Your best Comanche story

[Fernando87mj]

One of the things I enjoyed the most about Comanche of The month was your best mj story. I really enjoy this forum mainly because it’s full of people who share the same passion for their Comanche as I do. I want to hear your stories about your Comanche. 

    I’ll start off by sharing my red Comanche. I was still in high school and one day I had gone to the local autozone in my beige Comanche. Out of nowhere comes in this older woman asking for the owner of the Comanche outside. I then say it was mines. The nice lady then proceeds to ask me if I’d like to buy another Comanche. It belonged to her father who was the original owner but was too old and was senile and couldn’t drive anymore. I was in high school and couldn’t afford another so later that day I asked my father if he wanted to go look at it. Then He agrees and well 750 $ we got her home. She had been sitting in that backyard for years due to the o rings on the fuel injectors going bad. Since then my dad sold it but I bought it back and I enjoy it so much to the point that I won’t ever sell it. 

here's some pics of when we first brought her home   

 

So now your turn , you share your best Comanche story 

[eaglescout526]

You know. I don’t have very many stories to share sadly. I little ones but that’s it. 

First is my grandfather had Little Red for god who knows how long. I remember one day when I was 15 helping him revive it but the pump was bad. Fast forward to three years ago I wrecked an 05 Taurus while in my accord. So I wanted a truck and got Little Red and the rest of the story is on my build. 

 

Year later yer I was driving on the 101 and I blew the transmission. Another member who I have yet to meet on here told me to get on Comanche club after he saw I was pulled to the side of the freeway finding out what the hell happened. He was a nice guy, had a short bed with a canvas bed cover. I believe it was blue with a 4.0. 

 

Recently out of spite there was a AZ 4x4 club meet at this ice cream shop. So I went with my girlfriend and sister and found this out. So I quickly drove us home and I hopped in LR and went to the ice cream place and my sister and girl followed behind. Course it was all JK guys but I liked being the only real Jeep at that meet. 

 

Otherwise LR has lived a boring life in my hands. Other than driving three hours to Heber. 

[Fernando87mj]

29 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

You know. I don’t have very many stories to share sadly. I little ones but that’s it. 

First is my grandfather had Little Red for god who knows how long. I remember one day when I was 15 helping him revive it but the pump was bad. Fast forward to three years ago I wrecked an 05 Taurus while in my accord. So I wanted a truck and got Little Red and the rest of the story is on my build. 

 

Year later yer I was driving on the 101 and I blew the transmission. Another member who I have yet to meet on here told me to get on Comanche club after he saw I was pulled to the side of the freeway finding out what the hell happened. He was a nice guy, had a short bed with a canvas bed cover. I believe it was blue with a 4.0. 

 

Recently out of spite there was a AZ 4x4 club meet at this ice cream shop. So I went with my girlfriend and sister and found this out. So I quickly drove us home and I hopped in LR and went to the ice cream place and my sister and girl followed behind. Course it was all JK guys but I liked being the only real Jeep at that meet. 

 

Otherwise LR has lived a boring life in my hands. Other than driving three hours to Heber. 

Nice to hear the backstory of little red. I thoroughly enjoy reading the build on Lr ! 

[eaglescout526]

18 minutes ago, Fernando87mj said:

Nice to hear the backstory of little red. I thoroughly enjoy reading the build on Lr ! 

I’m glad you enjoy it! I find my self going back from time to time and rereading. Wish I had some pictures from when I first got her. I’ll need to do some digging. 

My grandfather would tell me how he used to throw a little boat in the bed and head up to lake pleasant and go fishing. Which is probably how the original tailgate got screwed up. 

 

Id like to say that these trucks have a tendency to make women jealous. 

[89 MJ]

Alright. My turn. 

 

I just finished reassembling the Comanche the day this story takes place. 

 

My mother had some things that needed to go to the post office, so we took my Comanche. Then the battery died. A nice older man helped us jump start it, and upon closing the hood, I dropped my hood on my thumb. Also on this trip the turn signals stopped working and, on a 15 mike round trip, I saw 4 cops. I didn’t get pulled over though.I have a friend who works at a local car dearlership and he had a Comanche as his first vehicle and he wanted to see mine. So, on the same trip, we stopped there. At the dealership, there was a fully optioned out Camaro ZL1 1LE. He was more excited about my 30 year old truck with a dying battery and turn signals that didn’t work. 

 

It was pretty fun. 

[eaglescout526]

20 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

Alright. My turn. 

 

I just finished reassembling the Comanche the day this story takes place. 

 

My mother had some things that needed to go to the post office, so we took my Comanche. Then the battery died. A nice older man helped us jump start it, and upon closing the hood, I dropped my hood on my thumb. Also on this trip the turn signals stopped working and, on a 15 mike round trip, I saw 4 cops. I didn’t get pulled over though.I have a friend who works at a local car dearlership and he had a Comanche as his first vehicle and he wanted to see mine. So, on the same trip, we stopped there. At the dealership, there was a fully optioned out Camaro ZL1 1LE. He was more excited about my 30 year old truck with a dying battery and turn signals that didn’t work. 

 

It was pretty fun. 

Stroke of luck right there. 

And as for the techs at dealers, they love the old unique cars. Anytime I have something done to my truck here at work which is very rare, all the techs usually surround LR and talk about history with the Comanche. One of the techs here owned an eliminator with 2.5L 4x4 Colorado red and he said he loved that truck. He regrets getting rid of it. He even mentioned the infamous drivers side door sag and gave me hell of a tip on how to fix that issue without taking anything apart. 

[89 MJ]

18 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

And as for the techs at dealers, they love the old unique cars. Anytime I have something done to my truck here at work which is very rare, all the techs usually surround LR and talk about history with the Comanche. One of the techs here owned an eliminator with 2.5L 4x4 Colorado red and he said he loved that truck. He regrets getting rid of it. He even mentioned the infamous drivers side door sag and gave me hell of a tip on how to fix that issue without taking anything apart. 

Very cool! The funny thing was, it was a salesman, not a tech. And he is a heavier set guy and he RAN out to see it. 

[eaglescout526]

13 minutes ago, 89 MJ said:

Very cool! The funny thing was, it was a salesman, not a tech. And he is a heavier set guy and he RAN out to see it. 

Lol that would be me if I ever saw one come here at work. 

[89 MJ]

34 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

Lol that would be me if I ever saw one come here at work. 

Lol

[70barracuda]

Always been a jeep guy. Xj was my first vehicle and still have it. Recently got my mj and roadtripped it this summer to a huge car show in Michigan. Went with my buddy who has a 2018 gt350. Beautiful car. He parked next to me. On my other side is a limited edition charger. And some other 50k muscle cars all around me. Before the show even started I had one guy running security come up and start to talking to me about the jeep for easily 45 min. Cool dude. Then I met these two guys which one of them is on here and he also drove is mj from PA. Talked for easily another hour. I couldn't get away from the jeep because everyone was asking me about it. All these other cars and people came right up to mine. My buddy with the mustang was pissed lol. I even got stopped while walking around by someone asking if I was the guy with the Comanche. I was just amazed at the attention it got.  Even driving around town I get thumbs up and people asking me about it all the time. My xj is pretty wild looking and gets attention but no where near the amount my stock, faded paint, Comanche gets. I love this damn thing. 

[89 MJ]

9 hours ago, 70barracuda said:

Always been a jeep guy. Xj was my first vehicle and still have it. Recently got my mj and roadtripped it this summer to a huge car show in Michigan. Went with my buddy who has a 2018 gt350. Beautiful car. He parked next to me. On my other side is a limited edition charger. And some other 50k muscle cars all around me. Before the show even started I had one guy running security come up and start to talking to me about the jeep for easily 45 min. Cool dude. Then I met these two guys which one of them is on here and he also drove is mj from PA. Talked for easily another hour. I couldn't get away from the jeep because everyone was asking me about it. All these other cars and people came right up to mine. My buddy with the mustang was pissed lol. I even got stopped while walking around by someone asking if I was the guy with the Comanche. I was just amazed at the attention it got.  Even driving around town I get thumbs up and people asking me about it all the time. My xj is pretty wild looking and gets attention but no where near the amount my stock, faded paint, Comanche gets. I love this damn thing. 

That is a hilarious story!!!

[buxmj]

Two of my favorite mj stories happened about 12 years ago, one with a good ending (mine) and one with a bad ending that shouldn't have. I had a friend tell me I should take advantage of the cash for clunkers program and get rid of my truck. I told her the truck is in great shape, it just needed to get painted. Well I got it painted and 10 years later that paint job is still looking good, mainly because the mj earned its retirement and doesn't get driven as much now but I enjoy driving it now more than ever. The sad ending story is around the time of the cash for clunkers program I was at a junk yard and saw an mj that was a cash for clunkers victim, a 4.0 HO Florida truck with no body damage, no rust and a clean interior, got as much as I could off of it but looking back wish I could have bought the whole thing. I haven't seen an mj in a junk yard for several years now, I wonder how much of that truck got crushed...

[Minuit]

My new favorite MJ story is the All Breeds show in PA and everything going along with it.

 

Take a couple of weeks off work because your idea of fun is driving a 28 year old Jeep 1500 miles round trip to spend a weekend in the company of fellow cool Jeep dudes? Awesome. Do it with an A/C compressor that you got done replacing on a faint suspicion at 9PM the night before you leave... and NOT A SINGLE BAD THING HAPPENS? Really awesome.

[Vineyard86manch]

I suppose my best story so far is how I acquired my mj. I found her up in northern Montana. I was living in Salt Lake City at the time, and I found the cheapest flight I could to get up there, a 3 stop flight slc>>San Fran>Portland>kalispell. Even though I had a friend who lived nearby take the truck for a spin, I’m starting to question myself for having paypalled a guy I’ve never met $2100 for a truck I’ve never driven. Then he tells me the battery is dead but gives it a jump and leaves me with a ratty set of cables to take with me. Now it’s march and the sun is about to set and I’m about to head south through some remote areas. I immediately went to carquest and bought a new battery for the truck. As I’m gassing up before I hit the road, this old salty mechanic comes out of the garage and says, “I thought all those trucks ended up in the crusher?!” We laughed and then I drove her 600+ miles south to SLC without an issue, and got 25mpg to boot. Needless to say I love this truck!

[eaglescout526]

On 9/25/2019 at 12:43 PM, Fernando87mj said:

  

 

Holy Crap!! I didn't realize your truck had those factory trailer rims too! That's what I get for looking on the phone. Same exact set I had on LR and I can't find any evidence other than early pictures where they are painted and looked like a propane grill.

 

I also suppose that my current rim set has a story. I was at goodwill and I found one of those five spoke rims with Jeep stamped in it and I swear that rim had never ever seen road use it was so damn new looking. Then after acquiring that one I went to AMC salvage a week later and they had a full set. Paid a hundred for the set.

[Fernando87mj]

I sure am enjoying reading through all the stories guys. Keep it up ! 

[Fernando87mj]

31 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

Holy Crap!! I didn't realize your truck had those factory trailer rims too! That's what I get for looking on the phone. Same exact set I had on LR and I can't find any evidence other than early pictures where they are painted and looked like a propane grill.

 

I also suppose that my current rim set has a story. I was at goodwill and I found one of those five spoke rims with Jeep stamped in it and I swear that rim had never ever seen road use it was so damn new looking. Then after acquiring that one I went to AMC salvage a week later and they had a full set. Paid a hundred for the set.

Do you think it could’ve been dealer installed options ? Because when we bought her she also came with the 5 spoke Jeep wheels with the Jeep stamp on it. 

[eaglescout526]

1 minute ago, Fernando87mj said:

Do you think it could’ve been dealer installed options ? Because when we bought her she also came with the 5 spoke Jeep wheels with the Jeep stamp on it. 

I can almost bet it was as equivalent to bumper and radio delete. It probably was a factory thing to make the money saving packages. Or dealers did it and turned a profit on AMC/Jeep rims. can't really say. Mine is the only Jeep aside from CJ's to have a set of those trailer rims.

[coolwind57]

On 9/25/2019 at 6:29 PM, eaglescout526 said:

and gave me hell of a tip on how to fix that issue without taking anything apart. 

Oh, do tell.....

[eaglescout526]

1 hour ago, coolwind57 said:

Oh, do tell.....

Oh well since you asked. It was actually simple. He said to open the door and use a jack to lift it up and reweld the hinge back to the body. I don’t think I saw that idea anywhere on here or if anyone else thought of it but I didnt think of it

[Pete M]

In a world before modern smart phones, affordable car GPS systems, or reliable cell covereage... at a time when I was still quite sick all the time and had to take rest breaks from driving every hour or 2...   in a far simpler time (way back in 2005) I went on a 3k mile adventure to Moab (and Colorado and Rockport ORP in illinois). Just a guy, his dog, his Jeep and the open road.     More than one person said I was nuts.  in hindsight they were probably right.     But I met a lot of friends, had a lot of fun, only got lost a couple times, and the truck ran nearly flawless (my C-bushings tried to escape at one point and then the water pump self-destructed on the last day 2 hours from home).  Sure wish I could remember more of it than I do, but such is the fun of being me.    It's why I tend to take a lot of pictures.  

 

 

 

 

[89 MJ]

Bump, we've gotten a lot of new members since the most recent post. I like stories, lets hear them!

[Pete M]

airing down is one of the tenements of offroading.  street pressures just don't work as well offroad.  so I give you our last day camping near the dunes, after I had already aired back up to street pressure for the drive home, and everyone said "let's go down to the lakefront to watch the sun set.  I figured since I wasn't doing anything crazy, just driving over to the beach I could get away without airing down.  nope.  got as far as the main drag would take me and got stopped by the very first little hill.  got out, aired down, and drove right out. 

 

 

 

couple more from earlier that day

 

 

[Torq_Shep]

I did so much stupid stuff in my college comanche... So much...

 

Story 1: My roommate and I both had "crappy" cars so we used to run into each other at stop lights for fun.

Story 2: Starter went out and as it was a manual I just left it not functioning for months and would just push it down a hill. Ended up changing that after finals in my friends apartment complex.

Story 3: I loaded 2 motorcycles, a welder, and a toolbox in the back of it and drove 5 hours from my parents place back to college.

Story 4: We used to drag race and "drift" in the school complex after hours. One of those times it was raining and I spun out and smashed a curb. Destroyed the tire, axle shaft, and wheel. $60 at the junkyard fixed it. 

Story 5: My roommate and I sold his Cadillac to a dude in Pensacola. The car was a piece and would run for a few hundred miles at a time and at one time caught fire. When selling it I get in the Caddy with the dude and my roommate gets in my truck. The guy immediately blasts the radio, lays the seat back, and proceeds to take the Caddy to ~120mph while my roommate tried to follow us. After 5 minutes the guy says he "likes the car and wants to buy it" but he wants to know if he can pay me, at least in part, in weed. I decline and we drive to his uncles house where his uncle hands me 2k. That whole interaction happened while I was on the phone with my roommate trying to figure out where the hell we lost him because the Comanche was way less fast. Driving out of there I tore @$$ to get the heck away from there.

[big66440]

I got a job with one of my older brothers at an engine parts warehouse and I had always liked Comanches, one of the delivery drivers pulled in one day in a pretty beat up one and I started talking to him about it. I finally asked him if he'd liked to sell it and he agreed but the deal never went through, there was always an excuse why he couldn't sell it. I transferred locations and lost touch with the guy, till one day my brother (same brother I worked with at the original location) called me and said he had to see me right away, it was an emergency and it could not wait. I told my brother to stop by my house that evening and he pulls up in the Comanche I originally wanted to buy from the delivery driver, he got out of the driver seat with a huge smile on his face, handed me the keys and pink slip and said "I think this is yours"  that was approximately 12 years ago and till this day I can't get over how cool my brother is to have gotten me my first set of wheels.