Doc.

Maybe I'm luckier than I think, I don't recall any "worst mechanical failures". I've had a few interesting things happen over the years though. Here are a couple I recall. 2004 Silverado. It was a repairable I had bought and fixed. One part I replaced was the rear axle assembly. I put a lower mileage axle in, than what the truck had. I had it sold, just had to deliver it. About 1 mile from my destination I smell something funny, a second later I hear a terrible grinding sound. Yep, from the rear axle. Luckily I was able to crawl the rest of the way to my destination. The buyer was cool, he still bought the truck (for a few less $ than previously agreed on). He took the receipt I had for the axle and got a replacement one and put it in himself. 1986 Ford Ranger. I had just bought the truck so didn't know much abut it yet. It's winter and it's snowing. I'm coming back from St. Cloud (half hour drive), snow is blowing across the road leaving lines across the road. So, bumpy ride. But as I'm driving I'm thinking, is that vibration just the snow on the road or is it something else? I get to a point I know there is a safe field road to pull into and just look to make myself feel better. As I slow down to turn into the field approach the right front tire falls off and goes rolling. The truck falls to the ground and there I sit. Sure glad I was not going 55 when that happened. I'm off the road. No damage to the truck or wheel. Ok, just jack it up and use the one lug nut I found and one off of the other 3 wheels. It's cold, this sucks, but could have been so much worse I keep thinking. I'm looking for the jack, but guess what, this truck I just recently bought has no jack. Wonderful! Just then a guy pulls up, "need any help"? Well, what I really need is a jack. No problem he says, I have an extra one in the trunk. I don't have time to help you but you can have the jack. I tried to pay him something for the jack but he wouldn't take a dime. I've had 2 brake lines blow (separate times) while pulling a loaded car trailer. One was on the way home, came to a 3 way stop. I was turning left, pedal went right to the floor. I went through the intersection without issue cause no one else was there. Pulled to the side of the road and found the main line to the rear of the truck rusted and blew out. Now what? It's just back roads the rest of the way home.... I stuck a glove in the E brake release and used my left foot on the E brake pedal, and my right hand on the trailer brake controller. 4 ways flashing and not much speed, made it home no problem. Next time a brake line went was in the cites. Was going left again at a red light. Foot to the floor, grabbed the e brake and trailer brake and got it stopped (in the middle of the intersection!) Thankfully there were no other vehicles in the intersection, then the light turned green for me and I just drove into the Wendy's parking lot. Sat for a couple minutes thinking how lucky I just got. Hopped out and saw it was just the left rear line that blew. Grabbed a hammer, pounded the line flat, got some lunch and went on with my day. There has been some interesting things happen out wheeling. Breakage wise not much though. The bolt that holds the track bar fell out once. At the time I actually had some speed cause I was on a smooth core road trying to catch back up to the group. I turned left but the truck went right, right into the brush. Easy fix though. No damage except some scratches in my dented fender. I've snapped both rear axle shafts once. Each time it was with the same spotter. Each time I thought things didn't feel right so I asked, "how's it looking"? He said fine, so I gave it a little gas. After the snap, I get out to find 3 wheels on smooth surface with no traction what so ever, one tire pinched with no way it was going to turn.

Is it possible to pinch the wiring harness between the bed and frame? Thus shorting it out or cutting the wires inside.

Bummer, that's what I thought. Has to be a creative way to make smoother, "updated" to look more like the 97 up XJ, tail lights.

Now that you know how rare it is it has to be restored and can not be modified. :yes: So where did you find this odd ball? Get it "cheap" cause none knew what I was or did you have to pay up for it? Would be interesting to have a stock one to go off of, and then build a custom version.

This sounds kind of similar to my issue. Talking to a mechanic buddy of mine we are speculating coil issue. If it warms up outside, and I remember, I figured I'd go swap one and see if there is any change. With my issue the warmer the truck got the worse the issue got to the point it would not restart. The next day it started and ran great until it got good and warmed up, then began to stumble so I just parked it.

Do you have a photo of the back side of the lens? Is it flat in there to allow the ribs on the out side to be shaved off leaving a smooth surface?

Well, I'm 49 and have been doing body work, repairables, fab work, etc., for ever (at least it feels that way). Not afraid to cut and paste with steel. Doing it on a computer however, that's where I fall short. I did do a couple crude attempts in Publisher. I thought that just stretching it with 2 door XJ doors would look odd, and that regular doors with cab extended would look better. However the longer doors with cab corners left alone actually looked better. That would be the "easiest" way to stretch too. Unfortunately I don't have any good 2 door XJ doors. When I get to this Comanche project I will be grafting a short bed MJ together with a 2001 XJ so I will already have it cut in half through the floor and WS post. When done I want this to look as if it could have come from the factory in 2001. Pretty good idea of where, how to cut but I'd be interested to hear your thoughts Area 51. Looks like you're not afraid to cut some metal either. Never used a spot welder like shown in your one photo. What's your opinion on it? I've thought about buying one but since I haven't used one and there aren't may times it could be utilized anyway...... Your photos are already hosted. All you have to do is right click, properties, copy the url, click image box on here, paste the url. Yep, pretty proud of myself for figuring this out. :smart:

Removable pinion housing? Got a photo, I'm curious what that is. Short box? Looks like a standard issue 8 ft. long box to me. Good thing gas prices are down. That vintage, 454, 4.56 gears, should be real good on fuel (using it that is). I still remember my 76 F-150 4x4 with a 390. Only use it when you really need a truck, otherwise just drive the car. Sure is clean compared to the few you see here in MN!

Looking for some Grand Cherokee letters. Don't care what color. I think off of a 99 to 04, but not sure on the years. Look like this though. Close to home (Princeton) would be good, unless you can send them in the mail for cheap. Want to play around and see if I can spell Comanche and have it look nice.

So I keep kicking around ideas in my head. Once I can set aside some quality time I "need" to do a Comanche project. I have a lot of parts at my disposal. It will be 97 up front and driveline. Has anyone seen extended cab MJ project's anywhere? Not 4 door, just a little longer cab. For me, the box needs to remain unaffected. The "simplest" way I've thought up is to cut and splice through the floor and roof, extend it the right amount and use 2 door XJ doors. I don't know if I'd like the way that would look though. Also I have no good 2 door doors and they are tough to come by here in MN. I do have a rusted out MJ I could do a heck of a lot of fab work and stretch the cab behind the doors though. Not sure if it would even look good. I know it would be a ton of work though, and all for "what"? Anyway, anyone have any photos or links of someone else doing anything of the sort?

Hope the change is a good one. At least the commute to the bridge shop is a short one.

Why not mount WS in front roll cage hoop? Did you explore something like this for rear bars?

For some reason I really like that photo. Get this, went to take it off the trailer and it fired right up no problem. I messed around with it for a while out back and next thing you know it's running like crap again. So, the issue must some how be heat related. Going to be fun trying to figure it out. :hmm: Good to wheel with you, sorry we had such a odd/sucky time of it. Not really a "bad' day of wheeling, just not as good as what it could have been. If we meet up again out there, we'll have to show you a few more fun areas.

I see damage to the fender, cab corner, and box. That would easily be enough to total it. Probably just an estimate to replace the fender would total it.

PM's sent

Have to say I'm confused. Your post says they are no longer for sale.

That would be a trip, Google says close to 16 hours one way. If nothing else was to turn up it could be "possible". Can you email me some pics and info on what you have? Or, do you already have a post on here somewhere about them?

Gump got it from me in stock condition, can't remember how many years ago that was. Nice to see it getting a face lift, keep up the good work.

I have a 2001 Cherokee Classic that I would like tot use for a donor to build a nice Comanche. Any one have a rust free short bed truck for sale? Has to be short box, has to be clean, some dents are fine though. Prefer never been painted, (to be sure it never was rusty, and I hate undoing other peoples work). Do not need a title. I know most guys take a truck and put the stuff from 97 XJ up in it. I would plan to cut through WS post and floor to do a rear clip to my XJ though. That said, year shouldn't matter, front end damage doesn't matter, motor, trans, 4x4 or 2wd, none of that matters. Basically I just need good cab, box, and t-gate. I'm in Minnesota, so the closer the better, the "cheaper" the better. If you are able to deliver part of, or all the way, even better!

Did Austin get this Jeep from Gump?

Man, I heard that. and short box 4x4 4.0 auto no rust only 5 miles from my house for under $500 with bucket seats and power windows/locks. :doh:

Using body filler or fiberglass on plastic doesn't usually hold up. The body filler isn't designed to flex like plastic does in heat/ cool cycles, so it will crack and peel off. Using an epoxy meant for plastic would be a better way to go. When I do plastic repairs I do most of my work on the back side. I tend to tape the front so it's nice and level, v out and grind on the back, and use a plastic mesh to get some structure there. When that sets up (overnight to be safe) on the front a slight v and 80 grit the edges and very little epoxy work or primer is needed on the front. So only thing left to complete the 97 up look is the rear bumper and tail lamps. Rear bumper doesn't really need to match though since it's a truck, right. What about those tail lights? I was wondering if a guy took and sanded off the ribs and smoothed them out. Is there enough material there to even try it?

When people ask me how much lift I always ask what size tires, and what are you going to do with it? Lets assume you are mainly going to street drive but want to do a little off road. 3 inch and 31's might be a good combo. If you have to replace leafs then go with lift leafs, do not go with stock ones and add on longer shackles, add a leaf, or anything goofy. Just keep it simple and spend a couple extras bucks right away so it will work long term. At 3 or more you will need shocks and when bumping up tire size go with a steering stabilizer too. Not a stock one, but one meant for off road use. At 3 inch and mild wheeling no need for longer brake lines (just relocate them) or longer control arms, caster can just be adjusted as needed. Basically 3 inch is the best bang for the buck. On a Cherokee I've always gone 33's, 4.5 lift (with shocks and stabilizer), do not use the t-case drop brackets, throw away the sway bars, longer brake lines, cut out wheel openings, lockers, etc., and wheel with the best of them without re-gearing no problems. This still allows me to drive on the street without much issue. Without the t-case drop or doing a slip yoke eliminator there is a slight vibration as you get up to highway speed but no biggie in my opinion. There is no "need" for long arms and there are so many options there that is a discussion all on it's own. If you were going 4.5 lift I'd vote for spring over on the rear and maybe just new stock leaves? I have not done this but see the logic in it. If you go bigger than 33's or bigger than 4.5 lift you will have issues on road or off road and need to start spending money to cure issues that arise. More lift- drive line vibrations, steering issues, and gets tippy off camber. Bigger tires- even the 4.0 is maxed out and time to re-gear. Oh and u joints, etc. become to weak to handle the torque. On my Comanche I went with 6 inch coils because I have the extra weight of a winch sitting there and I wanted the stiffer spring rate too. I also did a custom 3 link with track bar up front. I did coils and 4 link on rear, but mine was built for off road. When first built I did drive on street to town just because I could though. I agree, swap in a 4wd axle while you're doing the lift. On kind of a side note. I sell Rough country and have had several rigs of my own over the years and had no complaints with on road or off road. I don't know what "RE" is but I find it funny how some people will put down rough country and buy from another company not realizing that they just bought rough country parts that have been re- stickered. It's true. For example, rough country buys a box car full of leaf springs made in Canada and re-sells them to other smaller companies.

Been a while since I had a look around the forum. Really like this project. Where did you get the parts from? If you don't mind me asking, how much do you have into it?

Looks like you'll be all set for a weekend in Appleton Mn soon. Well, maybe when it warms up a little more.