Your first comanche experience.

[DJM/78]

Sorry guys , been mostly a beefy chevy fan all my life. Fell into motorcycles and muscle cars at a young age and has been in

my blood ever since.

This winter I was looking for a truck that would be capable and reliable . Thats when I saw a craigs list posting on a

rare 92' jeep pickup. I said huh' I don't think I've seen to many of those around. All it took was a test drive and I've

been hooked ever since. :chillin:

[89eliminator]

i was going to look at this 87 4x4 for sale. well on the way i noticed what is now my 89 Eliminator on the side of a house. well the 87 was really crappy and not worth the asking price. i decided that i was gonna leave a note in the mailbox of the 89's owner with my number in case he ever wanted to sell it. well as I'm pulling up to the mailbox, i see the guy outside. i went up to talk to him and the rest is history.

[comanche87]

hey everyone! ive been into jeeps for a long time. my mom has had jeeps and still does. she now has a 01 GC larado. my first jeep was a 90 xj 6cyl,5spd,4x4, 4dr. it was red with tan interior. it was a great jeep. till i sold it and got a 94 nissan pu 4x4 4cyl, 5spd, extended cab. that went though hell and back. the mj that i own right now is my first jeep truck. when i finally met my gurls parentsi saw accross form their house a lil red mj that u could tell it sat there for at least 5 or more years and not moved. i had asked her parents bout the truck and they said that they would ask them. i didnt care how much they wanted for it but i wanted it bad. it looked so kool. I'm A pickup person and it was a jeep! i got to talk to the owners and started to build a freindship with them. i already got a set of wheels put on it and a battery waiting to go. the mother and daughter that lived there. it was their husbands/ fithers truck. and it sat for 8 years in one spot. i told them i was looking for a cheap truck so i can get rid of my 95 chevy 1500 4x4. we all talked it over and the said ill make u a rediculas offer u cannot refuse. i was like ok don't care how much but i want it either way. the daughter said i can have it for 30 bucks! i was like saweeeeeet!! i then made arangements to have it towed to where i worked so i can get most of the work done to get it road worthy. ive now had the truck for over 2 and a half years. its been the best truck i have ever owned!!!!!!

[dasbulliwagen]

It had been several years since I had owned a truck and I was getting the itch to have another one now that I had a house of my own and all. I had put feelers out with several of my friends telling them that I was looking for a CHEAP truck fixer upper. I was mostly looking at old Fords as Ive always loved them and had previously owned two others... a 1968 F250 Ranger Camper Special with a 390 big block auto 2wd, and my dads 1985 Ranger 2.3 2wd that he had bought new. Then one day my buddy Chip said he had a friend who was moving across country and was basically selling everything and that he had a Jeep truck for $250. I went to look at it initially. It was locked so couldnt pop the hood. I looked underneath and thought I saw a 4.0, but it ended up being a 2.5. It was covered in dust and tree sap and I had no expectations that it would run, and being told that it had been parked for about 4 years I thought that would have been guaranteed. So I said I would take it and we met a week later with the owner, he hooked up the battery and cranked it up! It didnt want to idle real well, but it was running! Evidently this guy made it a point to run it around the block about once a week or so the whole time it was parked! He was the original owner and the original sale recipts are still in the glove box. It was rust free and it drove itself home, thats all I needed. I put several bottles of fuel injector cleaner through it, and a tune up, but it would still act up every once in a while, but got better running the more I drove it. I finally decided that it couldnt hurt to put an 02 sensor in it, and as soon as I did that, it has run great ever since. And then the parts truck came along for $125... that meant I could now do a 4x4 conversion and a 5 speed, and power steering and AC.... and then CFC came along and got me a Wagoneer front end and all the body parts I could use...... I can't beleive how fast this addiction has grown. Ive only been on here for a year and most all of what I have described has happened in that time. There really is something about these trucks....

[Jakeman17]

I knew the kid who had it at my high school. He was selling it I needed a car ASAP. he said $2,000. I said ok brought him money that day friend drove it home for me and tought me how to drive stick at school by my house. This happened when I was 18. I am now 19 lol i have owned my comanche for about 4 months

[freakjeep93]

I knew the kid who had it at my high school. He was selling it I needed a car ASAP. he said $2,000. I said ok brought him money that day friend drove it home for me and tought me how to drive stick at school by my house. This happened when I was 18. I am now 19 lol i have owned my comanche for about 4 months

i thought you had a pontiac g6 ? the blue one ?

[Jakeman17]

I had a blue G6 but it got totaled.

 

I was making payment on a 09 G6 in my dads name we got into fight he gave me money i had paid for the car and kicked me out I was going to school at the time so i needed a car ASAP and bought the Comanche

[freakjeep93]

oh ive certinally had stuff like that happen. i moved out from my moms and my stepfater wouldnt let me have the atv i paid for untill i was 16 because it was in his name. ive got it now

[Wildman]

The first MJ I was ever close to was a guy we build a house for in '95, he used his '86 2.5, 4 speed to commute about an hour and 20 minutes each way, the box was complete gone, and he had a flat deck and a ladder rack on the top, Then one day, the engine died on him, and he stuck it in the hedge row (for all I know, it could still be there :dunno: )

 

Then, a couple years latter, one of my old neighbors bought one from a co-worker, I "borrowed" it a couple of time when my van broke down, and need to run into town for parts.

 

And in '02 he called me up one day, and asked if I wanted to by it, he had his car, company truck and didn't use it much at all anymore.........So, I bought my first '89 MJ, 2.5, 5 speed, 2wd swb. Couldn't keep that thing over 55 on the open road :fs1: The box was half rotted off, and then the frame started to go.

 

Then about a year and half latter, a friend of mine found a '88 with a plow, he wanted the plow, and I got the truck, drove that for a year, and then bought the plow back, and stuck that back on, and used the plow that year. Yes, I still have that '88, and well............a few more since then :roll:

 

I'll just say........over the past 7 years, I've owned 17 MJ's, several have gone to the parts gods, a couple more need to go, and the rest are standing full scale models :D

[freakjeep93]

we need pics of the entire fleet

[MancheKid86]

first time i ever seen one was when i was helping a friend of mine move out was a 86 2wd 2.5l 4 banger,

thought nothing of it at that time since it was covered in snow,

few weeks later my dad brought it home for about $130'ish, since my buddy was moving he gave it away for a steal of a price,

i used to make jokes about it all the time because we did a soup can muffle patch, when ever he had stuff in the back of the truck it sounded diffrent, going from a mazda, a semi, a ford, and even a motorcycle,

later on i got it as a shop project, replacing all the necessary components,

had good times sitting in it in shop class blasting disturbed and metallica :D

been hooked ever since, damn addiction

first truck ive owned, and not the last mj, planning on saving as many from the crushers as possible,

since i got this truck, i don't think i ever ever ever ever want to get anything besides a jeep ever!

a j-10 truck or an mj suites me perfectly :D

[robfg67]

Interesting post…

 

I bought my 1st MJ new in 1988. I ordered it from Pearl Street Motors in Braintree, MA-it has long since gone out of business.

 

Back in 1987 I knew I wanted a 4x4 pick-up and was debating between the Toyota SR5 and the Ford Ranger. While watching Monday Night Football in late ’87, I saw a commercial for the new 4.0 engine being dropped into the Comanche.

 

I did some research on the truck and just really liked the way the Jeep looked with the Chief package. I took delivery in March of ’88 and have owned Jeeps my whole life.

 

A couple of years ago, I decided to buy a Shelby Mustang and traded-in my ’03 TJ Rubicon. Soon after, I realized that the Mustang was not the best choice for a New England winter and started looking for a cheap 4x4 as my winter vehicle.

 

The decision was easy and after a 17 year gap, I purchased my second MJ. $8K later and still counting, I’d do it all over again!

[1990 Pioneer 4x4]

Everyday I saw one in the parking lot of the local Community College (PCC – Rock Creek Campus) and couldn’t stop staring at it… A year later (1990) I bought mine new at the Jeep Dealer in Hillsboro Oregon and I’ve had it ever since.

[freakjeep93]

pulled up the carpets yet?

[1990 Pioneer 4x4]

pulled up the carpets yet?

gave it a brief attempt last Moday... Couldn't get one of the bench seat bolts out, then gave up :wall:

[freakjeep93]

grinder is your friend

[AMC-MJ]

:wall: My first experience with a Comanche was doing a :headpop: complete brake job which i spent all week on :fs1: 2 new caliper's 2 new wheel cylinder's new shoes new pad new rotors now drums new lines new master cylinder

 

My second experience was i finally got to drive it today :bowdown: I love it :D . . .

 

Mike

[freakjeep93]

my first experience working on one was really when i changer the oil on the one i am now fixing the frame on.

[64 Cheyenne]

Every kid in the world knows the word "Jeep," and that it means "Cool". I have always liked them, when I was 15 my mom and step dad bought a 74 jeep J-20, they had no clue about it's capabilities of being a Jeep, to them it was just a truck. Every time I wanted to take the back roads near where we lived, my mom would say something like it was too muddy and that we might get stuck. The truck had a 401 and Quadratrack, I doubt we could have gotten stuck very easily.

Fast forward a bunch of years, I bought my first Jeep. 1999 TJ 4.0 AX-15, That one got totaled, next came a 2006 TJ Rubicon 4.0 Auto. That one went back to the bank due to an economic crisis.

So here I am with the Jeep addiction, Jeepless, yearning for another. I knew I couldn't afford another TJ, seemed to me I would have to take a step down to the lowly XJ models. At that time I never knew about the MJs, or even remembered that Jeep made them.

As I was searching CL, I found a post under "Jeep" for a 87 Comanche $500, a couple phone calls later, a 4 hour road trip each way, the little red MJ was mine. It has been just over a year, $4 thousand + invested in this truck, I have boxes and boxes of parts for it, and I only drove it once.

Last summer, I met this kid, we started talking about Jeeps. I was telling him about my 87 MJ, then he told me about this jeep truck he has, a Jeep Comanche. I told him I'd like to check it out, he told me where I could see it. A few days later when I went to see it, he told me he would probably sell it pretty cheap. I was thinking maybe 3or4 hundred bucks would be cheap, then he said $ 100 bucks! I almost didn't go for it because I really didn't want another Jeep to feed, and here it is 4 months later and the chief is almost ready to go.

MJ addiction? 2 MJs in one year, thousands of dollars spent, yeah I guess so.

[AMC-MJ]

Truck shows 212,000 miles on the odo and still runs like a top.

 

My truck shows 189K miles on the ODO and it has no blow by, shocking to me every other little I-4 truck i've puked more exhaust out the valve cover then the tail pipe with half the miles. . .

 

So what's the AMC 2.5L I-4 doing better then the GM 2.5L I-4 n Ford 2.3L I-4 ?

 

I had an 83' Ranger reg cab short box 2WD 2.3L I-4, 4spd manual, kept melting pistons out of it very ok truck when it was running good at 187K miles i let it go.

 

87'-89' Ranger Reg cab Reg box 4x4, 2.9 V-6, 5spd-OD, 3.55 gears, and 30x9.50R15 tires.:2thumbsup: had some good power, this one my old man has now its got 260K miles run's great, but it was boring.

 

I had an 87' S-10 reg cab short box 2WD 2.5L I-4, 4spd manual, ran great for 155K miles then blew the lower end apart it moved ok, but nothing like the Jeep.

 

The only little truck i had that would have prolly slapped the Jeep around was my 84' Nissan red cab short Bed 2WD 240Z I-4, 3spd auto trans 4.10's, truck flew tho i never towed with it.

 

My 88' Comanche is Reg cab short box 2WD 2.5L I-4 4spd manual, 189K miles run's perfect lots of power I love it.

 

The normally these truck don't last me but a few month's then i crush them, the V-6 4x4 Ranger lasted i gave it to my father when his 5.0L V-8 Ranger blew up i never got it back LOL, the Nissan i sold for top dollar low miles clean truck 240Z engine.

 

I'm hopping this 88' Jeep hang's in there seem's like a brute, but i'm used to Medium duty n heavy duty trucks.

 

Mike

[AutoMoto]

It was the mid 90s, I was in HS, and this guy on my buddies block had this weird "Cherokee truck" that I thought was the coolest thing ever. :bowdown: Tan and starting to rust.

 

Fast forward to a few months ago. I own a small business, I'm into cars and motorcycles, and I need a truck. After consulting a buddy on S10s and Rangers, he says "GET A COMANCHE!" Then we talked about the glorious 4.0 and so forth....I wanted one!

 

Here in the midwest, ones without rust are rare...I found a solid BASE 4 cyl that needed a head gasket for $500. Things being busy, I never had a chance to pick it up. Then I found a Pioneer 4.0 AUTO for $700...SOLD!

 

Interestingly enough, I now bought a house in a subdivision across from the "Cherokee truck"...it's still there!

[californla]

first... this is a great thread.

 

i always loved comanche's. i actually always wanted one but when i turned 16, my parents got me a jetta. that was cool but it was no comanche. they never understood why i would want or needed a pickup. i grew up in a nice, pretty wealthy suburb and it didn't make sense. so i just envied the people i saw driving comanches.

 

anyway, fast forward four years to when i was working at a law firm for my sophomore year of college summer internship. i was driving home past this used car lot that i passed daily and i saw a red mj sitting on the lot. i immediately did a u-turn and headed into the lot. the mj was almost hidden in a corner, covered by the newer trucks which is why the car dealer was surprised when i asked for the keys to that. there it was - a beautiful, red 86 comanche in decent shape with a manual transmission. we talked about the normal stuff and he asked if i wanted to hear it run and go for a ride. obviously, i jumped. funny thing is that i was probably the only person who would still buy in this situation. the dealer insisted on starting the truck. he popped in cranked it over and it fired on the first try. he got out to talk shop and the truck stalled out. got back in cranked it over and it started then stalled. it did this a few times til finally it stayed running. problem was that he was messing with the choke by giving it gas while cranking and after it started throwing off the fast idle (i think).

 

anyway, i took it out for a test drive and bought it on the spot and have had it ever since.

 

now i live in london for work and it sits at home - got to drive it a bit over the holidays which was great. i have a mini cooper over here but it is no comparison for my 86 mj.

[freakjeep93]

you should get it shipped to england it be awsome to see the looks on their faces seeing an old comanche rollin through their streets

[james750]

you should get it shipped to england it be awsome to see the looks on their faces seeing an old comanche rollin through their streets

They have them in England.

[californla]

any idea where? i have been unsuccessful.