ThreeComanches Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 Decided to replace the rear shocks today. I'll do the fronts next week. Got a new one and an old one side by side. It wouldn't surprise me if the old ones were original or the second set it ever had. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvagedcircuit Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 8 minutes ago, ThreeComanches said: Decided to replace the rear shocks today. I'll do the fronts next week. Got a new one and an old one side by side. It wouldn't surprise me if the old ones were original or the second set it ever had. Those are what nightmares are made of Wow! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeComanches Posted January 16 Author Share Posted January 16 1 minute ago, Salvagedcircuit said: Those are what nightmares are made of Tell me about it. It was a bear to get them off and to get the new ones on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
89 MJ Posted January 16 Share Posted January 16 Those are probably the worst shocks I’ve ever seen. And I’ve removed shocks that came out in two pieces haha Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The86manche Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 On 1/15/2025 at 1:11 PM, eaglescout526 said: Got a write up on this? I’d love to fix mine in the future in the event it fails. I remember sending a couple off to another member. Not sure what happened to that member. You know.. funny you mention that because it may have been me. Truthfully I don't remember who sent me one but I do remember having issues and someone sending me one that didn't end up working either. (Still have it somewhere) And I don't remember if I took photos or not. If I can dig out the other tach I can snap photos. I didn't realize you can still get the little chips new so I pulled a v6 fiero tach and pulled the chip off that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eaglescout526 Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 1 hour ago, The86manche said: You know.. funny you mention that because it may have been me. Truthfully I don't remember who sent me one but I do remember having issues and someone sending me one that didn't end up working either. (Still have it somewhere) And I don't remember if I took photos or not. If I can dig out the other tach I can snap photos. I didn't realize you can still get the little chips new so I pulled a v6 fiero tach and pulled the chip off that. lol. I don’t think it was you. I think i sent two to someone else. A V6 and a I4 tach so we could learn the difference between the two. But that’s good to know for the chip that’s on them. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeComanches Posted January 17 Author Share Posted January 17 So with the rear shocks replaced, I figured I'd go ahead and do the fronts today. They were super crusty and I had to have a few extra set of hands to help out. (One to hold the second wrench and one to hold the light.) I also went ahead and resealed the rear end cover and filled 'er up with new oil. New ones are on and we're getting closer to the first test drive. I'm hoping the new brake lines to arrive sometime next week Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The86manche Posted January 17 Share Posted January 17 4 hours ago, eaglescout526 said: lol. I don’t think it was you. I think i sent two to someone else. A V6 and a I4 tach so we could learn the difference between the two. But that’s good to know for the chip that’s on them. Ah, then it definitely was not me haha And I don't understand too much of the chip off the top of my head but If I can get one I can do a little research to explain for a write up. Can't even remember the name of it! The wiper modules have them too I think. And at that thought I have another reason to look into them.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeComanches Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 After finishing the shocks, I decided to once again look into why the tachometer wasn't reading correctly. I decided to start at the alternator. For anyone who doesn't know, the tachometer in the diesels rely on the alternator since there isn't a CPS like a gas engine. I hooked a scope to the W post on the alternator to make sure I was getting a signal. Sure enough, I was getting one. After that, I checked the continuity of the tachometer wire. No breaks. Then, I hooked the scope to the gauge cluster plug and started it. The signal was present here as well. In the end, I determined the tachometer itself was the culprit. I'll have to check the resistors and chip on it another day. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeComanches Posted January 26 Author Share Posted January 26 On Wednesday, I finally got my brake line kit in. It was a stainless steel kit off of summit. First off, I started with removing the old lines from the rear axle. They pretty much broke off once I tried to remove them. The Rhode Island salt definitely had their way with them over years. I also decided to go ahead and replace the rear wheel cylinders since the old ones were very crusty looking. Getting the new brake lines on proved difficult. The first one went on without as much fuss. The second one was an absolute bear. However, I finally got it on with some help from the instructor. I also finally got the front to rear line pulled out and it was toast. I'll also be deleting the weight sensor on the rear. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Eagle_SX4 Posted January 26 Share Posted January 26 18 minutes ago, ThreeComanches said: Nice an AMC 20 rear axle. A cool 1 year only option. I don't think I have come across any one else on here with that axle. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeComanches Posted February 1 Author Share Posted February 1 After doing the rear brake lines, I finally set to work on getting the front to back brake line in. It was an absolute bear but I got it done. Removing the nuts from the rusty fuel tank J-hooks didn't go to well. Two of them were so seized they twisted the hooks out of their place. I did manage to clean the hooks up to where they could be used again. I held the tank up with a transmission jack while I fished the new brake line beside it and got it into place. Getting the line into place wasn't terrible once I figured out where it went. The worst part was getting it up through the firewall. I also had to make a rear line so I could bypass the rear level sensor valve. When I went to screw the line into the combo block in the engine bay, it was an absolute bear as well. I had to get some assistance and I ended up cross threading it and messing up the threads in the block. Since that happened, I ended up pulling the rest of the lines off and replaced the block with one out of a 1990 Comanche. Once I had the lines buttoned up, I tried to bleed it. However, I never could get anything out of the rear bleeder screws. Turns out the rod in the block was stuck so I had to pull it all down and reset the combo block. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeComanches Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 I've covered a lot of work in the past couple of weeks. I'll cover most of it in this post. So after resetting the old combo block, i put a plug in one of the holes. Turns out, it was the wrong one so I pulled it back down and installed one out of a Cherokee XJ. The old master cylinder was shot so I had to get a new one. When I did, the first one was bad out of the box. So I had to take it all apart again and put yet another one on. With that said, the brakes were finally in working order. After that, I finally found some tires for it. The best part: they had the matching wheels I needed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ThreeComanches Posted February 14 Author Share Posted February 14 Ladies and gentlemen, after almost 2 years of searching for parts, browsing forums far and wide, turning lots of wrenches, and lots of frustration... The Alabama Turbo Diesel rides again! The whole time on the first test drive, I was smiling like a dog. It's kinda hard to believe it really moves after sitting for 21 years per the last inspection sticker There are still some things left to do. Like interior, body work, exhaust. But I'm just over the moon that she finally drives again. Thanks to each and every one of ya'll that helped me out along the way. I wouldn't have made it this far without ya'll. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Salvagedcircuit Posted February 14 Share Posted February 14 14 hours ago, ThreeComanches said: Ladies and gentlemen, after almost 2 years of searching for parts, browsing forums far and wide, turning lots of wrenches, and lots of frustration... The Alabama Turbo Diesel rides again! The whole time on the first test drive, I was smiling like a dog. It's kinda hard to believe it really moves after sitting for 21 years per the last inspection sticker There are still some things left to do. Like interior, body work, exhaust. But I'm just over the moon that she finally drives again. Thanks to each and every one of ya'll that helped me out along the way. I wouldn't have made it this far without ya'll. Boo yah! Excellent work! Now to get a little more road time! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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