rideordie Posted October 7, 2019 Author Share Posted October 7, 2019 Thanks for the replies guys much appreciated Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 Well, went ahead and scooped up a Comanche and I'm really stoked to get moving on it :) This was just too good of a deal to pass up on and it was right down the road from me. 1990 2wd LWB w/ 139k on the odometer Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 So I have the parts sourced to do the 4wd swap from a 1995 Cherokee. Can somebody confirm what all I'll be needed and what I may as well go ahead and replace while doing the swap? Thanks again for all the valuable input, you guys have all been super helpful in this process :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 even has the tow mirrors! Don't forget that you're adding a ton of weight to the truck and you might want to give some serious thought to deeper gears than the 3.55s. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 Yeah in the process of doing the axle swap to be able to support the camper shell, I'll be re-gearing as well. For the transmission, I need to be looking for an AX-15 correct? Assuming the Cherokee I'm looking at has that Trans, everything else should just swap over accordingly? Anything I should consider upgrading during the swap process? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 the link in my sig will have a couple threads on swapping around the various years of AW-4. don't regear a dana 35. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 2 minutes ago, Pete M said: the link in my sig will have a couple threads on swapping around the various years of AW-4. don't regear a dana 35. Okay cool, I'll look into that. Yeah I'm not, I'm swapping the front and rear axles with probably a Dana 44 up front and a Ford 9" Rear with a 4:10 Ratio unless anybody has a better suggestion? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 1 hour ago, rideordie said: Okay cool, I'll look into that. Yeah I'm not, I'm swapping the front and rear axles with probably a Dana 44 up front and a Ford 9" Rear with a 4:10 Ratio unless anybody has a better suggestion? Seeing as though you’ll have a camper on the back, maybe look into narrowing some 1 ton axles, or at least for the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 I'm sure you'll get a ton of opinions on axles. for me, the front dana 30 will be fine, especially if it came from a 95 which will be non-CAD and should have the bigger Ujoints. I'd get an explorer 8.8 for the rear as tehy are very strong and have 4.10s and posi available stock. (there's a list online somewhere that shows which code on the explorer's door equals what rearend gear ratio). car-part.com can help with junkyard searches. an axle truss will go a long way toward piece of mind, but somehow I doubt the rig will be so heavy or will get jumped or the like to necessitate giant axles. what did the previous truck have? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 45 minutes ago, Pete M said: I'm sure you'll get a ton of opinions on axles. for me, the front dana 30 will be fine, especially if it came from a 95 which will be non-CAD and should have the bigger Ujoints. I'd get an explorer 8.8 for the rear as tehy are very strong and have 4.10s and posi available stock. (there's a list online somewhere that shows which code on the explorer's door equals what rearend gear ratio). car-part.com can help with junkyard searches. an axle truss will go a long way toward piece of mind, but somehow I doubt the rig will be so heavy or will get jumped or the like to necessitate giant axles. what did the previous truck have? The original toyota had a stock front axle, don't recall which it was, and the rear had a Dually Rear end, or "Foolie" as it was referred to since there was a major recall on them. Whatever option I decide to go with will be a major upgrade from the original for sure haha. Also need to widen the stance a bit so since I have to swap the front axle anyways, may as well beef it up some Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 So as far as the transmission goes, I've sourced 2 AW4's so far, one of which only has 70k miles on it. Is it worth holding out for an AX15? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
thecodemonk Posted October 8, 2019 Share Posted October 8, 2019 It depends on what you prefer. The AW4 is a great automatic transmission and there's lots of mods for it. Ultimately, it just needs to keep the fluid cool (get a good trans cooler on it) and it's pretty stout. The AX-15 is a great manual transmission and one of the best available for easy bolting up to the 4.0L. A lot of us like the manual transmission because of the extra control...but really, I suspect it's more due to the fact that we like old things and manual transmissions are "old tech". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted October 8, 2019 Author Share Posted October 8, 2019 Haha yeah I hear ya...I'd prefer to keep it automatic so I'm guessing the AW4 is the right move. Plus with the price and low miles, that definitely is what I'm leaning towards as of right now. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted October 16, 2019 Author Share Posted October 16, 2019 In the process of sourcing parts :) I have a AW4 with 70k miles, the drive shafts and Transfer case lined up and will be picking up tomorrow. Now I need some axle suggestions... I was told that a Dana 44 up from and a 9" Rear would be a great set up. I've found quite a bit of both but any recommendations of years I should look for or other rear axles for that matter? the original dually rear on the toyota the camper came off of measured about 66" wide so I'd like to keep a wider stance in the rear for stability but would prefer a non-dually rear. Any and all recommendations welcomed :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 8 hours ago, rideordie said: In the process of sourcing parts :) I have a AW4 with 70k miles, the drive shafts and Transfer case lined up and will be picking up tomorrow. Now I need some axle suggestions... I was told that a Dana 44 up from and a 9" Rear would be a great set up. I've found quite a bit of both but any recommendations of years I should look for or other rear axles for that matter? the original dually rear on the toyota the camper came off of measured about 66" wide so I'd like to keep a wider stance in the rear for stability but would prefer a non-dually rear. Any and all recommendations welcomed :) Any 3/4 or 1 ton pickup rear end. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted October 17, 2019 Share Posted October 17, 2019 the front axle is usually the hard one to pick. the rear is easy. you'll want a drivers side pumpkin. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
junk4u Posted November 10, 2019 Share Posted November 10, 2019 Hello, I just came across this forum via looking at sunraders. I am interested in your build and how its going. I am not a comanche owner probably far from, but through in the wagoneer and thats another story. I just like the sunraders and own one that I would like to restore one day myself. Of course when I say restore it will be one of those toyos. too. Just wait to see the progress of this sunrader and how you mount in to the chassis. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 On 11/9/2019 at 8:13 PM, junk4u said: Hello, I just came across this forum via looking at sunraders. I am interested in your build and how its going. I am not a comanche owner probably far from, but through in the wagoneer and thats another story. I just like the sunraders and own one that I would like to restore one day myself. Of course when I say restore it will be one of those toyos. too. Just wait to see the progress of this sunrader and how you mount in to the chassis. Hey man! Sorry for the late response, as far as the project goes I'm waiting on my buddy who has a shop who will be doing the axle swap for me since he's basically an expert at it. I have all the pieces to put the puzzle together basically just waiting on him atm. Thats rad you have a sunrader too! I'm assuming its a 2wd? What size is it? Yeah I'm pretty fortunate to have found the shortest version with the door on the rear. Those are very rare, I think they only made them for one year? can't hardly find any info on them. But yeah, I'm going to have to do a full subfloor rebuild and lots of fiberglassing so I definitely have my work cut out for me, but I'm hoping to get her going within the month. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted January 13, 2020 Author Share Posted January 13, 2020 She's still running and driving amazing and looking beautiful surrounded by all that junk :) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pete M Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 yeah, a bunch of us are waiting on some updates. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted January 13, 2020 Share Posted January 13, 2020 I think it may be time to start a build thread. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted January 21, 2020 Author Share Posted January 21, 2020 On 1/12/2020 at 10:17 PM, Pete M said: yeah, a bunch of us are waiting on some updates. Me too man, haha On 1/13/2020 at 7:00 AM, 89 MJ said: I think it may be time to start a build thread. Yeah, Want to start making a bit more progress first but I'm almost there. Axle swap should be underway this week. Dana 44 Hp Front / Dana 60 Rear 4:10 gears With that said, I'm looking into suspension options and wanted to get some opinions. Don't want to lift it too much since I want to keep the center of gravity at a reasonable height, but some 31's would be nice 33's at the most. So I'm considering a 3" lift at the front and a 4" lift in the rear so that once the camper is on it will hopefully level itself out nicely. Thoughts? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 Hey guys, Been quiet lately due to the virus and a lot of my money for this project went towards a house I was flipping so I've been on 'pause' for a bit with it. The project took a change of course slightly. I was having a lot of difficulty trying to figure out how to mount the Sunrader shell up, prepping it for the subfloor, moving it around, working on it in my suburban neighborhood and all that. It was just too big and cumbersome unfortunately. Not to mention how top heavy it would be once mounted up. So I decided to go with a more lightweight, and nimble Chinook! Being able to fit it in my garage is a total game changer. Gonna pull the shell and mount it on my Comanche. Here she is, project will be moving forward with a more appropriate vision. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rideordie Posted May 10, 2020 Author Share Posted May 10, 2020 As an added bonus, the P/O put about $3k into the mechanical components of the truck and it runs great so I'll be able to sell the truck for a decent amount of money as well to fund the project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KC0GFG Posted October 14, 2020 Share Posted October 14, 2020 I've been thinking of doing the exact same thing for a few years now. any updates?? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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