johnj92131

Can anyone point me to the various weights of the 4.0 engine in our Comanche? How about weights of the accessories like the a/c compressor etc. Also wondering about the 2.5 4 cylinder engine weight. Anyone running a Hesco alum. head? Thanks,

JeepcoMJ wrote: "a cherokee tank would work, but you'd have to rework the bracing a bit, and make bracketry for the straps. this idea would SUCK in a longbed if you were going to wheel it...you'd leak gas everywhere, even with a skid you would also need to add a second filler neck...no one in their right mind would trust 6 or more feet of rubber to send gas to a tank" Yes, that big X brace popped my balloon when I finally looked at it. I "thought/assumed" I had a real simple idea. Oh Well! I am not into wheeling, so that is not an issue for me. And the truck is 2 wheel drive. Frankly, I would never use rubber hose to feed a second gas tank. I would use metal tubing for most of the run. And I would want to avoid adding a second filler neck. Good venting of both tanks would help assure a full load of either gas or Diesel from a single filler. Take a look at how the Mk. 4 and 5 Sunbeam Alpine and some Jag sedans used dual tanks with one filler. The Alpine used a rubber hose at the bottom to suck gas from both tanks at the same time. Not sure about the Jag. And If you don't think a Sunbeam Alpine was ever cool, take a look at the very first James Bond movie, "Dr. No" - Bond drove a Sunbeam Alpine long before he "moved up" to Aston Martin The 2.8 litre CRD engine from a Liberty would be a good choice, if I could find one for a reasonable price. My second choice would be a VW TDI engine. Lot's of them around, strong as all get out. Lots of well known power enhancements. 250 plus lbs/ft of torque in not hard to get. Acme Adaptor to Toyota transmission is well worked out. I can see getting mid 30's mpg around town, even with a 3400 lbs truck. (I own a 96 Passat TDI, so I know a little bit about the engine). The 3 litere V6 diesel for the 2009 Audi Q7 sounds great. 221 hp. and 406 lbs-ft of torque!!! Can you imagine pulling a fully loaded Comanche over the continental divide via the Eisenhower tunnel at an average altitude of 11,100 ft.? Know there was a fellow on the club in New Orleans who put a 5 cyl. 3 litre MB engine in his Comanche. Think he lost the truck to Katrina. Still, the idea of putting my trail bike on the front of the Comanche, hooking up a camping traile on the back, running a fuel efficient diesel engine, with dual fuel tanks and hitting the Alaska Highway really appeals to me. I have wanted to travel the Alaska Highway ever since I was 19 years old - I will be 61 in March!!! Still dream like a kid. Last year I found a Diesel MJ on Vancouver Island, just was not quick enough. I was second in line to buy it. Agree with you that the Renault Diesel is way too expensive - hence my interest in the VW TDI. Still, the 2.8 VM Common Rail Diesel might be the best choice for a diesel conversion. Appreciate all the input so far. On the other hand, a 2010 Mahindra pickup sounds like what I might want and it could be cheaper than modifying the Comanche. Not to mention that the better half would "feel" much better taking the trip in a "new" truck.

Is that VMI 2.5 diesel a relative of the 2.8 CRD used in the 2005-7 Liberty?

Frankly, I wondered about getting a rear bumper mounted, swing away tire carrier. Saw a few at local junk yards that "might" be able to work. Do want to get a front mounted hitch so I can carry the Honda Trail 90 with me at the same time I take the HiLo camping trailer. Nice picture of the Land Rover!!!

Wondering if anyone has put a second gas tank in the MJ, perhaps in place of the spare tire? If so, how was it done and what did you do with the spare? Thought about using a stock Cherokee tank in place of the spare and trying to fill both tanks from the existing filler. My truck is a 91 long bed. Also, still have not given up the idea of finding a Comanche with a diesel engine. Anyone have a lead for me on a diesel?

Aemsee, Yes I thought the .50 gear might be a misprint. But I also noticed that the chart said 2003 - 2008 for the .67 5th gear. Still wondered if the .50 final gear might be an added "feature" for the 2009 year. Does anyone know?

Why am I looking for info on the 45RFE/545RFE? I was looking to see what was out there for an Automatic transmission with a lower first gear and a higher overdrive ratio. I found this link: http://www.vibratesoftware.com/html_hel ... .htm#5spat It seems to suggest there is a version of the 545RFE with a .50 overdrive instead of the .67 overdrive. If true, that would have a 3.00 first gear compared to the 2.80 first gear of the AW4 and an overdrive of .50 compared to the AW4's .75 overdrive. That would let you run a 4.56 final drive and still go down the freeway at a very reasonable engine rpm. But it would likely be cheaper to just buy another truck.

Does anyone have info on putting a 45RFE or 545RFE transmission in the MJ?? Thanks

We had an 02 Passat with the 1.8T right after the new style came out. Loved that car, well my wife did since it was her DD. Fantastic little engine. I've been thinking of selling her Pilot, even though it's a great family truckster, and getting a TDI wagon. How is that engine maintenance wise etc.? Oh, and $2.85/gal as of today. My Passat is a 96 with 180K miles. I have owned it for the last 20K and have done nothing to the engine, except change the oil. Runs fine. But the rest of the car has cost me a bunch of money. $1025 for the A/C compressor, $500+ for CV joints, new tires, etc, etc. Not that the Comanche has been any cheaper. Think I have spent $3k on the Comanche in about the same time and only about 6000 miles use on the truck.

3.31 at the ARCO on Miramar Road and I 15 l saw $3.25 in El Cajon on Sunday. Diesel for $3.25 also on Sunday. (For my Passat TDI! - 37MPG - around town).

Sir Sam, Think the class 3 hitch refers to the 2 inch square receiver bolted to the vehicle frame. Not to the total weigh carrying capacity of the vehicle. My Rodeo has a towing capacity of 4500 lbs with the factory class 3 hitch per the owners manual. My Comanche with a class 3 hitch has a towing capacity from the factory of 5000 lbs with the metric ton package and a Dana 44 rear end (part of the metric ton/Big ton package). 3/4 ton pickups with a class 3 hitch can tow upwards of 10,000 lbs. Towing capacity depends on many other things on the truck than just the class 3 hitch. Most important thing is do you have GOOD electric brakes on your trailer and a great set of brakes on your truck. I can tell you that it is no fun being pushed down a hill, the sliding to a stop by a trailer that is 700 lbs over the towing capacity of your truck on a sand filled road. Your ABS brakes are only so much help.

Finally got a good look at where the power mirror switch is located on the 97 and later Cherokee. I was looking all over the dash and the center console on the 97 I got my mirrors from. Seems I missed the switch on the door arm rest! Do I feel like a fool! And I damaged the door panels taking the mirrors off. Sheesh... Should have taken my time and pulled both complete doors. Then painted the doors white. Really dumb.

Eventual goal/plan is to have power locks, power windows and everything else. So I want to plan for the future...even if it is a long way away. That may include 97 plus doors. Not sure just now. JJ

Lot's of good ideas so fast! Need some time to digest them. The Comanche is my number 3 vehicle, just used for truck duties. But it is a candatae to replace the SUV for towing the camping trailer. Only problem is what do I do with the 3 grandkids? Where on the dash do we suggest we position the mirror controller? JJ

In the late 70's/early 80's there was a company called Best Tank that made all kinds of larger replacement and aux tanks. Best Tank used aluminum for all their tanks. Take it for what ever it is worth. An easier way to get more fuel capacity might be to move the spare tire and mount a Cherokee fuel tank in the place of the spare tire. That would give you an extra 20 gallons of fuel. A stock fuel transfer valve out of a Ford or Chevy truck with dual tanks should work without too much trouble. My problem would be how to fill the second tank without doing a bunch of body work As for mounting the spare, I think a swing away bumper carrier would be a decent soltion or perhaps a front bumper mounted carrier.

I admire all the work that went into this truck. It looks great in the picture. Sure would like to talk to the owner and find out more about how this was done. Anyone have more information on this truck?

Last Sunday I found a pair of power mirrors on a 97 Cherokee at a pick a part yard. Got the pair for $14.00 and they are in decent condition. I am willing to use them without electrical power, but am thinking I can hook up a power window controller and run some wires, why not. My Comanche has the column shift automatic and full bench seat. So the factory Cherokee set up will not work. Can anyone suggest an good location to mount a controller and source for a new ore used controller to adjust the mirrors? Thanks

Great Pictures, but really can not say much for your subject heading. Do you writ spam in your spare time?

I have had exactly two cases where the insurance company wanted to total my car. In both cases, I was able to negotiate reasonable settlement with the insurance company. The first time, I had a 1969 Corvair tat was stolen and recovered. The wanted to total the car but ended up fixing the car to my satisfaction. The key was to tell them to just buy me another vehicle of the same year and same condition. Well with only 4500 1969 Corvairs made they had a problem finding a replacement, but I was able to find several replacements because I was in a national Corvair club. The other one was an 85 Mustang GT. I had the car parked in the garage of a year (less than 400 miles on a new set of tires). I would have sold the car for $4400 just so I did not have to let my kids drive it. With some work, I got $5500 for the totaled car. By the way, I had let my daughter drive it over to a friends house and she went to a school dance with a date. A kid from the same dance took out the car when it was parked. Main thing is that nobody got hurt, just a couple of cars.

Here in San Diego, about the best price for RUG is $4.25 at Costco. But I did see $4.099 a gallon Sunday near the Otay Mesa border crossing. Diesel is running about $4.959 per gallon, maybe a touch less less. I paid 5.039 in Orange County on Saturday. I have basically parked my 91 Comanche and my 98 Rodeo. My daily driver is a 96 VW Passat diesel wagon. On Sunday morning I took it to Tijuana and filled it for $2.20 a gallon. And checked my mileage for the last 1001.6 miles. It was 35.9 mpg, close to 4 mpg less than my last tank of fuel. Still, I saved about $55.00 on this one tank of fuel compared to buying it on this side of the border. Not bad. Now I can put 6 gallons of gas in the Rodeo and 6 gallons of gas in the Comanche with the money I saved. Seriously, I need to start looking at either a VW Diesel or a CRD engine conversion for the Comanche. Anyone done the CRD to Comanche or Cherokee??? Please point me to the resources. Thanks JJ

Had a brand new Corvair Monza in 1969. Kept it till 1985. Owned any number of others from Rampsides to Greenbriars, Several Corsa's some 4 doors and more. Had fun with them for many years.

lol... that looks like something a drug dealer has on hand... not that I know any.. so how does that work? It weighs the materials weight thats floating?? The float is a known weight and is sealed. As the water/acid mix is sucked into the tube, you get a given displaced water acid mixture because of the fixed weight and volume of the float. The higher the specific gravity of the water/acid mix the higher the float rides in the water. Same thing you see with a heavily loaded ship - it rides lower in the water than it does when it is lighter.

Gentlemen, You certainly can dump the acid and refill a battery with fresh acid. Years ago, I worked at a battery factory. One of the reasons to do this with a battery that has been sitting a while is to flush out any of the paste that may have accumulated on the bottom of the battery and is shorting some of the plates. You need a hydrometer and you need at thermometer to read the specific gravity and the thermometer to take the temperature of the acid. You then recharge the battery. At a given specific gravity and temperature, the battery is fully charged. Even the maintence free, so called sealed batteries can be refilled. The trick is to pull the access cover then pull the plugs for each cell. You can then fill or check the specific gravity of the cells.

First thing I should say is that my truck is not USED as a daily driver, I use it for occasional work like hauling stuff from rentals to the dump and just general moving crap around. It is a long bed, Southern California truck with a Metric Ton package and automatic transmission. Once or maybe twice a year I use it to go camping. The long bed and covered shell lets us sleep the night just fine. The truck gets used less than 6K per year. My sister-in-law has a 91 Cherokee 4x4, 5 speed, with just over 200K. Wanted to ask the group if, given my current uses for the truck it is worth swapping the 4x4 stick shift in to the automatic 2WD truck for just what I use the truck. Kind of think, given here in San Diego, and what I use the truck for, it is a waste of effort. But, when she is ready to get rid of the Cherokee, I KNOW I can have it for zero dollars. Besides, it could get me building stroker motor. Another problem/expense would be the Metric ton Dana 44 with the 3.54 gearing and the Cherokee 3.07 gearning. That would mean giving up the Metric ton package gearing or buying new gears for the front axel. What I really would like to do is find a Toyota truck 5 or 6 speed automatic and 4 wheel drive to graft onto the Comanche. Again, your thoughts are appreciated. John Jackson

My daily driver is a 96 VW Passat TDI. I get 38 mpg. And I see a whole lot of TDI owners who "chip" the ecu for more performance, with very good results. Now, I checked out jeepstrokers.com today and noticed a thread asking about "chip tuning" the Jeep 6. Got some information, but not really very much. Does anyone here have some solid information on "chip tuning" the H.O. 4 litre 6? Or even some pointers to web links. Thanks, John Jackson