NotMatt

Thanks for the replies guys, gives me something to think about. I know my options on what I can do to get the actual discs in the back, my main concern was the lines and master cylinder and any additional valves or replacement prop valves that I should look at. I think right now what I will do is go ahead and swap the discs in with the stock master cylinder and stock XJ prop/balance valve as it is and see how it works. I'm so tired of the stupid drums that don't auto-adjust right and apparently now I've developed a leaky wheel cylinder somewhere as I checked the master last night and the resevoir for the rear brakes was completely empty. Probably why the brake light was turning on when braking. :|

So here's something I've been mulling over in my head for a bit here. I have an 89 comanche with a drum brake 35 in the rear. I have an XJ balance valve installed and one line running to the rear brakes, instead of the funky factory level prop valve setup. The rear brakes have been nothing but trouble. They grab and lock the rear tires occasionally when they are damp, or during hard braking. And now the brake light has started to come on when I step on the brakes hard, indicating that the rear brakes are leaking or need adjustment (balance is out between front and rear). So, given the crappiness of the rear drums and the crappiness of the rear model 35, I'm planning on finding an explorer 8.8 with discs to put in the back. That part I have covered, fabrication-wise... the actual disc conversion is easy My question is, if you were doing this, and wanted to mimic a factory setup as close as possible, how would you do it? Obviously the master cylinder and balance valve on the XJ/MJ was not designed to have rear discs. I've heard people talk about the rear brakes over powering the front brakes during hard stops after disc brake swaps. This is absolutely the worst scenario, especially for winter driving, with a lightweight rig like the comanche. So, there's talk of installing an adjustable proportioning valve for the rear brakes... maybe a residual valve (I am uncertain of how this part actually works or what it's purpose is)... should I put it back to the dual line height based prop valve that came factory? Should I replace the entire balance valve assembly and/or master cylinder with one from a rig that came factory with disc brakes? If so, which rig would work the best? Maybe Jeep Liberty or JK? I want this to be a safe, good performing setup that works like it would have came that way from the factory. Any input?

Do you have a fan shroud on the factory mechanical fan? If everything is in good working order and you have a fan shroud, you really shouldn't have problems with the stock setup. I can tell you one thing for sure, the electric fans you get at the parts store (Hyaden, flex-a-lite, others)... be very careful and read the specs fully... most of them aren't designed as a mechanical fan replacement, just to be run in addition as a pusher in front of your rad. The 16" Hayden curved blade fan is only 1500 CFM, and it is NOT enough to cool down a stock 4.0 in a wrangler by itself (trust me, I tried). The smaller ones that are a better fit for the location of your stock mechanical fan are going to be under 1250 CFM. For a good idea of the limitations of this type of fan, I read somewhere that you generally need a BARE MINIMUM of 2500 CFM from an electric fan to cool a small, stock V8 (302, 305, 350, etc). If it were me, I would figure out what's wrong with your cooling system. Are you SURE your fan clutch is good? Do you have a shroud on the mechanical fan? Is your radiator and/or condensor clogged with debris? The stock setup with the mechanical fan and OEM auxillary electric fan is a very good setup that you should be able to leave idling all day and not have it overheat... so if it's doing that, something is wrong.

Should be a pretty straightforward swap, even with keeping the XJ running and driving after... That is assuming your truck has a 2wd AX-15 in it now, and not the Peugot. Also, the 96 will have an external slave cylinder for the clutch compared to your internal one, so you may have to swap over the lines and/or the Clutch master as well.

Figured I'd update this thread with the final fix.... Replaced both sockets tonight and everything is peachy now. Both front marker lights come on, turn signals work, and the dash indicators for the turn signals don't come on anymore with the headlights! I used Dorman part number 84716 which was an identical socket, down to the molding and everything. Got them at O'Reilly's but I'm sure they could be found at most any parts store that carries Dorman stuff. Perfect fit in the housing. The wire colors were different, but I matched them up physically to where the old wires went into the socket and they work perfect.

Check the brake light switch on the brake pedal. It's not only a light switch, but it also unlocks the torque converter when you step on the brakes. If it's slightly out of adjustment, it will behave like that on the road... plus your brake lights will be coming on randomly too.

Yup, my 87 laredo XJ came with the Jensen sound system and had those same tweeters mounted there. Getting the factory brackets and adapting them to fit some nice tweeters would be a good setup. Not really an easy way to mount something there without the brackets.

Yep, just install the compressor... no big deal.... if there is no refrigerant pressure, the clutch won't even turn on even if you put the selector in the A/C setting.

Axle shaft C-clips? That's a negative, over and out. No c-clips holding in the axle shaft on a D44, just the four bearing retainer bolts behind the brake drum.

Confirmed, both sockets are bad... must be the two hot wires for park and tail making contact inside. With no bulb in it, only the park lead has juice right behind the socket. If I put a bulb in, both the park and turn leads have juice behind the socket... so it's back feeding the park lamp voltage into the turn signal system through the front socket somehow. The $#!&ty part is, the spare front light harness I have has one bad socket that does the same thing as well... other one acts like normal. So, off to the parts store I go tomorrow to see if I can get two replacement sockets to solder in.

89 XJ heater core will fit perfect in a 89 comanche. Same part number at the parts store and everything.

Alright, that gives me some good stuff to start with. I know which ground you're talking about on the fender... it's where my electric fan is grounded and some other stuff, there's about 4 wires attached to it. I'll double-check it's clean tonight, and then look at the 10-wire plug for the front light harness closer and clean it up. If all else fails, I have a spare front harness I can swap over that has good sockets on it... Will report back!

89 4.0 mj, cluster is out of a 89 xj, column is out of same 89 xj... The front dual filament bulbs don't light up, but the front side markers do. I tested the bulbs, they are fine and the sockets look good. When I turn the park lights on, both turn signal indicators light up solid. If I have the key off, and click either turn signal on, the indicator goes out and the park lamp for that side turns on. Everything else from tails to brake lights to headlights all work, even the license plate lights. If I have the key on and headlights on, the front turn signals even work as normal, including the indicator light flashing but then it goes back on solid as soon as I turn the blinker off. Anyone ever had this happen? I replaced the mf switch with another spare xj one... are the mf switches different in Comanches? I know the tail/stop wiring is different... it seems like the front park lamps are grounding out through the turn indicators. I've had the front end grill and header panel apart multiple times and can't find any funky wiring or unhooked grounds. Thoughts?

Yep, and that's an offset rear 44 as well... you could get away with running it, but you'll never be able to run a CV rear driveline. Skip these.

1989 Jeep Comanche Pioneer Specs: 4.0 / AW4 / 231 / HP D30 / D35 / Longbed Build date: 1-89 Current Location: Wenatchee, WA Status: Driving it all the time, whenever I'm not driving my F-350 Notes: Just a plain jane Pioneer model. Every VIN decoder says it came 4WD, but I converted it from 2WD with a column shift to 4WD floor shift with parts from an 89 XJ. 5.5" lift with RE coils, bilstein shocks and custom-built (by me) long arm setup. Spring over rear. The body is almost flawless, only a couple minor scrapes and dents. Interior color is gray with a bench seat. Current owner: Me, myself and I

Trans cooler will be a good addition to your rig... However, make sure to route it so that you retain the stock "resevoir" in the radiator... It's not there to cool the trans, it's there to heat the fluid up on cold days. Running the trans "too cold" can do just as much damage as "too hot".

That's beautiful. And I agree, the Ravines are killer. :D

I just did this two days ago on my comanche. New injector O-rings and new(er) injectors from a 91. The HO injectors fit just fine and the rig runs great. Two of mine were actually split and leaking, and a couple of the other ones were leaking at the O-rings. Don't bother with engine oil or other lubricants, just get some vaseline or petroleum jelly and use that to slather the o-rings before you put them on the injector. It makes the job so much easier. Put the injectors into the fuel-rail FIRST, then slide the clips on, then slide the injectors into the holes on the manifold. Make sure you clean everything really well, including the holes in the manifold. Now is also the time to replace the O-rings in your fuel feed and return lines too, since those will leak eventually as well.

Just from your original post, it's not totally clear what the symptoms are.... the key turns freely and nothing happens, or they key sort of turns but has resistance and doesn't unlock the door? If it's the first, then yea you probably broke something inside... it should be fairly obvious once you get the door panel off what is wrong... look up in there with a flashlight. If it's the second symptom, go to the auto parts store and get some "lock-ease" graphite spray and squirt a little inside the lock past the flapper thing that keeps dirt out. I have to do this on my truck on occasion because the locks quit "moving" when I try to turn they key in them.... they just get gummed up or something and don't want to turn.

I built my own and am super happy with them. Check out my build thread: http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=34644

The headlight switch has a dimmer function built-in, try twisting the headlight switch back and forth with the headlights on. Sometimes certain spots on the dimmer portion of the switch conk out or the switch only works on full brightness. Also, check the "INST LMPS" fuse in the fuse box, if it's burnt up replace it... if it's not, try pulling it out of the socket and pushing it back in, wiggling it around, etc. On my fuse box, the inst lmps socket actually had a broken contact on one side and I had to jerry-rig something to shove into the socket to keep the fuse in contact with the terminals. Also, if your rig is a 5-speed, check to see that your clutch master cylinder isn't leaking... they're right above the fuse box, and over time a leak will eat away and corrode the fuse box itself.

Not super hard if you have all the pieces, much easier to do if you pull the carpet out but it can be done without pulling the carpet. There's a large plate bolted to the tunnel that you need to remove and replace with the floor shifter assembly. Keep in mind that unless you swap the column out, you won't have the interlock that prevents you from shifting the rig out of park with the key off which can be a safety thing but it doesn't bother me. Getting the old shifter cable out and the new one in is the hardest part. You have to unhook the shifter cable from the bottom of the column and push it out through the firewall. The floor shifter cable goes through the firewall in the exact same spot, and hooks to the tranmission exactly the same, it's just longer so it can be routed up under the dash and into the floor shifter assembly. No need to drop the transmission or lower it at all, the cable connects right on the driver's side. No changes to 4wd linkage. To make it a real "OEM" swap, you would need to swap the column to a floor shift column too, then you could have the second interlock cable so that you can't shift the rig out of park without the key on, and can't turn the rig off until you put it in park. And a center console to go around the shifter assembly too to make it look factory. Not totally required though. Parts you'll need: Floor shifter assembly Floor shift cable Interlock cable (optional) Floor shift column (optional) Center console for floor shift (optional) [EDIT]: You may NEED to swap the column, because there is an interlock in the column shift column that prevents you from turning the key to off if the rig isn't in park, and prevents you from pulling it out of park if the key is off. You might be able to take the column apart and disable this. When I did this swap, I swapped a floor shift column in to get rid of that so I'm not sure how you would go about disabling it.

Got some 35" Maxxis Big Horns on there. On loan from a buddy of mine until he gets his XJ back on the road. I think they look gooooood... need to trim the front inner fenders a bit though cause they rub slightly. Also added a 1" lift shackle in the back and an extra coil isolator up front so it sits "just right" now. :D Here's what we did with the parts donor XJ after pulling all the good stuff out of it.... Got 130 dollars in scrap metal price for it and some other misc. scrap including the 2wd front axle and another junk D35. And here is the Rockridge4wd.com JK. Spent some time last week getting it ready for the annual Wenatchee Valley Apple Blossom festival Classis Chassis car show and parade. Yes, that's a Wurton 50" LED light bar up top and holy cow is it bright!

Pull all the lines out and cap off the original at the engine. The actuater in the t-case is just the vacuum switch that locks and unlocks the front disconnect... if you already locked that into place permanently, you don't need it. Just leave the switch in place to keep dirt out of the t-case, but unplug all the lines from it and throw it all away.

FYI, the wrangler AX-15 is a slight bit different from an XJ/MJ one, the output "adapter" piece has different holes in it, because the T-case is clocked flatter on a wrangler compared to an XJ or MJ. You might have to do a little bit of floor clearancing to make it work, and the linkages for the XJ/MJ might take some tweaking to get perfect.