1990 Comanche Long-bed

[Rooster92]

So I saw a Comanche for the first time when I was 17 back in 2009. Even though it was all rusted out and falling apart, It had an immediate effect on me. It was both a jeep, and it was truck. It was everything. Despite how much I wanted it, I did not get it as I was in need of a reliable daily driver, not a project. I never forgot about it though!

 

Well here we are ten years later. Back in the fall I had taken three weeks of leave. There was some travel planned, but the first week was just me hanging out locally. I had been entertaining the idea of getting a project truck so I was spending time searching and seeing what was available in the area. Originally I was thinking of an older Tacoma. One day, however, I just started looking for Comanches. Most were too far or in too bad of shape. I was a bit discouraged but kept looking. The more I thought about getting a Comanche, the more determined I became.

 

Eventually I saw one that was in great condition and for a fair price. It had all the specifications I wanted. The only problem was that it was in Southern California. I live in Georgia. I thought that it was too far, too impractical. Then I realized, I had absolutely nothing planned for a week with some savings in the bank. So I bought a one way ticket, packed a backpack, and went after it! I bought it on the spot and drove it back across the country! It came with the camper shell so I slept in that on the way back to Georgia.

 

 

 

[Rooster92]

So the first thing I did was just clean it as best as I could, inside and out. I also cleaned out the engine bay. The vehicle is actually in great condition. It has just under 100,000 miles. The story is that it was originally owned by an older, retired gentlemen who used it to travel with his wife. Then he passed away and left it to his son, who did not use it. He then sold it to a dealership that specializes in older 4WD vehicles, which is where I got it.

  

 

 

 

 

[Ωhm]

Seems like well worth the trip. Great score.

[coheed]

I've always wanted to do a fly and ride to buy a vehicle, never found one I deemed fit enough to do it with.

 

I like that camper top. Looks like it would have a good bit of room with the high roof line.

[Rooster92]

Other than a routine maintenance, I did not work on the truck at all. For the first few months I was just driving it around and using it like a truck is supposed to be used. Well, on one long weekend, I took it up to the mountains in north Georgia to go backpacking. I noticed that I was starting to pull to the side a bit and was creaking more than usual. 

 

I don't have much hands-on experience with cars so I wanted a professional to look at it. I took it to a mechanic and they told me I needed new upper and lower control arms, track bar, sway bar links, and steering damper. I thought I'd do it on my own. Yesterday I did the lower control arms. My neighbor saw me in the cul-de-sac with my tools and came out to help me. I am still so grateful. It was a great time. 

 

Most of the bushings in the front have burst open so this will be my focus for a while. Tomorrow I will be doing the upper arms.

 

 

Here are the new lower control arms. I got adjustable ones so that I can lift it and not have to replace them again.

 

 

Here are the old control arms.

[Rooster92]

So today I had originally planned to replace the upper control arms. The ones I ordered however did not come with the rubber bushings for the front axle housing. I have to order those separately. I should have done better research. Anyways, I ended up changing the sway bar links instead.

 

 

Here are the old links.

 

 

Here are the old ones with the new ones next to it.

 

 

And now with the new ones installed. I will be ordering the bushings for the upper control arms today. I will also be replacing the track bar sometime this week

[OptimusPreem]

Nice work, that's going to be a happy front end.

[Rooster92]

21 hours ago, Ωhm said:

Seems like well worth the trip. Great score.

 

It was probably the funnest thing I've ever done.

[Rooster92]

20 hours ago, coheed said:

I've always wanted to do a fly and ride to buy a vehicle, never found one I deemed fit enough to do it with.

 

I like that camper top. Looks like it would have a good bit of room with the high roof line.

 

The camper top is awesome. Definitely a bonus.

[Rooster92]

14 minutes ago, OptimusPreem said:

Nice work, that's going to be a happy front end.

 

Yep, its coming along!

[Pete M]

Awesome truck!  what a survivor  

 

37 minutes ago, Rooster92 said:

 

I do hope that new bumps stops are on your list.   

[Rooster92]

30 minutes ago, Pete M said:

Awesome truck!  what a survivor  

 

 

I do hope that new bumps stops are on your list.   

 

They are now! Thank you!

[MontanaManche]

Looking good! Good luck with the project, what are your plans with it?

[eaglescout526]

1 hour ago, Rooster92 said:

Here are the old links.

 

 

Nice score but for some reason this bothers me. I don't know if it is the picture, but it looks like the original link is beefier and longer than new. 

[Rooster92]

47 minutes ago, MontanaManche said:

Looking good! Good luck with the project, what are your plans with it?

 

Honestly... I don't have a clear vision yet. I know that I want to lift it about 3-4" and paint it. I'd also like to get a radio in there.

[Rooster92]

47 minutes ago, eaglescout526 said:

 

Nice score but for some reason this bothers me. I don't know if it is the picture, but it looks like the original link is beefier and longer than new. 

 

Now that you say that, you might be right. There is a lot of crud on the original ones though that make it look thicker than it actually is. It does look longer though.

[89 MJ]

2 hours ago, Rooster92 said:

 

Honestly... I don't have a clear vision yet. I know that I want to lift it about 3-4" and paint it. I'd also like to get a radio in there.

Here is mine with a 3in lift and 31s for reference. I personally like the stance for daily driving. I do have a write up for what I did with my rear lift too on here. 

 

In regard to a radio, @Minuit is your guy should you have any questions. 

[WesD]

Neat truck and project.   I did a cross country drive, flew halfway bought a truck and drove the rest.   What a great memory.

 

Are lower control arms a replacement item?   Outside of a hit, and that truck looks clean, I don't see how you would need to replace any of those parts except the steering damper, especially with those miles.   Id just repack the bearings.

 

 

[Rooster92]

2 hours ago, 89 MJ said:

Here is mine with a 3in lift and 31s for reference. I personally like the stance for daily driving. I do have a write up for what I did with my rear lift too on here. 

 

In regard to a radio, @Minuit is your guy should you have any questions. 

 

I really like it. That is pretty much what I had in mind. Ill be looking at your write up. Thank you.

 

[Rooster92]

57 minutes ago, WesD said:

Neat truck and project.   I did a cross country drive, flew halfway bought a truck and drove the rest.   What a great memory.

 

Are lower control arms a replacement item?   Outside of a hit, and that truck looks clean, I don't see how you would need to replace any of those parts except the steering damper, especially with those miles.   Id just repack the bearings.

 

 

 

Yeah I think you're right. Really, I should have just got a complete set of bushings for the entire suspension. I am learning almost everything as I go on this. 

[Rooster92]

Alright so today the truck defeated me. I planned on replacing the track bar. Like @WesD said, the part itself is just fine. All that really needed to be replaced was the the bushing, which had exploded. It was a mess of grease in the housing bracket. 

 

 

I admit, I couldn't get the cotter pin out. It ended up just breaking as I was trying to yank it free. Between all the gunk and the poor access/visibility, I decided to go a different route. I thought I would remove the entire bracket. It wasn't very difficult, but I had to remove the air filter housing in order to get to nuts on the other side.

 

 

Here it is once i got the entire thing free.

 

 

By this time. my neighbor had come around and was helping me out. We got the cotter pin out and cleaned it all up as best as possible. So here is when the real issue started.

 

No matter what we tried, we could not get the new, or old track bar to fit back into the truck. We tried everything. We tried with weight on the axle, weight off the axle, passenger side jacked up, drivers side jacked up, turning the steering wheels.... everything we could think of. We tried loosing up all the bolts to give it play. I am taking a tactical pause and readdressing the issue tomorrow. So now, I have two track bars and an out-of-service Comanche.

 

 

Any advice anyone has is much appreciated. 

[MontanaManche]

22 minutes ago, Rooster92 said:

Any advice anyone has is much appreciated. 

You could try a combination of ratchet straps and pry bars.

[Pete M]

1 minute ago, MontanaManche said:

You could try a combination of ratchet straps and pry bars.

 

yup, that's what I'd use.  

[Rooster92]

Some good progress was made today. Thank you to @MontanaComanche23 and @Pete M for your advice on getting the track bar installed. In the end, it needed to have the passenger side jacked up and turning the steering wheel until it fit right in. It was that simple. I got a heavy duty ratchet strap anyway for use at a later time. I was also able to change the steering damper.

 

 

Here it is next to the new one.

 

 

 

And now here it is in the vehicle.

 

 

So the front end is really starting to come together. All that I have left is the upper control arms. I plan on getting that knocked out tomorrow. 

 

[Rooster92]

Today I got to work on the upper control arms. It turned out being way more difficult that I expected. The bolt connecting it to the axle was stripped and seized. We ended up taking an angle grinder to it and eventually breaking it free after a while. Now I have to learn how to clean this up and keep it from rusting.

 

 

The axle end was simple and it came loose immediately. 

 

 

The next problem is getting the bushing out. I rented a ball joint removal kit from the auto parts store but unfortunately the metal cups that came with it were too big for the bushing. I am thinking that getting a socket will do the trick. Others have told me you can use a blow torch and melt the rubber out. 

 

 

I suppose I will get a blowtorch. I know those can be useful as well if I run into more seized or stripped bolts. I'm laughing at myself because I thought this was going to be simple. My tool collection is getting really big, really fast!