Lthompson741 Posted April 1, 2019 Author Share Posted April 1, 2019 Well found a downfall of the Comanche. Put my hand thru it while crawling around under it. Unsure where to go from here. The Jeep was undercoated and apparently the undercoating covered it pretty well as it look like nothing till I grabbed it. Kind of sucks after getting it running/driving and almost to D.D. Status. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 Mine was the same way when I got it. Actually drove it home like that. Cut out the old and replace with new was my answer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 1, 2019 Share Posted April 1, 2019 just needs a bit o' steel added in. not the first, won't be the last. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lthompson741 Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 51 minutes ago, JMO413 said: Mine was the same way when I got it. Actually drove it home like that. Cut out the old and replace with new was my answer. Did you remove the spring hanger? Or go around it? It gives me hope, I’ve got a pretty good metal fabricating friend so hopefully he will take a look. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lthompson741 Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 51 minutes ago, Pete M said: just needs a bit o' steel added in. not the first, won't be the last. Yeah I know. This thing has fought me at every step so far. It almost like it wants to be parted out I swear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 don't give up! a lot of us have been in your shoes Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 1 hour ago, Lthompson741 said: Did you remove the spring hanger? Or go around it? It gives me hope, I’ve got a pretty good metal fabricating friend so hopefully he will take a look. I removed the hanger. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lthompson741 Posted April 2, 2019 Author Share Posted April 2, 2019 1 hour ago, JMO413 said: I removed the hanger. That’s what I figured. It looks like it’s spot welded on there only and doesn’t look to bad to come off. Thanks for your help. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
drcomanche Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 I was in that exact spot not that long ago(my leaf spring hanger was actually not attached anymore when it went to repair). The thing that got me about it was the stigma associated with it. Everyone always said if there are holes in the frame, it's over. Scrap. I said almost word for word what you said when I found it and everyone I asked said nothing could be done, and yet, here I am. My truck has had half a frame spliced onto the back of it. Even after that, it's been patched in a few spots and had stiffeners welded on to strengthen it. It's still strong. The point is, no matter how bad it looks, there is always a way to fix it, despite what the purists say. For yours, it looks like some well placed and welded panels will pull it back together again, and it will be way easier than you think it is. Keep up the cool build and keep a positive outlook on it, and you'll have it back on the road in no time. On a side note, though, definitely do some light taps with a hammer along the low points and see if there isn't more damage. Better to know about it ahead of time so you can repair it in one fell swoop. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 Given enough time, money, skill, and patience, you can fix anything. And this is coming from a self admitted purist. If that's the only bad spot, that truck deserves to live. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted April 2, 2019 Share Posted April 2, 2019 it's a common weak spot and can be bad with no other signs of frame distress. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lthompson741 Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 On 4/2/2019 at 5:54 PM, drcomanche said: I was in that exact spot not that long ago(my leaf spring hanger was actually not attached anymore when it went to repair). The thing that got me about it was the stigma associated with it. Everyone always said if there are holes in the frame, it's over. Scrap. I said almost word for word what you said when I found it and everyone I asked said nothing could be done, and yet, here I am. My truck has had half a frame spliced onto the back of it. Even after that, it's been patched in a few spots and had stiffeners welded on to strengthen it. It's still strong. The point is, no matter how bad it looks, there is always a way to fix it, despite what the purists say. For yours, it looks like some well placed and welded panels will pull it back together again, and it will be way easier than you think it is. Keep up the cool build and keep a positive outlook on it, and you'll have it back on the road in no time. On a side note, though, definitely do some light taps with a hammer along the low points and see if there isn't more damage. Better to know about it ahead of time so you can repair it in one fell swoop. Thanks for your advice I appreciate it. It is going to be fixed. My welder friend looked at it last night and was pretty confident in it being stronger then ever. (He’s a experienced boilermaker). I am going to hammer around and make sure there isn’t anything else that is scary. The underbody is scaly, but solid from where I’ve prodded before. The truck is rusty but drives and runs like a top. I don’t think is worthy of a junkyard, at least for Illinois standards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lthompson741 Posted April 4, 2019 Author Share Posted April 4, 2019 On 4/2/2019 at 6:41 PM, Minuit said: Given enough time, money, skill, and patience, you can fix anything. And this is coming from a self admitted purist. If that's the only bad spot, that truck deserves to live. Yeah I feel the same way. It’s a good runner, its rusty but will make a good work truck/DD. It just sucks that I can't weld as I am at the mercy of other people. On 4/2/2019 at 6:50 PM, Pete M said: it's a common weak spot and can be bad with no other signs of frame distress. I don’t believe there is any more, but this weekend I plan on taking a screw driver and do som prodding. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lthompson741 Posted December 5, 2019 Author Share Posted December 5, 2019 Well I can't believe it’s been that long since I updated. I ended up fixing the frame. I have a friend who is a very good welder, we completely rebuilt the frame and she it back on the road. For whatever reason the pictures aren’t saved here, So I’m going to have to hunt them down. Other then that I’ve been driving it all summer. It really needs body work, and rust repair but it runs and drives great, and seems to be pretty reliable. Things done this summer: New exhaust from “a” pipe all the way back New SERP. Belt New valve cover gasket I’ve put about 500 miles on it, and it is a lot of fun to drive, but is a little crampt for me being 6 foot 3. So I’m not sure about taking any cross country drives with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted December 9, 2019 Share Posted December 9, 2019 if it's made from steel, it can be repaired. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lthompson741 Posted January 13, 2021 Author Share Posted January 13, 2021 Wow it’s been a while since I’ve been on here I need to get better and updating my own posts. I’ve been driving the Comanche as a back up vehicle currently. I’ve put about 2000 Miles on it since the frame was fixed and have had no real problems with anything. The only thing major that happened was my drivers window mech died. I searched for a another but ended up finding a whole set of manual doors for it. Since my drivers door was Swiss cheese I made the switch. Def. not the correct shade of red, but it keeps the rain out. I’ll have to get to work on updating this. I need to figure out photos again and where to post them to use in my write ups. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 24, 2021 Share Posted January 24, 2021 doesn't look all that half bad considering Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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