88eliminator Posted March 2, 2016 Share Posted March 2, 2016 Hello Everyone, I have an 1988 Jeep Comanche Eliminator 2WD 4.0, with 88,000 miles on it. I got the truck when it had 76,000 miles and I have owned it for about two years now and finally decided to make a forum about everything I have done to it so far. I want to start off by how I got it. My Grandma bought the truck brand new in 1988 in Arizona. She then moved to Wyoming for about 10 years and then moved to Utah and she gave me the truck when I helped her move from Wyoming to Utah. It took a couple years for her to give it to me because she was still driving it at the time. She kept the truck in perfect condition and was always garage kept. My dad and I drove to Utah in 2014 to pick the truck up and bring it to California. Ps: She also had the camper shell on the whole time she owned it. Here is the truck in Utah when we went to go pick it up. That is the short story of how I got my first comanche. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 Here is when I first brought the Jeep home. Here is the floor with no rust. It also looks the same on the other side. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 I finally took the camper shell off for the first time in 26 years. the in side of the bed was way to clean to put dirt bikes in and scratch it all up so I decided to put Rhino Line in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 The first major upgrade that my dad and I did was to try and improve the brake system so that they would stop over heating. I don't really have too many photos of what we did but I can explain. I also can take photos if someone wants me too. We decided to go with the 2000 WJ brake booster upgrade with deleting the height sensing proportioning valve. I replaced the proportioning valve with a 96 XJ valve. Everything went very well and all the forums about doing the upgrade where very helpful. Here is a photo of the booster and master cylinder that we put on. I had to make new brake lines that go to the master cylinder and also I had to remove the wiper fluid bottle. We also changed, Brake lines, rear brake cylinders, Rear Brake shoes, Brake calipers, Rotors and pads. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 The next upgrade was to get rid of the old rear bumper and make make the DIY JCR rear bumper for the truck. I got my cousin who is a welder and he was more than happy to help me weld up my bumper. Here is the Bumper right out of the box. We bent all the sides as the directions showed and tacked it all up. Now it starts to look like a bumper. He then started to weld up the whole bumper with his clean welds. Here is bumper all welded up on the truck. I decided to keep the welds and not grind all them smooth. Now for paint. Here is the final result after paint. I wanted to have the bumper powder-coated black but I was running out of time before I headed off to college in less than two weeks. So what I did was rattle caned the whole thing with dupli-color semi gloss black. Not sure how many layers I put on but i'm not fully satisfied on the outcome but it works for me. The paint flakes off really easily but its very easy to touch up. The best part about it is that it only look 4 cans to paint the whole bumper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 A couple of days before I headed off to Humboldt State University I knew that the moisture up north is pretty bad so I got the jeep kinda prepared by fixing some of the rust on the rear end. All the rust is mainly surface rust but I just rattle caned everything that had rust on it because I will fix some of the rust later when I planned on lifting it. Also I plan on getting rid of the D35 in the future when I have time to replace it. Before with all the rust. Also the leaf springs are all rusted as well. After when I just rattle caned everything. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 2, 2016 Author Share Posted March 2, 2016 I moved up to Humboldt so that I can start my first year at HSU and the jeep is loving it. Here are some of the beautiful views I get to go to up here. Here is the Jeep at a local OHV park playing around in the dirt and doing some stock flex action. As I moved up to school I had to put all of my modifications on hold until I went back home for winter break. I planed on lifting the jeep 3.5" and put some 31" tires on it. these where my summer plans but as I needed to drive 5 hours back home the jeep was showing that everything was getting old and it was starting to get un safe. So my plans for lifting it was set to happen over winter break. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Finally winter break came and I got to come home to a brand new set of Double Standard Method Race Wheels. Specs are 15x8 3.5 offset. I was worried about how much the rim will stick out of the side of the fender just because I read forums that say that you should stay close to the OEM offset wheel. Here is how much the rim sticked out. Here is how much the back sticked out. After test fitting I then went and put on some 31x10.5r15 BFGoodrich Ko2 all-terrain tires. Here are the tires and Wheels mounted. I couldn't drive the truck while it was like this because the fronts would rub way to much. So I had to take the front fenders off so that I could just drive it around while I wait for my lift to come in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
91Pioneer Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 That is such an incredibly sweet stock truck, it's a shame to see it get modified. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Megadan Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Nothing he has done so far cannot be undone easily. It definitely is a sweet truck. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MJCARENA Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Looking good. Hope you saved the rear bumper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Looking good. Hope you saved the rear bumper. Yup I did save it Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 I decided to put a 3.5" lift on the jeep. I came time to replace the suspension components and I wanted to put a little lift on so it could fit the bigger tires. I also always loved the look of lifted comanches. In the front Rubicon Express 3.5" coils JKS adjustable track bar JKS adjustable upper and lower control arms JKS sway bar end-links Bilstien 5100 shocks Longer breaded brake lines In the rear I used Rubicon Express add a leaf Energy suspension poly bushings JKS 1" lift shackles Bilstien 5100 shocks Longer breaded brake line Here is the front being put on. Here is just the front with the 3.5" lift. The back is still stock. Lifting the back of the jeep. Here is the end result of the lift. I am very satisfied on how the jeep turned out. The only downside is that we ended up getting defective JKS lower control arms which make a pretty bad clunking sound when every going over bumps. We are going to replace them with fixed rough country lower control arms in about two weeks from now. Other than the clunk the jeep feels way better and handles all the bumps very well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Here are some photos of the jeep when I was heading back to school after winter break. Took a small pit stop to test out the new tires and suspension on the way back. enjoying the OHV park. Here is one of my favorite picture that I got of the jeep while exploring in Humboldt. I am very happy on how the jeep looks and it puts a smile on my face everyday. Now I need to wait till spring break to put on the new lower control arms so the clunk goes away. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dragordie Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Wow that's one clean low mileage 88 Eliminator you have 88eliminator. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
shelbyluvv Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 Good looking truck! A 4wd swap, front bumper and some sliders would finish it off nicely! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 3, 2016 Author Share Posted March 3, 2016 Good looking truck! A 4wd swap, front bumper and some sliders would finish it off nicely! yup these are my future plans for the jeep. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikekaz1 Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 very nice! ive never seen a front bumper with the molding like that before! I actually like it... id buy that factory rear bumper from you if I wasn't 3000 miles away. ive been on the hunt for a chrome rear factory bumper Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikekaz1 Posted March 3, 2016 Share Posted March 3, 2016 btw your grammas bad @$$! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mattman6 Posted March 4, 2016 Share Posted March 4, 2016 Wow awesome looking MJ! Inspiration for sure! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Spring brake finally came so I could fix this bad clunk that I was experiencing. I decided to put non adjustable lower control arms on because I figured I really don't need them for what i'm using the jeep for. I got Rough Country fixed lower control arms for only $100 on amazon and I could beat that price. Here are the new arms on the truck. Here is another view of the arms. The arms 100% fixed my clunk and I couldn't be more satisfied on how the jeep drives. These where the newer JKS arms that I replace them with the RC arms. The reason for my clunk was that there was movement in side the adjuster part which was allowing a load clunk noise when ever going over bumps. both of these arms together where around $400 and I was very un happy that they started clunking sense they where new. I am going to warranty them and hopefully get my money back. I am a very happy person now that my jeep is not clunking anymore. Now I can appreciate the ride quality of the lift. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
88eliminator Posted March 17, 2016 Author Share Posted March 17, 2016 Here are some more pictures of the jeep flexing. It tucks 31s very nicely. Here is some front flex with the sway bar still connected. I haven't tried to flex yet with the sway bar disconnected. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mikekaz1 Posted March 18, 2016 Share Posted March 18, 2016 very nice. I have a clunk somewhere in my front end, I'm suspecting its somewhere in the arms also Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ComancheKid45 Posted March 19, 2016 Share Posted March 19, 2016 Great job so far! 3-4" of lift and 31s really pops a Comanches looks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Seegeer Posted March 21, 2016 Share Posted March 21, 2016 Ill buy the rear bumper off ya! lol.... Your MJ is looking really good indeed. Very nice! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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