AreWeThereYet

Cleaned up the front winch plate area a bit more and cut the rear leaf hangers off the front. There’s going to be a lot of time grinding some of this junk, but this has been way more satisfying than axle setup. Brought a helper along to sketch out some designs.

Project stalled for a bit other than some small things, and then life happened. Cowl intake in, links and crossmember welded and painted Then life happened at the end of March when Calvin joined us. Took a little bit to get back into it, but came back swinging hard, and definitely felt it the next day. Front axle is out and the front leaf hangers/bumper is cut off.

Great find! Glad you'll be getting this back on the road.

Got the tubes welded, axle bearings and seals replaced, and everything back together. Both axles are geared to 5.13 and ready. I also got the RENIX throttle body adapter made for when I’m ready to get my THOR cowl intake in, and worked on getting my doors set up.

Been making more progress, I’ve got the 8.25 rear re-geared, disc brake brackets on, bottom lip shaved, and ready to weld the tubes and replace the axle seals (hopefully tomorrow). Once that’s done both axles are prepped to go under the truck. Before: After: I cut off the old exhaust with the blown out muffler, and got a universal Walker from rock auto I’ll make fit. Cleaned up the doors I have and started modifying hinges on the truck so they’ll be removable. I ordered the hydro bump kit and mounts from Iron Rock Offroad. I think this will be the best and easiest solution for getting my front reset for coil springs, plus some air bumps in the front is really nice on the trail. Feels good to be getting to some fun stuff.

Thanks for the info, I hadn't looked that closely yet. Always good to hear from someone with the real life experience.

Thanks, I'll have to check those out, could definitely be a good option, and they're not too hard on the wallet either. Right now everything is iced over, so it may be another week or two before I get to mess with it again.

Took a couple of videos using a plasma cutter for the first time, if you look closely, you can see my smiley Comanche in the background. This will definitely be nice to have access to when it comes time to start cutting up the front end. Here's a couple of shots of the front for a better perspective

I love those wheels, I had an 89 XJ with them for my first car. Truck looks great!

It's only been dead in here for 5.5 years. Located in Hendersonville, and working on getting this trail ready.

Made some progress today, drained and cleaned out the fuel cell, then put in a few gallons of ethanol free with some fuel treatment. It wasn’t too bad with only a little bit of old gelled gas and barely any sediment. I noticed a new sticker was added to my truck, and I am not fat. After that I pulled the 8.25 rear out and started cleaning it up. Managed to pop the yoke off the pinion when I was knocking one of the perches off and drained half the diff onto the floor. By the time I wrapped up I’d cut off the old leaf perches, started on one of the shock mounts, and had a raging headache from the nasty fuel fumes from earlier.

I appreciate the input; it's definitely something to consider. I'll have to figure out if these are worth keeping when I'm ready to start swapping the axles. I also don't trust (or understand) a lot of the previous fab work on this truck, even though I'm sure mine won't be much better. Sounds like you had a pretty nice setup, especially running 42s.

Thanks, it's definitely good to have some progress on this. ECGS is definitely on my good vendor list along with Barnes 4wd. The more I think about it, the less likely I am to keep the rear traction bars. I don't do anything high-speed, and don't really want them hanging up on stuff. It may also not mount well with the 8.25 rear axle that I'm going to put in, and definitely don't plan to do work to make them fit.

After a busy few months, some setbacks, and my ability to overthink and underthink everything, I now have the front Dana 30 regeared to 5.13 with a Spartan locker. Here's where my pattern ended up. Might be a tad deep, but I don't mind. It definitely feels good to make real progress, and on one of the "more challenging" parts of the project. I did the final assembly, and now it will sit until I regear the Chrysler 8.25 for the rear. It will also be a big undertaking to get the axle under the front. Someone in this MJ's history cut up and welded on a bunch of mess to the front to add leaf springs. Most of it will be cut out, and I'll fab up simple spring towers, but the whole front bumper area may take some creative fab work. On a side note, if you order from Revolution Gear, be wary of their master install kits for the D30. I ended up not having all the parts needed, and they didn't carry the missing baffle and oil slinger. To their credit, the customer service was great and responsive, but didn't have a resolution for me, and basically said because they don't pack their own install kits, they have no control over it. The ring and pinion were great, it was just disappointing to order a kit that was described as having everything needed, then finding out it doesn't with no resolution other than to order missing parts from another vendor.

That turned out great! I really like the rear bumper.

This is definitely nice for reference as I’m sorting through mine. I don’t know much about the current engine other than it’s not original, most likely came out an 88, and it runs smooth.

I am jealous of that engine bay, very good looking truck. I'm sure it'll do great on BAT.

I was poking around over the weekend and found the engine date code: 801M20. If I understand correctly it was built January 20th, 1988 which means it came out of another Jeep, probably whatever YJ the front axle is from. Ultimately it doesn't make a difference other than I know someone put a good drivetrain in it at some point, just unsure of the mileage.

Post some pictures when you get a chance, really cool you have an eliminator.

Really cool build, definitely noting this thread in case I eventually end up with an LS.

Thanks. The rear bars are Definitely intriguing, but a lot about this truck is. For now they’ll stay, and I’ll find a way to mount them to the 8.25 that’s going in the rear.

Made a little progress and got the locker swapped to the new carrier and put the new ring gear on.

I got to drive it a bit last week after I found a deal on some Method MR 105 beadlocks with decent tires. 2936291304904052732.MP4

The goal is to get it on the trails by the end of the year. I'm currently regearing the axles that will go under it to 5.13. The front is a HP Dana 30 trussed with WJ knuckles/ brakes, high steer, 4340 shafts, Spartan locker, and Warn lockout hubs. Rear is a 29-spline Chrysler 8.25, 4340 shafts, Spartan Locker, and will be converted to disc brakes. Going to run 35s for now, build basic bumpers and sliders, 3-link the front, put coil springs back on it then just new shocks/mounts in the rear. It has a set of doors and a bed from another truck, but the bed is too nice for off-road, so I'll try to sell it and intend to build a simple flat bed similar to the one below. Dana 30 Flatbed idea Doors and the short bed.

A buddy of mine rescued this Comanche with some cool ideas in mind, but ended up pursuing other projects. After I started casually browsing rock crawlers, several hints were dropped that the MJ would be a great candidate, and I couldn't resist. From what I've been told and am able to find out, it's a 1987 base model short bed that came with a 4.0 and a 5 speed manual. Currently it has a 4.0 out of an 88, automatic AW4, NP231, and a low pinion D30 from a YJ on leaf springs up front. It runs well, shifts, and the 4x4 engages, but it's still a project. VIN Decoding.