How and why did you buy your MJ?

[kyleag89]

Just curious as to how everyone found their MJ and why they decided they wanted one.

 

I bought mine for a winter truck because my Camaro is useless in a dusting and at the time I lived in Quincy, MA. I also bought an MJ because my father had one new in 88 and then we restored a 89 together a couple years ago, and I fell in love with Jeeps. I found mine on Craigs list under a posting titled Jeep Commander pick-up. $240 bucks later I drove it home 45 mins stopping halfway to top off the trans fluid because a cooler line was broken, spraying fluid everywhere.

[Comanche County]

I bought mine for 900 as a secondary winter vehicle in CO. We had a mini-van and an XJ at the time. The plan was the wife would use the xj to get the kids to school when it snowed and I'd use the MJ to snow plow and make extra money. At least that was my justification. :brows: I said I'd make at least three grand plowing with it......but instead it didn't snow that much, I only plowed my driveway and I didn't make any money at all. But I did put about 3 grand into truck for a lift, tires, parts etc. :D

[kyleag89]

That sounds like my father.. He told my step-mother he needed a 4x4 because he traded in his 04 Rubi TJ for a 07 Shelby GT. $9000 later he has the most mechanicly sound MJ I have ever seen lol..

[johnnyc]

I always liked MJs. I had had a couple of XJs, but I liked the idea of having a pickup truck. I was just casually browsing Craigslist to see what was out there, without a real intention to buy.

 

I searched the local areas, later expanding my search to surrounding areas, like Phoenix, Vegas, and the Bay Area. I saw an ad in Vegas for a "Commanche" and it was exactly what I had hoped for - a 1992 shortbed with the 4.0, automatic, 4X4. The seller was looking for $2500.

 

I thought for sure that it couldn't still be available as the ad was a few weeks old. But I sent the seller an e-mail and the lady replied that it was indeed still available. After a few more e-mails, I called a friend in Vegas and asked him to go take a look at the truck and take some pictures.

 

As the pictures showed, the truck was in pretty good condition. Being in the desert its whole life, there was not a speck of rust on it, but the paint was in bad shape from the scorching summers. And the panels were dent-free. I told the lady that I was very interested, but asked if she would accept $2000 as I would be coming from SoCal to look at it. She said yes.

 

I hopped on a tour bus going from Disneyland to the Excalibur Hotel in Vegas. It was a very nice bus and was even cheaper then going Greyhound. Plus an on-board movie (Forrest Gump) and refreshments. However the bus was full of tourists excited about going to Vegas for the first time. That got real old, real fast.

 

My friend picked me up at the Excalibur and took me over to where the truck was. I only had a short time to decide whether to buy, since the bus was returning to Disneyland in three hours, in case the deal fell through. The truck was exactly what I expected, by looking at the pictures...with a bonus. When I looked underneath, what did I see? It had a Dana 44. I was fighting to conceal my excitement from the seller. I casually whispered to my friend what I had found. He responded only with raised eyebrows.

 

I had planned to maybe get the price down a little more. But I promptly handed the lady the $2000 and she handed over the pink slip. The only immediate problem the truck had was a pretty gunked up radiator. I went to a Terrible Herbst lube place to get a radiator flush. In the middle of the flush, the truck started smoking from the sides of the muffler and catalytic converter. A quick trip down the street to a muffler shop for a cheapo muffler and cat. Then a steak dinner to thank my friend.

 

Oh, I forgot to mention that the previous owner had named the truck "Marvin". Because it had Marvin the Martian floor mats and mud flaps. The truck also had some God awful nerf bars. On the way home, I stopped at the border at Whiskey Pete's and took off the nerf bars and all the Marvin stuff.

 

My Vegas friend immediately went onto NAXJA to tell everybody that I had bought this MJ and was driving home with a cooling issue. Unbeknownst to me until I got home, the wheels were in motion in case I needed to be rescued. Trucks and trailers were put on high alert, waiting for my phone call. When I made it home without incident and checked NAXJA, I told everybody that I was home safe and sound.

 

And then, the work began.

 

-edit- Sorry for the novel.

[Automan2164]

Novels are ok, as long as there are pics for summation...

 

;)

 

Rob L. :D

[johnnyc]

Novels are ok, as long as there are pics for summation...

 

;)

 

Rob L. :D

 

:D

 

[Bandit240]

I was in search of a truck a few months ago, but got a Cherokee instead. Liked the Cherokee alot, but soon found that it wouldn't work well for what i needed. Saw an ad on Cl for a Comanche that the guy needed something with more room, so i emailed and we ended up swapping.

 

On a side note, ive kinda wanted one for awhile as has my dad. He has a 2.8litre Nissan 6cyl diesel that he wanting to install into either a MJ or 2dr XJ. Once we find something, its going in.

[87Warrior]

I was looking for a new daily driver, again...

 

During the fall semester of my last year of graduate school, I decided to retire the Rubicon from DD duties and buy something that got good mpg's and was fun. I bought a 97 Miata. After a few months I realized the car was not practical by any means and started searching for another DD.

 

I choose MJ because: its a jeep, unique and stylish (some may say my sense of style is out of date), a truck would be nice, and XJs get decent mpg. Plus I always thought the 'Jeep Truck' was cool. I joined CC and was in love. Found a 92 some 6 hours away. Drove there, bought, rented uhaul trailer, and drove home.

 

I bought it for a DD. Yet, 2 years later I am still DDing the Rubicon and the MJ is down to the shell. But, I am building it to be my DD so it should serve its intended purpose...eventually.

[terrawombat]

One of my '88s was a hand-me-down after my brother bought a new truck. The other was given to my parents by my grandfather when he bought a new truck. I've since taken it from my parents to fix it up some.

[tazjeeper]

first one I bought was 12 years ago. it was rusted out bad.. I had an xj that i was cutting up and started to measure things up and went wow that Comanche would work great as the tailgate and other parts will weld on.. the rest is jsut an other long story... have had 30 or more in the last years. I have bought 12 and resold them this year and have 6 in the yard for parts alone.

some I found some were brought to me others i was told about..

[freakjeep93]

all of mine were handed down. only one is drivable (after i get it out together)

[Pete M]

back in 97 I needed a DD for my new 3 hour round trip commute. I wanted a Jeep, but I wanted a truck. But I wanted a Jeep. Then I learned that Jeep made a truck. :D So I hit up the classifieds. Bummer. Not a single 4x4 MJ in my price range. But I did find a 2wd MJ with the 4.0, stick, with A/C. Went up to see it. Bald tires, ugly aluminum cap, and clearly was a smoker's vehicle (and an uncoordinated one at that). But one drive around the block and I was hooked. dang was that truck fast. It was the undersized bald tires that made it feel that way since the 30" BFGs I bought made it a slug. stupid 3.07s. But the dana 35 blew up within a year and I swapped in a 44 with 3.55s so all was well. :D

 

no photos exist of its "day 1" condition. :dunno: here's one a few months later after a whole mess o' paychecks were sunk...I mean invested in her. :D

[KYMJ]

Had every other kind of JEEP, decided I needed one. Now I'm down to the one JEEP, my 2wd.

[kastein]

Well...

 

I was checking out the NAC lots-o-post bs/chat thread in the NAC chapter forum on NAXJA sometime last fall, one of the guys (Ross / foxwar71) posted up a craigslist link for a $600 MJ and said "someone buy this so I don't!"

 

I looked at it, it said it had an oil leak, picture was from far away so I figured it was going to be beat/rusty. Checked my bank account, couldn't afford to throw 600 bucks at a random vehicle. Hmmm... :hmm:

 

Oh yeah! My friend jack said he was pretty sure his Honda was going to kick the bucket soon. I'll get him to buy it, so I know where it is when I have some spare cash!

 

So I harassed him into taking a look at it with me. He figured it'd be useful to have a truck around, and needed a backup vehicle. Turned out it was beat and rusty like I thought, and the previous owner was the "beat it till it falls apart, then redneck it till it barely limps again, then beat it some more!" sort, it had terribly rusted brake lines and tranny cooler lines which had been patched with compression fittings and vinyl aquarium tubing respectively. One of the cooler lines had a pinhole in it that was shooting the filthy transmission fluid onto the side of the engine which made it look like an oil leak. We made an emergency trip to NAPA, picked up hose clamps and a foot of trans cooler line, patched it and he drove it 30 miles home.

 

I told him we needed to replace the front axle, front springs, control arms, trans cooler lines, all brake lines, and all shocks ASAP. His idea of maintenance was roughly the same as the PO's however, so he just drove it...

 

A month or two later he was screwing around on a dirt road near his apartment and the brakes felt squishy, so he slowed down and did the old "stomp on the brakes real hard" test. Sure enough, another line blew out. It sat for a few weeks while he drove the Honda, but then he totaled the Honda. So the Tuesday before Thanksgiving I get a call and he suddenly wants to replace the brake lines. I head for his place, turns out his idiot roommate left for California and left his car parked in front of the garage, and it's snowing. So around 10pm the roommate finally gets back from CA and moves his car. By 3am we had enough of the lines replaced to get it rolling again. He drove it to NJ for Thanksgiving and what blows out while he's down there? The transmission lines, so he borrowed a car and drove home. I noted that he was an idiot and we went down a few weeks later and replaced the transmission lines...

 

Around mid-January I ended up driving this rolling disaster to NJ to pick up a replacement transmission for my XJ, and halfway down, recalled he said it was making a funny noise just as the oil pressure gauge dropped to 0. Turns out he'd been running it for months on almost no oil, I put 4.5 quarts in before it came to the full line :nuts:

 

Drove it back north with an entire drivetrain in the back, bought the engine as well since I figured this one wasn't gonna last long.

 

February, he bought an Audi and suddenly wanted to get rid of the MJ. I bought it off him for 800 (paid 400 cash since he owed me 400) since I knew he'd put at least 300 bucks worth of parts into it... I chose them and installed them!

 

I've been daily driving it and slowly repairing its many problems since then :nuts: the engine still hasn't quit, in fact it's running great. 220k+ miles, after being whipped hard by every owner previous to me, oil pressure stays at 35-40, sounds great now that the flexplate bolts are tight again, transmission shifts great unless I really stomp on it, even though the fluid looked like way-overdue motor oil when I drained it.

[500 MJ]

Novels are ok, as long as there are pics for summation...

 

;)

 

Rob L. :D

 

:D

 

 

I have been there. - Great story!

[Comanche County]

first one I bought was 12 years ago. it was rusted out bad.. I had an xj that i was cutting up and started to measure things up and went wow that Comanche would work great as the tailgate and other parts will weld on.. the rest is jsut an other long story... have had 30 or more in the last years. I have bought 12 and resold them this year and have 6 in the yard for parts alone.

some I found some were brought to me others i was told about..

 

YOU SIR, ARE MY HERO!

[Automan2164]

I always wanted a jeep, and when I was 14, had my eyes set out for a CJ/YJ... Quickly realizing that those fetched a premium, I turned away. I had always known about the comanche, thanks to a guy in my mom's neighborhood who had a black '92 Pioneer LWB, with factory longbed roll bar and a grill guard. So I was on the prowl. I got a job making subs and doling out ice cream, and kept an eye out in the papers we got every day for the dining room. First blood was an '89 4.0L AW4 4x4 for $1800. Not being akin to the workings, we brought an older retired aircraft mechanic my mom had as a neighbor. The thing was ROTTEN. Ran like a top, but the heater core was gone, and there wasn't much left. Time passed, and we spotted one one day for sale a few towns over. Red, longbed, AR wheels, with a grandpa cap. Wanted $1500. My mom got a co-worker to come along for the test drive. It was an '86 Base. 2.5L, AX4, decent rust. After a test drive, it needed brake work, and the exhaust had a nasty rattle. The guy who had it went locally by the nick name "Spider". He was the original owner, and had made some modifications, including a sun roof to remedy hail damage, a cassette deck in place of the AM radio (FM was an option in '86), and a huge "good 'ol boy" bug deflector with "Jim Shouck Big Game hunter" sprawled across the front. :shake: He was a character. Real eccentric, and had a crazy lazy eye... One was looking at you, one was scoping out low flying aircraft. :rotf: My mom's co worker said it was worth about $500, and to keep looking. But, I had money this time, and was getting impatient. I called him, and after some not so tough negotiating, picked it up for $1000. A friends mom drove it home with me riding shotgun (I was still 14), and I spent the next summer with the retired aircraft mechanic getting the brakes fixed, the manual steering box tightened, and all the kinks worked out. I got a racerback off a parts truck, slapped that on, and lost the aluminum cap. I ended up selling it on ebay, after a the clutch went out and I was moving out of my mom's place. How I regret that. I would have loved to say I still had my first car, and MJ. :cry:

 

 

If anyone knows the whereabouts of this poor MJ, please let me know. It was last seen on a tow dolly in McHenry, IL, headed to Wisconsin behind an S10, about 5 years ago.

 

EDIT: After posting this, I had the idea to see if ebay records went back that far, and logged on to my mom's old account. Turns out, the record of the feedback from the truck still exists, and the members account is still active. I left a message. It was sold in '05, so I doubt it's still around. I vaguely remember having an issue with a buyer who didn't pick up the truck... I hope this wasn't him. I hope this was the guy who picked it up.

 

Rob L. :(

[Justin_k]

Was looking for a chevy pickup for my first truck. My dad suggested a Jeep as they get better fuel mileage (They don't as I now know.) Looked at YJ's for the longest time, but they where all selling for a lot of money. We started looking at cherokees as they where alot cheaper. Bought my first cherokee and fell in love. Loved it so much I bought another one as a 4x4 and had an accident that wrecked it. Decided I wanted a comanche so I traded my 1981 olds cutlass with a blown motor and my 1980 chevy with a rebuilt 350 for my comanche. 1989 Pioneer LWB 4x4 metric ton with a 5'' lift and 33's. Owner said it had a dana 35 but it was metric ton. I went and looked and hardly could contain my excitement as I saw a dana 44. 8)

Sorry for the novel. :oops:

[Incommando]

It was offered as part of a package deal for my SJ Chero's, a jeep project that had stalled ( that never happens, does it?). I have always liked MJ's and had almost bought one new in '89, but got a ragtop Mustang GT instead. So...I now gotz an MJ! It is my 10th jeep...

[neohic]

My brother had a '90 YJ and all of my friends had 2wd Rangers and S10s. The YJ had the 4.2 and I thought that engine was the coolest thing... who would have thought, an INLINE 6?!?! My friends never had any problems loading up sandbags in the winter, so I figured I could get by with a 2wd truck too. So I wanted a truck. Not finding a cheap enough Ranger (had to have the 4 cylinder!).

 

I was working in housekeeping at a hospital at the time and I was so determined to find a truck to the point that I would sneak off to the hospital's resource center while my floors were drying. I did the AutoTrader and the CarSoup thing and for whatever reason I tried looking at Jeeps (they've got that crazy engine, right?!). First one on the list: 1988 Jeep Comanche Eliminator. I called the guy up, he said the first $750 takes it.

 

Yeah, I'd be happy with a 2wd truck, right?.......... right.........

[dfreeman616]

my wife was in an accident that totaled her car, so i needed something quick and cheap. found a link here from another site (greatlakes4x4.com), made an account, and found a 90 lwb 4L 4x4 auto in the chicago area for cheap since the bed was only sitting on it, the fuel tank wasn't hooked up, and it had a lot of rust. i guess the PO had picked up a low-mileage 4x4 that had been used for plowing with a salt spreader, so he swapped beds...

 

called a friend with an f350 and trailer, and set off for a bit of a road trip. all told, i had less than $250 into getting the truck home and drivable. wish i still had it.

[thejum57]

I have a 1976 J-10. It's been off the road for 5 years. A couple of years ago a good buddy sold me my 86 MJ for $250.00 cause he said I needed a truck. 97,000 miles, 2WD 2.5l. 5 spd. He bought a new Comanche when they first came out, and always has 1 or 2 hagging around.

[Blue XJ]

I bought mine when I realized my XJ's suspension mounts started rusting out. I wanted a change and came across an MJ for $50. There wasn't much to it, but I tore the XJ down completely and used all the parts to build the MJ.

 

Before:

 

 

After:

[AMCJeepMJ]

Jeeze all these great stories.

 

I just stumbled across mine on the local CL and went to take a look at it. Found it in pretty much the same condition as its in now- big dent in side, bad paint, dirty interior, and pink pinstripes. Didn't have the 400 they were asking, so put half down to hold it, came back a few days later with the rest. Found what looked like seeds and stems under the seat while cleaning it the first weekend.

[xjrev10]

I have always been a comanche since my uncle had one about 15 years ago.

 

Came across my first one when i buddy of mine picked one up from some drunk that was skipping town when he found out his daugther was actually his sister or something like that. You get the idea. Buddy got it cheap and he needed a 4 wheeler so I traded him a POS arctic cat 300 that had gone swimming a couple too many times for the pickup. It is a 89 LWB 2wd 4 cylinder. I drove it for awhile back and forth to school (30 mile one way) till one day something happened and all the oil in the engine disappeared :shake: . I still have the truck. No drivetrain, but the whole truck is solid. Scored a nice 90% rust free bed of a Missori truck that ended up in a local junkyard. (original bed was smashed and someone did some piss poor body work to it) Its been sitting for a couple years waiting for me to get time and money to put it together. This jeep is going to get a 97+ conversion.

 

Next I ended up moving to Wyoming (MN resident now). Scanning CL like I always do i came across a 88 2wd SWB L6. The ad had been up for 3 weeks so i figured it was gone. They wanted 1100 for it. I went to take a look at it (200 mile drive) and liked it right away. 213k and no rust. Offered them 800 cash and went and picked it up the next weekend and drove it back to where I was living. Showed up at my apartment in a big cloud of smoke, (oil leakage issues) with a huge smile on my face.

 

Just a couple weeks ago I picked up a 87 SWB MJ Chief. No title but 90k on the truck and so I'm told 60k on the engine. Engine does not have a speck of dirt or grease on it. Bad trans. Body is rusty but should make a good wheeler when the XJ is in the shop getting the Dana 60s. Traded a junk 94 ZJ for it.

 

Holy man I like talking MJs. You guys have probably seen them before but here they are again:

No pics of the 89 for some reason :(

 

87

88

The XJ in its current state: