brothernature Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Hey everyone, I've been lurking for a while but after today, I had a reason to register. I just purchased this 1986 Comanche 4x4 2.5L, 5 speed, for $1700.00. It seems to be in decent shape overall and it sounded good. The things I want to take care of right away, assuming nothing else comes up, are: Broken seat belt buckles Passenger's side mirror is held on by electrical tape Driver's side door does not lock Is there a site for ordering parts y'all would recommend? Anything else I should look into before driving it heavily? Thanks for all the help, this forum was great to read before buying. I almost ended up paying $3000 for an 86 with the 2.8L, glad I held out. I know the 2.5 isn't that great but I think it will be for my purposes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jimoshel Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Welcome. That is one nice looking truck. :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91Pioneer Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 That's a very solid truck, good find! Best places I've found to find parts so far are eBay, local junkyards, car-part.com and the classifieds here. Between them you can find just about anything (OK no rear bumpers LOL). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jeep Driver Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 The mirror can be found new or used for Cherokee 84-96 Take off your door panel and figure out what broke, maybe a clip or the cylinder.......all parts are replaceable........new. Seat belts will be JY only, tan will be hard to find......just keep an eye out. Stick around, answers will come as you need them and all parts can be found. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HughMann Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 The mirror can be found new or used for Cherokee 84-96 Take off your door panel and figure out what broke, maybe a clip or the cylinder.......all parts are replaceable........new. Seat belts will be JY only, tan will be hard to find......just keep an eye out. Stick around, answers will come as you need them and all parts can be found. Will XJ seat belts not work? edit: I meant for bucket seats. I would understand about the bench seat seat belts being MJ only.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Which part of the seat belt doesn't work? The short (female) end? The break because there's a flat steel spring clip inside that breaks. As far as I know that can't be repaired, so the fix is another seat belt. XJ belts work just as well as MJ. I think that short, inner section of the belt is the same length for both the XJ and the MJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brothernature Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Thanks everyone. I ordered a replacement mirror off Ebay and also found a set of seat belts (in black, but I'll keep an eye out for tan). The female ends were all broken, not sure how it happened to all of them. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogmorgo Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 I get a fair amount of parts from RockAuto.com. The prices are good, but the shipping can be murder sometimes. Case in point, I just got in some tranny line connectors. Purchase price for two units was $12. I paid $18 in shipping. But then again I'm shipping between countries, so that drives things up a bit. As I'm sure you already know, most of the parts from the doors forward are identical to the 4-door XJ Cherokee from similar years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bornindesert Posted March 26, 2014 Share Posted March 26, 2014 Ditto on RockAuto - good shipping if you can combine multiple items from a single location and apply their discount (that you get when you place orders). Sweet truck - what's underneath the Comanche emblem? XLS? I've always owned 4.0L XJ's/MJ's, but decided to build a 2.5L MJ 4x4 for a shop truck and hoping it's going to be good on gas. Mine also has a 4 spd and I wish it had a 5 spd. I think it's great that there's still an economical option for small/mid size trucks that are USA built. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brothernature Posted March 26, 2014 Author Share Posted March 26, 2014 Sweet truck - what's underneath the Comanche emblem? XLS? "Comanche X". Is there a good way to know what it looked like coming out of the factory? I think both bumpers were replaced. Thanks for the site recommendations. I just drove it home. Hopefully I can get it registered by the end of the week and then take it for a spin this weekend. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogmorgo Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 There's often a factory build sheet tucked away behind door panels or under seats which would list all the options it came with. You may also get lucky and Chrysler has one on record they'd send you if you emailed them your VIN, although with an '86 that's unlikely. Not all of AMC's records made it to Chrysler, if they even made it onto AMC's record. Your front bumper looks to be a stock XJ/MJ bumper. Or at least the end cap is. It's really hard to tell from the side. The back is a Fey, a common universal aftermarket step bumper for small trucks. I think the X package had a chance of coming with chrome bumpers, but given the absence of chrome door handles or mirrors, I'd say that's not the case with yours. The canopy also looks a little bit off. It seems a little vertically challenged, the front of the canopy doesn't quite seem to match the profile of the rear of the cab, and it looks a little long for the bed. But that could just be me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brothernature Posted March 27, 2014 Author Share Posted March 27, 2014 There's often a factory build sheet tucked away behind door panels or under seats which would list all the options it came with. You may also get lucky and Chrysler has one on record they'd send you if you emailed them your VIN, although with an '86 that's unlikely. Not all of AMC's records made it to Chrysler, if they even made it onto AMC's record. Your front bumper looks to be a stock XJ/MJ bumper. Or at least the end cap is. It's really hard to tell from the side. The back is a Fey, a common universal aftermarket step bumper for small trucks. I think the X package had a chance of coming with chrome bumpers, but given the absence of chrome door handles or mirrors, I'd say that's not the case with yours. The canopy also looks a little bit off. It seems a little vertically challenged, the front of the canopy doesn't quite seem to match the profile of the rear of the cab, and it looks a little long for the bed. But that could just be me. Thanks. I wouldn't be surprised about the canopy, it doesn't have the best fit and there is a Bronco emblem on it. Here is another photo from the front. I'll try and get some better photos this weekend when I replace the side mirror and seat belts. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gogmorgo Posted March 27, 2014 Share Posted March 27, 2014 Well waddaya know, that is a chrome front bumper. And grill. :thumbsup: Whether the front bumper is original or not is anyone's guess, but it is a stock bumper. That's a good looking truck you've got there. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now