neohic

Right? It's just around the corner...

This truck came to me a few years ago and it sat in the corner of my yard for its first winter here. Since then it moved into the garage, got a whole bunch of awesome parts thrown at it, got moved around, got stripped of its awesome parts, and then put back in the corner of the yard. Funny how some things come full circle. :( For future reference, the truck is currently sitting on ZJ rear coils up front and 2wd springs with a 1" drop block and XJ shackles in the rear. It sits just about at the same height as it did on the Archer suspension. That's really what this thing has been all about for me... information. For all those who looked at this for reference and history on the SCCA trucks and their builders, I think I've kicked over just about as many rocks as I could. I still talk with those guys from time to time though. Hell, John still owes me the last piece of my side skirts. Whether it's for a fun read, lots of pictures of stuff that most will probably never see, or the a last hurrah of a good combination of how to lower a Comanche with stock Jeep parts, I thank this little truck. It's been fun, but it's time to go. Again, this build is not over! I haven't given up on the project. For now I'm just giving up on the chassis with hopes that it'll move on to someone else who can benefit from a mostly rust free MJ.

The rest of the fleet got all washed up and this thing was looking from afar the whole time with its big puppy dog eyes. Ugh... fine! It too got a proper bath and it even claimed a place in the garage for winter parking this year. Not so sure it knows what to do with itself getting spoiled like that today! :shake:

Bummer... it's that time of year again. I'm happy to report that I put more miles on this truck than I have in recent years. No issues either! Still need to do away with the load sensing valve, and I never finished the exhaust all the way out the rear. I like to think that I was spending too much time enjoying it than working on it... and that's just fine in my head. Bath time! Nap time! Happy slumbers, Eliminator.

About a year old for the shop pictures, but it pretty much still looks the same... just more $#!& on the walls. My pacifier of a shop is 14'x22'. I insulated and finished the walls about a year ago and its worked out well enough. Nothing at all like what I had at my last place, but it does the job. The problem comes in with space. Everything has its place and everything needs to stay organized in order for me to work out there. Cleanliness is another issue that I run into also being that it shares a wall with the rest of the house. During the winter months, the daily driver gets parked in the storage garage so it's not dripping off everything and making a mess. That means that the wife and I are using the shop as a hallway twice a day. The floor needs to stay swept and whatever is in the shop needs to stay fairly clean as well otherwise I get to hear about how she brushed up against something and got dirt smeared over the rest of the world. The house originally had a single stall attached and then someone poorly added a second stall by just pouring a slab and put up some walls. That all came down a few years ago and was replaced with the storage garage. It's 24'x36' and it isn't big enough. I just got done moving everything into its winter parking spots today. Her car goes in the middle, my winter driver goes next to it, and that leaves enough space along the back wall to squeeze in three more vehicles. It's not all that terrible though. There's still plenty of walking space in between each vehicle. ... yes, those are both Comanches in the overhead picture.

How have the joints in your front four link been holding up? Been doing a little bit of reading on forged rod ends and then I notice that you used heims for the rear. What are your opinions on rod ends, longevity, and performance?

Have a safe drive. :thumbsup:

:group beer: Yup... peeps 'round here be awesome.

Ha! This is the newest Jeep I've ever owned!

Thanks Jay! It's funny... not even a year ago Austin drops this thing off in my driveway and I post up... ... and then nine pages later and I'm crazy about this turd! :laughin: I honestly didn't think I'd still have it at this point! Then yesterday I was walking past it and caught myself placing my hand on the hood almost as if scratching behind the ear of an old dog. :shake:

Sure hope you keep us posted on the upgrades. :thumbsup:

Actually I'm not all that close, but I like a good road trip. I'm way on the other side of the state from where all the good stuff is. The group I've been wheeling with have tossed around the idea of some winter wheeling though. How long you figure the ol' Elim' will be out of commission?

Hu... we should really meet up sometime. It's a four hour drive for me to get up to Gilbert, and three hours to get over to Dresser. Kind of late in the season though... any plans for anything else before winter?

... when were you up in the Iron Range again? MN, yes?

A few years late, but a good reminder that they're there: OLD THREAD IN DIY SECTION. Some good info on fit/finish in that thread too.

Neat! . :MJ 1: .

It was an incredible summer swinging this Jeep around the trails! Sadly, I think my wheeling season is over. The leaves are all changing and it's getting to be time to look at some other projects before winter really sets in. :(

Few more pictures form last weekend. People love pictures...

A month?! EEK! I start getting itchy after a couple days of not being around here! :nuts:

What ever happened to ol' Russel, BJ? :dunno:

Still watching this and still very interested. :thumbsup:

Yup... it's still around but probably not for long. We've been planning on moving out west and it'd be one less hassle to move out there. I'll strip all the good stuff off of it before it goes though. I'm not giving up on the project... just this chassis.

5.9 MJ SWAP :redX:

Glad to see you've fallen off the wagon, sir! Welcome back. :cheers:

Yet another struggle of a wheelin' weekend! The Ape? Well, the Ape did just fine... stuck a few times that ended up needing some help to get out, but nothing to fix afterwards anyhow. The issues came from a few unfortunate events of others on the trail, and a bunch from a member of our group. Everything started off great though! I've never been to Dresser, WI before and I'm very happy that we did. It's so different from the park up at Gilbert that I'm used to! Up there it's rocks and individual trails bound together by a series of core trails. In Dresser, you've got the options of four trails that three of which start and finish in the exact same spot. There are tons of obstacles along the way, but there's a bypass for each one. If you wanted to make it really easy on yourself, you could consider it a nice drive through the woods. It's very interesting to see the variety of vehicles too. Anything from stock (albeit beat to hell) XJs and ZJs all the way up to rock bouncers and other such tube creations. Didn't seem to matter the size though. There was plenty of calamity to be found and some of it came full circle in return. Giveth to the trail, and the trail giveth back. The trip started with the typical loading up gear and getting things together. I spent the morning doing some grocery shopping and running around town. For whatever reason, I looked down at the gauges and saw this... ... no real significance, just found it interesting. The Jeep was all set and I waited for the wifey to get home. Friday was pretty much an hour and a half drive followed up with a campfire and libations. Scheduling didn't work out to get in any wheeling as we didn't leave home until later in the afternoon, but all was not lost. We made the drive to our halfway point to a cabin belonging to a member in the group. Super nice place! We had some dinner, sat around the fire, and a mild amount of liquid enjoyment was had. In the morning, the air had this beautiful freshness to it... sure felt like the start of a great day! We had another hour and a half drive to Dresser from the cabin. Just one long road in front of us and the drive was perfect. Not much for wind and the trees were changing colors for fall. Our destination was found and what was waiting for us was very intimidating... people! So many people!!! Didn't matter what direction you looked, there were little clumps of campers and trailers everywhere! See, we showed up for an annual event held by a local club. The thing of it is though is that for how many people were there, there's very little information to be found on the simple things like camping or registration. We show up, start asking questions, and there really isn't any kind of structure. They pretty much just want people to show up and have a good time. Camp was pitched, tires were aired down, doors were removed, and away we went. Not even five minutes into the first trail and there was this huge quad cab Dakota on the side and the driver asking everyone who passed by if they had any air. And it starts! We pull over and I unload my CO2 tank. His tire is filled and everyone is on their way again. Couple hill climbs later, and it was my turn to get in a bind. I loved it though! I FINALLY got to use my winch!!! I've had it for eight years or so, it's been hung on the front of three Jeeps now, and this was the first time I got to use it for extraction! So? Start pulling cable! That was fun, but there's more to it. Last weekend, I took the time to make up what over landers call a "sand ladder". There's been a season long running joke in our wheeling group about ramps and when it's proper to use them. I took it upon myself to make up a really nice modular setup, but then I took it a step further by painting them bright yellow just in case someone were to be caught using them in a picture they would just scream, "LOOK AT ME!!! I'M YELLOW!!!" Well... I was sadly the first to use them. Yup... pulling cable AND using a trail aid. It was from that point on that I decided that I'd own up to it. After all, it was all gear contained in my rig that got me through! We continued on and saw some more rigs that made the three of our Jeeps just look small. Then came the first of our problems. Wait for it... ... wait for it!... Now! There was some mild binding in the wheel, but everything seemed to be solid enough to keep going with it as-is. So we did! ... and... here comes chaos! $#!&! Time for fixing again... At this point a fellow trail rider was passing by to be yet another person standing around to watch. But he had a rag to double as an impromptu axle seal! See? The trail giveth back! The Jurassic Jeep was back up and running with three wheel drive. A quick half hour later and we were back in action! ... until?... a dead battery holding up the line. And then we were back in action!... again! That was Saturday on the trail. Back to camp... ... for some more creative ingenuity this time in the form of a bench... ... and then a found rack for cooking dinner... We sat around the fire and watched the night wheelers come and go from the trails. Seemed to be plenty of activity even after dark! This morning was spent swapping the rag stuffed axle tube with a spare shaft and bending around the drag link... even if it ended up getting bent back somewhat after a short while. ... he actually got a little ambitious there and ended up backing down to try a different line. I've said it a bunch of times in the past, but this little Jeep flies so far under the radar when it comes to the ability to get it done. Just like a little, red billy goat! The guy in the Jurassic Jeep and I were admittedly waiting all weekend to see him get stuck and it just wouldn't happen. Very capable. I haven't mentioned anymore trail issues for a bit, so I'm sure that I'm due. We had one trail that we planned on doing today and it was cut a bit short in the form of a dead alternator. We didn't have much time left for being inventive, so we had to make every situation count! Why keep a foot on the gas to charge a battery when there's all these perfectly shaped rocks around?! He was running again and then just cannonballed it back to camp. We hit a few more obstacles on our way out of the trail, but the drive home was making me a little gun shy. Still found a few rocks to sit on though. On our way back to camp I passed what was left of a Comanche, so this post is now relevant. Same as most wheeling trips, there weren't a while lot of pictures taken of actual wheeling, but we all had a great time and there's always a good story. We helped out a few people, we had some trail fixes, and everybody made their way home safely. Dirty... but safely. The Ape made the three hour drive back home and it got a much deserved hose down. I can't imagine Dresser after a bunch of rain! There was definitely more mud and sloppy stuff than I usually like, but it all comes down to the whole "when in Rome" thing. As for the interior... well... let's just say that the tube doors might not have been a wise choice for soft sand and flying clumps of mud. I must've brought half the freakin' park back with me! At the very least, it should be easier to get around next then, right? Hopefully more pictures to come.