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Backroads MJ 86 4x4 longbed 4 banger


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Well I've been lurking around for a couple weeks now, been workin hard on the comanche to get it up to date for inspection!

 

Its a 1986 Comanche custom, 2.5L, AX-5, 207 tc. Dana 30/35 long bed with a 3" lift. I wasn't crazy about the longbed at first, but I love it now!! jamminz.gif

 

Snagged it from a customer of mine who saw my cherokee at work and mentioned he had a comanche thats been sitting in his garage (thats right garage haha) for the last 2 years, and he was getting a new truck and wanted to pass this along. I went and checked it out, and took it home the next week!

 

Its got 192k on the clock and runs pretty damn good! Its got rusty floors, which I havent taken the carpet up to see how bad it is, thats gonna be a summer project.

 

Right now I'm focusing on getting it inspection worthy so I can start driving it!

then will come rust fix and possibly paint. The body is pretty straight and rust free for the most part!

Swap in a later HP30 up front and get rid of the disco axle.

Possibly find a replacement rear at the JY.

I basically just wanna clean it up add some cool gadgets and just drive it!

 

Some pics when I first brought it home, slightly over exposed pics, it was really bright out and had my camera set up wrong!

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pretty sure this was recovered at some point, but looks nice!

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was thinking about doing some buckets, but I kinda dig the bench, its in good shape and its really comfy

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sorry guys but I can't be more happy about black interior, I really don't care for the red in some of them!!!

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first order of business was stop the leaking and fix the non-existant brakes:

 

Pulled the valve cover, put on a new gasket, also did plugs, wires, cap and rotor. Changed the TC fluid, replaced some of the rear brake lines, new drums shoes and wheel cylinders.

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some random other shots

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her current home!

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Your axles are 4:10 geared already so make sure if youre gonna replace to get 4:10 or better. The front axle disco isnt really a big deal, juts lock it over in place and forget about it, not like youre gonna break it with that 4 cylinder. Good find though and welcome to the club!

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Actually, axles are 3.55 for some reason, and thats why I'm gonna swap the front out. They should be 4.10 but somehow they arent.

 

The rear springs are either rustys or rough country, PO had someone install the minor lift (its got springs up front too, but doesnt really net much lift) and theres no give away stampings as to brand.

 

got a bunch of killer stuff at the yard today....

 

gauge cluster, zj v8 tie rod, zj steering box, wj booster and MC, as well as some little interior details I was missing, replacement interior lights, 4wd selector bezel....can't wait to get greasy again tomorrow :yes:

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so I got the WJ master cylinder and booster in. Pretty much went as planned. Its an improvement in that I now have brakes, but not exactly the amazing stopping power I was expecting.

 

here's how the old one looked....regardless I'm glad that leaky sucker is out of there, I think it was working on growing some legs to climb out.

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its sitting out by the garage, I hope the local cat comes and licks it!

 

New booster in place, here you can see where I massaged the firewall some to make it fit.

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I made sure to cut the lines extra long at the JY so I would have to buy yet another tool to learn to 'bubble flare' the stupid foreign metric CRAP jeep uses these days :fool:

So all I needed to do, was add a double flare to the prop valve side of the lines

plus they have snazzy little flex lines built in so its got a little wiggle room

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Pedal was pretty much even height with the clutch pedal before the swap, its a little lower now, but not by much

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Working on getting my holey muffler replaced I have an inspection appt on monday!!!!!!!

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Havent got too much done lately, but made a nice discovery today.

Pulled the bed liner out to see how much rust was underneath AND

:bowdown:

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the tailgate looks like hell, but the rest looks like original paint, and never had anything BUT the liner put into it.

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Dude, That is a nice looking truck. You said at first you didnt like the long bed. I am not sure what you are talking about. I think it looks very good. That 3" lift you have makes it look just about right. Oh and one word of advice. Be nice to that rear bumper. You may not be able to get another one.

 

:cheers:

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  • 2 weeks later...
Dude, That is a nice looking truck. You said at first you didnt like the long bed. I am not sure what you are talking about. I think it looks very good. That 3" lift you have makes it look just about right. Oh and one word of advice. Be nice to that rear bumper. You may not be able to get another one.

 

:cheers:

 

I only really thought I wasnt gonna like the longbed before I actually saw it hehe. I wanted a short bed to not have such a long wheelbase for a little wheeling I will do in it, but as it turns out I'm a longbed for life kinda guy now!

 

anyways..current update on my project...been getting a lot done, just not takin any pics :dunno:

 

Got my whole front end snugged up, ZJ steering box, draglink and tie rod. New bushings in my sway bar, fixed all my current leaks and its at the shop getting inspected as I write this! I'm stoked jamminz.gif

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Its officially street legal! Been driving it all over the place. I love it jamminz.gif

So far getting better gas mileage than I expected. I only topped it off to full and I've driven well over 100 miles on half a tank. In my XJ I'm lucky to get 80 miles on a half tank hehe.

 

Anyways, decided to look into the lower panels and see what kind of rust was hidden underneath. Found a little that was repaired with bondo already, but nothing to major. So for now I just sprayed it with some rust inhibitor until I can get back to it. Planning to do a full stripdown and repaint sometime this spring/summer.

 

Couple current pics:

 

Also put on this grill I snagged from the JY a while back

 

and doing what I bought it for! Towing the boat. Did surprisingly good for a little 4 banger

it was getting dark

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  • 5 weeks later...

Got a new update! I've pretty much just been driving the comanche lately, which was the plan! Its running great for what it is and I've been collecting parts jamminz.gif

 

Went searching for tractor parts on sunday (which i did find btw) and also scored a grand slam that day as well hehe

 

First off, this little piece of equipment

 

 

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MJ 44, with 3.55, just what the doc ordered. I havent cracked it open yet, but how great if it had an lsd or something :yes:

 

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I passed on an 'almost' mint tailgate a few weeks back because no one would talk to me at that yard....glad I held out, the paint is faded and the latch is rusty, but otherwise, as mint as its gonna get

 

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and got this guy to match the rest of my bediner, and keep the tailgate as pretty as it is.

 

 

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got these from my brother, and I have the 4.5" coils , and soon some LCAS ....

 

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Its got a good rake going now, the rear springs do however flatten out pretty easy, so I MIGHT add a slightly longer shackle in the end to keep my slight rake, but well see!

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