Odds and ends - Advice requested

[JZLAJeep]

While the mechanics (my sons) work on the difficult stuff, they let me tinker with little stuff. I’m seeking feedback from the collective knowledge of the group on a few odds and ends. Keep in mind that our criteria for repairs is that they should match the rest of the Comanche, we aren’t making it showroom quality.

 

Carpet – Found a guy locally that has carpet he pulled out of his Comanche that he’ll let go for $75. I haven’t seen the carpet yet, but he says it’s in decent condition. Color is grey, which will be neutral enough with the dark blue interior (we made the headliner grey after all). We removed the dark blue carpet (still in the garage) because mice had eaten a couple holes in it, it was stained, etc. Until now we’ve been planning to put in non-molded vinyl flooring from Army Surplus. I still like the idea of the non-carpet floor, but it may be a challenge to get it to lay decently (Pete already advised against it), or should we take the carpet and go with it? Is $75 a reasonable price for used Comanche carpet?

 

Wheels – We discovered that our Comanche has three different 15 inch wheels on it, one of which is a Ford wheel that doesn’t come off except with a sledge hammer. Not great. Same guy selling the carpet will let a set of (I don’t know the official term) “drilled” Jeep wheels go for $125. I like these retro wheels and we are ok with keeping 15 inch, 5x4.5 wheels. Deal or no deal? (Picture from the internet, not actual)

 

Badges – Need to reattach a couple badges. I assume we need to remove the old foam off of the badge and the vehicle, but how is the best way to reattach? Do we need a new double sided foam adhesive or stick it back on with automotive adhesive or what?

 

Dash cover – The dash is cracked and sunburnt. I’ve read the threads about refreshing the dash, but seems like the 1980s solution for the 1989 pickup is a dash mat/cover. It appears that there are a couple brands out there on Rock Auto and Amazon. Have any experience or recommendations? Looking for Dark blue by the way.

 

Jack - The Comanche (and one of our Cherokees) had no jack when we got them. What's a desirable replacement?

 

Probably other stuff on the to do list too, but these are what I’m remembering at the moment.

Edited February 6, 2023 by JZLAJeep
spelling, added another topic

[gogmorgo]

You can buy new molded carpet or even molded vinyl flooring online. I’d be looking for pretty near mint if I was running used carpet myself.

3M makes a good emblem or molding adhesive tape. It’s exactly that, a double-sided foam tape. Most parts stores should carry it for a reasonable price. Peel the old stuff off and get the surfaces clean, stick it on the badge and trim to fit, then stick it on your truck. There’s likely other brands that work just as well, but the 3M is pretty universally available and what I’m familiar with.
 

I would have said $100 for a set of OEM wheels is pretty reasonable. If they’ve got tires worth running mounted to them they might be worth more.

No advice on anything else. Sucks people pull factory jacks out and don’t put one back in. I had a cheap bottle jack, harbour freight or whatever that I carried around for a bit. Factory jack is the same between XJ/MJ if you can find one. 

[Pete M]

I've never found a factory jack I liked.  I put a cheap 2ton hydraulic floor jack in everything now.  doesn't fit the MJ cab very well though.  I store mine in a box in the bed.   

 

my 88 still has a carpet dash cover I bought 20 years ago.  infinitely better than a cracked dash.

 

I've seen those rims call "10 hole" wheels.  if it had the little fake rivets it'd be an Eliminator rim.  If they aren't all corroded, I'd definite;y be happy getting them for a little over 100. 

 

if the carpet works for you, I can see it being worth 75.  but I'd need to see it in person. 

[pizzaman09]

$100 for four decently nice wheels is a good deal in my book.  I spent that much on rusty junk yard steel wheels 15 years ago.  If they have tires already they are worth less as you have to get rid of the tires.

[cruiser54]

Phone dial wheels. I'd snag a set of 4 if I were you. 

[75sv1]

I've had to use the factory jack once or twice. Not fun. And if lifted, then more not fun. I also carry a cheap rolling jack. Makes life much easier. And safer. I did have to change a tire on my Volt coming back from Christmas vacation. Not fun with a scissor jack. At least I had a spare. the early Volts don't come with a spare. 

[Armyvet25]

I'll address 2 of the topics, wheels, I'd stick with 15's not a fan of modern wheel look on the Comanche, would look ok on a Cherokee...I know, almost the same thing, just something about the Comanche looks better with oem or retro wagon style wheels. But wheel "looks" is subjective to what the owner likes. Second, the Jack, the bottle jack that came with them I'm not a fan of, I prefer a scissors jack, and I always source one from a late 80's early 90's Silverado, they're plenty strong enough and lift high enough even with a slight lift and I feel secure with them as they were designed to lift, well a Silverado. They don't take up much space, would fit nicely behind either seating area. In fact, it might be blasphemous to alter a mostly complete oem, Comanche but I'll probably replace mine with a scissor jack just like I did all my Jeeps, should be plenty of XJ jacks available though.

[gogmorgo]

The factory jacks are really only for emergency use, and they aren’t really intended to last for more than a few uses. I keep a small 12V compressor that serves me for most flats. Also useful for airing back up after a trip out. It’s rare you’ll be loosing air quickly enough to actually need to swap to a spare. The factory jacks have a convenient holder, and they’re nice and compact, keeping them out of the way for all the time you’re not using it, and you’ll never pull it out for some other reason and neglect to put it back in. But obviously you need to make sure your mods don’t render it useless. 
I also have a small harbour freight hydraulic floor jack that lived in the back of my ZJ for a while. I went to use it to help a friend change out her winters, and it wouldn’t lift, it had tipped over and leaked the oil out. I’ve also had issues using hydraulic jacks in cold weather. Screw jacks don’t have that issue. Assuming they aren’t seized, of course. 

 

But we’re getting pretty far in the weeds here. 

[Armyvet25]

9 minutes ago, gogmorgo said:

 

 

But we’re getting pretty far in the weeds here. 

we got Jeeps, we're good

[JZLAJeep]

Thanks for all of the advice on this thread so far. Quick update:

 

The guy with the carpet and wheels also found a long bed spare tire winch so we are definitely going to pick that up if it works. He wants $20 for the winch. Going to look at the carpet Saturday morning. Will take a good look at the "phone dial" wheels and maybe offer $100 (he wants $125). @gogmorgo you are correct that the tires on them are no good and will need to be taken off. Normally I don't really care what wheels look like, but matching wheels would be nice, and if we can pick up some vintage Jeep wheels, then all the better. I'll post an update on what we end up with.

 

Not that I need another one, but we are also going to look at the 99 Cherokee Classic that he is selling for his business partner. If purchased, the dilemma then will be which Cherokee to sell.  I have a colleague that wants to sell me their 86 CJ-7 too. Too many good Jeeps, not enough money (or parking spaces)! But I digress...

 

Badge adhesive - @gogmorgo is this the 3M adhesive foam you are talking about? https://tinyurl.com/2p8j6bum

 

Dash cover - only one response on this (thanks @Pete M) I am finding 3 options in Dark Blue. Any experience with any of these? Rock Auto is the cheapest, but probably comparable after shipping.

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B008HMU63O/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_7?smid=A1BQE2BYBLOJ52&psc=1

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B0087ZR8O6/ref=ox_sc_saved_title_8?smid=ATVPDKIKX0DER&psc=1

https://tinyurl.com/43jyjhpz

 

Jack - Interesting to get the opinions and experiences on jacks. I've heard some people say to throw away all scissor jacks and @armyvet25 says he prefers them. So I don't know... I'd just feel better about having a jack of some sort in each vehicle for that roadside flat. I do want something that will fit behind the seat of the Comanche or under the back seat of the Cherokee. I see ebay does have some factory jacks, and I've never had an issue with the one factory jack that I do have. Or I could pick up a couple hydraulic bottle jacks, but like @gogmorgo said, if the hydraulic fluid leaks out, then it doesn't work, whereas a screw jack still does. I guess at the end of the day, I'm looking for something that will fit in the vehicles, is cheap, and will work.

[gogmorgo]

1 hour ago, JZLAJeep said:

Badge adhesive - @gogmorgo is this the 3M adhesive foam you are talking about? https://tinyurl.com/2p8j6bum

Something like that yeah. It also comes in rolls of various widths. The wider sheets are probably better for emblems though. 

[JZLAJeep]

It's been a while, but to follow up on a couple of these topics and one follow up question.

 

Purchased the 4 wheels for $100. Found a 5th at a junk yard. Got good tires mounted on the wheels. Haven't installed on MJ yet, might end up on one of our XJs instead.

 

Purchased an installed a dark blue dash mat (Coverking on Amazon) and installed it. Improves the appearance of the interior immensely.

 

Purchased a jack from ebay. Must be from a later model XJ because it's different than the "old" XJ jack we were expecting, but works the same. We don't have any hardware for mounting it in the Comanche. How is it supposed to attach behind the bench? A photo will be helpful if anyone has one handy.

 

Badges - purchased the 3M 2 side adhesive, but haven't cleaned off the badges and vehicle to reattach yet.

[fiatslug87]

[Classy Comanche]

[JZLAJeep]

That helps a lot. Below is a picture from our Comanche. Looks like the jack attaches to these white hooks using two D rings and an elastic of sorts? Will need to fabricate a bracket for the rod, but I can see where the wing nut threads in.

 

[Armyvet25]

I'm going to be selling my oem jack and the strap for the D rings, i don't have the jack handles, and i prefer a scissors jack, not concerned with oem

[JZLAJeep]

I can be interested... Contact me.