johnj92131

This will not work in California. Besides, it cost me $90 to fix the problem last time I failed a smog check. And in the next Smog Check you will be paying the same guy another $100 for a new sticker. And then there is the time after that. What will your total bill turn out to be? Not a personal comment. Just a comment about longe run economic solutions compared to short term solutions. I will not have to replace my $90 cat converter for another 14 years. And the Toyota will still be running just fine. Heck, I can see my unborn grandson driving the car. Can your imagine that, My Dad got the car new in 1989, my son still drives it today. He has no children yet, but the car should still be running fine with about 260K miles when his son is ready to drive. I know my dad would be pleased to see his great grandson using the same car he got new.

I had to have my 91 Commanche smogged checked in April as part of the "random" sample. The truck has always passed the smog test with no problems. Well it fail it failed this time because of an old gas cap. The smpg station had a supply of good caps, the gave me one and told me to buy a new cap at NAPA for less than $10.00 to solve the problem. It did, no extra check and less than $10.00 I have found a couple of decent, reasonable, HONEST, smog check places here in San Diego over the past few years. These places treat you right and still follow the CARB rules. Bottom line, is that they don't stick it too you for all it is worth. Last correction I had to make was put a new cat. converter on an 89 Camery at around 125k miles. And I have 4 different cars, the newest one is a 1998. The smog check costs me $50 on each car, usually every 2 years.

The AW 4 automatic transmission is just about identical to the automatic transmission used in Toyota trucks of the same vintage right??? Well, several years later, Toyota has moved to a 5 and 6 speed automatic transmission with a wider gear spread than the !@ 4. Has anyone looked at how to substitute these later, wider spread transmissions into our jeeps? For example the 6 speed auto in the Toyota has a 3.56 (or so) first gear and a .56 final overdrive. Heck, with my 3.55 final drive that would be like a 4.50 rear end in 1 st gear and like a 2. 48 final drive in 6th. A 30% longer finial drive and a 20% steeper first gear off the line. Not bad at all. 20% more power off the line and 30% fewer RPMs at cruise. Is their a manual transmission that can do that for me?

Hey fellows. I used a two part epoxy to glue my original knob back on just last Sunday. I have a column shifter on my 91. Put teflon tape on the splines and shaft, covered it with epoxy and plugged the knob right back on. Had to hold it in place for 2 minutes, but it was fine in 5 minutes.

JohnQ, Keep in mind that the column shif automatic has a different bench seat from the floor shift automatic. At least my 91 Comanche with column shift has a full bench seat, without any "notch" on the bench. Does anyone know where Jeep sourced the steering column from? That could give you a whole list of different vehicles to look at for a column shift, besides just a Comanche. I am thinking that certain GM products may have the steering column you need. But have no clue as to which products that might be.

My truck does not get many miles in a year. Might have put 5K on in the last year. Plus I am in Southern California and my truck has been in Southern California all of its life. Think I have changed the oil once in the last year. Will have to check the records to see exactly. But it has 218K on the odometer. My view after more than 40 years driving cars, use good oil, change it reasonably often. Drive your car/truck long enough to get it up to operating temperature. If the car/truck doesn't get to operating temperature, change your oil more often. My 4th vehicle is a 1989 Camry that my dad got new. It has been taken care of very well since day one and has about 140K miles on the V6 engine. Other than a leaking rear main seal, and a problem with the A/C control, it runs like a top. I would take any of my cars on a long trip, with no fears or hesitations at all. That said, my first car, a 1953 Studebaker, consumed so much oil at 43,000 miles that I ran RECLAIMED motor oil at a cost of 10 to 15 cents a quart. And I blew up the engine for a lack of 60 cents worth of oil. Really dumb!! My 1998 Rodeo gets the oil changed every 6K miles and runs great at 138K miles. My 1996 Passat TDI gets the oil changed every 10K miles and now has 172K miles. (Oh yes, I get 42 MPG, double the other three cars). I expect to get 300K plus from the Passat and the Rodeo will pull my vacation trailer for the rest of my life, where ever I choose to drive in North America. The Comanche? Well, it will run a long, long time still. I use it for hauling junk, trash and other things. Also have used it for weekend camping trips. Nice to sleep in the bed of the truck. May wind up using it to pull the trailer, but I do not have a brake controller installed in the truck. Guess that only cost about $100. With a longer wheel base than the Rodeo and the big Six, plus an automatic transmission, I should be using it as my primary tow vehicle. Has anyone installed a bigger fuel tank in a Comanche? I would really like to be able to drive more than 300 miles without stopping for gas. That Passat has me spoiled. 600 to 800 miles on a tank, easy.

Local Arco is 3.499 for RUG - 87 octane Same Arco is 4.159 for diesel Downtown San Diego today at a 76 station" 3.699 for RUG 4.259 for diesel This time last year: RUG = 3.609 Diesel = 2.999 My cars: 98 Isuzu Rodeo, 96 VW Diesel, 91 Comanche w/ HO

You are right about a long road of learning! I remember the first time I pulled the head on my 1963 Rambler 6 cylinder engine. As we struggled to lift the head off the block, we wondered where all the water came from. You see, we never drained the radiator. Funny what 17 year olds think they know. And here I am today, still messing with the same basic 1963 engine! You might think I should have made some progress in the last 40 years or so...

These are NOT the same engine! Here is a link to the Iron Duke information: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GM_Iron_Duke_engine The AMC engine is a cut down version of the 4.0 litre 6 cylinder. They are two different engines that have about the same displacement. Iron Duke has a 3 inch stroke and a 4 inch bore. check this link: http://www.jeeptech.com/engine/gm151.html ;The AMC 2.5 litre engine has a 3.88 bore and a 3.19 stroke. See the following link: http://www.jeeptech.com/engine/amc150.html Hope this helps you.

I have also wondered about reducing engine RPM on trips. Given that the AW4 transmission is used in Toyota Trucks, I have wondered if the 5 speed automatic transmission in some Toyota trucks could be used as a replacement for our AW4. The first gear in the 5 speed automatic is something like 3.52. That would allow the same off the line performance as with factory 3.55 gears with a 3.07 rear end. (2.80 x 3.54 = 9.94 and 3.07 x 3.52 - 10.80). Just the result of me playing with numbers I "think" the fifth gear in the Toyta 5 speed automatic is about the same as the AW4. something around .75. Ultimately, I would like to look at the idea of putting a Toyota 6 speed automatc transmission in to my Comanche. With the steep first gear and the double overdrive 6th gear, we could have the same off te line performance and better highway MPG. Has anyone looked at this?

Appreciate all the comments and the links so far. Should let you all know that I am running a 2 wheel drive truck and don't do any off the road driving. What I do want to do is haul a 4500 pound camping trailer with the truck. So I really want to feel good about the ability of the Comanche brakes to stop the truck and trailer. With the Rodeo I am about 5 - 600 pounds over Max GVW. With the Comanche, I would be 5 or 600 punds UNDER GVW. Not really a big difference, but I do KNOW the Rodeo can do the job. I only THINK the Comanche can do the job. Now I use an Isuzu Rodeo to pull the trailer. The Rodeo, no doubt has better breaks than the Comanche. But it is still an issue when you are going down a mountain with a 4500 pound trailer (even with electric brakes) pushing a 38-4000 pound vehicle. And, Yes, the ABS Brakes on the Rodeo are nice. They kicked in twice when pulling the trailer. Why use the Comanche to tow? Well the GF doesn't drive a stick shift. The Rodeo is a 5 speed stick and the Comanche is an automatic. Other than that, not really much of an advantage to take the Comanche. So I the best thing just to get top quality OEM brakes installed? After all, the work. Why go in the direction of experimenting with new brakes? Your comments are appreciated.

Well, my rear brake shoes are oil soaked from leaking seals in my Dana 44. The drums will not stand another turn, so I am looking at $750 to replace the axle seals, drums and brakes. Time to ask about what it takes to do a rear disk brake conversion. Since I have a Dana 44 and Metric Tone package, an Explorer axle is not on the table. Does that leave me with only the Grand Cherokee rear disk option? Any words of wisdom from those of you who have been there will be appreciated. Thanks, John Jackson

SuperWade2, With the Dana 44, you just might have a factory Metric Ton package. Count the leafs on the rear spring. Think you need 5 for the Metric ton package. Personally I can not believe the amount of rust damage these guys from the midwest and the east put up with and repair. I have a couple of nickle size surface rust spots on my truck and I think it is crap. But I am a Southern California guy since I was 4 years old. I just do not know any better. My truck is a Southern California 91 base long bed 2WD about 2 years ago for $1150. But I have put some a bit of money into it since. Body is great. Needs new paint. 4 litre H.O. 6 with column auto trans, full 3 passanger bench seat, Metric Ton, A/C, SnugTop, Factory bed liner and factory load mat, Class 3 trailer hitch. Have the original window sticker and a long repair history. Now 220K miles and should be able to drive it across the country with no real isues. I have replaced the battery cables, battery, ignition switch, neutral switch, radiator, water pump, surpentine belt, all front end bushings, brakes, and auto trans rear seal. Need to work on some electrical issues. Gas gage doesn't read right, lights on the interior are not right. But all can be solved with some work. Total repairs so far about $2700. I should be good till the next set of tires. Plans include power window, door locks and new mirrors, plus vent windows. We have a full guage cluster to install and are looking for an over head console. Really like TNT's Dakota front seat modification. Might want to do that without any bucket seats. 242 4 x 4 conversion would be nice. Plan on a front trailer hitch to carry my Honda Trail 90, perhaps a Cherokee rear spare tire carrier and installing a 20 gallon Cherokee gas tank in place of the factory spare. When the engine dies, we will do a stroker crank rebuild and be ready for another 250K miles. Has anyone looked at a Toyota 5 speed auto or a Lexis 6 speed auto swap into the Comanche? This might be a really nifty thing to do. The Toyota and Lexis transmissions have a 3.52 first gear vs. a 2.80 first gear on the AW4 and the Lexis 6 speed auto trans has a 6th gear of about .58 compared to a .75 on the AW 4. We could use a 3.07 final drive and still have the same off the line gearing as with at 3.54, at the same time, the final drive ratio would be something like a 1.78 final drive for great mpg. (The AW4 and 3.55 final drive would be 2.66).

Join the yahoo strokers group! You will find many thousands of post of GREAT info about the Stroker. As another poster has said, Dino is a great source of information. Check out all his posts. This guy is SMART and LEVEL headed. By profession, he is an M.D. Yes, that is a Doctor. He also lives in the Gulf, so Jeep parts are not as easy to find as in the states.

The site you are talking about is: http://crazedlist.org/ Get Firefox and use the add on specified on the Crazedlist site. Lets you search all over the country or all over the rest of the world. Works best with Firefox. John Jackson

JeepcoMJ: I feel your pain!. I picked up a ticket in October, 2005 - was doing 92 mph in a 70 zone. The CHP officer wrote me up for 88 mph and I went to traffic school to keep the ticket from the insurance company. In April and May of 2006, I picked up two tickets in Wyoming, one at 88 and another at 91 mph. The 88 mph ticket was at the bottom of a long grade, so a bit chicken. Could not talk my way out of that one. Net result a fine of $100 and a fine of $150. California DMV writes me a nasty letter saying I may be judged a bad driver and have my license suspended if I get much more in tickets. April, 2007 - I get a ticket in a small Utah town for diong 50 in a 35 zone. No cars on the road - midnight. Just a small town speed trap. Interesting that I was going exactly 50 mph, not 49, not 51 or some other number. Cost me $107 fine. None of the fines really matters. My inusrance went from $700 a year after two tickets to $1200 a year. And next year will likely go up another 50%. Please know I have been a California driver since 1964 and this is the worst run of luck I have ever had. For what it is worth, all four of these tickets were on good, clear highways and detected by radar. I got my first ticket when I was 17 - that was 42 years ago. Convinced the cop to write me up for 55 in a 45 zone. He said he was doing over 85 to catch me. (Yes, I got off the gas at 80 MPH when I saw him commig up behind me. Doesn't seem that long ago. Cost me a $10 fine. Those were the good old days. Bottom line, we all need to pay close attention to our speed simply because it can cost us lots of money we could put into our cars.! And we know that cities like to nail us for money!. We need to stop making it easy for the cities to nail us. And, by the way, I don't expect your parents to kill you, kick you out of the house or anything that extreme. You may, however have to listen to an ungodly number of "I told you so" comments. Know my kid did when he wrecked two of is mother's cars (I would not let him drive mine) and damaged a third of his mother's cars. According to him - none of the incidents were his fault. The best one was when he ran the car into a parking bumper and bent a wheel. His mom noticed a vibration in the car. Kid claimed mom was nuts, took car to shop and found the problem. Kid told the mechanic that he never felt anything. Mechanic broke out into complete laughter at kids claim. Bottom line is that you need to be more careful. Not what you want to hear, but both of us need to be more careful. Regards, Johnj92131

Understand some people are putting 97 clips on their Comanche, but I am wondering if anyone has installed the 97+ one piece window on a Comanche without changing the doors? How about it fellows? Any information? The post for my fixed vent windows really obstructs my side mirror vision on both sides. Thinking that a one piece window could solve my problem. Thanks for any information

Not trying to be a jerk or anything like that, so please take this constructively. Give the truck a good tuneup. Replace the spark plugs, replace the wires, put a fresh air filter in it. Then spend some time with the truck, establish a solid baseline of data for it. Check your tire pressure, be sure it is at spec. Look at the tires carefully. Are they in good alignment? Do they show unusual wear patterns. These are the basic things to look for. Then get a good stopwatch, go to a good stretch of road with your car warmed up and take a notebook with a pen along. Buy a thermometer to take the temperature of the air. Now do your performance tests, say 0 to 60. Record your results with the air temperature and the time of the day. Next, loosen your fan belt a little. Then repeat the exact same test a couple of times. Record the results. I will bet this made a measurable difference in the cars performance. In fact you might want to do this test before your replace the plugs and wires, just to see how much of a difference good plugs, wires and a new air filter make. I am willing to bet this will be the best $200 performance gain you ever get. Give it a try and report back. John Jackson