JeepcoMJ

:D thanks. it took me about 10 min. to do the routing and figure out what to use to do so (I nabbed every type of intake tube possible from the yard way back at the start of the 3800 swap), and one more small section of stainless tube. it performs noticably better now that it's sucking in cleaner air (i.e. not sucking up salt and such from behind the skid plate :roll: ) she drives great. I need a front end alignment for sure, and need to adjust the new steering wheel since it's off to the right a little bit. otherwise it's doing great. the interior smells like fiberglass resin, the stereo sounds like a$$ (cracked subwoofer...now disconnected), the oil pressure reads too high, and it's throwing an o2 sensor code (hmm...maybe the missing/never installed rear o2 sensor could be the cause :nuts: ...I i didn't need it anyways, it's not necessary to calculate fuel/air ratio) now, fix the dent, repair the cab corner rust, repaint the driver's side of the bed and the rockers and such, and I can call her done.

and therefore 4.10's you can't swap anything but the front axle. and to do that, you'd need the xj calipers and brakes since the unit bearings (hub, wheel bearing) changed.

1. I can't believe you sold it 2. I hope to hell you didn't give him that chrome rear bumper...there are many, many, many people who'd simply LOVE to have it...and what's a naxja member know about factory rear bumpers anyways

which, ironically, are sourced from rubicon express.

what I would like is a new "comanche" modeled after the compass but built on the older liberty main chassis with solid axles front and rear, and a diesel. not that it's too much to ask for. oh, and BY THE WAY...the gladiator concept vehicle has been around for at least 2 years, and if you read about it, is a complete piece of crap with a very, VERY week frame (imagine a wrangler frame with less cross-bracing and about twice as long). it would never make it thorugh safety inspections.

that's a very interesting way of doing it. never thought of it that way. much better than before. food for thought: the clayton kit has a heavy duty center piece, which acts as a cross-support between both ends of the crossmember. without that center support, the stress put on the mounts becomes "pivotal", or "directional" in more ways than one; oncoming force to the mounts not only apply pressure backwards but in a pivot to the side as well. in light of that, while I do think you're on the right track, I do think that the center crossmember will need some attention. not much, but for sure if you have flat stock and some angle iron laying around, I'd pay some attention to it. keep up the good work. think about also adding some braces from the outer ends on back a good 4" or so on the frame. that will give it a bigger footprint on the sheetmetal frame, and less shear force applied over one area.

today was productive. but first, some flex pics from this past summer. and no, the swaybar is not disconnected, nor are there rear bumpstops. ironically, it doesn't rub even this flexed. today I reassembled the gauge cluster and dropped it in (no pics, you've all seen it already...), got the truck moved out of it's bay, and moved the tractor in the bay...the tractor is an IH something-or-other with a rod through the block. dad made a patch for the hole, and it's being welded soon. I've got it mostly prepped for building it back up, just need to do a valve job on it real quick. so, got the truck out. then because it leaked most of the fluid out of the rear diff (bad pinion seal AND bad cover seal), I fixed that. I'm missing half of 2 Ring teeth (recovered on the bottom of the diff housing in the now-silver gear lube) so I will be babying the axle until I get my other dana 35 back or decide to drop the chryco 8.25 in it. anyways, tomorrow is the shakedown run. I'm taking it in to have the engine computer read (high oil pressure I want to know if the knock sensors are picking anything up). the oil pressure reads at 80psi and I don't believe that's accurate. somethings wrong in the wiring if you ask me, but I haven't trailed it down too far yet. pics I still need to fix the dent, but can't until the insurance is settled gear teeth fresh paint too updates on how she handles after the frame repair will be here tomorrow :D

they're all over the internet. just don't buy rusty's (the absolute worst quality you can buy, and you probably want one with a new trackbar mount up top and a poly bushing instead of a TRE.

the question is, what isn't. mounting is completely different, design is completely different, shape is completely different, even the connectors are different. not even close, so don't let anyone tell you mj and xj tail lights are interchangeable (someone tried to sell me some altezzas and insisted they worked on both...WRONG)

true. but, if you find a 27 spline you can always swap the shafts and spiders so it's no big deal. I have a 3.55 27 spline chryco rear layin here that I can't seem to give away, that needs a new yoke. still gotta grab the ebrake cables from it for my dana 35 rear in the cherokee, and the springs off it for some other projects.

wouldn't do any good, the xj one is xj specific. that's a manche tail light. and it is not worth that much.

yep, everything would swap over as long as yours is a 4 cylinder or a 2.8 v6. if not, it would be a bit more involved. ...part of what I'm trying to do here is keep it on the original chassis, for value. so I'd probably rob that one for parts...which I don't want to do. (of course, dad wants to just put it in a new body so...) I would however, like to get it from you somehow. I just don't have any funds for it unless we worked something out.

it's 4x4 sorry, np207 t-case. I would love to buy it, but I don't have the means/funds to get there to get it...

save yourself a bunch of trouble and a walking death trap. for your nice fabbing, there is absolutely no reason to build something sub-par. the stock crosmember is thicker formed sheetmetal, and is definitely not up to the task of handling weight pressed against it in a manner other than intended. so, you'd not be reinventing the wheel, but inventing something for dual purpose. the stock crossmember is not, in any aspect, dual purpose.

well, that setup is really not gonna cut it as it is. hopefully that's a complete mockup. superior fab skills you're showing but the factory crossmember isn't gonna hold the abuse that the longarms will give it.

stranger: he'd planned on putting it on a log splitter, but failed to do so. gotta love THAT. :D

nope, it's the tractor that's in the way of the 3800. here's the rod the patch that dad made and a pic of the tractor in front of the 3800 don't ask me what it is, I can't remember...maybe a 203 workbull but I honestly can't remember. dad's the one who's working on it, he's the mechanical genious all I know is jeeps :roll:

Well, I hope that dad will take me up on my offer to let him drive the 3800, so that we can get this show on the road. He drives daily a 1986 Jeep Comanche with a factory 2.1 Renault Turbo Diesel and AX5 5 speed, 4.10 gears, and AMC20 rear axle. it's the one on the far right (blue) It's in sad shape, with the box being non-salvageable, the doors being rusty, floors gone for the most part, header is shot, hood has a baseball dent, and front fenders could use some love. The parts that I'm contributing a replacement blue headliner since it matches the interior and the one that's in it is shot, like new bucket seats and center console that also match (all from the 3800), a like new factory 3 pane rear slider window, new doors, fenders, hood, and header panel. The Interior: First thing will be floors and interior. While I'm doing that hopefully we'll be going over the engine and have it ready to go in by the time we're done with the interior. This is the interior it will have (it already does but bench seat) The Body: Then removing the engine and cleaning the engine bay, at which point I'll remove the front body panels and prep the "new" ones. The body will remain dark blue, but will have a bit of metal flake added into it. at this point, getting the paint job done is not a big worry, I'll be spraying the parts of the body that don't show in a generic dark blue paint. The engine: Dad found a brand new, never run, never installed 2.1 Renault Turbo Diesel motor sitting on a guy's trailer, and gave him $75 for it. I believe he felt bad so he gave the guy another $50 or so for it. The motor had gotten some water in it, but not enough to destroy it. So we're going to be tearing it completely down. You'll notice in the pics the cylinders look like new, and the camshaft shows no wear, and there is no carbon buildup on the valves or head. Also you'll note that most of the accessories still have perfect anodized gold on them still. You'll see the "old" head gasket and the engine manual in one pic as well I will update with current and project pics as we go along, but first we have to get this fixed so the 3800 can leave the shop. suspension is to be decided at the moment. I'm thinking 4.5" or so would be great, with 31" or 32" tires.

lol, is that in the opening pages of your book?

mileage doesn't matter when all I want is the slave cylinder, throwout bearing and plate, and the bellhousing i DO NOT want a dodge dakota ax15, I can find the tranny local the problem is the bellhousing, which is small enough that I can purchase it and have someone ship it to me. anyone? anyone? bueller....

I want to put an ax15 behind my comanche with the 3800 buick v6motor. has anyone found out the exact years the 4 cylinder ax15 dodge dakota bellhousing is from? it's from a late 80's I believe, but cannot be too sure. then there's the question of positioning and driveshafts. how different is the dakota ax15 bellhousing related to the 4.0 bellhousing (i.e. how "thick" is it). then, what driveshafts would I need? I think it's a thicker bellhousing so I'd need a zj front shaft. then, since I'd do an sye np231 t-case I almost think a zj front shaft would almost be long enough to work with my longbed as a rear shaft. hopefully we can build on this thread as a fact-based thread so that others looking to put this tranny in their 4 cylinder mj or xj, or their 2.8 mj or xj can gather needed info. thanks in advance.

:D I took a pair of pliers, cranked the whole tumbler, and it turned the lock for me. Only problem is whoever was messing with the tumbler last night can now do the same. :roll: Oh well, I got in and got rid of everything to take...hopefully they don't take the Comanche itself. That'd be a good $36 down the drain. so you'll be wanting a set of door locks with spare keys and matching glovebox lock then right? pm me if you do, I've got the set that I removed from the 3800 since I swapped to single key entry and ignition, as well as 2 pairs of ignition and door sets (they just don't have the glovebox door set)

if the tumbler will slide out, you can take the clothes hanger, stick it in on the bottom side of the tumbler, and pry upwards after you feel it catch on the lever on the back of the tumbler. this will unlock it. what fell out was most likely the holder for the tumbler fell out.

note what other cars are there when you drive by, and stop in when they're there. then you can ask. he'll remember your face and think of you when he does want to get rid of it by doing it that way.

and, if you're lifting it more than 2 or 3", you need a new trackbar anyways so the first thing that should come off is the upper end...if you do the lower first, you'll never get the upper off.