comanche DD?

[sonic reducer]

i recently picked up a comanche. it's my first truck/4x4 that i've owned. i'm interested to hear comparisons from folks who DD comanche AND have DD'd other small pickups. so far all I can tell is that it has good power, looks cool, has a cheap feel to it, sucks on the highway, and sucks to work on(did manifolds gasket). Can you tell I'm not totally happy with it? i'm not really interested in building it beyond 31's and budget boost. don't get/care about the jeep thing. will be using it for DD'ing on cold days, firewood runs, hauling motos, etc. please talk me out of selling it for an IFS/4cyl yota?

[jtdesigns]

If you don't care about the jeep thing then go ahead and sell it..... :D

[BLHTAZ]

If you don't care about the jeep thing then go ahead and sell it..... :D

:agree:

 

It sounds to me like you are just not the Jeep type, so I say sell it to someone that gets it and cares :cheers: .

[sonic reducer]

so the "jeep thing" is the main selling point in that market? :popcorn:

[Drahcir495]

sucks on the highway, and sucks to work on(did manifolds gasket). Can you tell I'm not totally happy with it?. . . don't get/care about the jeep thing.

Maybe you just need to tighten up the front end, or get an alignment / shocks? Mine is wonderful on the highway - 70 miles a day @ 70mph w/33'' tires. I will give you that I am used to driving CJ's, so it’s like driving a Caddy in comparison. Never had a truck before, so I can't compare that for you. I do prefer it over my Explorer - but it is a jeep thing. Don't get that it sucks to work on :huh???: .

Sounds like you may not be a jeep person? Nothing wrong with that :cheers:.

 

Good luck - Now sell it to one of us ;)

[SoloCamo]

i recently picked up a comanche. it's my first truck/4x4 that i've owned. i'm interested to hear comparisons from folks who DD comanche AND have DD'd other small pickups. so far all I can tell is that it has good power, looks cool, has a cheap feel to it, sucks on the highway, and sucks to work on(did manifolds gasket). Can you tell I'm not totally happy with it? i'm not really interested in building it beyond 31's and budget boost. don't get/care about the jeep thing. will be using it for DD'ing on cold days, firewood runs, hauling motos, etc. please talk me out of selling it for an IFS/4cyl yota?

 

-Bad on the highway? Well if you are used to a small car or any recent car for that matter, of course an 80's pickup truck isn't going to be anywhere near that level of smoothness up there. However, the front end probably just needs some work that's all, as my 88 feels completely stable at highway speeds (and above :yes: )

 

-Sucks to work on? It's by far one of the easiest out there in my book. :dunno:

 

-Has a cheap feel to it? Care to elaborate? The interior may not be BMW class, but again, for an 80's Jeep pickup truck it's rather nice in my opinion.

 

Fix some things and drive it for a month or so, then report back to us. I guarantee you will feel differently ;)

[Pete M]

i recently picked up a comanche. it's my first truck/4x4 that i've owned. i'm interested to hear comparisons from folks who DD comanche AND have DD'd other small pickups. so far all I can tell is that it has good power, looks cool, has a cheap feel to it, sucks on the highway, and sucks to work on(did manifolds gasket). Can you tell I'm not totally happy with it? i'm not really interested in building it beyond 31's and budget boost. don't get/care about the jeep thing. will be using it for DD'ing on cold days, firewood runs, hauling motos, etc. please talk me out of selling it for an IFS/4cyl yota?

 

A few thoughts/questions:

I've never had an easy manifold gasket job on any vehicle ever. Please don't hold that against your truck.

Why precisely does your truck suck on the highway? It might just need some maintenance.

Why would you think that a different 20 year old truck would be better than this particular 20 year old truck? It's 20 years old. Give it the TLC that it's asking for and it'll grow on you. :thumbsup:

[sonic reducer]

you make good points pete. i guess the original point of my post was directed toward folks who have had both and are able to comment on the differences. the comanche has in fact grown on me a bit but i'm just wondering if there isn't something out there that suits me better.

after the gasket job, jeep seems to have a few things that were done to cut corners from the factory that i hadn't seen before. namely: one gasket for both manifolds, bolts with washers securing both manifolds, accessories/components placed in blatent disregard to being worked on, etc. keep in mind i've changed intake gaskets on more than one motor/model/make. just sayin.

 

i didn't really mean for this thread to be all about attacking the comanche or the 4.0 motor i just wanted to hear what some people in the know(if there are any here) thought about the difference between comanches and other smaller trucks. :cheers:

[mvusse]

So why do you feel it sucks on the highway?

[J]

If you don't like it no one can talk you into it.

You should ask the magic 8 ball.

http://web.ics.purdue.edu/~ssanty/cgi-bin/eightball.cgi

You can ask the same question 3 different ways but the 2 out of 3 wins. (It's pretty much universal law).

Please report back results.

[SoloCamo]

i didn't really mean for this thread to be all about attacking the comanche or the 4.0 motor i just wanted to hear what some people in the know(if there are any here) thought about the difference between comanches and other smaller trucks. :cheers:

 

Compared to other small trucks I've driven (but not owned):

 

-Handles excellent compared to the same "generation" pickups (but will obviously not compare to recent small pickups like an S-10 in that department)

 

-Power wise as you've noticed it also wins hands down

 

-Payload and towing capacity are excellent in it's class as well and probably the best out there for the size

 

-Gas mileage isn't exactly the greatest for the 4.0, but in return you get the reliability and power that you won't find in other small pickups. However, it's not horrible and will be only slightly worse (and many times equal to) than the V6 models of other trucks.

[sonic reducer]

wind noise, rattly interior, rpm's run high, seat sucks.

[Pete M]

wind noise, rattly interior, rpm's run high, seat sucks.

 

All problems are fixable. Get some door seals from a 97+ XJ. Where exactly are the rattles coming from? What trans and tire size do you have? Do you have a bucket or bench?

We're here to help you out, but you need to provide more info. :thumbsup:

 

 

Payload and towing capacity are excellent in it's class as well and probably the best out there for the size

 

Find me another truck that's rated for 2000 pounds in the bed (when equipped with the big ton package of course). :D

[SoloCamo]

wind noise, rattly interior, rpm's run high, seat sucks.

 

Wind noise? Check your window seals, mainly if you have moving vent windows. They pretty much suck, so most people either swap em out or seal them.

 

Rpms running high? Fairly common and generally very easy fix. Clean the IAC with some throttle body cleaner and it should drop you back down where you need to be. Using some SeaFoam for the intake system will do wonders for you as well (as I've discovered this week myself )

 

Seats suck? Buckets or bench? The bench that was in my '87 IMO isn't the greatest as it collapsed (20 yrs of abuse). However, the buckets in my '88 minus a small tear are looking excellent and have held up nicely to the test of time.

 

Rattly interior? Check your bolts here and there and all the small things you wouldn't think twice about (such as the visor being slightly loose in my case). 20 years of use and abuse will do a lot to an interior.

 

Good luck!

[onebigmj]

I had an 88 jeep comanche pioneer 4.0 4x4 5spd as my dd awhile ago. Right now my dd is a 2008 chevy colorado. The comanche ran better, drove better and rode better. I also had a toyota pickup that we bought as a woods truck. It was cheap, drove like crap and ran even worse. I've also had a ranger, a dakota, an explorer, and driven alot a of other small trucks. By far the truck I liked the most was the comanche. If those few problems get taken care of you'll probably like the truck. If not there are classified ads on here. :yes:

Either way good luck with your decision.

[Kenosha Warrior]

Most of us either Wheel or DD these beggars.

 

And everyone up above me is 100% right. Its 20 years old, give it a break. Its like you at 50. Wind Noise, Rattles, Bad seat.

 

They take work, a little more than most at some points. Main points for my ownership is cheap reliability.

[project88mj]

If you don't care about the jeep thing then go ahead and sell it..... :D

 

sell it to some one who cares like me :wavey:

[johnnyc]

My Comanche is my DD. As a vehicle inspector, I'm around new expensive cars all day long. I'll drive up to a multi-million dollar house in Newport Beach to inspect an Aston Martin, Land Rover, or Mercedes.

 

And quite honestly, I love getting back in my 17-year old truck and cruising down Pacific Coast Highway.

 

I've said that if I ever won the Lotto, I'd still drive the Comanche. Some people don't believe me. But I really would. Of course, it'll have a nice paint job and a stroker. :D

[carnuck]

The only reason my '87 was pulled as my daily driver was the auto 4x4 swap that got stalled due to a shift cable (that's on it's way!) and some more upgrades.

I take it you have a 4 cyl 4 speed or 904 auto? Try a 4.0L with 5 speed. Mine cruised at 70 mph for 150 miles a day to and from work without skipping a beat except when the catalytic converter fell apart and clogged the muffler (quick bash with the claw hammer and I was even to work on time)!

[JeepcoMJ]

I DD MJ's.

 

the only other car I've ever DD'd besides an MJ or an XJ is a '85 vw cabriolet, and I drove a corrado for two weeks until I hit two deer at one time with it going at speeds in excess...

 

my preferred MJ is my 86 4wd 5 speed with 3" lift and 31" tires...the 3800. it's got a 3.8 camaro motor in it from a 96 camaro. I upgraded from the crappy 2.8 v6 it had. it's a dream to drive...I've had it up to 120 without a single vibe or funny sound. it did have a couple small wind leaks, but the new door seals and 97+ doors will fix that. it gets between 19 and 28mpg depending on city/highway and how heavy my foot is.

 

my 87 MJ is a blast to drive down the highway. 4wd, 6.5" lift, 33" tires, 4.10 gears. I pass traffic and feel safer about it in that thing than I did in my cabrio. it gets 16 to 19mpg before I roasted the motor, trans, and steering down at the badlands. the failures were my fault and the PO's fault for lack of proper maintenance...but I never cared about the motor because of the upgrade that's sitting in my shop.

 

the XJ was a 4 cylinder, stock suspension with 29" tires 4.10 gears 4wd and 5 speed. it got 19mpg but didn't get me anywhere fast. it topped out at 85mph, and really could have used one more gear. that said, I really liked that jeep...it's nice to have passenger space (sometimes).

 

that said, I'm currently looking at an 94 VW caddy pickup. I did like the cabriolet, but I don't like being the one to carpool with, and I still like to haul things. plus, at 50mpg with a diesel, and $3k for a restored one, I don't think it's half bad.

 

I drove an 89 S10 with a 4.3 vortec for a month when I was installing the 3.8 in the 86, and I HATED it. the 4.3 sucks in every way. the s10 has no character, everyone has one, it's slow, it's old and ugly, and the IFS really makes things worse to handle on the highway with oversize tires and 20 year old parts. I would never DD an s10

 

if you're looking at a small truck with an aggressive stance, and reliability, your choices are the comanche, or any of the toyota or mazda 4x4 pickups

[JeepcoMJ]

I should say, that I'm upgrading the 87's roasted renix 4.0 to a 95 4.0. I am sticking with the 4.0 because it is EASY to work on, and damned reliable. I can tear down an MJ in a day, if not less. they're simple to work on, so IDK where you're getting that assumption...foreign cars are hell compared to these.

[oldrusty]

I dd my 89 longbed 4x4 with a lift every day. Until this recent fight with death wobble started this thing was by far my favorite dder do far. I have had a couple 1st generation s10's(2wheel and 4 wheel drive) a 91 ranger, and a 93 s10 blazer 4x4. The only one that came close to running as good as the Jeep was th Blazer with a vortec 4.3.( If you think the jeep is hard to work on turn a wrench on one of those a couple times :mad: The old Comanche is aggravating from time to time. Like when it mysteriously developes a case of death wobble for no apparent reason. But I just have to remember that its a 20 year old truck, that was never taken care of by the previous owner, and kkep on wrenching.

[92comanche4x4]

i also driven a exploder for a day didnt like it and a dakota my dd had and the comancheis just a overall sweet truck

[sonic reducer]

I DD MJ's.

 

 

that said, I'm currently looking at an 94 VW caddy pickup. I did like the cabriolet, but I don't like being the one to carpool with, and I still like to haul things. plus, at 50mpg with a diesel, and $3k for a restored one, I don't think it's half bad.

 

they stopped making caddy's around '82 i believe. a TDi swapped caddy would be so bad @$$; fast, great handling(like a long rabbit), great fuel mileage. they are sweet trucks but if you are over 5'8" or so you feel like a sardine. i've had several rabbits & a mk 1 rocco and always wanted a caddy but they are rare around here.

that 3800 powered MJ sounds pretty bad @$$, i've heard of those motors doing over 30mpg with some tweaks.

[Randy in Maine]

I find that having a little weight in the back helps take some of the bounce out of the rear spring and gives it considerably better bite in the snow.

 

I use 5 #60 tubes of sand from Home Depot and lay them right at the front of the bed.