MereAnatomy

Ever since my truck got finished, my dad has wanted one. So I went for a ride on Saturday out by Fort Knox and picked up a 230K mile 90 LWB 2wd with a pretty straight bed, and damn nice interior. Salesman helped me load the bike and drove it back to Louisville. Had about a half gallon of water in the front tire, after getting rid of that miraculously the handling problems disappeared. But at that point noticed cracks in both front rotors, and the absence of brake pads. So it got rotors, bearings, and pads. Got my neighbor to help load a Dana 44, Dana 30, NP242 combo I've been holding onto for my Dad's dreams of a dually. Leaving for Texas at midnight on Friday. So if you happen to see a white Comanche on the side of the road, feel free to drop by.

Cut it at the top to avoid future regret. Taxes and Tires, the size always increases.

So, the VIN debate continues. I found another, but the listing is a year old and it states it is a 1988 model... It's also in Venezuela, might be worth a call to the dealer for the VIN # to figure this out. http://losteques.olx.com.ve/jeep-comanche-1988-4x4-sincronica-iid-542320899 Good luck!

Clean looking little truck, the black on the lower body makes her stand out. Keep the water out of it!

Thanks for saving the beast! Did the previous owner indicate if there had been any more, or how many? Looks well finished for a prototype. Congrats on the find.

that's one clean looking truck. what did you use to clean up your taillights?

it's available from a few places on Amazon and eBay, the link is to the cheapest one i found quickly. Will set you back a cool 10 bucks. Has held up so far http://www.amazon.com/iJDMTOY%C2%AE-Universal-Frame-Mounting-Plate/dp/B00LWGFWRC/ref=sr_1_21?ie=UTF8&qid=1412269621&sr=8-21&keywords=license+plate+light

Turned out the U-joints were shot, so the front axle got an overhaul, new brakes. only piece of hose i could come up with was a feeding tube, works very well. and rock sliders to avoid the fender damage, should the ole beast mount another volvo

The next post-call day I had, I rented a truck and went searching for new Dana 30 with 4.11s, but the junkyard lied, was just a chopped up Dana 30 with 3.55s... Ended up sleeping in the truck for a few hrs before returning it. Then scoured craigslist, rented the truck again and headed north figuring I'd return with one of two I'd found online. As is typical of my family, I may have overdone it. I needed a Dana 30 right? So I found a Comanche Dana 44, then two Dana 30's, and a NP242 from different people. You know, for the next one. A month later, she was rolling again. Thanks to the gents at Moab here in Louisville, required a little welding, new wheel, control arms, discos, etc... Now the brakes didn't work, and had a terrible wobble at low speeds while turning.

then after a rough few days at work I may have taken a short nap behind the wheel, and the truck decided it wanted to drive over the front end of a volvo the force of popping over the front fender broke the axle mounts, control arms, etc, then the police wrecker ruined the fender

then came winter and the truck brought me many things, including great beers from back home in Texas found out my mazda is well balanced

Then just playing around out by the rail yard. RC can as a jack.

Well shes been in a wreck since then, and rebuilt again. I'll get some photos up. From where I left off, she got a new spare tire carrier (Ford Expedition or Dodge 1500) can't remember now. This is after losing my spare wheel mounted to a 33 x 12.5 somewhere between Texas and Kentucky... Prefer not to leave them lying around.

I live over in the Highlands, sounds like you're well positioned for hitting the junkyards out there.

hahah, i would agree, i too came from Texas and had to piece my conversion together... It's a non-HO 4.0L 5spd with a NP231 D30/D35. I would assume its a Peugeot tranny, but it was locked (they are using it for the yard truck since it runs and drives) and I did not climb under to identify the transmisison. Supposedly runs well. He only wants 79 bucks a piece for the axles hub to hub, and 12 bucks a piece for driveshafts.

Looking for a set of seatbelts for a bench seat in beige. Ideally comanche sourced, but think the rear seats from an xj will work prior to 94. Shoot me a photo. Thanks. -Gil

There's a LWB 5 spd 4x4 with a D30/D35 combo at Amen Auto parts (Louisville, KY), for everything behind flywheel down to driveshafts and axles they want $312 with warranty if anyone's looking for an easy swap. Truck is non-a/c, missing some interior panels and the bed is pretty rough, but still driveable.

i guess I'm totally in the aftermarket realm at this point since the paint is fresh and the idea of taking a cutting wheel to them would probably cause a heart attack. I don't doubt that the rocky road setup is a good one given the quality of their lift kit. To comanchekid45: The rocky road kit is designed to bolt through the frame rails, correct? Or does it bolt up to one side somehow? I want them free from the sheet metal ideally to have room to take a blow and slightly deform similar to Pete's philosophy. Anyone able to run the rock road kit with long arms (another thing in the future)? Anyone seen the ones from rigidco or Nate's?

Wondering if anyone has any knowledge on the quality between some of the builders for rock rails/rocker guards? I'm in the market as soon as my credit card recovers, I know they're available from Nates 4x4, rigidco, rocky road. Anyone have any experience or ideally anyone seen more than one of these company's offering and know how they might stack up? After painting the ol beast, I really do not want a crushed rocker panel...

Welcome to the insanity, I'm going to guess you should probably order some replacement floorboards now if you're talking this summer... Body looks good and straight, best of luck!

so, nothing big, but spent a few hrs on Kentucky Blue today. Needed a lower profile license plate light and picked this up off eBay for about 7 bucks. Came in chrome, but nothing a little paint can't fix. Looks pretty slick with LEDs. Blacked out the tailgate handle bolts, got rid of a bit of overspray on some seals. Got the drag link adjusted and the steering wheel straight. And this I'm pretty proud of, wired in a GPS tracker accessible from the internet. It's capable of remotely disabling the starter as well (but I've already got a questionable neutral switch on the tranny, so I'll hold off on that for now). Even if someone cuts the power it will log its last location, and you can view its location history as it sporadically reports to base. 136 bucks up front, but only 13 dollars a year to renew. I picked up some agreed value insurance, but that being said, too much blood, sweat, and grease involved in this project to just let it disappear without at least having the opportunity to exchange words with any would-be thieves.

more than welcome to it if you want it, just wouldn't trust it for anything but a tiny single axle trailer. would highly suggest safety chains due to it not mounting up properly

the hitch in the original photos was off a 2002 xterra, only looked wrong if you crawled underneath since it was slightly offset to bolt up. It's still down in Texas somewhere

It's been a long year, but Kentucky Blue is finished until I can beg, borrow, or steal my way into some new parts. Thanks to everyone on this site, and those that have lent a hand making it happen in real life.

The first pictures I have of her.