Gamblin Mans Comanche

[MuddFoot]

use the oven.

[agamble]

Exhaust – (Exhaust Manifold Cont'd)

 

I baked the exhaust manifold and it was a stinky process. The fumes filled up the house, I ended up opening all the doors and windows trying to air out the house. I then waited for the last piece of the repair to show up, a new set of brown dog motor mounts. I went with the flex rubber bushings to help reduce cab vibes. I ran these mounts in an XJ I had previously and never had a problem. I found the idle vibes were minimal at first then dissapated as the mounts broke in.

 

Disassembly is straight forward, just like there is more than one way to skin a cat, there is more than one way to prep for a manifold repair. I opted to go with the route of removing all the parts to allow for easy access to install new motor mounts.

-Removed the airbox

-Removed all of the vacuum and electrical connections from the intake manifold, I labeled them all to make for easier installation.

-Pried the accelerator cable from the pivot ball, removed the throttle body (while it was off I cleaned out all the carbon build up), then unbolted the accelerator cable's bracket from the intake and swung to other side of the jeep.

-Labeled and identify all injectors wiring harnesses after you've removed them.

-After depressurizing the fuel rail, removed the four bolts from the fuel rail, and give it a good tug to get the injectors out along with the rail, put off to the side as well.

-Loosened tension on the serpentine belt and removed power steering pump

After that was done, I was preparing to fight with all the intake manifold bolts. The all were barely tighetend and came out with minimal effort. I have found with past experience its easiest to take off the bottom ones first, then top, once removed lift the intake up and out of the engine bay. Now unbolt the exhaust manifld bolts and remove that. I found out why I had a leak, the rear stud did not have the washer to distribute the pressure evenly and the exhaust bolt directly next to it was completely missing. So no amount of tightening was going to seal it up again.

I got caught up in the process and forgot to take pictures until I had installed the drivers side motor mount. (brown dog supplies installation instructions that are very easy to follow.)

 

Clean the mating surface on the block VERY well, you'll be able to see on the block where the old gasket was left and do the same for the intake. Install is the reverse of taking everything out. I replaced all the bolts with new hardware and purchased two new washers, these are a dealer specific part and it was $10.50 for two washers. After installing the exhaust manifold (all bolts just finger tight), its again easiest to install the intake by starting with the bottom bolts to get it lined up. An extra set of hands are extremely helpful, but if you do it solo take your time, be patient and it will fall into place. Once all the bolts are finger tight, make sure to torque in the right sequence and to specs.

 

 

Finish putting everthing back together.

 

 

At this point you would go for a test drive, however when I was attempting to get the EGR tube freed from the old exhaust it had seized, no amount of thread loosener, heat, and torque was breaking it free, I even snapped the O2 sensor when the wrench slipped off the connection. So I am currently waiting for a new O2 sensor and EGR tube. I made a post in the tech section if you are looking for a replacement EGR tube google jeep tube mopar part #33002871.

 

[BlackBeast]

Nice!

[87Warrior]

Great work on the truck. It certainly looks like a refined rig now!

[agamble]

Steering – (1-ton and Double Shear Track Bar)

 

There was a clunk in the front end of the truck that had been present for a long while. After replacing the control arms with a set from a 99-04 WJ, a sway bar (with new bushings) from a V8 ZJ, and inspecting all the components for wear and tear, it was still there. One evening driving across town I hit a pot hole and the death wobbles started, there is nothing more freaky than having your truck wander the road while you hold the steering wheel dead center. After having it occur while driving 65 mph on the highway while being in the middle lane of three lanes of traffic, it was quickly decided to fix the problem. Upon my arrival home I placed an order for the 1-ton steering upgrade from SeriousOffroad (I had the 1-ton steering from JCR on a previous jeep and loved it, however Serious had the same parts but in place of the reamer you can get inserts) and a double sheer track bar from IronRockOffroad.

 

Both instructions are very straight forward, first remove old parts (taking care to retain the mounting hardware for the old track bar mounting bracket).

 

I started with installing the track bar as it was alot easier to access with all the steering components out of the way. Simply mount the new bracket on with the old hardware, then measure the length and install the track bar, keep the nut loose for final adjustments after a test drive.

 

The steering instructions are very simple and direct. The steering knuckles and pitman arm need to be drilled out to 7/8" for the 3/4" inserts to slide into. To drill the knuckles I used a 5/8" bit then stepped up to a 7/8" bit, taking care to keep it centered and not let the bit wander.

 

The knuckles were soft as butter and drilled out in 10 minutes. The pitman arm I knew was going to be harder so I had removed it and mounted it into a bench vice. Well after 30 minutes of drilling burning through my bit and making no progress I opted to take it to a machine shop. After going to 4 different shops I finally located one that was able to drill out the pitman arm. While at the shop I went to put the insert in and it would slide in easily, the machinist says here let me see it, walks to a press and pressed it in, all good i think. I get home and go to pit the tie rod into the pitman arm and crank it down, only to find there's not enough space to thread the castle nut on to put the cotter pin in.

 

After a few email with SeriousOffroad its decided that its best to remove the insert open the hole so the insert slides in by hand. He says he'll mail a new insert, great. After waiting almost two weeks, no insert ever comes. So I revert to plan A, using a dremel I slowly removed material on the inside of the insert until I could get the tie rod to seat flush and snug, taking care to keep it centered so it won't wallow out over time from every day use. Once I am satisfied with the fit out comes the grinder and i slowly grind away material from the top of the pit man arm. Stopping very frequently to see if I cab thread the castle nut on enough to insert the cotter pin. Once the nut was threaded on far enough I finished the install, did a driveway alignment and took it for a test drive.

 

Its been 3 weeks since it was all installed, the clunk is gone, and the steering is better than it was before.

[Kickinmule]

Sweet success.

[agamble]

HIgh Idle - (Butterfly Screw Adjustment)

 

Awhile back I had a bad idle problem, when the truck would idle the RPM needle bounced/surged between 1200-1400 rpm,  constantly, within 1-2 second intervals. In my attempt tp figure out why I started by following everyone of cruiser54's tips for the renix. I refreshed all the grounds, cleaned the throttle body, cleaned (then broke) thus subsequently replaced the iac, tested the tps (was within spec), replaced the O2 sensor, and tightened all of the intake/manifold bolts. At a loss of what else to do, I wrote a post in the Tech Section of the forum, several guys threw out other ideas of what to do and look for. At their suggestions I found that when I had swaped out my valve cover I had placed the elbows in the wrong ports, switched them to the correct one, still high idle. After reading through various jeep forums I kept coing to one last thing to check, the butterfly adjustment screw. Everything that I had read up on said its not to be played with but lost of people do anyways as a quick fix. I went and inspected it and found it like this:

 

Clearly someone has been playing with it, this lead to an inspection of the butterfly gap

 

Upon the advice of another member here, that gap was too large and a gap of .003 was recommend. I read multiple things on how wide the gap should be, in the end I went with the adivce of .003 and the general consensus that only a bit of light should get through. A new sest of feeler gauges were purchased and the screw was adjusted until the .003 feeler gauge could barely slide between the butterfly and the throttle body wall and only a bit of light was peeking through.

 

The screw adjustment was a success, its been about a month and the idle has remained at 600 RPM, regardless of the operating temperature.

[agamble]

Clutch Pedal

 

Two weeks ago I noticed that my clutch pedal was feeling funny, I chalked it up to me just not paying attention to how my clutch normally feels. Well on my drive home from work I depress the clutch pedal to shift from third to fourth when I hear a pop. At which point I cannot get the transmission into gear, which come to find out isn't a bad thing. I quickly pull/coast over to a side street, get out to inspect. No fluid leaks or broken lines, but no matter what I can't get the clutch to engage to shift into gear. I called a buddy for a tow home. Once home I proceeded to check the clutch master cylinder fluid was a dark grey, must be bad I think, swap it out no change. Well maybe its the slave, at this point I super glad I converted to an external, swap that out, still no clutch. I notice that no matter what I do I have maybe a quarter of an inch in throw from the pedal. So I think something must be wrong with the pedal, I pulled it out only to find this.

 

A trip to the pick n' pull is order. Out of the 12 cherokees in the lot one was a standard transmission, I was able to get the pedal. While disassembling the pedal I noticed that my old clutch pedal was missing some parts. First part I noticed is not of great significance, apparently there is a spring that attaches onto the mounting bracket and connects to the pedal, second there is a inner sleeve with two bushing (they look like this)

 

The pedal I pulled out of my truck had one bushing, no wonder it feel really wobbly all the time.

 

With the new pedal in hand I set to wrok of replacing the clutch pedal, (side by side, sorry for the blurryness)

 

Everything was reassembled and the clutch feels much better than before. Having the right parts and pieces makes all the difference.

[Zebvance]

I had the same problem with my set up from serious offroad. The I didnt have enough room to put the pin through with the castle nut. So I just turned the nut upside down and it fit that way....

[agamble]

Did a small upgrade today, when I was in the picknpull the other day removing the clutch pedal from the cherokee, I also grabbed the footwell lights and brackets. The hardest part was finding where the foot well light harness was hidden in my jeep. After good search found them taped up on the harness its self. Once located all that was left was to plug them in.

 

 

And final product

Something simple, but it will be nice to see a bitter better at night .

[agamble]

Empty Post

[agamble]

DIY Bedliner - (Rustoleum)

After painting the Jeep, I saw that the rubber on the bed cap door has rubbed away the paint on the tail gate, the good thing is that it also rubbed away the rust that would form,  as such I wasn't in a big hurry to address the issue. I removed the bed cap as I was moving around some items in the bed of the truck, I noticed some surface rust forming on the bed rails where the cap rests, as well as in certain sections of the bed where the paint had been rubbed away. While the cap was off I decided to take care of the surface rust issue. I followed the rattle can painting tips that I used when painting the body, here is the link to the write up that I followed: http://www.pirate4x4...ee-purty-d.html

The first decision was what bed spray to go with, I am in the middle of my axle rebuild so the more expensive bedliners were not considered. I read mixed reviews about Dupicolor bed spray on adhesion, texture and color. I chose to go with rustoleum truck bed spray, reviews appeared to be much kinder towards this prodcut. As it is always said, prep work it the real determining factor of how well rattle can turns out.  The project was done over a weekend, I used a 200 grit to rough up the paint, yet leave the factory base coat, then smoothed it out with 400 grit. I found that spraying at different distances affected the texture, the further away when spraying, the rougher the texture. I tried to keep the spray distance to about 6", this layed down a textured finish to that of about 180 grit sand paper. When reading about others applying the product, multiple people had problems with the nozzle no longer spraying bed liner, the fix was to hold the can upside down. The can recommends two coats, I ended up putting down three coats. I was able to do the bedrails, entire bed, and top of the tail gate with three cans; holding the cans upside down allowed me to get out the majority of the product.

 

 

 

[agamble]

Steering 2.0 – (C-Rok Steering Repair Kit, Redhead Steering Gear, and Borgeson Intermediate Steering Shaft)

 

About year ago I developed a case of death wobble, initially to fix the issue I swapped out the stock steering and track bar for a 1-ton steering setup, complimented with a double sheer track bar. This seemed to fix the issue for a while. After time went on the death wobble occurred again, very intermittently. . As my commute is mostly surface streets, I could avoid the triggers for the death wobble. After completing the front axle swap, I took the Comanche for a front end alignment. The drive across town was interesting to say the least. Every little bump would initiate death wobble, I found myself decreasing speed after each subsequent event. I was eventually driving 20 m.p.h. and even then I could feel the shimmy of death wobble from small bumps. I thought all new components in the front end would have addressed the issue, so I was hoping that it was really out of alignment.

 

At the off road shop the tech noticed something that had escaped me (always good to have a fresh outside eye). He pointed out a crack running on the inside of the frame right above the sway bar mount. Now in my defense this area was covered in power steering fluid as the box and reservoir leak really bad, dirt, and whatever else found its way there, so it wasn’t very obvious. A few shop rags and some vigorous wiping we found a few other cracks (a second one on the inside of the frame, and two on the outside of the frame, all around the steering gear area). When someone would turn the steering, the whole frame would flex about an 1/8 of an inch. I think we had found my underlying issue. After limping the Comanche home, I cleared away some parts to get better access to the frame and assess the damage.

 

 

Now that I knew the full extent of the damage, time for repairs. First order was addressing the frame, after reading and talking to a few people the consensus was to drill 1/8” stress relief holes at the end of each crack, grove the cracks, then weld them up. Not my frame, but it gives you an idea of what I did on the frame.

 

I ordered the C-Rok Frame Repair Kit to add a bracing system to support the now welded frame. The kit comes with an outer plate, an inner plate to replace aluminum spacer, and steel sleeves to insert into the frame. Install is straight forward and the instructions that are supplied are clear and easy to follow.

 

 

Since the steering gear and reservoir leaked, I ordered replacements. After researching the Durango box upgrade and finding mixed/contradicting/incomplete information and reviews, I ultimately decided to play it safe. I currently sit on 31” tires and don’t plan on going above 32” tires; a stock replacement appeared to be a good option. So my search for a good replacement began, after surfing numerous jeep forums, I repeatedly found reference to Redhead Steering, a company that refurbishes steering gears. I found only good reviews, so I placed an order for a power steering gear box. At this point I thought if I am splashing cash, and replacing all the old parts, why stop, so I made an order for the Borgeson steering shaft replacement. As of right now only the steering gear is in as I needed it in place to mount the C-Rok frame plates. If you look close you can see the inner plate between the gear box and frame. This should prevent any frame flex in the future. 

[Megadan]

Just to answer your question from post 22 about no heater valve and the vacuum control for the door being open.  That's how mine is, as long as the control is to the cool (blue ) side of the controls, no hot air comes through.  My trans tunnel heats up my cab something terrible, but I get nice cool air from my vents.

[agamble]

Just to answer your question from post 22 about no heater valve and the vacuum control for the door being open.  That's how mine is, as long as the control is to the cool (blue ) side of the controls, no hot air comes through.  My trans tunnel heats up my cab something terrible, but I get nice cool air from my vents.

Mine operates along the same lines, as long as the control lever is on cool, air entering the cab is the same as the outside ambient air. I use to have the problem with the trans tunnel heating up the cab. I ended up laying down some dyna mat, significantly reduces the amount of heat coming through the trans tunnel.

[Mattman6]

Bedliner looks good for a rattle can. Let us know how it holds up

[agamble]

Bedliner looks good for a rattle can. Let us know how it holds up

 

As for durability, I would say good, not great. I have hauled a few items in the bed since applying the bedliner. For the most part it has held up great, the only time it was scuffing and being scrapped off was when I was hauling a couple axles in the bed. The one saving grace for that is touch ups are super easy.

[agamble]

Steering 2.0 Cont. – (C-Rok Steering Repair Kit, Redhead Steering Gear, and Borgeson Intermediate Steering Shaft)

 

Installed the Borgeson intermediate shaft. 

 

Multiple posts reference to the shaft rusting if you don’t paint it. I thought about painting it black, in the end I just could cover up the silver, so I went with a clear paint. In the installation instructions to connect the shaft to the steering gear spindle, you are supposed to mark where the socket screw makes contact, remove the shaft, then cut a groove for this screw to clamp into. When I installed the shaft I noticed that the screw was able to clamp down on the recessed area of the spindle (smooth section without any splines) giving it plenty of bite. To mount it to the steering column, there are two mounting screws, one required that a hole be drilled into the side of the steering column shaft, the other you tighten the screw down against the steering column shaft to secure it. Without either the shaft would readily slip off, when I tightened the one it was quite secure in place. As I was not able to get a drill into position, and I didn’t really want to tear the column out to drill a hole, I felt if one held secure, both with be just fine. I read of a lot jeepers omitting the drilling and using both screws to clamp it into place without any issues. So for now I will keep an eye on it and it appears to be working loose I end up drilling a hole like stated.

 

 

I was also able to install the pump and hoses for the power steering, all that remains it to fill and bleed the system.

[maderas]

Did a small upgrade today, when I was in the picknpull the other day removing the clutch pedal from the cherokee, I also grabbed the footwell lights and brackets. The hardest part was finding where the foot well light harness was hidden in my jeep. After good search found them taped up on the harness its self. Once located all that was left was to plug them in.

 

 

And final product

Something simple, but it will be nice to see a bitter better at night .

 

 

 

 

 

a question, this light foot on together with the upper door light ...

I could help with better picture to see where you start wiring for light feet and identify the color of cables,

I'm new to cc.com I have a Comanche 89 4.0 4x4,,, thanks

[agamble]

 

Did a small upgrade today, when I was in the picknpull the other day removing the clutch pedal from the cherokee, I also grabbed the footwell lights and brackets. The hardest part was finding where the foot well light harness was hidden in my jeep. After good search found them taped up on the harness its self. Once located all that was left was to plug them in.

 

 

And final product

Something simple, but it will be nice to see a bitter better at night .

 

 

 

 

 

a question, this light foot on together with the upper door light ...

I could help with better picture to see where you start wiring for light feet and identify the color of cables,

I'm new to cc.com I have a Comanche 89 4.0 4x4,,, thanks

 

 

The wiring and connector are already there, They wires are pink and black if memory serves correctly. This thread has much more detail: http://comancheclub.com/topic/22152-dome-lights/

[agamble]

Since upgrading the steering to the 1-ton setup, I noticed that I had the talked about dead spot in the steering. Turning the wheel left and right, I would have almost an inch of play either direction where nothing would occur while driving. At first I simply ignored it/tried to adapt my driving around it. As time progressed, I determined that it was no an acceptable long term solution to the issue. After a number of internet searches I came across "The Cure", a product from RuffStuff Specialties. For a price tag of $20, this plastic part is placed on the face of the Y-link tie rod. Once inserted, it prevents the drag link from rolling forward and backwards, thus eliminating the dead spot in the steering.

 

 

 

Going in I was a bit skeptical, but figured for $20 what do I have to lose. After a quick install, I can say that the steering is night and day difference. Dead spot is gone, steering has been much more responsive. Does it drive like a sports car......no, but as far as jeeps go, it drives great.

 

The only other work I have had to perform, was to replace a few gauge cluster bulbs that had burnt out. While I had the gauge cluster out, I took the opportunity to freshen up the back of the bezel to brighten the dash lights at night.

I hit it with some pearl white (forgot to get a post paint picture), something that reflects light well, then reinstalled. 

[agamble]

I had been wanting to put some rocker guards on the comanche since its initially bought it. But there were not many people manufacturing rocker guards for the comanche and those that did were directed toward the long wheel base version. I had been playing with the idea of attempting to fabric a pair on my own, or even having a set fabricated locally. When read that krustyballer was selling rocker guards for the short wheel base I jumped at the opportunity and purchased a set. I don't plan on any extreme offroading, just some weekend warrior trips. Having that in mind I liked that the rocker guards provided good protection underneath, as well as the step. The step was a big plus as it will keep the doors and body away from the rocks bit more and protect the doors from being doored by others in parking lots as people get in and out of their vehicles. 

 

The rocker guards come bare metal. First, I applied two coats of a rust inhibitor to the bare metal, followed by two coats of Rust-oleum paint and primer in one. Then to finish, I applied two coats of Rust-oleum Appliance Epoxy.

Epoxy Appliance was selected as it is moisture resistant, which should really help prevent rusting in the future.

 

To mount the rocker guards, I debated on using nutserts as I had seen others on this site use and recommend, or use self tappers. After much reading on the web of the pros and cons between the two and internal debate, I went with the self tappers. I had had a lot of success with this mounting hardware on my cherokee and also concluded if one strips or pulls out it will not be that hard to enlarge the holes to use nutserts. I was able to find a lawn and garden retailer online that sold 3/8-16  x 1 in. bolts for 67 cents a bolt. I purchased 20, extras are always good to have as some times the bolt threads won't cut. With my mounting hardware selected, I followed/repeated the mounting procedure that I had followed when mounting some JCROffroad rocker guards on my cherokee ( http://www.jcroffroad.com/install_guides/SL_CL_XJ_ZJ_WJ_KK_KJ%20REV%202016.04.15.pdf). Mounting took me about 40 mintutes per rocker guard, that includes marking and drilling the pilot holes.