johnj92131

I purchased a 1990 Mazda B2200 stretched cab new. Kept it till 1998, when the nose of the crankshaft broke off. Years later when it came time to look for another truck, I looked for a Comanche, because I wanted a little bigger payload and the long box. Did look at a V6 Ranger, but the Ranger just did not seem as strong. Must admit the interior was much better and the extra room of the stretched cab is very attractive. Also gave the V8 Dakota a good look, more power, short bed, nice cab. In the end, I picked up a nice Comanche for $1100 that has served my well for the last 7 or 8 years. But today, if I were looking for an older truck, I would likely get a Ranger. Lots more of them to chose from and parts are easier to find.

GM has been fooling around with mid-engined stuff for a VERY long time. I think since mid to late 1950's. Nothing will change. They look at the concept every few years and the P.R. dept takes some pictures. Result: Free ink and something to keep the faithful interested.

The XJ/ Cherokee hitch will not work, as rekyt120 said. For the $75/100 you are willing to spend, including shipping. You need to be looking at every Comanche you find in a Pick UR part yard. Over the last 6+ years, I have seen 3 Comanche hitches in JY. 2 of them, I was unable to remove. The 1 I was able to remove sold for $250. I am in Southern California, so I am reasonably sure there are more Comanches here than in Rochester, NY. Now, you may want to look at the factory trailer hitch from an early Grand Cherokee. I have not measured, but the fit looks like it could work. On the Grand Cherokee, the hitch bolts into the bottom of the frame rails, unlike the MJ hitch, which bolts onto the side of the frame rails. For what it is worth, I have seen one MJ hitch that mounts the same way to the frame rails and bolted to the MJ bumper just fine. There was no identifying decal on that MJ hitch, but it was well done.

No Problem! Remember? I told you if you shop around, you can pay less. Now find that DIY tail light post and you will have them looking 98% like new. Welcome to the club. Please do post the price you paid for your used lights.

Rather than a picture section for posers, what we really need is space to host our own pictures on the ComancheClub site. Valuable information/pictures, especially DIY stuff, gets lost when some picture hosting site makes a change to their website. Result, missing pictures with valuable information is lost to Comanche Club members. Yes, I know space costs money. But storage space is only a small fraction of the cost it was even 2 years ago. Personally, I would be very happy to kick in some $$ to buy/rent dedicated disk storage. Now, I do not know what kind of an administrative problem this may cause. And that may kill hosting our own pictures on this site. Pete, any idea how much extra $$ it would cost per year? Thanks,

Send me your email and I will send pictures. My email: johnj92131@yahoo.com

For more great information on headlights, see this thread on quad headlights from the Wagoneer: http://comancheclub.com/topic/45284-4-headlight-conversion/ The 5th post has a link to an old Cruser54 post on the Cherokee Forum with all kinds of great information on lighting: http://www.cherokeef...pgrades-151217/ Posts #1 and #5 have a bunch of very good links. I especially suggest reading the DanielSternsLighting web site: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html It has been in my bookmarks for several years. This is just here to provide the links for anyone looking for more lighting information in the future.

If you want NEW tail lights you will need to spend more than $500 for the set. If you are looking for used, original tail lights, those can be had for $100 or less (depending on condition). If you search the for sale ads here you will find 3 - 5 sets of used oem lights. If you really want NEW, then I will sell you mine for $600. If you want used, I will sell you a used, good pair from a 92 Comanche for $100. But I suggest you shop around if you want to pay less. You may also want to look at the DIY article on tail light restoration, with time and work, most old sets can look 98% like new.

Found a SnapOn LED work light at Costco this weekend for $29.95 This is a 2000 lumen work light and it is BRIGHT. So I picked up 2 of them. Here is the very same light on Amazon: http://www.amazon.com/Snap0n-Snap-on-Worklight-Snap-on-Work-Light/dp/B00ODKG6OC/ref=pd_sim_sbs_hi_1?ie=UTF8&refRID=15E1D70N3EXEMPMV3RH9 I missed the 4 ft. LED shop lights when Costco had them and did not want to miss this deal. Suspect they will be gone in few weeks, so if you want one of these, act quickly.

Don, Thank you for your observations. I will do some searching for more info on the LEDs vs e-codes. Don't do enough driving, let alone night driving, in the Comanche to justify either e-codes or LED headlights at $3-400 for either one. Did go to silverstars a couple of years ago on your input. One of them burned out rather quickly, the other one is still working fine. The relay harness should be about all I am willing to do on the Comanche. One more question. Any idea if a relay harness improves the LED light output the same way it does with an incandesent headlight? I rather suspect not.

That is why the beam pattern is so important. It is not just about the brightness (lumens) or the "color" of the light. The e-code headlights are much better than the SAE lights for the beam patterns. Way too many aftermarket lights are sold just for being bright with no attention paid to where the light goes or what it does to the other motorists.

Very interesting, Don. I have Hella e-codes on my Passat with a relay harness (not sure what bulbs I have). The absolute best thing about the e-codes is the beam pattern. They put the light on the road, rather than in the eyes of other drivers. Especially with the high beams on. Please tell me if it is just more lumens of light with the TruckLite LEDs or the "color" of the light. Or is the beam pattern as good as the e-codes? Recall reading a review in JP magazine of TruckLite LEDs (ver. 2.0) several years ago. The reviewer was pleased with the lumens and the color of the lights, but did not say much about the highway beam pattern.

Just stick with the Renix era engine. It gets better fuel economy anyway. The knock sensor lets you get more ignition advance. Cam is slightly different grind from the HO cam also. See Cruser54 tips to get just about exactly the same 190 hp from the renix as the HO.

95 up XJ seats are different than 94 and earlier XJ seats in the way they attach to the floor. I am in the process of mounting 95 plus buckets (actually Grand Cherokee) into my 91 MJ. It will be a bolt in adaptation, but a bit of a kludge. Shelbyluv has posted a weld in adaptation of the Grand Cherokee seats about 4 or 5 years ago. 93 plus Grand Cherokee and 95 plus XJ seats use the same mounting brackets. When I am reasonably happy with the first seat, I will post a DIY article. So far I have used 4 pieces of unistrut and 2 pieces of .25 by 1 inch flat stock. Seat sits a bit too high for me so I need to get it lower and eliminate 2 pieces of unistrut.

How about getting a bucket from an XJ then just taking the slider off it and mount it to your MJ seat and bracket?

Check out Ebay.uk or Ebay australia for cherokee/comanche diesel parts. Much wider distribution there than in North America.

Unbolt XJ mounts from seat. Bolt on MJ mounts to seat. 94 and prior. 95 and later are different and a bit more complex to adapt. I am doing that now. Why are you changing seats?

gogmorgo and cruiser54: Thanks for the clearing that up. Makes this thread a great resource. The harness alone should be the first step in lighting improvement. It makes the stock lights much better and makes any additional lighting changes much brighter by simply delivering a full voltage and current load to what ever head lamps you use. At $25, it is a no brainer

What makes you say that? The badge on the left side of the tailgate? Or have you checked the vin?

The link for the harness says it does not fit a 91 Comanche/Cherokee. Do we have to buy the housing to make the harness fit????

I have a gray rear cardboard panel. Make a reasonalble offer - think I paid $14 at the Pic a Part. Shipping would be extra. Let me know if you can use it and I will check on shipping.. Think one of these Arts and Craft stores sells and "Art Box" for shipping large prints that may work. Otherwise it is just cut down a large box to fit and pack with ridgid styrafoam.

Take any 2 door seats that you can find with a good frame. Then you can transfer the seat covers and cushions from your good 4 door seats onto the 2 door seat frames. I did this "mix and match" several years ago and ended up with an extreemly good looking set of Comanche bucket seats. Do not pass up a set of 2 door buckets with a good frame. Recently, I picked up a set of ratty Comanche buckets, a set of fold forward brackets from a 95+ 2 door, and a set of Grand Cherokee bucket seats. I am in the process of putting together a set of bastardized, fold forward, Grand Cherokee seats for the Comanche. All with no welding. Right now I have one seat bolted in the truck, but I am not happy with the added 1.75 to 2 inch seat height. So that will be lowered. In the mean time, I am hunting for an excellent set of leather seats for eventual use in the Comanche.

Lots of good info on how and why to upgrade lights here: http://www.danielsternlighting.com/home.html As Cruiser54 said "Hey. Do JUST the harness first in the name of science, wouldya?"

Or get your eyes checked for cataracs. Seriously. But there are better lighting solutions than halogen sealed beams, they just cost more money! And just because it cost more, doesn't make all lights better.

Now I get it! He was just worried about humidity while the sender was out of the tank. Dah...That is not a problem when you spend all your life in Southern California! Put the tank in a large plastic lawn bag, that should solve the problem or just cover the tank with plastic. Or put the tank in the garage if you have one.