1989 Pioneer Short Bed

[MJJiM89]

 

This is my 1989 Jeep Comanche Pioneer short bed that I picked up about 15 months ago. I traded a rusty 1966 Bronco for it. It apparently used to belong to a member on here. He told me it was from Maryland and that he bought it off of ebay. It's practically rust free, which is very hard to find in upstate New York. These pictures were taken the day I got her. She needed a new radiator and the front end put back together. I have a great pull-a-part yard nearby that is always chock full of XJs and the occasional MJ, so I took a trip there to get her headed back to road-worthiness. I found a near brand new open radiator for her, so I undertook that conversion. Came off great with some electrical advice from my uncle. She runs great now. Last winter she hauled 5 full cords of firewood to my place without a problem. Here are some of her specs: 4.0 renix, AX15 trans, NP231 case, Dana 30 front, Chrysler 8 1/4 rear SOA, Some kind of Rough Country front lift (an issue for another post), tan bench seat interior, it came with a drop-in bed liner (the one that says Comanche in front) and also a set of Bushwacker pocket flares. 

 

I found a Leer cap for $40 off of Craigslist. It's one that was made for the Comanche, so I couldn't pass up the hour trip for it. Some creative engineering with some 2"x4"s, a few ratchet straps, and I had her mounted to the roof rack of my Ford Escape for the 60 mile ride home. Got a few funny looks for that one, but it didn't budge an inch that whole ride up Rt. 81. Windy day too! I basically wanted it to keep the winter snows out of the bed. Summertime, she'll go topless. I've been gathering parts to get her looking the way she does in my head. A set of bumpers is high on the list of what I'm looking out for right now. I've been getting the interior back up to snuff lately. I found a useable headliner board (needs to be relined), also got an Up Country wood grain dash bezel, a few interior trim parts, and some misc. odds and ends too.

 

 

This was another Craigslist find. It's for a short bed, complete with all brackets, gaskets, and even the bolts. At $75, it was well worth the 215 mile trip to beautiful western New York. He even threw in a pair of lights for an extra $10. When the cap comes off, this hunny is going in. I even took a pencil rubbing of where the mount holes need to be. That'll help get me in the ballpark anyways. That's about it for now. I'll try to keep on top of this as things start taking shape. Thanks for the time and space for her.