comancheap Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 Hey guys, I'm new and thought I'd introduce myself. My name is Trent and I live in La Grande, Oregon, USA, where I attend college and work at a steel warehouse. I don't yet own a Comanche but am looking at one I could probably acquire cheap. I currently drive/wheel a Nissan pickup but am starting to acquire parts to put a solid axle under it, and need a dependable 4wd daily driver for when it's getting the solid axle swap. Hence a Comanche, maybe. I know a guy the next town over who has an '87 Comanche with the 2.5/5 speed (dunno which one), that is a 4wd shortbed, that I've had my eye on for awhile. It has barely over 100k and is really straight with no rust (OR, of course ), but needs a heater core, that I know of. Currently it's sitting, as he likes his PSD much more than the Comanche. I've been thinking of buying it for awhile and finally have a reason to do so, if I can swing it. Anyway, I'm gonna go look around and do some searches, I've lurked here for a couple weeks and figured I'd finally join. See ya around! Trent Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
sinnaevd Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 welcome! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feerocknok Posted December 31, 2006 Share Posted December 31, 2006 Hey Trent! I'm one of Josh's friends, from Bend! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheap Posted January 1, 2007 Author Share Posted January 1, 2007 Thanks for the welcome guys. And yup Kass, I figured you were. Do you still have those green YJ rims? The tires that were on those are what are on my Nissan now. Small world ain't it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
feerocknok Posted January 1, 2007 Share Posted January 1, 2007 The rims'll prob end up on my '78 Toy, if I ever work on it. Got too many other freakin projects, and Josh's truck to work on. Tis a small world after all. Goodluck on gettin an MJ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheap Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 So I drove by the Comanche I'm interested in today. It has 2' of snow on it, so it might be awhile till I get it, as I don't want to dig/pull it out of where it's sitting for a little bit. One thing I noticed though, is that it doesn't have the chrome 4x4 tag on the back of the cab, did all the 4x4s have it? The guy's daughter drove it to school when I was still in school there, so I'd assume it is 4wd (this is snow country), but I don't want it if it's not. It's a cream-colored Sportruck, or Sport truck, however it's spelled, with no body damage and TINY tires, probably 215s or something. I work with a YJ guy, and I talked to him about maybe picking up a Comanche, and asking him about the drivetrain in this one. He has a set of TJ 4" coils he'll give me, a set of 4" rear YJ springs, and a lock-right for the D35, all for free. How does that all sound? He also has a set of YJ flares I'd try to get just the rears of, and I'd try to find another 2 YJ/TJ rear flares to have full flares on it, I'm thinking I'd run some narrow 33s on stock wheels. Since I have no experience with MJs, let alone Jeeps or even solid axles in general, I'd like you experienced guys' input on these ideas. TIA! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 The YJ rears won't be of any use. I dunno if all 4x4s had the decals. Mine doesn't! They're stuck to my toolbox. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jared Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 i don't know if the tj coils will work, but they might. and i do know the yj leafs would be to short because mj's use really long spring packs. but the lockright would be good if it has a d35 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 The TJ coils are about an inch shorter I think. Otherwise they should be the same. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 What's the point of the YJ flares on the rear? MJ flares are plenty wide enough to fit 33s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheap Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 Clearance baby! Those TJ coils probably wouldn't give me the full 4", and I don't want to trim without some goodlooking flares to cover up the trimming, so I'd like to use 4 YJ/TJ rears to allow some trimming in the front and rear. There were a couple guys over on naxja that ran the YJ/TJ rears, front and rear, and I thought it looked sharp so maybe I'll give it a try. So you guys don't think there'd be any suspension rubbing if I were to run narrow 33s on stock 7" wide wheels? Any springs I should avoid? I was thinking of just buying the 4.5" Rusty's kit minus the front coils, would that serve well or should I find something else? As my s/n implies, I want to build the rig as cheap as possible, but don't want to cut corners and pay for it later, either. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 Those TJ coils will give about 3" lift. Well, they should! I'd avoid rusty's fixed arm kit. Well, I'd avoid all of their stuff. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randimal Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 rear TJ coils look nice on the front too. Here's my XJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
randimal Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 oops, I meant flares. :mad: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheap Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 Yup, that's a sharp looking XJ, I dig it! What's wrong with the Rusty's stuff? Inferior design or materials? I wondered why it was so much cheaper than the RE stuff everybody seems to love, but didn't find out a whole lot when searching, care to elaborate? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DirtyComanche Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 I hate it. I think it's all junk. They use good material (sorta) and have one hell of a fancy lazer cutter and brake - doesn't mean they have a clue what they're doing. They cheap out on things like joints, can't figure out how to prep metal for MIG welding, and tend to make massive engineering mistakes (or maybe not mistakes, I think they just don't care). However, there's lots of people running their stuff that will swear by it. I've actually had people tell me that I was flat out wrong about them/their parts and that I slam them because 'I've never actually run their stuff' - which I chuckle about. Spend a few more bucks, get somebody with a better rep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheap Posted January 5, 2007 Author Share Posted January 5, 2007 Hmmm, alright. Is there an FAQ or anything I can go look around on? I don't know how much lift warrants how much tcase drop, or when I'd want adjustable arms versus the standard ones, or when I'd want drop brackets etc, and was thinking it'd be a lot easier if I could just figure it all out reading up on it than asking you all a billion questions I'm sure have been asked before. If you all were looking to build a Comanche with the specs I listed before, how would you do it? I'm assuming soa the rear and what parts up front? I also noticed there's a Rough Country 4.5" kit, how is that compared to the Rusty's? From what I could find, it leaves the springs under the axle and just uses AALs to bring it up level with the front? What else would I need? I know Rough Country makes the cheapest Nissan UCAs, and they seem to hold up well, but that's about all I know of the company. Any other pointers for me? Thanks a million guys, I really appreciate you all sharing your knowledge with me! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Oizarod115 Posted January 5, 2007 Share Posted January 5, 2007 alot of times its just wrong shipments cause they move so many parts, customer service is basically their main problem backed up by little querky mistakes in some of their designs. i would go for adjustable arms anyways, so when you get inchitis you can adjust it a alittle for those coil spacers... :brows: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
comancheap Posted January 9, 2007 Author Share Posted January 9, 2007 I'm hoping not to get inchitis, I mean it is a 4banger after all! I think to start with I'll just do a little lift using the 4" TJ coils and a set of the Chevy shackles, and run 31s. I can start collecting parts to fit the 33s if I think that's too small, but I think it'll be fine. I do a LOT of driving, so having an affordable 4wd will be cool :crosses fingers and hopes that nobody noticed I put "affordable" and "4wd" in the same sentence, especially in reference to a Jeep: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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