Automan2164 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 http://www.roadandtrack.com/car-culture/a27352/jeep-comanche-regular-car-reviews/ The American Motors Corporation was breathing though a cocktail straw in 1985. They had two ways to tread water. One, the Eagle Premier, a four-door Honda Accord cover band with Renault on backup vocals and bass guitar. Two, the Jeep MJ Comanche, an all-American in-house power ballad intended to blast the Toyota Pickup and its bed full of Ska Paradise Orchestra members all the way back to Tokyo. The MJ Comanche pickup was carved from the XJ Cherokee SUV. That's fine, but the XJ Cherokee was a monocoque-unibody car, meaning the frame and body were all one chunk of metal. Every bit of the XJ was structurally integral to everything else. If you cut it down behind the B-pillar to make a pickup bed, what you're left with is a floppy butt that wants to break off and live on its own. Most pickups (especially in the 80s) were body-on-frame. You could make the body any shape you wanted because the body didn't hold the car together; the underlying frame did. How did AMC and later Chrysler make a truck out of an SUV? They pressed a frame into the back of the carved-out unibody. That way, the rear of the vehicle was reinforced to handle the openness and roofless-ness of a pickup. What resulted was a super-strong and super-rigid small pickup with an optional 4.0-liter straight-six engine and a five-speed transmission driving the rear wheels only. The Jeep Comanche was one of the best-handling American pickups of its day. More from RCR on R&T 13 articles The Absurd Spectacle of Noise and Numbers That Is... How the Specter of Bad Luck Shadows You in Every... The BMW M Coupe Is a Bulldog That Will Transform... The Toyota Supra Runs on Equal Parts Hype and... Even today, most body-on-frame trucks get sloppy when you try to whip them around corners as if they are cars. That's because the "body" of the bed and the body of the cab are two different masses. They move separately, all wobbling around like a train of children holding hands while on a field trip to the Chicago Art Museum. The MJs bed is connected by the trailing end of the cab's body and by the implanted frame. The whole vehicle moves as one. You forget that there is a bed behind you unless you look. Under the hood of 1991 and after MJs is the AMC 4.0-liter reverse-flow straight-six. The only difference is the Renix EFI from AMC was replaced with Mopar injection, bringing the horsepower up to 190 from the original 170. The one odd thing about the MJ's I6 is that the clutch-driven fan is not mounted to the water pump like most plants. The clutch-fan assembly sits alone, driven from a separate pulley, offset. This is to make room for an auxiliary electric fan for the radiator. The newly reworked motor combined with the stiff frame turned the Jeep Comanche into one of the best-handling American pickups of its day—MJs are still contenders today with enthusiasts who want a pickup and a Nissan S13. In the late 80s, Chrysler was able to use the Jeep MJ to compete in SCCA Sporttruck races. SCCA rules allowed for variations in engine displacement and configuration. The long torque band of the I6 gave the MJ the ability to overtake daringly and the ultra-stiff rear kept the truck in line to hold onto leads in corners. Watch as two MJs power past the lead Toyota Pickup on the last lap of this SCCA race and maintain position for the win. Also watch the Toyota wobble to try to take it back and sail off into the grass. In the following video, you'll see what is possible when you take the already-stiff frame of the MJ and outfit the truck for autocross and backroad shenanigans. Out of all the mini trucks in existence, the Jeep Comanche is the only one that still looks normal when lowered and also the only truck that can take advantage of different steering and ride geometry. For those of you who can't watch the video right now, here is a long list of all the modifications the owner of this 1991 MJ made. This is how you make an old Jeep into a hoontastic autocross weapon. Brakes: -1996 Cherokee dual-diaphragm brake booster and master cylinder -Wilwood proportioning valve with adjustable rear-brake bias -NiCopp brake lines -2004 Grand Cherokee (wj) brake rotors and calipers (rotors are 1-inch larger than stock, and calipers are dual-piston instead of single) -carbon /ceramic brake pads Suspension: -modified front axle for lower clearance. -lowered the control-arm mounts on the axle by 2.5 inches -V8 ZJ Grand Cherokee springs (which have heavier spring rates) cut to shorter height -Kyb monomax shocks from a 2wd F-150 -larger sway bar -adjustable ball joints to give the wheels about one degree of camber -modified Rusty's offroad/track bar bracket -homemade adjustable track bar (with bend to clear the oil pan) -TJ wrangler pitman arm -stock drag link -Jeep ZJ grand Cherokee tie rod -polyurethane bushings on everything -For now, the rear suspension is just a 2-inch lowering block and a shorter leaf shackle. Will eventually be a custom leaf pack and have a Mustang 8.8 with a limited-slip differential and disc brakes. Driveline: -rebuilt Dana 35 rear end -Wilwood clutch master cylinder with braided stainless-steel clutch line. -short-throw shifter -2003/2004 Mustang Cobra deep-dish wheels (17x9 front 17x10.5 rear) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88whitemanche Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Bookmarked!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Automan2164 Posted November 17, 2015 Author Share Posted November 17, 2015 And they also have the test drive video. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blue88Comanche Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 awesome! :thumbsup: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HOrnbrod Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Nice - I like it! I know it's a work in progress, but it sure could use a rear sway bar to keep the rear end flatter........ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
87Warrior Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Sweet! Nice find. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88whitemanche Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 By watching the vid I've recognized a few things like the steering wheel, the custom short shifter, the custom shift knob.... Isn't this truck this guys build??? http://comancheclub.com/topic/48633-track-rated-comanche/?do=findComment&comment=496293 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 The interior shot sure does seem like it doesn't it. I'm surprised he didn't do anything to the engine. Not even a Cold Air Intake... With the way that thing is set up it would be a killer with a stroker in it. Anyway, that read was great! always love reading snippets about the MJ. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MancheKid86 Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 By watching the vid I've recognized a few things like the steering wheel, the custom short shifter, the custom shift knob.... Isn't this truck this guys build??? http://comancheclub.com/topic/48633-track-rated-comanche/?do=findComment&comment=496293 sure is! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted November 17, 2015 Share Posted November 17, 2015 Awesome video. The truck is really well done, and the owner seems like a pretty cool guy too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeptruck636 Posted November 18, 2015 Share Posted November 18, 2015 By watching the vid I've recognized a few things like the steering wheel, the custom short shifter, the custom shift knob.... Isn't this truck this guys build??? http://comancheclub.com/topic/48633-track-rated-comanche/?do=findComment&comment=496293 Yes that is me. Nice - I like it! I know it's a work in progress, but it sure could use a rear sway bar to keep the rear end flatter........ A rear sway bar is already sitting in my garage. It will be installed with the new axle. Hopefully over the winter. The interior shot sure does seem like it doesn't it. I'm surprised he didn't do anything to the engine. Not even a Cold Air Intake... With the way that thing is set up it would be a killer with a stroker in it. That's all to come. I figured I should make it stop fast before it goes fast. Once the suspension is done and the rear has disc brakes. I'll start on the motor. I just can't decide on a stroker or turbo. Awesome video. The truck is really well done, and the owner seems like a pretty cool guy too. Thanks a lot. I'm glad so many people liked it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeeptruck636 Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 All I can say is WOW! After 2 days the video has over 40,000 views and people seem to like it. Mr. Regular and I were talking about how the video could start a comment war, and be disliked, because it's a lowered Jeep. I have been a Jeep guy ever since I was born, and if it was a Jeep, it had to be lifted. I loved lifted trucks and Jeeps, My first car was a 1974 K10 with 10 inches of lift and 38's. Because of this I know the Jeep/off road crowd can be very tough with lowered cars, let alone a Jeep. Mr. Regular and I have been talking for a little while about doing a review, and being an introvert who doesn't like a lot of attention, I really thought about not doing it. I still don't know what made me change my mind. But now I'm glad I did. Sure there's some negative comments and probably a lot more to come, but the thing that surprised me is how random people would stand up for the Comanche, and back it up. I was definitely not expecting that. Also people would talk about Comanche stories from the past, and how they wanted to buy one, and even one comment was about how they didn't even know a Comanche existed until they saw the video. I think that is awesome. Comanches and older Cherokees are slowly fading away (the local junk yards are even becoming scarce), and I would hope that buy doing the article it sparks some interest in some people to go out and get one, and enjoy one and preserve it before there gone. Sure mine isn't the "normal" thing to do, but that's what makes Jeeps and cars so great, you can make them your own, and if someone wanted to build something but wasn't sure if someone else would like it, go for it because you will never know if you don't try. I invite everyone to check out the video and leave a comment and a like, or dislike, it's up to you. Thanks to Comanche Club for a lot of ideas for the build and the knowledgeable people on here. Here is my first car, and first Jeep. Also my 89 Dakota is hiding behind the Chevy. Yeah I had a car buying problem when I turned 16... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted November 19, 2015 Share Posted November 19, 2015 VERY NICE, My buddy has a GMC like that set up the same way. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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