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First time poster/ user really. Just wondering if any of you guys have put a wooden bed in your comanches and what do they look like?

I was told by somebody at a gas station that a Ford Ranger sport bed would fit on the short box Comanche. Could any one confirm that? I haven't seen anything about it in my searches. My bed is pretty rotted up on the sides. Should I look for a ranger bed or repair the sides? I don't have a big budget by any means. Lol. It needs the outer walls above the wheels and the inner wheel well on one side, maybe both. I was thinking for a repair that pop riveting or welding sheet metal bent/cut to shape on both sides would work nice. After cutting the rot out of course, and make them the same on both sides so it doesn't look absolutely terrible. Any thoughts?

Hello Everyone! First and foremost, I am thankful to be accepted into the club! Last week I accomplished a dream of buying a 1988 Comanche (for a whopping 600 bucks). Now behind the journey of getting it back on it's feet! I really only need to swap out a few parts: the bed, passenger fender and the bench seat! The only problem is that I cannot find them!! I was hoping you guys had some experience with this issue and would have some advice! Thanks a lot everyone! The Bandit

i'm looking to buy a short bed, there is a couple local I have been looking at in pretty good shape, no wheel well rust or big dents. i have no clue what a bed would cost. anyone know what a decent shape short bed would go for? also if I end up buying one i will be selling my short bed with some bondo above the wheel wells. what would be a fair price to charge for it? thanks.

Not sure if anyone has done it or tried it. I'm thinking about cutting out the rear wheel well of a 2 door Cherokee almost up to the window and replacing the rust on my bed. Haven't looked into it for to long but the wheel wells look about the same shape/size. Anyone know if this will work? Are they the same size/shape wheel wells? Anyone do it?

So, as some of you know, my MJ has a utility bed on it currently. Found out that it is partially welded to the frame, which is lame. Pics are in my build thread. I have a standard MJ bed on my project that I want to swap on, most likely. Or might even consider a flatbed of sorts. Anyways, for those of you who have done flat bed or other bed type swaps, what did you do for fuel tank mounting. I was thinking maybe just a couple pieces of steel running across the frame from side to side. Even if I swap a factory bed, I think it will make things easier overall. Thoughts, concerns, or constructive criticism? Thank you.

Building my exhaust. I decided I wanted to run the pipes and muffler high in the frame, and have nothing exit under. So I cut a hole in the side of the bed, and ran exhaust there. The muffler will mount high under the bed, just in front of axle. Its a same side IN / OUT. Its a larger muffler, for a deeper sound. I'll be putting an 8" flex pipe near header to prevent header cracks. I'll be wrapping the headers (already done). And wrapping most of the exhaust piping. For a few reasons, one the pipe runs near the transmission and I want to keep heat down. And the hotter the exhaust gasses the better the flow. An Exhaust that runs too large of a pipe, or too long of a pipe will have issues, as the gasses cool. (Its dry where I live, so I'm not worried about rust due to moisture in the wrap) I'm going extreme on the mounting too, to insure proper weight, and strength. multi rubber isolators. (Exhaust is not not done, that tip is just hanging in these pictures) Image Not Found Image Not Found

Hey gang! I've searched a bit and can't quite find what I'm looking for, so here goes: I just completed that bed swap from my '86 donor to my '88 DD. While I was swapping the wiring harness over from the '88 I noticed that I had this weird little light behind my bumper. It's like a license plate lamp, but it shines on the ground instead of the plate because, well, it's behind the bumper. I thought it was cool, so I got it working, but I'm still left wondering- WHY? What is it for? My best theory is license plate light if for I choose to remove my bumper, beause there's square holes under it like you would use to mount a tag. Anyone know? I've never seen it on any other MJ. (ignore ugly temporary wire routing)

I know this has been brought up before, and I have looked over those threads, both successes and failures, but I want to do it a little different. I want to take a cherokee (2000 model) and basically cut it off right around the center of the rear axle. (I do not wish to change the wheel base of the xj) And take a lwb comanche and cut it over the center of the rear axle and use from that portion back. From my preliminary evaluation it looks like the "frame rails" (I know its unibody and the rails will have to be fabbed) will line up reasonably well. If I play my cards right I shouldn't have to disturb the current spring hangers. I imagine I will be using the back section of the mj's cab to seal off the xj's cab. I plan to either shorten the bed and have it separate or weld it directly to the rear of the xj for a more solid look. Thoughts? From what I can tell I will not have to change the position of the current fuel tank in the xj. I shouldn't have to greatly modify the e brake. Other than the rather substantial sheet metal fabrication job ahead, and moving the sound bar over the rear seats, and extending the tail light wiring,figuring out how to make the flares, and modifying the trailer hitch to work on the mj's rear end... Am I overlooking anything obvious? (I will have to get creative in retaining the 3rd brake light also.) From my preliminary calculations looks like it should extend the rear of the xj about 22 inches approximately. So I should end up with around a 4ft truck bed. (Also I would be using a totaled mj so I would not be massacring a perfectly good mj for the project. :) )

Hi all, Sooo like most Comanche owners, I'm looking for a solution to my bedbugs, so to speak haha I've got a bed that needs some help, and I've never really done any body work. So I've been looking into bedside panels, but I'm not sure that's the way I wanna go... What I'm seriously considering is just taking the bed off of an old Ranger (or Dakota just to keep it in the family) and making some minor adjustments to it to bolt right on to the frame. I've got the 7' box, so it shouldn't be too big of an issue to find a bed...But so I'm wondering if anyone has tried this and basically how their 'Frankenstein Monster', if I may, turned out. Any advice would be greatly appreciated!!! Thanks a bunch guys!