bval Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Howdy, folks. I bought @Usamedic's 1987 Comanche Chief overlander a few weeks ago. I had an epic time driving it back home from Northern California all the way to East Nashville, TN! He was great and picked me up at the airport and gave me a full overview of the history and operation of the truck's various aftermarket enhancements before I started my journey home. If any of you northern Cali folks ever get a chance to meet him I'd highly recommend it. Great guy. Here she is in downtown Santa Rosa where I went to celebrate the purchase with a full sampler flight at Russian River Brewery (home of Pliny the Elder): And here she is all setup for camping on Lake Tahoe, my first stop on the way back: We had a few minor adventures on the way back. We climbed Tioga Pass into Yosemite where, at the summit, I discovered the radiator cap was slowly leaking (you guessed it, the old, closed pressure bottle system). No fault of the previous owner, those cooling systems are junk and he lived in Northern California where it never gets above 75 degrees. So, I bought a Whoopee Cushion off of a kid in a parking lot and got all the into Yosemite and eventually all the way to Tonopah, NV before I found a Napa with a replacement cap: It held! After making that repair, we had a pretty uneventful trip home through some beautiful mountain ranges and more national parks. Now that she's home and tagged and titled I'm looking at a few projects to get her where I want her to spend every weekend camping in the Great Smoky Mountains this fall. I've got a 1994 XJ Sport that I'm planning to sell. Before I do that I'm going to swap anything good / non-OEM off of her that I can for the MJ. That includes a GDI 3-row radiator and a complete open cooling system. A previous previous owner put an absolute junk aftermarket radio in the thing. We made the 2500 mile journey home with a bluetooth speaker on the dash as our stereo. I'll be installing a much nicer aftermarket stereo w/ a back-up camera. It turns out backing up a Jeep with a camper is tricky when you fill the camper completely full of gear. Especially with those amazing blindspots the Comanche mirrors give you. I've been OK so far, but I can foresee some trips where I have too much cargo to get away with it. As her previous owner had warned me, stock 3.55 gearing on 32s is not a recipe for success in the mountains. In fact, OD is basically useless in all situations. I'm looking to regear to 4.56s and add a rear selectable locker while I'm at it. I might eventually consider a front selectable locker but I'm not planning to crawl, just overland, so that seems like overkill for now. Brakes! I will definitely be going for the WJ dual diaphragm and master cylinder upgrade as soon as I can. Debating whether to go all the way to the Crown 1 1/8" kit as well. Not only does this thing have bigger and heavier wheels/tires than stock, it has an awful lot of weight with all of that overlanding gear. Every bit of braking performance will help. I am also considering a rear disc conversion. Mostly because when I start adding up new gears, a locker, and brake upgrades, a complete G2 axle assembly w/ disc brakes and locker starts to look cheap. Especially when I consider the weekends I'll get back. Spare tire-mounted license plate display. The previous owner made a very nice piece to put the license plate in the receiver hitch and it works great for now, but eventually I intend to tow the occasional utility trailer or put a bicycle rack in the receiver hitch. Since the back glass on the camper is tinted, I can't put the plate in there. Spare tire seems like the best option. Blower motor / resistor. She only works in the lowest and highest fan speeds and occasionally cuts out altogether. Probably the resistor but I may replace both "while I'm in there". I've owned plenty of cars from this era and they always seem to have issues in this area. Might as well fix it for good. That's it for now. Otherwise I'm having fun getting to know this truck. And she sure attracts attention. Happy to join the club. Cheers, Brandon Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
collkid Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 That thing is a dream jeep. to say the least. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bval Posted July 31, 2016 Author Share Posted July 31, 2016 Thanks, @collkid! When I started looking for an MJ earlier this year I never expected to luck into one so nice. I was going to be happy to find one with low miles / no rust and build it up into something very similar to this. I definitely lucked out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Newton Posted July 31, 2016 Share Posted July 31, 2016 Beautiful truck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Looks GREAT! How did I miss this one? I should have snagged it since I live about 60 miles from Santa Rosa. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
catch_22 Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 Dude. I saw this drive under the overpass on Main street going into town and lost my mind. Then on the way to the hardware store I saw it again, I did a u-turn in the middle of Gallatin, parked and snapped a photo yesterday at Tower. If you ever need a hand working on her let me know. XJs/MJs fans are hard to find in the hood. There are not many MJs in East Nashville (very few in Nashville period). My DD is a lifted blue XJ and once I have my garage built and finished I'll have my blue MJ putting around town! Look forward to seeing you in town!Also, reach out to me on the 1994 XJ before you post it up to craigslist. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dustyinthedirt Posted August 8, 2016 Share Posted August 8, 2016 :thumbsup: That is a cool truck! :bowdown: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zebvance Posted August 9, 2016 Share Posted August 9, 2016 Looks like you bought the Mj of all Mjs and then took it on one amazing trip! I hope one day to be able to take my Mj to see the sights of the Sierra Nevada's :thumbsup: . :MJ 1: . ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bval Posted August 9, 2016 Author Share Posted August 9, 2016 Thanks, y'all for the kind words. I'm having a blast with this truck. @catch_22, I'll definitely let you know when I'm wrenching. I'd love to see your XJ and MJ as well. We've got a small group here that does some wheeling. Some Rover and Tacoma owners. I'll let you know in the fall when we get started again. It's too damn hot in Tennessee right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bval Posted August 22, 2016 Author Share Posted August 22, 2016 Been a busy few weeks but I managed to spend a little time on the Jeep this weekend. Both interior lights were missing when I got the truck. I was handed one by the previous owner but it was in pretty rough shape. Got brand new Euramtec A-7180-BC LED lights installed on both sides. I had to Dremel out a bit of the original trim plastic to make these fit, but they look like they could have come stock on the truck. I also unlocked a major achievement in learning how the heck to crimp MetriPack 150 terminal pins. The radio harness in the dash was hacked up by a previous owner and I wanted to put it back to factory so I can use the nice harness adapters available from Crutchfield now and in the future to quickly change stereos. I plan to keep a nice modern JVC unit in there most of the time but want the option to put a period correct radio in there for car shows and the like. Back to stock: I have a new stereo and harness adapter ready to go in next week along with new front and rear speakers. I'll also be adding the missing door check to the driver's side door while I have the door card off to do the speaker. Also managed to track down an actual vintage 1987 Tennessee license plate for Davidson County (where I live) and I'm going down to the clerk's office this week to officially put that on the truck! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bval Posted September 14, 2020 Author Share Posted September 14, 2020 Just realized I haven't updated this thread in years. Some recent upgrades: Dual diaphragm booster 1 1/8" MC Wilwood 4-piston front brakes All new rear drums, shoes and hardware 4.56 gears with Detroit TrueTracs front and rear Biggest Spicer 5-260X U-joints you can buy up-front in the Dana 30 (eventually want to do new axle shafts that accept larger U-joints, I'm tired of pressing these in/out of the beat up old yokes) Cobra 75 WX ST CB installed under the dash with 4 foot FireStik mounted on the driver's side under-hood style mount Converted to open cooling w/ 3-row brass radiator, used NOS 2.5L Renix overflow bottle next to the air filter box Upgraded electric fan to 97-01 style WJ fan clutch upgrade 140 amp Powermaster alternator 90-91 Renix ECU 90-91 TCU JW Speaker 5x7" heated headlights (these are brighter than most light bars I've seen, highly recommend, and the heated feature helps with the snow that tends to collect in our headlight buckets) Smittybilt roof rack over the cab using rain gutter mounts - shovel and axe mounted to rack as well as Maxtrax Upcoming upgrades / fixes: Bucket seat conversion Center console fridge? Rear disc conversion Time to fix ye olde cowl / passenger floorboard leak Probably do a new blower motor and heater core while I have that side of the dash apart New windshield - old one has been cracked for years. I'm moving to the Adirondacks and the winter there is definitely going to make sure that crack spiders out. Interior heat and soundproofing - PO ripped it all out and rhinolined it. It gets too hot and too loud. Trying to decide whether to go with LizardSkin or actual dynamat etc. New suspension - rear springs are sagging and it's time Single DIN CarPlay head unit Got a rust spot on the passenger side of the bed that needs dealt with Looking into new campers to replace the Wildernest at some point - if I keep the 'nest I will at least redo the interior with a Goose Gear setup New bumpers front and rear - ARB bull bar in the front to get the winch out of the radiator airflow (and to protect from deer strikes in the mountains where I'll be living), MantaRay rear bumper from DirtBound to add cutouts for better reversing lights, built-in license plate area, and better hitch receiver (also will eliminate current tire carrier and mount tire under the truck for easier access into the camper. Tire carrier took some gnarly hits in Moab and is jacked up anyway) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 15, 2020 Share Posted September 15, 2020 dang, you've been busy! need more pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bval Posted September 15, 2020 Author Share Posted September 15, 2020 5 hours ago, Pete M said: dang, you've been busy! need more pics! Haha, definitely! My vehicles are rarely sitting still. I've just rolled over 156k on the truck. Bought her at 114k. Almost all overland trip miles. We've been to EJS twice, run the DBBB, made plenty of ski trips and just generally had a grand old time. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted September 16, 2020 Share Posted September 16, 2020 I love it. Feeling the vibes ✨ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustinStelter Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 Still have this Jeep? What about the Wildernest? I’m in Franklin, TN and would love to drive my 88 Comanche Chief up to Gallatin to visit see all you’ve done to yours sometime. Justin (615) 596-1696 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bval Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 8 hours ago, JustinStelter said: Still have this Jeep? What about the Wildernest? I’m in Franklin, TN and would love to drive my 88 Comanche Chief up to Gallatin to visit see all you’ve done to yours sometime. Justin (615) 596-1696 Yup, still have both, but I'm in the middle of a move up to the Adirondack Mountains at the moment. Last week the Jeep flat towed my Porsche 914 up there and this weekend she's flat towing my Beetle up and that'll be my final trip - the Jeep will be living in New York State for good. I can't wait for the joy of getting her to pass a NYS inspection. 😒 Anyway, sorry we missed each other. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted September 17, 2020 Share Posted September 17, 2020 So your a new Yorker? 🤔 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bval Posted September 17, 2020 Author Share Posted September 17, 2020 1 hour ago, MiNi Beast said: So your a new Yorker? 🤔 True story. Adirondack Park is beautiful. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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