MJ Isn’t a requirement to join that group. It’s easy to do. You literally just have to be able to spell Comanche. There’s also all things Comanche buy/sell/trade which I think is where I ran into this gentleman. You can join the group due to interest, check prices, and leave loose interest but not leave the group. XJ owners can join the group to attempt to sell front end parts as another sales avenue. Fyi, on FB there’s also Jeep Comanche Lovers, Owners, and Enthusiast , Jeep Renix USA, Jeep MJ buy/sell/trade and there’s many local buy sell trade groups on FB. I’m a member of Jeep Classifieds of Georgia. One thing with Facebook groups. I think pretty much any smuck with a keyboard and a Facebook account can create one. There’s not much organization and they aren’t regulated well.

It’s funny right after this thread came about, the other night I spoke with a gentleman on Facebook via one of the Comanche groups that was hunting a new Comanche. He complaining was about MJ prices didn’t understand why nicer MJs commanded 10k+! He showed me one he was looking at and I said the price was reasonable for what it was. If I remember correctly it was $6900 for a Mechanically sound, straight body, 4.0, 4wd, long bed with no rust and complete interior. I said if it were a short bed I’d want it myself. His response was that’s no worry cause I’m going to Bob the bed anyways. I told him flat out his bobbing the bed comment was of concern to me so my very next question was do u know how many MJs were made? His answer was of course NO. I told him, and then told him how many were left. And the answer was wow I’m looking for a needle in a haystack. My advice to him. Know what you’re getting into before you put a torch to a perfectly good truck. Don’t be that guy that starts one of these, destroys it to a point no one wants it, and now another good prime specimen truck with a good title gone is gone forever. I said have a vision before you start and do your homework top to bottom before you get going. I said to him I even thought after owning 4 of them that I knew a lot about XJs till I started on my MJ. Turned out I didn’t know nearly as much as I thought! I also explained to him I don’t know why you need to find one in such good condition for a build like that anyways. I really think it was just because finding a short bed in similar shape was too difficult. My MJ is going I be all original due to import/export restrictions but I’m all about proper custom restorations when done properly. The car can’t loose it’s lines and stylings that make it what it is. Shows like American Hotrod with his Boydsters got me into working in the automotive industry in the first place. There’s all kinds of shows on now with different shops putting out different styles. The guys on Iron Resurrection are prolly some of my current favorites today. Flip the coin and about 3 years ago there was a Comanche on Bleeping Jeep’s YouTube channel that drove me nuts. He called it the Commancheep. He started with a full Comanche. He basically didn’t have a bed on it and turned it into a crazy crazy rock crawler with an LS swap. Now I don’t know the title status of that Jeep and maybe it was the reason for the crazy chop shop of a build for that Jeep, but when it was done it looked like just a cab with an exoskeleton roll cage attached to it with dang monster truck tires. It was sad and barely resembled an MJ when it was done. What a waste of another rare vehicle! Every time I mention the production numbers even to Fellow Jeepers I’m ALWAYS met with surprise! I feel like Jeep lovers are some of the Comanches worst enemy right now! (Yeah I said it!). It’s the new Comanche owner that picked one up cheap or on in a trade. He’s had Jeeps before and loves them but picked it up just because it’s different or because he’s always wanted one but doesn’t know ANYTHING about it outside of the fact it looks cool. It’s the Wrangler or Cherokee Non-Comanche owner that puts our tailgates on walls in bars or garages just because it says Jeep and they want to display it because of the big bold name Jeep on it. The other day there was a guy on Facebook showing off a Jeep tailgate Park bench, and of course everyone in the comments were tagging someone who would want one and people were begging him to show how he did it! I begged him not to and gave him the numbers. When our parts dry up, our Jeeps will die! It’s a fact! Low production numbers won’t help us in the remanufacturing of parts game. It’s a double edged sword. And maybe this is the natural way of things as a vehicle ventures further into classic status with cult following but I feel like we as not Just Comanche enthusiasts but Jeep enthusiast in general need to get the word out there about the rarity of these vehicles. Maybe these Jeeps will stop seeing such senseless deaths of people know what they got their hands on. Maybe people will stop turning our tailgates into park benches. But then again maybe the knowledge of our rarity will work against us driving vehicle and parts prices sky high. I can see Non-Jeepers hunting these parts once word is out on the street and scalping us for our own parts. Maybe we’re in for a market correction when it comes to the value of our vehicles and the prices for the parts to keep them running. I just know after spending weeks hunting parts crap like that makes me sick! I feel better now… whew! Sorry. Thoughts?

So we're discussing this basic piece? The one I pointed at in the pic. The base that the oil filter screws into. Sorry it might not be exact. I am using my 2.8 not my 4.0 because it is what happens to be in the garage right now.

As a hopeful future Aussie that's trying to come over as a mechanic on a skilled worker migration Visa, what's the difference? I would think oil is oil...

@Aussiemj I don't have the dash out yet, I'm doing the seats and carpet first, but here's a pic of the fusebox under the dash. I took this pic to show a friend the rust hiding under the dash but it will give the fuse box orientation. (Trust me! This isn't the one I'm taking with me!)

@Pete M I had that thought. But the reality is with it not running, is someone going to be willing to travel this far south for a carcass? Prolly not for the price I'd need to sell it whole. The reality is with the guy I bought it from failing to tell me it had a crap ton of electrical problems, At I paid too much for it. I never would have given him what I paid if I had known I'd hook a battery up to it and it would be a pure cluster $%^. It's not just about the money but the time to work these problems out to break even or turn a profit. As far as the transmission goes the AX-5 never occurred to me. I was just thinking Peugeot vs the AX. When I crawled under it at the seller's house I thought someone had already done a swap and I had just hit the lottery. I just read up on the AX-5 vs the AX-15. I've got an AX-5. Magnet sticks to the collar on the case and the drain plug is on the passenger side. It didn't occur to me that the 2.8 would use a different transmission from the 4.0. Up to this point I figured 6 cyl was a 6 cyl when it comes to transmissions. Another hard lesson learned from experience I guess. Oh well. Someone with a 2.8 or a 2.5 will want this thing and I have a front axle and linkage I didn't have before.

I've talked to a couple of buds that are local to me that are Jeep nuts that either have or have had Comanches. It's been decided that it will be parted out. It sat up in a field and as much as I want to save it, she's just too far gone. To properly save this Jeep she needs stripped to the CORE and given a good electrolysis bath and then have proper body work done. I hate it when people let these things go like that. All because someone hydrolocked the the engine and then when it sat the rodents got to the wires and the next owner that tried didn't understand fusible links and let it sit even longer in another field. Can it be saved at this point yes. But when you look at it from a cost analysis of what it would take vs would is already out there for the money this Jeep would loose every time. I hate it, but on the flip side it hasn't been out in the field so long to rot many of the more valuable parts she still has. There are MANY good usable parts still that will make other Jeeps (especially mine ) better vehicles for it. Once I get her apart and decide what I'm keeping and what I'm selling I'll start posting in the for sale section of the forum. Maybe except the bed. @Pete M I don't want to store it. To quote Bones in Star Trek 6 "My God Man! I tried to save him! I was desperate to save him!" @acfortier I'll attach some pics I took the other day, they aren't the best but it's what I have. It's got what I have assumed is the the ax-15 stripe. If the AX-4 or AX-5 has the same spacer plate I don't think I could tell them apart. I can take more pics when I pull the transmission down. Once that happens I'm going to take it to a transmission shop to validate it because I'd like to use this transmission in my 88 due to it being a 4wd model. I'd be one pissed off SOB if I put this thing in my truck and it sticks and grinds though all the gears. Anybody got a real good transmission guy within driving distance of the Atlanta area?

Well... Guess what I read wasn't right. I'm 263 as of Jan 9th. That's an incredible list when get into it.

I was just reading in 1JTHX6516GT209964 and it was said that it's build date of 6/9/86 was the second oldest build date found so far. What is the oldest found so far? Because this one was built 1/6/86.

It's most def a fusible link. I saw some make shift wires going to a box that looked to have a bunch of fusible links coming off it. I decided to take a chance and put a fused jumper on it from the battery positive and magically about half the stuff came on including the headlights and the radio and gauges. No marker lights, tail lights, or flashers. I still have a hosed ignition switch so I can't even attempt to turn it over right now so see what condition the engine is besides rusty rocker arms. With more electrical grimlins to tackle I think I'm going to skip all that troubleshooting and go straight to pulling the seats and carpet to get a glimpse of the floor pans so I can factor that into this Jeeps final disposition. Part out, part swap, or get running and flip. With all the electrical work the prior owner failed to let me know about I def feel I paid too much for this vehicle now. But I honestly forgot to ask. Bad engine, electrical problems, if it's got bad floor pans then that's most likely this Jeeps last strike and she's out for the part out. I guess I'll ask over in the wanted section if anyone has a running 2.8 they already pulled they are willing to let go of cheap if these pans pan out. (Pan out. Get it? heh heh )

Does anyone have or know where I can find the wiring diagram for an 86 v6. I have the 88 manual which works for most things, but is of no help when dealing with a v6 because they had already swapped to the 4.0 i6 by this point. The FSM that's online isn't of much help either. I'm bout to head over to my paper FSM for my 88 is of any help. I'm trying to diagnose a totally dead vehicle. No headlights, hazards, nothing. I suspect a fusible link somewhere but need to know where to look. I've already checked the body to engine ground and have continuity. I have power to the starter. I've replaced the all the fuses because they were all ancient and cracked and crumbling but so far no power at the fuse box. The ignition switch is a hot mess that barely moves, I'm currently pulling the headlight switch to see if there is hot power at that location now because the breaker is in the switch. The electrical problems may be the actual reason this vehicle was left for dead not the water logged engine.