ZJ_flexxxer's jeep comanche build

so i know i've kinda disappeared for a lil while. but i've just been super busy with work and my new toy.

i wound up giving a $1000 for this little comanche. it's a great lil truck. i've already took it on 2 pretty long trips across the state so i know it's dependable. but that should be obvious, it's a jeep! lol

so anyway i'll get started with my plans for this truck. it's going to be my daily driver so i don't wanna go too crazy with modifications but i can't help but customize everything i own at least a little bit. so my plans for this are to give it a pre-runner look. i wanna lift it a small amount and put a pre-runner style bumper on the front. i also wanna swap to the newer 97-01 front end/grill/lights/etc.


so now onto what i've done so far

my starting point: so here's what she looked like when i bought her.


so first thing i did was fix the tail lights and some other minor crap

then it was off to PAP to see what i could find. to my surprise i actually found 3 comanches. i found a bench seat in good shape so i snatched it since mine was shredded all to pieces and i was almost sitting in the floor when driving it.



installed


then grabbed a back bumper to replace my bent and abused excuse for a rear bumper

before



new bumper wire wheeled, 1 coat of truck bed liner, 1 coat of gloss black


installed



also grabbed a woodgrain dash panel out of an xj. as soon as i seen it i just had to have it


and one of my favorite chores on the list was getting some new exhaust pipe welded in. believe me when i say this thing was LOUD the night i brought it home. now she purrs like a kitten, all except for my squealing belt. the pulley on my p/s pump is nicked up for some reason and causing the belt to squeal.

new exhaust



i swapped to an old steering wheel i had saved from my old xj


i got a headliner from a junkyard and re-covered it in camo material


and i picked up a set of xj wheels and swapped my tires on them(old wheels are for sale by the way)



last night i also put a new power steering pump on it. i'm really loving this little truck so far.

lookin good so far!

so i found some 97+ doors from a part out on craigslist as well as a driver side front fender. now all i need is a passenger side fender and header panel/grill/etc.

so i went to the JY to get my door strikers for the new doors and also scored a nice set of shocks for $25



only got the passenger door on so far.



i had picked up a mint condition pair of tail lights a week or 2 ago from a JY. i used a little headlight restore on them and swapped them on there.





i also swapped on my new shocks. i've lifted and changed shocks on a few zj's and xj's and the drivers side front shock is always a PITA. you can get a wrench on the top nut but you have no room to turn it. or you can get a socket on it but cant get a ratchet or extension on the socket, such as the 2 pics below




i feel like an idiot for not thinking of this solution before. but i thought maybe i would post up and save someone else some time and head scratching.

so before going any further just go ahead and pop the vise grips on the top of the shock.


then unbolt your bottom bolts and pull the shock over at an angle. i also used a small piece of pipe to wedge in between the shock and the mount to angle it a little more.


and shazam! 2 small extensions(couldn't find my large one) and a swivel and it comes out of there like cake.


new shocks installed and new bolts

getting way behind on my updates for this thread. ok so here's the new rear slider window

used sliding window from jy= $25.00
tube of 3M window weld= $22.00
total= $47.00

not too bad in my opinion



ok so here's where this build thread takes a huge turn.


i was driving to work on saturday when all of a sudden POW!






my drive shaft came out doing about 75mph and pretty much destroyed itself. it actually drug the ground long enough to grind the ear down so that it'll never hold a c-clip in again, not to mention broke the bolts off inside the yolk on the pinion.

so after doing some thinking. my rear brakes have barely worked since i bought the truck, i would have to take the whole rearend out anyway when i was going to do the spring over axle lift, and having to fix the yolk on this rearend, eventually brought me to the decision to just ditch the d35 and buy a d44 w/ disc brakes from the jy and do my spring over axle lift all at the same time.

so all that thinking has brought me this much progress so far lol

d35 out!


counted the teeth, i had 3:55's which actually surprised me. i expected this truck to have 4:10's with it being the 2.5 4cyl. my goal is to find a d44 w/ disc brakes and 3:73's


and i've had these for a while but never updated, i think they'll go good with my spring over axle lift in the rear. 6.5" xj springs and CA's i bought off my local craigslist for $150

made some progress on my rear end. went to the new ISA pick.pull.save and used my generator to cut this dana 44 out of a V8 grand cherokee. they had a sign that stated "no generators" but i put it in my wheel barrow anyway and they even checked it on my way in so not my fault lol.

once i got it home i started cutting all the 4 link brackets off


and today i finished cutting the rest of them off and grinded the remaining metal off on one side. still have the other side to go and then it'll be time to weld my leaf spring brackets on. i also ordered a set of those through quadratec for $17.99


oh almost forgot. i left a tiny piece of the coil spring bracket on there so i would still have these mounts for my brake lines.

man that is looking good, how much u selling the wheels for

i'm not selling the wheels. the new axle is still the same bolt pattern if thats what you mean

saw this thats the only reason I asked I've been looking for a spare set

ZJ_flexxxer wrote:

and i picked up a set of xj wheels and swapped my tires on them(old wheels are for sale by the way).

oh. no i sold those a long time ago. i got a bunch of buddies with xj's tho, i'll ask them next time i see them. maybe they got some laying around

that would be great thanks

i cleaned the axle up a little more today, getting really close but still not quite done.

and...the brown santa came to visit me today. got my leaf spring perches from quadratec. i did a little test fitting with them and it looks like they should work perfect

made some progress today. i finished grinding on the axle and got the new spring perches welded on.

not the pertiest welds but the feed was acting up on my welder a bit today and i'm not the most skilled welder anyway. i gave them the BFH test and they passed.


then i went and bought some new u-bolts and i reversed the sides the u-bolt plates were on so that i could still use the existing shock mounts on them.


dana 44 in, but still need a drive shaft, shocks, and brake lines


and then i get to start on the front lol. so here's the out come of my spring over axle lift

Holley lifted ass end batman that is a big lift I LIKEY

well i went to the jy yesterday for a bit. found a lifted xj and a lifted zj there. I stole these rear shocks from the zj. not sure what brand they are but they're some pretty nice shocks and they have the nice big rubber bump stops at the top which i like. got them home and touched up the silver paint a bit.




and then from the lifted xj i stole this adjustable tracking arm and the bracket. the best part is, i got all of these parts for only $22 bucks . although i might have got a little wet from a short storm that decided to pass through while i was there i think it was well worth it.

well i got my new shocks on this morning. I knew it was probably gonna take some fabricating, and it did but not much at all. I just relocated the shock mounts to the axle and used the existing upper mounts. it worked out pretty good, after i got it off jackstands and on the ground i still have about 6" of upward travel and i'm not even sure how much down travel(A LOT i'll just put it that way lol).

i couldn't help myself so i got in the bed and jumped around and i do believe she's gonna ride quite nice. can't wait to finish everything up and drive it.

Does the xj have anything worth getting lift wise

not really. just sping cups and lift blocks. home made lift, idk y it even had as adjustable tracking arm, it was only lifted 2" lol

bought some 33's already mounted on cragar soft 8's today. been trying to get these things from a guy on craigslist since thursday. finally got them, and for only $200

got 2 of them on the back already, just getting an idea of how it'll look.

well if you all remember this picture below is what brought me into this crazy rear end swap/lift. after getting the rear end in and the lift done on the back. i finally decided it's time to make this thing pull itself again.



you can't see it so well in the pic, but the ears on the yoke were ground down so much that it wasn't able to hold in a c-clip anymore. but with a little determination, my welder, and a dremel tool, i managed to repair it. i welded a bead around the grounded spots on the yoke an built it back up to where it should be. then used a dremel to grind them back into shape somewhat and clean out the holes where the u-joints would be going in. then finally used the dremel again with a small cutting wheel to cut out the grooves that the c-clip sits in.






i know this may not seem like much to some ppl, but i'm only 23 years old and just now starting to get alot of fabrication under my belt. and i have to say, i'm very proud of myself on this one. most ppl would have taken it to a shop, or thrown it out and went to the junkyard for another one, or had a new one built at a shop. but i was bound and determined to make it work and i did.


and here she is after her test drive. this thing rode smoother than it ever has since i've owned it. i'm very happy with how it's went so far, i just hope i can still say the same after i lift the front.

lookin good wish i had them skills at that age im 30 and would have just looked for a nother shaft

well i got my parts in today. 4-6" rough country shocks for the front, got one of them as a scratch and dent for only $12.00. not sure what was wrong with it, can't find anything so far.




and i got my adjustable control arms from a guy on ebay. very impressed with these things. i wasn't expecting to unwrap something so BEEFY! love these things, i might even sell the full set i have for my zj and buy a set of these.




once i got done having a mini christmas morning on the tailgate of my truck, i got to work. anybody wanna buy a 2wd dummy axle??

went to the JY today and got a d30 with 3:73's to match the new d44 in the rear.



didn't get much done after that. was kinda feelin lazy today. i took what was left of the upper control arms off and knocked the old bushings out of the mounts.



i also took the brakes off, since i'm gonna go back to the JY next weekend and get some WJ knuckle's and brakes for the bigger brake swap.

Lol, You're gonna have to let me come over and help me swap in a np242 when I get one.

They aint too bad. 4 crossmember bolts, 8 nuts on the t-case(I think), couple plugs, driveshafts, and the linkage. I've done a few zj tranny swaps lol

i know where im doing my lift haha i have hand tools but no air tools and my brother in law moved to flordia with them all