Raggedy Ann

[Comavalanche]

Well, I’ve had my truck for four years now so I figured now is a good time to start a build thread...lol. I had a 1999 Cherokee in high school and always wanted a Comanche. Once I got to college I was going to school and working full time at pizza joint and finally saved up enough to buy a Comanche. I found it on Craigslist - a white, 1988 with the AW4, 4.0 and 4x4. Here is how it looked when I brought it home. I thought it was clean, but it had a lot of poorly repaired rust spots in all the usual spots.

[Comavalanche]

I’ll never forget the first time I drove it to class I was sitting on the campus shuttle leaving the parking lot and I see a giant cloud of smoke coming from the hood and coolant draining all into the floor. It was the middle of summer in Jacksonville and that closed cooling system apparently had some problems. After some research I did an open cooling conversion over the course of a weekend and was good to go. As I drove it things kept breaking and I kept fixing them (I had never worked on my Cherokee in high school and had no clue what I was doing).  Here’s the Comanche’s first off-roading trip. This is also when I found out about CAD axles...got stuck instantly lol

[Comavalanche]

As I got more comfortable fixing things on the Jeep I bought a one-piece shaft off EBay and threw it in. I never could get the seals right so it leaks a little gear oil but I top it off every now and again. Once I graduated college I picked up a front bumper and winch.....and then a clutch fan lol here’s me stranded at work :)

[Comavalanche]

A few months later I picked up a topper for $40. It was off of a Ford Ranger I believe? Anyway, I then found out that JK wheels are everywhere on Craigslist. So I picked up 5  brand new wheels and tires for $250 and threw them on as well as a 3 inch lift from Rusty’s. Here’s a little before and after:

[Comavalanche]

I procrastinated pulling the carpets up; I didn’t want to see the inevitable. I finally did and.....it was bad. At first I was bummed. Really bummed. So bummed I contemplated just getting rid of it. But I’m glad I didn’t! I said screw it, bought a handy mig and learned how to weld. And by weld, I mean booger weld. I bought floor pans for a Cherokee and made them fit, cutting into the side every few inches, then banging it into place with a BFH.  

[Comavalanche]

It was a lot of cutting pieces and making them fit. The last picture above is me cutting out that box frame thing and welding in plates to give it structure. The giant yellow spot to the right is the garage floor...lol. The drivers side pan had to be cut out. The passenger side pans just had surface rust so I just ground it down to bare metal and put rust converter on it, then paint.

[Comavalanche]

Since I was replacing some of the floor, I took the opportunity to replace the bench seat with buckets from a Cherokee. I just used the Cherokee seat sliders and  brackets and made my own mounting system. I kept the bench seat and welded up some metal and made a couch one day when I was bored.

[Comavalanche]

After I got both buckets in I went to a junk yard and pulled a center console from a Cherokee. It looks terrible because I couldn’t figure out what to do with the transfer case shifter but it works.

[Comavalanche]

I then picked up some 33 inch Maxxis tires, trimmed the fenders and threw them on! I relocated the fenders up a few inches because I don’t like the look of all the fenders missing, but after I did I I didn’t like what I had done. For now I’m just going to leave it. Plus it hides rust...lol I just bought a CB and antenna and I’ll post pics once I install them. But as for now this is how she sits four years later. (These are the only up-to-date pics I have)

[Pete M]

2 hours ago, Comavalanche said:

Since I was replacing some of the floor, I took the opportunity to replace the bench seat with buckets from a Cherokee. I just used the Cherokee seat sliders and  brackets and made my own mounting system. I kept the bench seat and welded up some metal and made a couch one day when I was bored.

 

 

that's just plain awesome right there.  

[Drahcir495]

Great looking truck 

[Comavalanche]

On 11/14/2019 at 1:27 PM, Drahcir495 said:

Great looking truck 

 Thank you sir :)

[Comavalanche]

Installed the CB the other day. Not sure if I like the spot. I’ve never used the storage cubby thing but it falls down when I hit bumps. Oh well.

 

 

[Comavalanche]

Took the Jeep out wheeling with some friends who have Tacomas this weekend. The Jeep was getting hot on the trails and I couldn’t figure out why. Looks like I’ll be doing some tinkering this weekend.

[Comavalanche]

So I went to replace my bumpstops in the rear and I found a tiny hole in my passenger-side frame right above the leaf spring mount. The driver-side frame is perfectly fine which make somewhat relieved. I’ve been teaching myself how to weld with a flux core for about a year so I just went to town cutting out the rust and welding in patches. I wanted it to look nice but I knew my skills wouldn’t allow that...lol

[Comavalanche]

The passenger-side was shot on both sides, so now this is where I am at-currently staring at my Swiss cheese frame rail contemplating my life choices. Oh well. I’d rather have a Comanche and have to do this sort of stuff than drive anything else and have zero issues.