JurassicJeep24 Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 So recently I picked up an '89 4x4 with the 4.0 and an AW4 from a friend who used it as a donor for his '88 4x4 4.0 with BA 10/5.The plans for it at the moment are to do a complete tear down of it and start building it for the ground up.Loaded up and ready to go to its new home.Its a little rough around the edges and it currently doesnt have a drivetrain in it but I wanted to save it from going to the scrap yard.This will be my offroad/ expedition type rig so I don't abuse my daily driver and my '95 YJ, that is used as my secondary daily.The day I brought home the MJ i also picked up a '92 XJ 4x4 4.0 with an AW4. This will be used as a complete donor for the MJ. I plan on using the motor, trans/ transfercase, and the front Dana 30 to eliminate the CAD Dana 30. Also the complete interior and engine wiring harness will be used along with the XJ dash. The previous Comanche owner completely mangled the dash and wiring harness when he installed after market lights, radio and speakers.The donor.Both.So far I have removed the dash, wiring harnesses, and front fenders.I have also started working on the floors cutting out the rest and prepping for new panels.Glad to be able to say that i am now a part of the Comanche Club and I look forward to all the insight and knowledge of the people on this forum.
dancome433 Posted December 11, 2014 Posted December 11, 2014 Welcome to the club. Awesome start, definitely have your work cut out for you. Glad you saved it from the crusher though, looks too good to be used as a donor, let alone be junked.
JurassicJeep24 Posted December 11, 2014 Author Posted December 11, 2014 It probably shouldn't have been used as a donor truck but it did give its life to another Comanche, which is actually the inspiration for my build. Here is the "Mud Duck"
Pete M Posted December 13, 2014 Posted December 13, 2014 Jeeps giving their organs for other Jeeps. circle of life. :D
JurassicJeep24 Posted December 15, 2014 Author Posted December 15, 2014 Spent my Monday working on it. Removed the side steps, cleaned out the bed, removed the roll bar, and the rear bumper. The pile of parts
JENSSEN Posted December 16, 2014 Posted December 16, 2014 If you are swapping the blue interior out of the Comanche I would be very interested in the door panels and plastics!!! Sorry to side line your build thread!
JurassicJeep24 Posted December 16, 2014 Author Posted December 16, 2014 No worries. I haven't decided yet if I'm going to keep the blue interior or swap it out for the grey from the Cherokee. If I do I'll let you know.
JurassicJeep24 Posted January 18, 2015 Author Posted January 18, 2015 I haven't had much time to work on the MJ because I have been helping out my friends working on their 88 and 86 Comanches. The guy with the 86 did sell me his entire interior trim panels including the seats brackets. That saves me a bunch of searching at the junkyards. The trim is red but that is nothing a little paint can't fix. Yesterday I finished cutting out the rusted floors in preparation for some new metal and removed the bed. It looks a little naked with most of the body missing.
JurassicJeep24 Posted January 20, 2015 Author Posted January 20, 2015 It warmed up enough today to be able to power wash the frame and engine bay down. I am going to start prepping the frame for a fresh coat of paint and I might end up using that Eastwood internal frame paint too since it is easily accessible. As far as what my plans are for the Comanche: I am aiming for 5.5" to 6" of lift Plan on running Clayton long arms spring over in the rear. Rear will be changed to an 8.8 35" tires and trimmed accordingly Any thoughts and opinions are greatly appreciated.
BlackBeast Posted January 20, 2015 Posted January 20, 2015 What gears??I run 488s with 35s on 8.8 rear...works top speed 65... 456 will do the job and give you a little more highway speed. I used 8 inch coils front and Jaco spacers to adjust works nice with spring adjustment!
JurassicJeep24 Posted January 20, 2015 Author Posted January 20, 2015 I'm going to be running 4.88s. I have been tossing around the idea of just doing Wagoneer 44s front and rear because that is what my friend runs in his Comanche. I just need to start hitting the junkyards to see what I can find. I also plan on using the Acos coil spacers to compensate for winch and bumpers.
JurassicJeep24 Posted January 25, 2015 Author Posted January 25, 2015 Been helping my buddy work on his 86 Comanche. Things might have gotten a little out of hand. I did pick up some 3x6 for the rocker replacement on mine.
JurassicJeep24 Posted January 26, 2015 Author Posted January 26, 2015 Have no fear the 86 is coming together nicely.
JurassicJeep24 Posted February 14, 2015 Author Posted February 14, 2015 Sadly the Lil Comanche project is being put on hold. I was going to attempt to get it finished in time for the Jeep Invasion in Wildwood in June but because of other projects it is being put on the back burner. I have decided to switch gears and get my YJ finished for Jeep Invasion. Plans for that are to make a replica Jurassic Park Jeep with slight modifications, so it won't be 100% screen accurate.
JurassicJeep24 Posted September 7, 2015 Author Posted September 7, 2015 I am slowly starting to pick away at the project again. Engine bay all cleaned up and repainted. gifs upload HP Dana 30 non CAD axle from the donor 92 XJ upload gambar Donor getting labeled and taken apart pic upload Also picked up a set of tail lights locally for $40 that I really needed. jpg images
JurassicJeep24 Posted September 15, 2015 Author Posted September 15, 2015 So I got the motor, transmission, and transfer case pulled from the donor Cherokee. Then I started to look for some Wagoneer 44s to replace the stock axles and I ended up getting a set of Super Duty axles from and 01 F-250. They are a Dana 50 and Sterling 10.50, not the most desirable of axles to do swaps with but they will be perfect for what I am looking to build.
JurassicJeep24 Posted September 15, 2015 Author Posted September 15, 2015 image hosting no sign up image hosting 10mb limit free image uploader forum image hosting
JurassicJeep24 Posted January 28, 2016 Author Posted January 28, 2016 I haven't posted in a while because I have been busy working on some other projects. The plan has changed a little bit for the Comanche, instead of going with the super duty one tons I basically traded for a set of blown waggy 44s that are already set up for the MJ. Now I know ill have to regear the axles but figured its worth it because all the suspension setup is already done. The motor I pulled from the '92 Cherokee is currently sitting on my porch waiting for me to tear into it. Hopefully I will have some pictures to follow shortly.
dragordie Posted February 4, 2016 Posted February 4, 2016 Great progress so far keep the updates coming. I'm converting a 88 2wd Eliminator to 4wd. I have total stripped out my 98 Grand Truggy to transform the Eliminator into a DD crawler.
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