"Wendy"- 88 Jeep Comanche Build

[Swampy]

Also saw one of my favorite internet jeeps in person. LS swap RHD postal mail jeep owned by @timmymctimface on instagram. He was a great guy to wheel with and helped me get the parts I needed to fix my front axle yoke

[89eliminator]

you aired down at all?

[Swampy]

On 3/18/2022 at 6:37 AM, 89eliminator said:

you aired down at all?

Despite how it looks in the pics all tires are at about 11-12 psi. could have gone lower but was worried about blowing a bead.

[Fryedaddy]

WOW! you've came a long way. Nice MJ!

[Swampy]

On 3/22/2022 at 7:09 AM, Fryedaddy said:

WOW! you've came a long way. Nice MJ!

Thanks! I have to add way more pictures on here

[Swampy]

I keep meaning to update this thread and I always forget. Better late than never. So to pickup where we left off, after my trip to K2 I have done a few things to the jeep.

 

She got a custom rear bumper and tail light housings. Tail light housings are from Ares Fab and I have them  wired as brake lights and turn signals

 

 

[Swampy]

After I got those situated I pretty much just drove the jeep for a while but I was saving to something important. A np231 doubler kit. I bought this second hand but it allows you to bolt two transfer cases together to get a double low range. It is basically a poor mans Atlas 4spd without the option to do front digs.

 

I was very excited for this because it took my final crawl ratio from like 55:1 to about 145:1 and with a manual this was a blessing.

 

The hardest part is building a support to support the tcase as it hangs so far back now. and front drive shaft clearance was a headache as well

[Swampy]

In regards to the np231 doubler. I had to ditch my cavfab alpha 3 link crossmember because it presented to many clearance issues with front driveshaft. I opted for the Dirtbound DIY kit but that still needed modification. Ideally id have built a custom crossmember but alas I did not. 

 

crossmember before mods

 

After:

 

 

 

boxed the crossmember back in 

 

Ultimately my driveshaft still contacts the crossmember at full driver side droop. I went the cheaper route at the moment and instead of fabbing something else I am running a shorter limit strap on the drive side to limit down travel on that side to hopefully keep the driveshaft out of the crossmember.

 

[Swampy]

Also had to build a support for my rear tcase. Since I used the advanced adapters sye kit I was able to use an atlas rear support and build off of that. I know my fabrication isn't the best but it is holding up. eventually I would like to redo it.

 

 

 

 

The center section of tube is removable to make dropping the tcase fairly easy. I do need to build a removable skid plate as well. I havent smacked the tcase on any rocks but then again I havent really pushed the mj on some more difficult trails. 

[Swampy]

After getting the tcase situated I had to figure out my caster angles. The stock cavfab length upper link was too short and would not allow me to adjust caster to 7* so i had to cut and reweld it.

 

 

 

I did also weld up some bump stop extensions on my leaf spring plates

 

Which reminds me I have to extend my front bump stops a bit as well.

[Swampy]

This is my current shifter setup inside the mj. JB fab cable shifters for the doubler and a B&M short shifter for the ax15. I did have to modify the center console but was able to maintain a factory-ish type look.

 

Another look. I know my steering is not centered 

[Swampy]

This is just having finished the major modifications and t=moving under its own power. If you noticed I did also add some 4" amber led pods and man are they bright.

 

 

Took it too a car show and while everyone liked looking I didn't win any awards

 

 

[Swampy]

Another upgrade I added to Wendy was an inline power steering cooler. Mounted it in my bumper and man hydro assist has been a game changer especially with a spool up front. 

 

[Swampy]

I did add a spare tire carrier to the bed of the MJ. I didn't want a slanted prerunner style so i opted for this. Mounts directly to the bed with a welded nut on a plate that the handle threads into. it holds the 40" tire very securely in place. There's still enough room in front of the spare for a cooler, gas can, parts, camping gear etc. That was my goal was to still have useable bed space. 

 

If you notice the tailgate is gone from the truck but I have it stowed away in my garage incase.

 

[Swampy]

Major accomplishment here... finally getting beadlocks. Battleborn gatekeepers! Man do this things weigh but you gotta pay to play

 

 

 

[Swampy]

Loaded up and headed to Barnwell Moutain, Gilmer, Texas. I love the look with the new beadlocks!

 

[Swampy]

A couple shots from the trip

 

 

 

 

 

 

Obligatory Stack pic

 

 

 

 

[Swampy]

I didnt get a full youtube video of the trip but here is a clip of the doubler in action.  Double low for the win

 

 

[Pete M]

cot tent ftw   the truck is pretty sweet too.   

[Swampy]

I did take some damage on the trip. I lost my driver side mirror and dented the top rear corner of the bed. I need to be slighly more carful.

 

 

 

[Swampy]

2 minutes ago, Pete M said:

cot tent ftw   the truck is pretty sweet too.   

I had updated on my instragram and facebook but not on here. I was slacking off

 

[Swampy]

So the last time i went wheeling I started having issues with my tcase. the rear case of the doubler setup was not shifting properly. I lost 4lo and the transfer case wouldnt hold 4hi or 2hi and would pop out of the range slection and sit between gears.

 

I pulled the case from the jeep and it was still behaving the same way. So I started to pull the case apart. What I found was the shift selector wasnt seated all the way like it needed to be. 

 

Now that I had that figured out it is time to replace the internals to beef them up. I ordered a 6 pinion planetary gear, the 1-1/4" wide chain upgrade and physically bigger gears to work in the tcase.

 

 

here's some comparison pics

 

stock chain vs wide chain

 

new bigger gear set (stock on the bottom, newer ones on the top)

 

I believe the new components came from a chevy or dodge 231 case so the new internals should be able to handle the doubler and the power output from the tired 4.0 thats in the mj currently. Definitely some worth while strength upgrades. And if I plan to do an engine swap the tcase should hold up.

[Swampy]

Got the wide chain in the tcase

 

[89 MJ]

That is a huge difference in size!

[Swampy]

11 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

That is a huge difference in size!

Yessir! It is a nice internal upgrade for sure. Will be able to hold up to jeep abuse