johnj92131

The price has been a big issue pushing me to want to flat tow the diesel Comanche. When I plugged all the information to the U-Haul web site. it came back with a price of $650 to rent the dolly for 8 days. After working their web site with different pick up and drop off locations I found a combination the returns a price of $200 for the move. So for $200 to rent a tow dolly vs $85 to buy a set of magnetic lights and a tow bar, I will take the tow dolly. Seems the price issue was caused because I am going to drop the truck in a small town in northern Michigan. Once I put Detroit in as the drop off location, the price changed from $650 to $200 And I will be sure I check that the dolly rotates/pivots properly before I accept it. Thanks to each of you for your input in answering this post.

Short answer: Count the bolts on the bellhousing - check there position on the 2.8 V6 Check the 3.4 on your engine stand. Compare the 2 bolt patterns. Report what you find. My guess is you will find the same holes on the back of both engines - you bell housing matches the GM v6 pattern. The 3.4 is a drop in replacement for the 2.8 Use the search function to research this swap. It has been done many times before. The search function on the ComancheClub is not the greatest sometimes. So search with Google. Google is your friend for so many things. Welcome to the club. There really is a wealth of information posted here. For the DYI sections - there is an index pinned that has links to just about any DYI project for the Comanche you can imagine and a few that I have never even thought about also. Here is the first thing I found using search here on the ComancheClub: http://comancheclub.com/topic/49098-28-gm-to40-swap/?hl=3.4+swap&do=findComment&comment=499697 Follow that link and the other links in that thread. It will lead you to a full conversion that has been done by a CC member. Good Luck.

My first questions is WHY do you need to replace the main bearings? Have you pulled a bearing and found an issue? If so, what issue did you find? Do you even know what size bearing you need to buy?

Both cars were pre steering column lock - one was a 68 the other a 69. One towed just fine and I know the tires did not move on it at all. They were just as tight at the end of the trip as they were at the start. I know the wheel platform on that dolly rotated just fine because we checked it prior to loading the car. With the second tow dolly, I DID NOT check to be sure it rotated. This was the dolly I had the issue with. Was it a defective dolly? Can not say for sure, but with 2 or 3 weeks to think about why the strapped down wheels could be forced to move - the only thing I can think of is that the tow dolly wheel platform did not move like it should and that forced the car's tires to turn when the dolly turned.

Pete, Thanks for the reminder on the tow dolly with surge brakes. You are correct that towing the 5000 lb max requires trailer brakes and a weight distributing hitch. I have used a tow dolly twice in the last year. Once worked well for a 350 mile tow. Unfortunately the second one did not go very well. I suspect because of an issue with the tow dolly. The front wheels of the car I was towing kept trying to turn when I went around a curve. So much so that after 50 miles the car had moved on the dolly and one wheel strap was totally off. the second strap had worked loose. Fortunately, I had two safety chains on the car. But to move the car off the dolly I needed the assistance of a tow truck. We put the car back on the dolly, Anchored the straps around the wheels as tight as we both could manage, reinstalled the safety chains. After 20 miles I stopped to check status. Both straps were loose and the front wheels had turned 30 degrees. At that point, I got rid of the dolly and had a car transport company pick the car up in an enclosed trailer and ship it home. That was $1490 and to rent the defective dolly was $360. The car did arrive home safe and sound 9 days later. Don't think I could have made it with a tow dolly. Total weight for the 86 MJ should be right at 3000 lbs, with a tow dolly it will be 3500. But you are still correct about the dolly having surge brakes. Next time I rent a tow dolly I will have to double check that it functions properly before I accept it.

I am looking for feedback from anyone that owns or uses a tow bar from Harbor Freight: http://www.harborfreight.com/5000-lb-capacity-adjustable-tow-bar-94696.html# Need to flat tow an 86 Comanche diesel from Victoria, British Columbia back home to San Diego. I will be using my 91 4.0 Comanche as the tow truck. It has all the proper wiring, a factory trailer hitch, and the Big Ton Package will all the proper factory required equipment to tow up to 5000 lbs. Only thing I don't like about this hitch is that it seems to require bolt holes to be drilled in the front bumper of the vehicle being towed. Best part of this tow bar is the price - $70 less 20% this weekend. Just $62 with sales tax. So anyone with comments on this towbar? Thanks,

My Comanche rides like a TRUCK - nothing like a Crown Vic. I have 2 additional overload leafs on the rear in addition to the factory BigTon/MetricTon 5 leaf springs. But I have put a pallet with 60 54lbs blocks in the back of the truck without bottoming out. That was 3300 lbs with the pallet. Could not do that with any Crown Vic!

Where did you get the pillar gauge mount? And that Tiny Tach? Love to see a link for where you got those items. Looks like you have the EGT mounted right where the exhaust goes into the turbo. Very good choice for the location,

I know, pictures last forever though! Also I had a question, so it has a flat tappet cam that requires me to hold the engine at 2k-3k rpms for 30 minutes for the 22first start. I have a decent running tune that I got from a 3.4 camaro guy for his 10psi boosted 3.4. Should I just leave the turbo unhooked for the first 30 minutes and break the turbo in after or do them at the same time? Sent from my SAMSUNG-SM-G890A using Tapatalk I'd do the engine by itself and then the turbo after that, but I am sure everybody has an opinion on this different from mine. My thinking is to avoid sending tons of metal bits through the turbo during that initial break in. Run it to break in the cam, change the oil, then do the turbo break in. Also, don't forget to pre-oil that turbo. I've seen a lot of destroyed new turbochargers because people didn't do so. X2 here. Break in the Cam first, dump the oil, then the Turbo can have all your attention. Do not forget to pre oil your nice new turbo! Make very sure your turbo is properly pre lubricated. Just how I would do it also. Better to be safe.

Seats look like stock MJ/XJ buckets from that era. Nothing special, they do look nice - at least the seat backs look nice.

Generally, higher output lamps have a shorter lifespan. I found SilverStars burned out quickly. Run any 12 volt lamp at higher voltage and it will have a shorter life and more light output. I recently installed a pair of Truck Lite LED lamps, just like what Don has had for several years. The work GREAT. And they are just as good at night as my Hella E-Codes with a relay harness on my Passat. The TruckLite LED's performed very well on my recent 6500 mile cross country trip. I paid $250 for the pair and it was money very well spent. This is the best lighting solution for the Comanche! If you can scrape together the $, then go directly to these and you too will be happy.

Hey, Bo - What yard did you got to ??? I need to make a salvage yard trip in the next couple of weeks. Not much around San Diego right now.

Congratulations, ArcticMonkey! You made a fine purchase. That truck is a KEEPER. Please do post pictures when you get the truck in Oslo, then again when you hook it up to the boat. Love to see the boat and the truck in their new home. And a Big Welcome to the Comanche Club.

Hole in my manifold caused me to fail emissions. Fixed hole, test passed. Hole came back on recent cross country trip, check engine light came on, truck ran like crap. Cleared code and truck ran better. Cost me 4 mpg on that tank.

Lots of flake bidders on Ebay, unfortunately. Last February I was second high bidder on a 1969 Corvair convertible - the winning bidder bumped his bid by 50% to win. Then didn't perform. Car was back on Ebay in July. I was high bidder till another "bidder" out bid me by 50% - then withdrew bid 10 minutes later. Looked like he was just trying to see what the reserve was, then canceled the bid when he found he passed the reserve. This time I got the car and it is in my garage.

Here is a picture of the 87 tach placed (not mounted) in the Police Cluster. You can see how the tach is a close match for the police speedometer: Tach is clean, Speedo is covered with dust.

Don, Thanks for the correction!

They are nice!. I found one in Las Vegas about 3 years ago. Also grabbed the extended idle switch at the same time. As long as you don't mind not having the tach, it is a nice package. One of my half finished projects is to fit the police package speedometer into a normal full gauge cluster with a match sweep tach from the 1987 full gauge cluster. Problem is the 87 tach is just enough different to make mounting it in the H.O. guage cluster an issue. Comjnut, the extended idle switch turns the electric fan for the radiator on when the cops are just sitting in the car with the engine running for what ever reason.

My guess is you want to install a new O2 sensor. I had an Emissions issue last March, Don posted this about the 02 sensor: "The NTK 23023 O2 sensor is the one you want - same as OEM but cheaper." Amazon has it for about $37. I have an new one to go in along with new exhaust manifold that I ordered from Amazon.

I will be looking for a late AX15 for the MJ diesel later this month. Thinking best to just bey a rebuilt AX15 with the external slave, rather than use the current AX5 and have to replace it down the road. Question is where is the best place to buy a rebuilt AX15? Any experience or places NOT to go? Thanks,

Not good news, but slightly better than you starting and a week later saying...budget cuts. Hang in there, stuff happens. And, frankly, the economy is going up for most of us. So more jobs than a few years back and more spending. First stop when you get to the new location is the Temp agencies. Many jobs go from Temp to Hire. It is a way for the employer to see your work before they make a commitment.

Made it back home on Thursday. Had a check engine light on from Tucumcari, NM. It ran very poorly on the down hill run from Holbrook, AZ to Yuma AZ (a 5000 ft drop that should have given me great MPG) only got 17.64 mpg Seems the temporary repair on the exhaust manifold done last March(?) failed, so I was back in the lean burn mode. So I ordered a new exhaust manifold and oxygen sensor from Amazon on Friday. Should be here on Sunday. Also ordered a fresh set of Bosch 703 injectors from Ebay, those arrive mid week. Except for that problem, the truck ran great all the way home. MPG ranged from 19.43 to 21.14, speed was above 70 for the most part. Don, That 23+ mpg you got from Boston back home is REALLY impressive with the stroker and the 4.10 rear end. Did get 1 ticket on the trip. 45 in a 25 zone in Shenandoah National Park. The ticket will cost me $180, if I mail it in quickly. Next trip in late August will be San Diego to Victoria, B.C. to get the 86 diesel MJ!

Any more progress on this old truck? Last update is now a year old.

Just finished driving the Comanche from San Diego to Boston and had no problems along the way. My MPG varied quite a bit, depending on the speed I was driving and other things. But by the time I reached Springfield Ohio, I decided to see what would happen when I tried to drive for max MPG. My route was right along Interstate 90E. Tried to keep the speed down to 55-60 range, but sometimes it got up to 65. Anyway, by my truck odometer it was 517.4 miles and I used 20.0002 gallons of gas (Yes, 20.0002). I filled the tank the same way each time for the trip. Let the gas pump shut off automatically, then add more gas till it shut off again. Anyway, that tank works out to 25.8697 mpg for that tank. My previous best mpg attempt was just over 23 mpg Other tanks along the way ranged from a low of 16.30 mpg (high speed driving) to 20.85 mpg with the first tank of the trip. Truck is a 91, AW4 automatic with H.O. engine. And yes, I ran the A/C the whole way across the country. Tires are 225/75 x 15 Today I am starting the trip back home and plan on making some side trips along the way. First will be along Skyline Drive and the Blue Ridge Parkway starting on Monday. Any suggestion from there on are welcome.

The Dodge Daytona setup looks good, but the radiator looks small to me. Then again, those turbo Daytona's put out close to 200 hp. The air to water intercooler can be a whole lot smaller and does not get heat soaked as quickly or easily as the air to air intercooler. My Passat TDI has the air to air intercooler and it gets heat soaked in just one dyno run. But not a problem for me on the street. Those taco-taco prices do look very reasonable! But the air/water intercooler offers a lot of packaging/location flexibility, even if it is more $$. A TDI guy with a drag race VW rabbit pickup uses the air to Water intercooler - it is amazing how small it really is. That small size let him put the intercooler in an out of the way place where it still can do a great job. He has it very close to the turbo.