FKreider Posted December 8, 2011 Share Posted December 8, 2011 I bought this 89' Jeep Comanche saturday. I'm going to start by giving it a tune up and adressing any other mechanical issues it may have. Apparently it has new brakes and exhaust. Also someone started doing some bodywork and started to prime it. Something funky is going on with the drivers door alignment too so I'm going to have to check that out. Then I'm going to finish the bodywork and give it a quick coat of paint. :chillin: It already has the 4.0 which is a big deal for me since I'm sick of driving the 2.5Low Output thats in my wrangler. The Plan: Drivetrain: Since the truck is 2wd, I am going to swap in a AW4 and NP231J, still not sure on what years AW4 I can use and weither or not I can retain the steering column mounted shifter. Rear axle: It currently has a D35 rear axle so; I'll be swapping in a Ford 8.8 or MJ D44. I may pull a 8.8 from the junkyard that already has 4.10's since they are fairly common. Front axle: I will be swaping in a D30 up front from a late model XJ that way it is high pinion and bigger u-joints to start and I hate the CAD versions of the D30. If I get a 8.8 with 4.10 gears I will also have to regear the front to match. Suspension: I'm thinking about simple swapping the rear leafs to be spring over when I do the axle swap. From what I have read with the 8.8 it will problably lift it about 5 inches. I'm hoping it won't be bigger than that. I will problably run 5.5" Clayon offroad coils in the front and cut them to match ride height in the rear if neccesary. I'll have to get an adjustable track bar and problably make some adjustable short arms. :wrench: I want to clear 33" tires for mild to moderate offroad use with no cutting to the fenders or bed. I am building this jeep for part time DD duty, parts hauling and most importaintly:wheeling. :yes: I plan on taking the drive to Rausch Creek offroad park a couple times in 2012 with this truck. :nuts: :chillin: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted December 9, 2011 Author Share Posted December 9, 2011 Took a couple of pictures this morning before I left: :cheers: I went to the junkyard to grab a throttle cable and I grabbed the chrome grill from this jeep because the one on the MJ has some broken peices where the screws go through into the header pannel: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted December 12, 2011 Author Share Posted December 12, 2011 Not a lot to update on but I swapped the chrome grill I picked up at the junkyard onto the jeep. :nuts: It looks a lot better than the grey one that someone had put back together hack with nails through the header pannel :wall: Anyways I have a AW4 for the 4x4 swap that my friend is selling to me and I just need to go pick it up. I should also have the np231 to swap in by this weekend. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dirteatr717 Posted December 15, 2011 Share Posted December 15, 2011 If anything your most likley going to need new coil spring isolators and or a 1" puck to level out the lift, instead of cutting the coil. Also daily driving on that much lift with short arms isn't exactly a nice ride at all. I did it for a few months and hated it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted December 16, 2011 Author Share Posted December 16, 2011 If anything your most likley going to need new coil spring isolators and or a 1" puck to level out the lift, instead of cutting the coil. Also daily driving on that much lift with short arms isn't exactly a nice ride at all. I did it for a few months and hated it! yeah after doing some research i realized that the rear SOA will problably lift it more than 5" but I'm problably still going to go that route. I don't mind a small rake to the truck so if the 5.5" coils are a little too short then I may just leave it. Also the short arm set up is only going to be temporary, ill problably convert it to a 3 link front later down the road. This is not going to be a full time daily driver, I have a stock 99 cherokee that I drive everyday. I started finishing the primer paint job so it is at least one color for now. Depending on the weather I may finish the primer sunday. I also picked up the AW4 tuesday night and I realized that I have a good NP242 sitting in my basement that I am going to run enstead of a 231. Just need to get the axles and stuff for the lift and axle swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted December 19, 2011 Author Share Posted December 19, 2011 I've been too buisy with school and work to get much done but I managed to do a couple things this week. I gave it a new cap and wires because the old ones looked scary and I had a new set laying around. I'm still going to change out the plugs but I didnt have the time for that. I pulled the tail lights so I could finish the primer on the rear of the bed. Its almost one color now I just have to tape off the driver and passenger door windows and finish the prep there. Also I didnt post a picture yet but I pulled the drop in bed liner and was VERY surprised to see NO RUST. :banana: Being in new england this is a big deal. Also a shot of the interior for good measure. It needs a good cleaning but it should end up decent. I plan on keeping the bench seat. However I'm thinking before I paint it in the spring I'll problably swap to 97+ doors. I want the one peice power windows and I just like the look of them more. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RockMJ Posted December 19, 2011 Share Posted December 19, 2011 I used to spend most of my spare time down at Rausch Creek. I seriously miss wheeling there and the people were great too. I used to judge the RCRocs competition before I moved down to FL so I got to know a lot of good people at the park. Looks like a great start man, welcome! RockMJ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted December 23, 2011 Author Share Posted December 23, 2011 I used to spend most of my spare time down at Rausch Creek. I seriously miss wheeling there and the people were great too. I used to judge the RCRocs competition before I moved down to FL so I got to know a lot of good people at the park. Looks like a great start man, welcome! RockMJ Ive heard great things about the park and even though I'm really not that far away I've never been able to make it there. Part of the reason being that my wheeling jeep is a little too hardcore to make the drive. 1988 YJ: CJ clip and tailgate, 2.5L AX15 trans, flipped D300 t-case w/ 4:1 conversion and twin stick, waggy D44's w/ 4.88 gears, front spool, no rear locker as of now (grenaded it this summer), 35" BFG KM1's. It does great on the trail but getting there is not fun. I can't afford a truck and trailer right now, so thats why I'm building this comanche to be more mild. There is still TONS of fun to be had wheeling on 31-33" tires. A couple recent pics: Now back to the Comanche: I have a line on a set of 32" BFG A/T for a pretty good price I may pick up in a couple days. I also worked out a deal with a buddy who is about to put a D60 and 14 bolt in his TJ. He is selling me all of his front suspension. Its all clayton stuff; long arms, 5.5" coils, and track bar. He is also throwing in a brand new pair of Rancho shocks and coil lift spacers/pucks which I'm not sure on the size. We will see if I end up using the spacers anyways, it depends on how the SOA looks in the rear. Also I am going to temporarily run the shocks because they come with the deal and I'm trying to keep the budget down. Eventually I'll get a pair of Fox with remote reservoirs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted December 29, 2011 Author Share Posted December 29, 2011 Tires: :jump: AW4 and NP242 waiting to be swapped in: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted January 27, 2012 Author Share Posted January 27, 2012 Fixed the powersteering leak today after work and got the grill back on. Then took it for its first legal drive. I know these cellphone pictures suck but I can't find my camera. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guanaco.13 Posted January 28, 2012 Share Posted January 28, 2012 looks good man :cheers: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted January 30, 2012 Author Share Posted January 30, 2012 looks good man :cheers: Thanks dude, I already love driving it around. Installed some Rusty's 3.5" coils over the weekend and mounted the 32" BFG A/T's that I picked up. They rub at full wheel lock but that is something I can live with for now. Obviously this is just enough lift for road driving and not wheeling but I'll be updating the suspension when I convert it to 4x4. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted February 6, 2012 Author Share Posted February 6, 2012 This weekend worked out pretty good. Saturday I got a 8.8 with 3.73 out of the junkyard. Its in really good condition, pretty much just need to weld new spring perches on and run it. Sunday I went to help my friend move is TJ that he is putting a D60 and 14Bolt under and then I pulled his front long arm suspension out, which will be going in the comanche. Pretty much all I need at this point to get things moving is a D30 with 3.73's. I ran the gear ratio numbers friday night and there honestly wasnt a huge difference in road speed vs. rpm with the 3.73 and 4.10 gears with 33" tires. I decided to just go with the 3.73 gear ratio because I can find a HPD30 with those gears a lot easier than 4.10's and I really don't want to re-gear right now. I'll get some pictures up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted February 11, 2012 Author Share Posted February 11, 2012 Finally got my front shocks in to go with the 3.5" coils. They are stock Jeep JK shocks, in case anyone didnt know they work perfect for a XJ/MJ with 3-4" of lift. Now I can finally drive it again. Tomorrow I'm going to the junkyard to pull a transmission cooler line, because mine is leaking pretty good. I'm also going to try and check out a small fuel leak that I noticed. It appears to be coming from the fuel filter, so I'm going to replace it and go from there. I'll try and get some pictures up soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FKreider Posted February 19, 2012 Author Share Posted February 19, 2012 Last weekend I was able to replace that leaking trans. line with the one I got from the junkyard. :cheers: Today I had some free time and the weather was nice so I installed a new fuel filter, since the old one was rusted out so bad that it leaked. New one in and we are good to go! Its funny that the filter was so rusty because the lines and filter mounting bracket arent that bad. :dunno: I intended on replacing a brake line also but since the weather was so nice I finally got around to masking off the windows, handles and mirrors and finishing the primer paint job. At least its one color for now. I think it will be like this for at least a year and then I will do the 97+ swap and give it a nice paint job. I am also getting a quote this week for tubing to make front and rear tube bumpers and sliders. I'm going with for a slight pre-runner look with this MJ. No fiberglass fenders in its future though, new england trails are too tight, we like to bounce off tree's up here. :nuts: I'm still not driving it on a regular basis but after I worked on it today I took it for a ride to the gas station. I like it so far. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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