Airborne Janitor Posted December 21, 2021 Author Share Posted December 21, 2021 14 hours ago, scguy said: You do excellent work. Looking at those Core 4x4 arms for myself. Thanks! They're pretty beefy and reasonably priced. Was able to get a little more work done today. Front brakes are on minus the banjo bolts. I got the Powerstop KCOE2119 kit so all new hardware, but no banjo bolts, and of course no stores in town stock them. So I'll have to make a junkyard trip to get some more. Had to drill a few holes in the Hooligan stiffener to mount the trans cooler and temp sensor. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 About 95% done with the front end. Still need new carrier bearings, but got the new u-joints (Spicer 760X) and ball joints (Spicer 40583 & 40916) installed. Got my "NOS" banjo bolts from the junkyard and finished bolting up the lines. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted December 30, 2021 Author Share Posted December 30, 2021 Started pulling out the rear axle. Brakes were pretty crusty. Pulled apart the brake hardware, removed the leaf springs and pulled the Dana 44 out. Plan to clean this bad boy up over the weekend. Curious to see what the differential and axle bearings look like under scrutiny, but I'm sure we will be replacing more parts very soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 The first time I pulled the D44 diff cover (years ago) chunky chocolate milk was coming out of the pumpkin. I refilled it with 75w90 and probably have put 15 miles on it since then. Still some milk coming out of it today. The passenger wheel bearing probably needs to be replaced... The ring and pinion gears look good though. Bearings look ok. Pinion could probably use a seal. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boxyjeep Posted December 31, 2021 Share Posted December 31, 2021 What are your plans for rear suspension? SOA seems super high. SUA is probably too low. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted December 31, 2021 Author Share Posted December 31, 2021 7 minutes ago, SoCalJeepComanche said: What are your plans for rear suspension? SOA seems super high. SUA is probably too low. The truck had SOA, longer shackles, and what looks to be either a home made leaf pack or the stock pack with a helper spring added when I got it. Ended up netting like 9" of lift. I'm aiming for 6". I'm going to keep it SOA, and put on stock (spec) springs and shackles to see if that will work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted January 2, 2022 Author Share Posted January 2, 2022 Got the leaf springs installed with the stock shackles. In my hunt for leaf springs I went to a local spring shop, who ordered the 95-571 "metric-ton" springs from Dayton spring in PA. Now I was told that Dayton was a US mfg who used US steel, so I was self assured when I saw the Mexico stickers on the label. The spring shop said they could build me a custom set locally, but it would cost 2x what I paid for the Dayton springs, which were already $375 a piece. I downloaded this metric-ton spring blueprint a few years back from CC, and was able to match up these specs to the Dayton springs and they "should" be OEM quality. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted January 12, 2022 Author Share Posted January 12, 2022 Clean up the 44. It had 30 years of dirt, mud, and grime on it. Cut off the old crappy shock mounts and spring perches. Welded on new Currie shock mounts and Barnes spring perches. Axle painted with POR 15 and back under the truck. All the suspension is in now minus new shocks. Sitting at 7" of lift up front and 10" of lift in the back. Hope it all sags! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 13, 2022 Share Posted January 13, 2022 that's a lot of lift! are you planning on adding any steel to weigh it down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted January 13, 2022 Author Share Posted January 13, 2022 2 hours ago, Pete M said: that's a lot of lift! are you planning on adding any steel to weigh it down? I know. I got rid of the old crappy lift and replaced it with a more expensive one just to end up at the same height almost haha. I was aiming for about 6" to run 33s, so I figure with the weight of steel bumpers front and rear, tool box in the back and a spare tire, hopefully over time it'll settle down. If the rear doesnt drop then I left the original spring under spring perches on the axle, so maybe going with SUA and longer shackles? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted April 6, 2022 Author Share Posted April 6, 2022 Overdue for an update. Long story short, I got the rear drum brakes put back together with all new hardware, replaced all the bearings in the dana 30, put it all back together, bled the brakes and hit the road. First time I've ever put a full tank of gas in it. Just in time for $5/gal! Had a new school Gladiator try to flex on me. Nice short bed bro. Got the spare tire winch put back together and yes, a 33x12.50 will fit as a spare, but just barely! Added a ratchet strap for extra security. Dusted off an old pair XJ flares and got them mounted up. The holes in the pre97 flares line up perfectly to the holes in the 97+ fenders, so I used some 1/4" bolts to secure them. Cut the flares squarely by tracing the line with a set of 97+ flares. Threw in a 30 tooth speedo gear and now I've been daily driving this pig! Got it up to 80 mph without issue! If you squint your eyes it almost looks like one color! There's still much to do, including fixing the high beams (they don't work), replacing the turn signal switch and ignition switch, bumpers, and eventually gears, bodywork and a paint job, but I'm happy to finally be driving this thing after 5 years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
fiatslug87 Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 Congrats! There’s no better feeling than being able to drive a project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gjeep Posted April 6, 2022 Share Posted April 6, 2022 Lookin good Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted May 9, 2022 Author Share Posted May 9, 2022 I've been playing with fire by not having any bumpers on the MJ while driving it, so I decided to go ahead and put the Westin/Fey 63000 series bumper on the back. I didn't have any usable hardware to mount the bumper so I had to order the Fey 93900 kit to install it. I wasn't really happy with the output of the license plate lights so I stuck some LEDs in there. Overall I'm happy with it, especially since I got the bumper/brackets for about $200. In the future I would like to build a heavy duty steel step bumper, but for now at least she's got a butt. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted May 13, 2022 Share Posted May 13, 2022 looks good! has that classic feel. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted July 19, 2022 Author Share Posted July 19, 2022 My MJ got a facelift! Put together the DIY Mojave bumper kit from Dirtbound, swapped out to some clear corners, and added a set of Hella-ripoff horns. And one of my favorite mods to date, I got some OEM Jeep keys made up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted July 19, 2022 Author Share Posted July 19, 2022 3 hours ago, saveevryjp1998 said: That front end looks great! I don't think I've seen a late model front clip with a chrome insert setup. That clip and bumper really makes it stand out. Thanks! My plan is to go with a blue & chrome look. I want to get aluminum wheels and an aluminum tool box in the near future. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted August 29, 2022 Author Share Posted August 29, 2022 A few updates this month. Was able to get my back slider window unstuck with some silicone spray and a flathead and some advice from a fellow CC member. My glass was missing the latch so I pulled one off a 1994 Ford Ranger and used 3M double-sided tape to adhere it. Works awesome. Ordered a toolbox but since my bed has been abused I did a little bit of redneck autobody work on it to straighten it. Used a 6ft 2"x2" tube on top and a 4ft 1"x1" tube on the inside and series of spacers and clamps to pull it back into acceptable tolerances. Installed the Lund 9352 crossover box with the gull-wing doors. Used an assortment of torx bolts to secure it and to prevent an easy removal. Built a trailer hitch out of one off a Ford Expedition. Used a set of hitch plates/brackets from @krustyballer16 to build it, details here: And built the trailer wiring harness out of a Cadillac STS connector that's the same as the Renix taillights. Not a bad @$$-job if I say so myself.... Digging the DeLorean doors.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted September 8, 2022 Author Share Posted September 8, 2022 A few small mods over the weekend. The tachometer on my gauge cluster wasn't working properly, the needle would "stick" in certain spots, so I swapped over the speedo, shift indicator, and tach face to my new (to me) cluster. Finally got the new light switch face from @ghetdjc320 installed, and painted my dull looking switches. Since I had the rattle can out I decided to paint my very worn looking steering column. Too lazy to pull the column so drop cloths it is! Installed an OEM clock I found at the junkyard. So fresh and so clean clean. And installed the tailgate bumpers from @Dzimm https://zimmdakindustries.com/product/1986-1992-jeep-comanche-mj-tailgate-bumpers-bushings/ Out with the old In with the new Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted September 24, 2022 Author Share Posted September 24, 2022 Someone got some new shoes! 15x8 Quadratec Baja wheels with 33x12.50R15 Procomp AT Sport tires. Made a big difference in ride and vibes, especially coming from some cupped MTs. Welded up a stainless exhaust tip, Jones PAC214SS with an angled cut. And built a cupholder out of a mini-console. Details here: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
WranglerMangler Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 On 6/3/2017 at 10:58 PM, Airborne Janitor said: Cool, mine sits right on top of the blower motor and fit perfect with those brackets. I think I paid like $10 at Napa. I’ve been using that same coolant overflow bottle for over 15 years now. It outlasted the first Comanche. No signs of cracks or wear yet. Glad to get the part #s. Wrote those down in the Jeep notebook. Would definitely suggest for open cooling system swap. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gjeep Posted September 24, 2022 Share Posted September 24, 2022 That cup holder for column shift MJs is a great idea. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted September 25, 2022 Author Share Posted September 25, 2022 4 hours ago, WranglerMangler said: I’ve been using that same coolant overflow bottle for over 15 years now. It outlasted the first Comanche. No signs of cracks or wear yet. Glad to get the part #s. Wrote those down in the Jeep notebook. Would definitely suggest for open cooling system swap. I like the way you have yours set up on the fender and the brackets for the bottle and the vacuum football. May have to steal your idea.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted September 25, 2022 Share Posted September 25, 2022 cupped tires? out of curiosity, what air pressure are you running? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Airborne Janitor Posted September 25, 2022 Author Share Posted September 25, 2022 1 minute ago, Pete M said: cupped tires? out of curiosity, what air pressure are you running? 35psi. I had a set of 10+ year old BFG MTs that were on my XJ that neglected to get rotated often and saw quite a bit of offroad use. Then one went flat and an even older Goodyear MT/R was put into the mix. The tires were then moved onto my MJ has temporary measure. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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