HuntinHopin

Finally got the lift completed but unfortunately, on the way home from the shop, it overheated and left us stranded on the side of the highway. $100 tow bill later we got it home and started diagnosing. Figured out it was either a blown head gasket or a cracked/warped head. Tore apart and dropped it of at the head shop which revealed two cracks. Currently looking for a used head so we can get this thing back together and get him back on the road. Hoping to have it finished up before school starts on the 20th so he can drive the coolest truck on campus on day one.

Thank you Pete for the phone call. You explained it perfectly. In essence, in case someone else is ever searching for an answer, the add a leaf does “lower” the truck by about .25 inches while also lifting the truck about 3 inches due to the forcing the other springs to conform to the spring rate of the add a leaf. Thanks again Pete!

I am in the process of fixing some previous owner engineering on the rear lift of my son’s Comanche. I am wanting to stay spring under axle. I am looking at the add a leaf from BDS but I can’t wrap my mind around how adding a leaf under the axle will give me any lift. In my little brain, if I add a leaf under the axle it is going to push the axle closer to the frame, thus lowering the truck. What am I missing?

Thanks guys. Haven’t done too much to it since changing the seats. Has a random high idle issue that we are trying to figure out but other than that he has just been learning to drive the 5 speed.

Between his sports and our jobs, we finally found some time to work on getting the seats and center console installed. Not incredibly difficult. We used an air chisel to get the brackets off the original bench seat and the "new" Cherokee buckets. We just used grade 8 bolts to attach them to the "new" buckets. We also got the brackets for the center console mounted and installed it. He loves having the center console to rest his arm on and a place to store some things. Dad is glad he no longer has a bench seat for cruising around with girls.

Since welding in the floor pans, we have mostly just been driving it and enjoying the learning process. We have removed and repainted the rear bumber and fender flares as well as touching up some of the interior trim. One of the previous owners had painted the blue interior black but like most of their other repairs, didn't do a great job so it was peeling and flaking. On Christmas Eve, he drove his Mom to pick up food and stop by the store for some last minute things. When they got ready to leave the store, the ignition wouldn't engage the starter. Crawled under it, jumped the starter and brought it home. After digging around on here, figured out it was more than likely the ignition switch mounted on top of the steering column. Picked it up at O'Riellys, switched it out and good to go again. For Christmas just about all he asked for were Comanche parts or upgrades for his truck. He got new LED headlights, a toolbox, bed lights, and a winch controller since his has been missing since we bought the truck. LED headlights were plug and play and make a big difference. Toolbox he will need to carry school stuff and sports stuff once he starts driving to school. We have yet to install the bed lights. Attempted to install the winch controller tonight but having some trouble figuring out the wiring. Will try again tomorrow. We also got some bucket seats and a center console out of the same donor Cherokee the instrument cluster came out of. We are going to attempt to take the brackets off the current bench seat and attach them to the buckets. I will try to keep this thread updated and do a better job at taking pics as we go since I have figured out that everyone here likes pics...

He has been driving SxS, fourwheelers, and dirt bikes since he was very little so he has done pretty darn good learning to drive it. The ignition had a key broke off in it so we replaced the cylinder and picked up a new set of door locks but have yet to install them. We ordered the pillar lights and upgraded the speakers because every 15 year old knows how important music is in the driving process. Middle of September we ordered him a new set of tires to replace the dry rotted ones that came with it. We also ordered new floorplans and a speedometer cable because his was snapped off at the instrument panel. While replacing the speedometer, we went ahead a dropped a new instrument panel in from a donor Cherokee since all we had were the dummy gauges.

Been lurking around and wrenching on the Comanche as needed trying to get the kinks worked out prior to my son's 16th birthday. Picked this up back in September for $2500 off Marketplace. Pretty straight. Not much rust to speak of other than the floorboards. It's a 4.0 4x4 stick shift. First thing we were looking for were seatbelts. Found at Buddys in Springfield thanks to a member on here for pointing us in the right direction. We also had no turn signals, dash lights, or tail lights. Tried trouble shooting the grounds with no luck. Finally took it to a local who discovered the fuse box had some issues (I'm sure from a leaking master cylinder at some point). He was able to get that all fixed up and working again. Now was time to let the boy start practicing how to drive a stick.

Went today and was able to get just about everything we needed/wanted. The Comanche at Buddys was missing one of the male ends of the seatbelt but we were able to grab one off of a Cherokee. Wrong color but will work for now. We also grabbed an ash tray, glove box lock, oh crap handle, horn, and running light. Now if we could just get the darn lights figured out…to be continued I reckon. He’s chomping at the bits to drive this thing.

schardein-Buddy's is where we are headed. They have an MJ and two Cherokees. Hopefully we can find some things. Was the MJ pretty picked over? gogmorgo-thanks for bringing up the mistake in the title. I fixed it. We have a bench seat. Our biggest issues right now are electrical issues. He has headlights, brake lights, and emergency flashers. However, he has no turn signals, tail lights, or dash lights. So far, I have inspected and replaced fuses and cleaned up the ground behind the rear tail light. Also inspected bulbs and bulb housings to make sure they were all good. I switched the flasher relay and the turn signal relay with no change. However, there is quite a bit of play in the flasher relay when either of them are plugged in to that spot. Any suggestions on next step?

Awesome. Thanks for the replies. Hitting the junkyards this weekend. If we can’t find what we need, I will be reaching out to you eaglescout526.

As the title states, I’m looking for a set of seatbelts for an 87 with bench seat. My 15 year old wanted a MJ and we finally found him one but it came with no seat belts. What other seat belts will bolt right in if I can’t find an original set? Also looking for visors, ashtray, glove box lid lock, and an oh crap handle. However, obviously seat belts are most important.