1988 Jeep Comanche Aka The Penny Sniffer ,pic Heavy

[Zebvance]

Just started reading your build and you did some great work. I lifted mine and stuck the 8.8 under and rolled it outside the past two years and am now getting ready to start back up and you've given me a lot to think about doing. Props on tge build. Can't wait to see the 4.7. Might have to do with the 4.0 h.o I have.

Thanks a lot and stay on track with your goals!

[Zebvance]

Got some work done on the Comanche this week and man it was HOT!

Fixed the TRE on the drag link. I had to cut it off and get a new one one and grind down the pit man arm some to get the castle nut down enough to slip a cotter pin in it. So Steering is 100% done and safe to drive.

Also finally got all the hardware to bolt the drive shaft up, so I did that. Its been almost 3 years since I have had front and rear matching gear sets. so I have not had 4wd for that long. I took it down the street and put it in to 4wd and it worked great!!!!!! That front locker made a world of difference too.

In a couple weeks Ill get it over to a Offroad shop here in town and they are going to align it, adjust the long arms for correct pinion angle, dial in the drag link and the sway bar links for me while there at it along with grease everything up. This is next to impossible to do in my drive way with out a jack big enough for the truck, it would be cake if I had access to a lift. The shop is going to charge me $160, which I feel Is a fair price.

After that I still have to do the following which I will try to do some of it before it gets dropped off at the shop...

Electrical:
-Adjust TPS to factory recommendation (I believe its too advanced and I get some back firing from time to time. )
-Left headlight sometimes works some times doesn't. (bad ground?)
-Rear right tail light not working (could just be a bulb)
-Install NSS to get reverse lights working again
-diagnose and fix why half of Light bars are working (bad grounds/Fuse blocks most likely)
-Remove lights in rear bumper and install replacement LED lights

Other:
-Remove headliner ( its falling)
-Install Rear locker

I hope to have most of this done so I can enjoy the truck at the deer lease and down at Matagorda beach this winter. Its hard to get motivation to get out and work on it when It is 100+ degrees though....

[1989 comanche mj]

I am running the same tires and tire size on 15x10 wheels.  But yours look taller, are they 8 inch wheels?  What is the backspacing?  I tried to read the wheel part number in the pics but couldn't.  I have 5.5 lift with bushwacker cut out flares, 456 gears, the explorer rear, ax15.

[Zebvance]

Yea mine are 8 inch wheels. Didnt get 10 inch cause I was worried about popping a bead on the trail while at low PSI. I don't remember what the backspacing was. But I do have 2 inch wheel spacers. I also have 9.25" of lift. 

[Zebvance]

got some more work done on the comanche over the weekend and last night.

 

-Adjusted TPS

Runs alot better but It does still bog down and back fire a little when in 4x4.

 

-pulled the headliner that was falling down and found a date (1990) on what looks to be a after market roof panel. I guess this thing had a new roof put on it at some time before it got laid over, now it needs another new roof lol. 

 

 

Last night I got all the light bars back working. One had a blown fuse, the other a bad switch, and the other a loose connection. 

 

 

Now for the bad news. When I went to go pull the switch panel out I had to pull the gear shift down to get to the screw that holds the panel to the dash. Well after trouble shooting some switches I decided that I needed a test probe and hopped out of the truck headed to the store to get one..... 10 mins later I get a call from my wife that the truck rolled down the drive way and into my brother-in-laws car. BONE HEAD MOVE! I forgot to put the truck back in park when I got out of it...... SO now I have to fix his car. A big expense that could of be avoided if I was paying attention and not in such of a hurry. 

 

Here is a picture of his car. The back corner of the bumper ran into his hatch, no damage to the Comanche except a scuff on the bumper and a cracked tail light....

 

 

 

Never the less I'm not going to cry over spilled milk. Need to keep the momentum going on the truck so I can use it for the hunting season. Opening weekend for dove is closing in quick.

 

Tonight I will trouble shoot and install new headlight bulbs.

 

Still to do:

-install new NSS to get brake lights/revers lights working consistently again.

-remove old rear bumper lights/install new LED ones

-Fix headlights

-install rear locker

-get long arms in correct alignment (dropping it off Thursday)

[Zebvance]

Replaced the head lights last night and a turn signal socket that was intermittent. I now have both low beam and high beams now unlike before. Plus those old bulbs were as bright as candles.... Still need to adjust the head lights down cause with lifting it they are pointing pretty high now. Ran out of time last night though. The list is getting smaller. Not sure what I'm going to tackle next, the NSS or the rear bumper lights. 

 

 

 

Still to do:
-install new NSS to get brake lights/revers lights working consistently again.
-remove old rear bumper lights/install new LED ones
-install rear locker
-get long arms in correct alignment (dropping it off Thursday)

 

 

 

[Zebvance]

Empty Post

[Zebvance]

Sunday I got up and took the truck to lowes for a few things and just drove it around a bit.  Got some good pictures of it. Everything always looks better in the rain, bad paint jobs don't look near as bad lol.

I also noticed I have a decent fuel leak at the in line fuel filter. Once it stops raining I button that up.

Things left to do:
Fix fuel leak
Install rear bumper lights
Install rear locker
Install NSS

[Zebvance]

Had some fun with the fork lift over the weekend. Double checking brake line and driveshaft length and clearances. The forks on the fork lift were 36" off the ground for the front and I forgot to measure the back, but they were about the same, maybe a little more.  Also measured for bump stops, I am thinking about doing some fender flares and and maybe looking at 37s in the future. Does anybody know of good options for adjustable bump stops? Some that I can set to correct length now and still used with some adjustment after 37's are one?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Zebvance]

Well the Comanche was suppose to get towed down to the coast for the rest of the year this weekend but it didn't work out. So going to try again this weekend and hopefully get some time on the beach with it. Friday though, I was able to install the new rear LEDs to replace the old crappy filament fog lights. They look kinda funny because they are so small but they are the only ones that I could find that would fit in the existing light boxes I made into the bumper. They put out a good bit of light to assist in recovery. Much more than the previous ones. 

[Zebvance]

well this happened today! :)

[Zebvance]

The weekend went fairly successful. The Comanche is now at its new home for the winter, 15 miles from the beach and duck hunting spots. Hopefully I get some good use out of her over the winter. Burned about a whole tank of gas on the beach over the weekend. It was great to have the ole girl in 4x4 again. The baja claws seemed to walk through all the soft sand and the front locker made a big difference. The truck defiantly broke a few necks on the beach and got quite a few complements on it at the little town gas station.

[Zebvance]

Updating this thread. Sorry to say this old girl got sold about 2 years ago. Rust was getting to bad. Ended up letting go of it not running, needed busted brake lines fix and a busted transmission line. Gas had also gone bad in the the tank. Just got to be too much and life got too busy. Sold it in a few hours for 2700 bucks I think. Just wanted to be done with it. I would love to see it if its still around. Sold it to a guy from the Galveston TX area and said it was going to a deer lease.