Lowerd Comanche " HELP "

[Ron]

I have an 88 2 wheel drive Comanche and some where in this site I spotted a lowerd gray Comanche.

Can any one tell me where I might be able to find a set of drop spindles, drop springs or even a drop axle for the front end ?

The rear is no problem at all.

" HELP " I realy love the look of that truck.

Thank you

trucker460@yahoo.com

[dasbulliwagen]

I think that the pic youre talking about was photoshopped. The only other lowered comanches here are jbhill, and worldsfastestcomanche. Look up thier build threads. I know jbhill has an S10 chassis inder his truck, and is bagged, but worldsfastestcomanche custom built a dropped front beam. There are no lowering spindles available for our trucks, youll just need to get creative. I think ZJ rear coil springs installed in the front of your truck will lower you a little, but beyond that youll need a bunch of fabrication. Just search for the two mentioned builds and see what you think.

[Ron]

By chance does any one make a body kit like the one on that truck?

[Comanche County]

Never seen a body kit, but there was an air dam made at some point....viewtopic.php?f=3&t=25204&p=257862&hilit=air+dam#p257862

[Geonovast]

The only other lowered comanches here are jbhill, and worldsfastestcomanche.

 

Nope.

 

Beaterjeep's 2.5 was lowered about 2 inches by putting ZJ rear coils in.

[Eagle]

Andy in PA lowered a 2WD MJ a few years ago. Dunno if it's still lowered, or if his wife took it over and made him convert it to 4WD. In any case, I believe he did it purely by clipping coils off the front springs, and I believe he once told me you can't go down much more than 2 inches that way due to oil pan / axle clearance.

[xjrev10]

try a RMS replacement on a lower MJ :yes:

[beaterjeep]

Can any one tell me where I might be able to find a set of drop spindles, drop springs or even a drop axle for the front end ?

The rear is no problem at all.

First part: Comanche specific items like that simply do not exist. As for springs, as stated, the REAR coils from a ZJ will fit in with minor modification (the lip on the bumpstops needs to be ground down a little bit to fit) and depending on what engine you have, should net between 2"-3" immediate drop. Mine is a 4cyl and has settled to about 3", so with the extra weight of a 4.0, it should be more. You can also modify the coil buckets on the axle side to add anouther 1/2" or so of drop.

Second part: How do you figure that the rear end is the easy part? As I'm sure you know, the MJ is already SUA (spring under axle), so therefore the only choices are using drop blocks, which aren't usually advised, or using a set of FSJ Wagoneer leafs for a mere 1"-2" drop, 3" at most. The rear is the part I have been struggling with, and think I may end up having to use a combination of the FSJ waggy leafs and drop blocks along with a set of old school traction bars to fight the axle wrap.

 

...and I believe he once told me you can't go down much more than 2 inches that way due to oil pan / axle clearance.

Jeepco has measured it out for me, and the only way I will have any interference issues at the suspected 4"-5.5" drop I'll be getting in the front, is IF I had a 4wd axle in it. The diff would run into the oil pan around 3.5" drop otherwise. I had thought about creating a dropped AWD MJ for a long time, but the reality is that with it dropped as much as it will be, it's not feasible.

 

By chance does any one make a body kit like the one on that truck?

Never seen a body kit, but there was an air dam made at some point.... http://www.comancheclub.com/forums/view ... am#p257862

Yes and no. There was the limited run of 'Street Comanches' that got a full body kit inspired/built from the Archer Brothers' SCCA winning MJs, but no other companies that I know of since then have offered anything.

[tbrand]

try a RMS replacement on a lower MJ :yes:

 

 

 

Hahahaha, my stock-height Comanche gave me plenty of fits just getting the oil pan off.

[Geonovast]

try a RMS replacement on a lower MJ :yes:

 

 

 

Hahahaha, my stock-height Comanche gave me plenty of fits just getting the oil pan off.

 

Mine gave me such an issue that I almost completely disconnected the axle just to get the pan off.

[mvusse]

Second part: How do you figure that the rear end is the easy part? As I'm sure you know, the MJ is already SUA (spring under axle), so therefore the only choices are using drop blocks, which aren't usually advised, or using a set of FSJ Wagoneer leafs for a mere 1"-2" drop, 3" at most. The rear is the part I have been struggling with, and think I may end up having to use a combination of the FSJ waggy leafs and drop blocks along with a set of old school traction bars to fight the axle wrap.

 

Have you thought about using the Comanche main leafs and leafes from a Cherokee for the rest of the pack?

 

Stock Cherokee leaf springs are pretty much flat with the weight of the vehicle on them, and they are easy to find.

[Oizarod115]

Second part: How do you figure that the rear end is the easy part? As I'm sure you know, the MJ is already SUA (spring under axle), so therefore the only choices are using drop blocks, which aren't usually advised, or using a set of FSJ Wagoneer leafs for a mere 1"-2" drop, 3" at most. The rear is the part I have been struggling with, and think I may end up having to use a combination of the FSJ waggy leafs and drop blocks along with a set of old school traction bars to fight the axle wrap.

 

Have you thought about using the Comanche main leafs and leafes from a Cherokee for the rest of the pack?

 

Stock Cherokee leaf springs are pretty much flat with the weight of the vehicle on them, and they are easy to find.

i think you're over-thinking it a bit beaterjeep... if we can run spring over (increasing likely-hood of spring wrap) and short blocks, and not have an axle-wrap problem... i highly doubt you're going to have a problem from SUA with a short 1-2" block.

then get explorer 2wd springs, which should lower a couple inches, or waggy or whatever you want, a cherokee rear-shackle will lower a tiny bit. i mean, you can't go much more than 3" up front without worrying about the oil pan anyways right?

[beaterjeep]

Second part: How do you figure that the rear end is the easy part? As I'm sure you know, the MJ is already SUA (spring under axle), so therefore the only choices are using drop blocks, which aren't usually advised, or using a set of FSJ Wagoneer leafs for a mere 1"-2" drop, 3" at most. The rear is the part I have been struggling with, and think I may end up having to use a combination of the FSJ waggy leafs and drop blocks along with a set of old school traction bars to fight the axle wrap.

 

Have you thought about using the Comanche main leafs and leafes from a Cherokee for the rest of the pack?

 

Stock Cherokee leaf springs are pretty much flat with the weight of the vehicle on them, and they are easy to find.

i think you're over-thinking it a bit beaterjeep... if we can run spring over (increasing likely-hood of spring wrap) and short blocks, and not have an axle-wrap problem... i highly doubt you're going to have a problem from SUA with a short 1-2" block.

then get explorer 2wd springs, which should lower a couple inches, or waggy or whatever you want, a cherokee rear-shackle will lower a tiny bit. i mean, you can't go much more than 3" up front without worrying about the oil pan anyways right?

All good points indeed, but I've had a set of 3" steel blocks for a while now, so might as well use them if I can. One thing to remember though, if the ZJ coils settled to 3" with my 2.5L, what will they do with the 4.0L in it? Not to mention the added 1/2" or so from modifying the axle side coil buckets. I'll be looking at approximately a 4.5"-5.5" drop in front alone! No oil pan interference to worry about, as it's staying 2wd. The XJ shackle is a good idea that I had overlooked until you just reminded me of it, and would be nice since I could direct swap from my trucks.

[manche75]

Rear springs from a TJ will work on the front. I got mine from a lwb tj and it lowered it about an inch, so id imagine a swb TJ would have less weight and lower the front a little more than an inch. The guy I bought them off of thought I was crazy for lowering it. (2wd)

 

As for a body kit, Erebuni makes side skirts. http://erebuni.net/ge/jecomanchee.htm. I believe that is one of the street comanches in the picture. It only includes the side skirts though. I will be purchasing this soon I hope.

 

And every time the subject of lowering comes up, people bring up oil pan clearances. Isnt that what bump stops are for? I don't mean to sound rude. I'm just wondering for myself

[Oizarod115]

Rear springs from a TJ will work on the front. I got mine from a lwb tj and it lowered it about an inch, so id imagine a swb TJ would have less weight and lower the front a little more than an inch. The guy I bought them off of thought I was crazy for lowering it. (2wd)

 

As for a body kit, Erebuni makes side skirts. http://erebuni.net/ge/jecomanchee.htm. I believe that is one of the street comanches in the picture. It only includes the side skirts though. I will be purchasing this soon I hope.

 

And every time the subject of lowering comes up, people bring up oil pan clearances. Isnt that what bump stops are for? I don't mean to sound rude. I'm just wondering for myself

i was thinking more about the control arms that would be getting alot closer to the pan, last time i checked theres not a whole lot of room under there with a 4.0L

[Geonovast]

Rear springs from a TJ will work on the front. I got mine from a lwb tj and it lowered it about an inch, so id imagine a swb TJ would have less weight and lower the front a little more than an inch. The guy I bought them off of thought I was crazy for lowering it. (2wd)

 

As for a body kit, Erebuni makes side skirts. http://erebuni.net/ge/jecomanchee.htm. I believe that is one of the street comanches in the picture. It only includes the side skirts though. I will be purchasing this soon I hope.

 

And every time the subject of lowering comes up, people bring up oil pan clearances. Isnt that what bump stops are for? I don't mean to sound rude. I'm just wondering for myself

i was thinking more about the control arms that would be getting alot closer to the pan, last time i checked theres not a whole lot of room under there with a 4.0L

 

Definitely something to worry about, my stock height 88 XJ with a 4.0 had about 3/4 of the bottom coil on the right side break off, and I believe that's what caused the right UCA to smack the oil pan, bend the hell out of the lip, and give me a huge oil leak.

[Oizarod115]

not to mention the passenger side UCA's proximity to the starter.

[codybutz]

Check out suicidedoors.com they might be able to help you out. Also there are ways to make your own body kits with sheet metal.