Interior :S

[baby_krawler]

Hi all,

New to this forum, actually to the whole Jeep thing all together. Aquired a 1986 Comanche and the interior is in okay shape just not the greatest I want to rip the carpet out and put in diamond plate, also is there an easy way to change dash/dashboard and the material on door panels.... Kinda stuck on that one... Going for a blue white interior look (Typical Shelby colours would look good inside). Hoping someone could shed a little bit of light, maybe an easy solution.

[mkbruin]

Diamond plate? :shake:

 

I have no answer for you on this one. For interior, you might (should) be able to swap in the dash and othe interior pannels from any cherokee or comanche through 1996.

 

 

 

(/trying very, very hard not to flame)

[MJCARENA]

Welcome. Diamond plate on the floor sounds like alot of work to get it to fit right, but might look pretty cool. Could try the vinyl dye stuff to change colors of the dash, have never used the stuff myself. Have any pictures of the truck.

[64 Cheyenne]

Hi all,

New to this forum, actually to the whole Jeep thing all together. Aquired a 1986 Comanche and the interior is in okay shape just not the greatest I want to rip the carpet out and put in diamond plate, also is there an easy way to change dash/dashboard and the material on door panels.... Kinda stuck on that one... Going for a blue white interior look (Typical Shelby colours would look good inside). Hoping someone could shed a little bit of light, maybe an easy solution.

 

 

Shhhhhhhhh :no:

 

Some people get very opinionated when it comes to putting diamond plate, expanded metal and re-bar on jeeps. (not me)

 

Hint the term "Flamed"

 

Myself I got a little expanded metal on my 88 for speaker grills, plan on putting it on the outside of my camper cap

 

back window so it doesn't get broke from backing into bushes or branches.

 

Diamond plate? I don't see a lot of aesthetic value when it is under your feet.

 

But it's your obsession, or will be, so have at what you like and welcome to the club.

 

:wavey:

[baby_krawler]

Ya ya I know the diamond plate isn't very practical but it would look pretty cool... I know a guy who got some made as tightly fitting 'floor mats' is what I would class them as, they looked pretty cool. The main thing from that though was the interior its beige and doesn't look good everything else is good... Diamond plate probably isn't a good idea now that I think of it, if it's not put in right probably would just end up trapping water eh?

 

Anyway thanks for the warm welcome and hoping to grow and turn my 'baby krawler' into a full blown monster eventually.

 

P.s. Anything typical for MJ's that tend to go? Also anything you suggest as a 'need' for offroading?

 

**As you can see I have a lot to learn!**

[64 Cheyenne]

I suggest reading What is the most important tip you'd share with MJ owners?

 

at the top of the tech section. Wealth of info there.

 

If your MJ won't run, things to check: fuel pump resistor, and crank position sensor

 

seem to be the first and most common things to check for trouble.

 

I'd suggest learning about MJ specific parts. Keep an eye out for them as they are

 

not made any more and get harder to find every day.

 

IE: turn signal lenses, trailer hitches, rear cab lights etc.....

[baby_krawler]

Oh she runs lol! And thanks will definitely read that thread and keep my eye open around the Halton Region for parts, very good point, where do you get new parts from (like aftermarket, seem like they are a little hard to come by).

[baby_krawler]

Is pulling carpet really that necessary? Is it easy to put back?

 

Lockers???

 

Everyone keeps telling me gear ratio should be changed it is 3.55 now couple people saying 5.33 so I can put some monsterous tires on her. Do I really need to? And is it an easy... lol prob not.

 

NP-242 ? Is this good lol

 

 

 

Feel like such a fool but how else do I learn.

[tbrand]

Is pulling carpet really that necessary? Is it easy to put back?

 

Pulling up your carpets is a pain, but if you can catch the tinworm before it starts eating through your floors, you'll be very glad you did. MJ's typically rust from the inside out - water gets into the cab and is trapped in the carpet/pad. If you browse through the Project MJ forum, you'll notice just how many people have had to re-do their floors due to rust. Be careful with the trim - old plastic doesn't take kindly to brute force, and MJ-specific bits are pretty darn hard to find.

[MJCARENA]

Gearing depends on the size tires. Rule of thumb in my other jeep club is 4.56 is good for 33 inch tires, 4.88 for 35 inch tires. You start going bigger then 35 and you might want to change out your axles. Some say that the front Dana 30 is good up to 35's. 37's if you are easy on the throttle and go with chromolly axle shafts. On my XJ wagoneer I have 33's with 4.56 and lockrights, dana 30 front dana44 rear. The lockrights work good for me. Gets me thru the rocks ok. I have the 242 and no problems with it.

It all depends on what kind of wheeling you are going to do. Research on line about lockers and gears on here and other jeep sites.

Post up some photos.

 

[TrailReadyMJ]

Feel like such a fool but how else do I learn.

Don't feel foolish for gathering info! Everyone is new to the MJ game at some point!

 

You are taking the right steps by asking questions before starting your build. The best thing I can suggest for you at this point is to read, read, READ! There is a wealth of information on this site, and since the front half is virtually the same as an XJ, you can also research Cherokee forums for even more info.

 

If I was starting over, now that I know how much there is to learn, I would take the following steps in determining the build.

1: Check forums for FAQ sections. This will teach you a lot about common problems and modifications.

2: Look at other builds! Read through others write-ups, and try to learn from others mistakes instead of making your own!

3: Don't assume you have to have the biggest, baddest Jeep out there. If you don't have an unlimited budget, this is just not gonna happen. Ignore the "one uppers" and build it for what you will actually use it for, investing your money wisely.

4: Get any standard mechanical and maintenance issues sorted out before doing anything "aftermarket". This will not only give you a more reliable ride, but you will learn a lot about the vehicle in general.

5: Read even more!

6: Determine the terrain you primarily wheel on, rocks, mud, dirt trails, sand, etc... Also determine how road friendly it needs to be, and how big can you go and still keep it street legal.

7: Develop an overall plan for the truck that you can more or less stick to before spending any money! It almost always starts with what size tires you want to run.

8: Finally start your build!

 

I understand it can be hard to resist jumping right in, lifting it sky high and throwing some monster tires under it, but you will be MUCH happier in the end (and get flamed less, lol) by taking your time and going this route. In the meantime you can start an "MJ fund", so when the time comes you're ready.

 

You haven't mentioned any mods it has already, but even a stock truck can go a lot of places, so you can still play in your truck while researching. Just make sure you at least have solid recovery points before venturing out. Skids and armor are also a good thing to add to the top of the list.

 

Most importantly, have fun with it and welcome to the club!

[mvusse]

Lockers???

 

Depends on axle. I have an Aussie automatic locker in my front D30 and have been very happy with it. If you have a Dana 35 rear axle, you should not spend any money on it other than gear oil and brake parts until you upgrade it to something better (Dana 44 - may be hard to find, 97 or newer Chrysler 8.25" - my axle of choice as it i cheap, plentiful and plenty strong, or even a Ford 8.8" although it's a bit narrower and a bit more work to get the drive shaft to connect to it).

Everyone keeps telling me gear ratio should be changed it is 3.55 now couple people saying 5.33 so I can put some monsterous tires on her. Do I really need to? And is it an easy... lol prob not.

 

Monstrous tires mean monstrous lift and monstrous amount of $$$ to do right. The D30 up front is limited to 4.88 gears and on those the pinion gear is so freakishly small you might lose strength. So theoretically you're limited to 4.56 gears unless you swap in another front axle. If you do go to 32" or larger tires, 4.10 or 4.56 gears are not a bad idea. Having axles regeared is not cheap. $500-$1000 per axle if you have a shop do it. It is also difficult to do right yourself if you've never done it before and required quite a few specialty tools, at least a few hundred dollars worth. Unless you have a buddy who can do it for a case of beer, you may be better of finding junk yard axles with the correct ratio and swap those in. 4.10 is not uncommon on 4 cylinder Cherokees, especially with the 5 speed manual transmission.

 

On the flip side, I run 33" tires on the street with the stock gearing, and even though it's far from ideal, I manage. I also take it off road on 35" tires. Meaning to go to at least 4.10 gears, but money is tight and I need a garage first as I'm tires of laying in the snow working on my junk.

 

NP-242 ? Is this good lol

 

The 242 has a full time 4wd setting that would be great for snowy roads, but an automatic front locker would kill the usefulness. It is what I mean to put in my 2wd Cherokee when I ever get around to a 4wd conversion.

 

Welcome to the addiction.

 

Feel like such a fool but how else do I learn.

 

Keep asking questions.

[baby_krawler]

Whao! This forum is awesome, definetly giving me the knowledge I need thanks all! Couple things with this post...

 

1. I meant what are lockers?

2. Are disconnect-able sway bar links useful in anyway?

3. Sorry so first of all I should re-phrase my inital statement: I haven’t acquired it yet that doesn’t happen until Early Jan but this is what I know so far, red flag me on stuff if you could :)

 

The modifications:

new 6.5" suspension lift installed

new steering (stabilizer, pitman arm, trac, etc)

new control arms (short arm high clearance designed for the 6.5" lift)

new shocks front and rear

new brakes (pads, shoes, rotors, drums, discs, etc)

new OEM shift knob

new paint on tailgate etc...

upgraded full length console with heat duct

newly rebuilt (end to end) Dana 44 rear axle

re-manufactured 10k 2.5l engine

rebuilt NP207 t-case (possibly being replaced with a NP242 unit if we can get it to align)

tuned up shifters, drivetrain, etc...

 

Likely next moves:

bodywork on right bed side (very small spot

wheels - currently has stock rubber/rims (winter rollers) I plan on getting 31” Procomps until I figure out how I am going to change gear ratio for 35”

 

Done by end of March:

Fender flares

Winch

Skid Plates on the important stuff

Possibly offroad lights

 

(Summer) Down the road:

looks like I may regear to 5.33 but guess I need a different front axle what would you suggest?? (god knows when lol)

Tow hooks (Heavy duty bumper or legit tow hook attached to frame????)

CB radio (Cheapy one :) )

Fix body up completely

 

 

 

http://www.mypicx.com/12152010/Comanche_stuff/

 

If anyone is close to Guelph and potentially may be available this summer to teach/help me with the front axle and gear change that would be nice otherwise looks way over my head and will pay with money I make over the summer.

 

 

 

Thanks Again

[baby_krawler]

Btw those pics aren't most recent (so I am told) and were during work being done.

[ParadiseMJ]

Everything you ever wanted to know about diamond plate...and then some. I think they'll even cut and form DP floor mats.

 

http://www.cutsmetal.net/gallery.html

[88pioneer]

5.33 gears are pretty deep. How big of tires do you plan to run? Do you plan to run this on the street? If so your top speed is going to be quite low

[mvusse]

Whao! This forum is awesome, definetly giving me the knowledge I need thanks all! Couple things with this post...

 

1. I meant what are lockers?

 

A locker is a device that forces both wheels on an axle to spin at the same speed regardless of traction instead of spinning the one wheel that is in mud or on ice with no power going to the other wheel. Automatic lockers (including all "lunch box" lockers) will automatically engage when torque is applied to the drive shaft, yet allow one wheel to overrun the other wheels in turns. Selectable lockers have a switch on your dashboard to lock/unlock the axle whenever you want. They cost more.

 

2. Are disconnect-able sway bar links useful in anyway?

 

If you plan to go off road, yes.

 

If anyone is close to Guelph and potentially may be available this summer to teach/help me with the front axle and gear change that would be nice otherwise looks way over my head and will pay with money I make over the summer.

 

Guelph Ontario?

 

Maybe you should enter your location in your profile.

 

I'm in Ontario every year between Christmas and New Year's, and usually a few (long) weekends throughout the year, but stay in Clinton (highway 8 and 4 intersection) and rarely stray further your way than Stratford.

 

Upgrading the front axle is expensive. Either you need to spend lots of money and fabrication to get it to hook up to the truck's suspension, or modify the suspension to hook up to the axle.

 

Tow hooks cannot be bolted directly to the "frame". The Comanche is a unibody vehicle and as such the "frame" is merely a few layers of sheetmetal stacked on top of each other. The bolts would rip right through. A few companies (Custom 4x4 among them) make tow hook brackets for the Cherokee. Since your Comanche is the same as a Cherokee from the doors on forward, they will work. They solve the unibody frame problem by spreading the load over a larger area. Likewise a bumper with tow points or winch attached needs to bolt to more than just the regular bumper bracket bolts to spread the load over a larger of the frame.

[TrailReadyMJ]

You mention that you want to run 35s, so you do not need to go that deep on the gears!

It would cost A LOT to go that low, and you would almost have to run something like Dana 60s F&R (not that that's a bad thing, but very expensive!). You can get D44 gears in a 5.38, but the pinion would be tiny and weak!

I ran 35" swampers (measured closer to 36" actual) with 4.56s and it did just fine. In fact my speedo was correct with the stock speedo gear, so the overall ratio was right on with stock. 4.88s would be ideal once you factor in the added rolling resistance and weight of the larger tires, but I always had plenty of power and decent mileage.

I am now running 33" ATs, but that's more or less temporary because I am going to be doing a lot of driving towing a camper in the near future. Feels like a sports car now compared to the with the swampers :D

[baby_krawler]

Thanks for the explanation mvusse!

 

All in all sounds like upgrading the front axle costs too much money??? Like stock is on there now but I can't run 35"s on stock (well properly can I??). Disconnect-able sway bar links and Lockers are they expensive I have been trying to find a decent online aftermarket place for 4x4 and there is a bunch but I can't seem to find any that have MJ parts and I'm not to sure what stuff is applicable from XJ's and what is not :S

 

So in the end what would you suggest I do if I want to run 35"s in the best possible situation?

 

Thanks for the suggestion of the bumper with tow hooks will do!

[87'ComancheLaredo]

Welcome to the club!

 

:waving:

 

I'm not going to be of much use to you considering I'm not very mechincally inclined...

but just wanted to say hi :D

 

 

-Jamie

[baby_krawler]

Hello :waving:

 

Neither am I lol can't you tell... Trying to learn

[mvusse]

Thanks for the explanation mvusse!

 

All in all sounds like upgrading the front axle costs too much money??? Like stock is on there now but I can't run 35"s on stock (well properly can I??). Disconnect-able sway bar links and Lockers are they expensive I have been trying to find a decent online aftermarket place for 4x4 and there is a bunch but I can't seem to find any that have MJ parts and I'm not to sure what stuff is applicable from XJ's and what is not :S

 

So in the end what would you suggest I do if I want to run 35"s in the best possible situation?

 

Thanks for the suggestion of the bumper with tow hooks will do!

 

I run 35s on the stock front axle without a problem. I did rip all the disconnect stuff out of the axle, bolted a cover plate over the hole, added an oil seal at the differential and run a single piece shaft with the larger u joints. I upgraded the driver side shaft to the larger u joint also. These shafts can be foind in the junk yard in any 1997 or newer XJ Cherokee, or any year XJ Cherokee with ABS. They are a direct drop in replacement. If you take a tape measure you can double check. The smaller u joints (5-260x) have 1-1/16 inch caps, the larger ones (5-297x, 5-760x) have 1-3/16 inch caps. I run Spicer brand 5-760x u joints in them. About $20 per shaft at the junk yard, $30 per u joint and $10 for the oil seal gives you a plenty strong axle for $110 in upgrades. Way cheaper than swapping in a different axle or using after market shafts.

 

As for quick disconnects:

http://www.roughcountry.com/jeep_xtras_xj-disconnects.html

 

I would normally hesitate to mention Rough Country as some of their stuff is junk, but I think these will work.

 

Hold off on a front locker until you know what you're doing with your transfer case and what you will be using the Jeep for. An Aussie locker is only $230 (US) plus shipping, but you won't be able to use 4wd in snow. Well, you can, but not safely. Nothing like turning the steering wheel and you keep going straight. A selectable locker (ARB for example) would be awesome, but expensive.

[TrailReadyMJ]

but you won't be able to use 4wd in snow. Well, you can, but not safely. Nothing like turning the steering wheel and you keep going straight. A selectable locker (ARB for example) would be awesome, but expensive.

 

I am not suggesting you do it because mvusse has a valid point, but I run an auto locker in front (lock right) and haven't had any issues running in snow. Just did it today in fact! You just have to take your time around turns and not gas it, but of course you shouldn't be doing that in snow anyway. I even had a plow on it last year to clear some driveways and the locker never caused issues. Driving with lockers in snow is like anything else, once you get a feel for it and what's gonna happen under different conditions, you get used to it. Empty parking lots are your friend when learning, just don't go crazy enough to get the law involved!

 

As far as running 35s on a stock front axle, I do it too. I also run the shafts with the larger joints, have a front locker, and haven't had any issues except for when I was doing something i wasn't supposed to (stripped gears pulling large storage shed, more detailed story in my build thread, link in sig).