Pete M Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 it's no secret. every single location that could possible leak has leaked for some poor soul. gotta go through them one at a time. Some of the oft overlooked items are the HVAC seal, window seals, and cowl drains. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minuit Posted April 25, 2020 Share Posted April 25, 2020 About all I can say is to do a very thorough water test with someone inside the truck and someone spraying from every possible angle with a hose. If any water can get in anywhere, it will... and ruin all of your hard work. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted April 26, 2020 Author Share Posted April 26, 2020 Awww Yeaaaah! More new parts showing up! The Adam's team made this driveshaft perfect, added the Ford 8.8 conversion flange and balanced it before shipping out! We set it up and measured the pinion angle before we weld on the spring perches Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted April 28, 2020 Author Share Posted April 28, 2020 Comanche axle is out, we set up the proper pinion angle with the new drive shaft and tightened the UBolts. Got the spring perches welded in place. I'd like to take credit for the awesome welding here, but we decided to take it to some pros that my brother knew. I'm sure they were very impressed with my tack welds! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted April 30, 2020 Author Share Posted April 30, 2020 On the Comanche, we took advantage of the time with the rear axle out. Primed and painted the new gas tank, gas tank skid plate and UBolts.. it started raining so had to rapid transfer into the garage and make do with the space I could find Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted May 2, 2020 Author Share Posted May 2, 2020 More new parts to fix up the Comanche! We are installing the 4wd cable shifter. The original 4wd linkage is temperamental and sometimes works and mostly works against us trying to shift into 4wd. It's a fight! We got rid of that headache and frustration and added this Savvy Off Road cable shifter. The mounts are robust and hardcore while the stout cable shifts like butter! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted May 3, 2020 Author Share Posted May 3, 2020 A couple of misc steps on the Comanche before we get to some major component upgrades. My brother helped relocate the rear brake line mount and drilled and tapped a new spot. The suspension lift we are using has wider frame brackets so I needed to notch-out the side frame support. Got this all done and cleaned, primed and painted Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 On the Comanche, we got the rear axle reinstalled, UBolts cut and torqued to 150ftlbs "Errrrrrr Click!" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted May 13, 2020 Author Share Posted May 13, 2020 Comanche project is really moving forward.. my brother welded on the shock mounts while showing off his safety splits! We removed the front bumper and built 2×4 jack stands boosters. The Jeep is set up for the whole next phase! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted May 17, 2020 Author Share Posted May 17, 2020 Some shiny new parts showed up for the Comanche from Rusty's! 6" coil springs, Track Bar, long arms & a super beefy new cross member! More updates coming soon! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted May 25, 2020 Author Share Posted May 25, 2020 On the Comanche project we started looking at the new Rusty's cross member. The Comanche has a side brace that is different than the Cherokee. We had to drill out a few spot welds and cut a notch in that brace. The cross member side plates will fit in there. I got to paint inside that brace, so that's good! Making best use of time I went ahead and primered and painted the front driveshaft which was very rusted! Looks awesome!Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted May 30, 2020 Author Share Posted May 30, 2020 We got the new Rusty's Off Road cross member installed! It looks sweet! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 3, 2020 Author Share Posted June 3, 2020 When installing a Long arm suspension upgrade on a Jeep Comanche or Cherokee XJ, you have to pass the point of no return! It requires cutting off the original control arm mounts. It's a difficult project. There are multiple layers of metal and the Comanche even has an entire outer brace over the top of the typical Cherokee mounts. I took my time and made as precise cuts as I could. Even with that it took me 4 cut off wheels, 3 die grinder cut off wheels and 2 sawzall blades. Then I arrived at a bunch of hated spot welds. Luckily, I had the spot welds cutters from Blair from the previous floorpan project. I drilled them all out to remove all of the brackets, welded any holes that got too deep and finished the project by adding primer and paint! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 7, 2020 Author Share Posted June 7, 2020 The main Comanche brake line that runs to the rear brakes was extremely rusty and pitted. I decided to make a new one. Ordered some nickel copper brake line and stainless spring wrap. Brought the old line home and started bending to match as close to the original as I could. Went back to the truck and routed it and got it installed, along with the Rusty's extended rear line to the top of the rear differential. Turned out real good! More to come with the braking system! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 Surprisingly, the 30 year old Comanche leaks. Bad! I have 2 hopefully not 3 places to restore trying to avoid having an inch of water in each floorpan. Starting with replacement of the windshield. This was really cool and I thank the team from Eagle Auto Glass in Magnolia for checking this out, great communication and then a fine job installing. I also deleted the original chrome windshield trim for the later model Cherokee rubber trim. Chrome trim is for sale if anyone needs it, send me a PM. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Torq_Shep Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 What did the windshield run you? Considering having mine done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 10, 2020 Author Share Posted June 10, 2020 What did the windshield run you? Considering having mine done. $215Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted June 10, 2020 Share Posted June 10, 2020 54 minutes ago, rosco11 said: $215 Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk and worth every penny since a lot of our trucks have leaking windshields. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeepdreams90 Posted June 11, 2020 Share Posted June 11, 2020 Great build thread! can't wait to see the final product! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 12, 2020 Author Share Posted June 12, 2020 The Comanche front axle (HP Dana 30) is temporarily coming out so it can go to the gear doctor Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMO413 Posted June 13, 2020 Share Posted June 13, 2020 Amazing work! You are going to have a very nice truck when you're done. You attention to detail and rust is awesome. Can't wait to see what comes next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 On 6/10/2020 at 9:54 PM, jeepdreams90 said: Great build thread! can't wait to see the final product! Thanks Jeep Dreams! It's not going to be all pretty and matchy match at the end. My goal is to have a solid and capable truck when done with the main part of the build! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 10 hours ago, JMO413 said: Amazing work! You are going to have a very nice truck when you're done. You attention to detail and rust is awesome. Can't wait to see what comes next. Thanks JMO! I really appreciate it! Once I got done with the floorpans, the rest of the project is going so much faster now! Still have some more rust to fight under the battery tray but I already have the best solution figured out for that one! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 13, 2020 Author Share Posted June 13, 2020 Got the Comanche axle completely out from under the truck. There is some work to do on the front end. While we're doing that, we are taking the front axle to get new gears and a new Eaton Truetrac! We'll be using Motive 4.10 gears and G2 master install kit. The great folks and David at Texas Auto Gear are going to regear the Dana 30 axle. Earlier in the project we found and swapped a Ford 8.8 rear axle with 4.10 gears and limited slip differential. We had to regear the front axle to match and I found a good deal on the Truetrac. I thank the guys at TX Auto Gear, they work fast, do quality work and are really cool! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rosco11 Posted June 14, 2020 Author Share Posted June 14, 2020 With the Comanche front axle out, we used this time to drop the oil pan and change the rear main seal with a new seal and oil pan gasket. I really like the Fel Pro gaskets for this! Sent from my Pixel 3a using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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