1988 Jeep comanche AKA the penny sniffer

[zebvance]

Its pretty dead on level now. I had bought some adjustable shackles thinking that after the lift in the front the rear would be sagging a little and it would need some more lift in the back to get it level but looks like it leveled out perfect without them. You can tell from the picture that the front axle is sitting a little more back than it should. Need to adjust the upper arms to get the pinion angle right and the lowers to push the axle out more.

[colman]

looks great

[zebvance]

looks great

Thanks!

[zebvance]

Had a chance to get a little work done on the mj last night that I have been meaning to for a year or two now. Had to get a bigger hi-lift jack cause the other wouldn't get the tires off the ground. I decided to mount it in the bed.

[zebvance]

Also had a "JEEP" decal that goes on the raised lettering on the tail gate has been sitting around for a while I finally got a chance to put on.



BEFORE:






AFTER:

[Seth]

Nice!

[davido]

Looks good!

I'd recommend some kind of cover over the mechanicals of the jack. You may have to make something. But they're not very easy to use when they've been left out in the weather. I'd suck to need it and have it be rusted up.

[zebvance]

Looks good!

I'd recommend some kind of cover over the mechanicals of the jack. You may have to make something. But they're not very easy to use when they've been left out in the weather. I'd suck to need it and have it be rusted up.

Thanks! I was just thinking this yesterday after looking at it. It is rusting quick, Im going to look for cover, I know I have seen people with them before.

[zebvance]

Got some work done on the Comanche this week and man it was HOT!

Fixed the TRE on the drag link. I had to cut it off and get a new one one and grind down the pit man arm some to get the castle nut down enough to slip a cotter pin in it. So Steering is 100% done and safe to drive.

Also finally got all the hardware to bolt the drive shaft up, so I did that. Its been almost 3 years since I have had front and rear matching gear sets. so I have not had 4wd for that long. I took it down the street and put it in to 4wd and it worked great!!!!!! That front locker made a world of difference too.

In a couple weeks Ill get it over to a Offroad shop here in town and they are going to align it, adjust the long arms for correct pinion angle, dial in the drag link and the sway bar links for me while there at it along with grease everything up. This is next to impossible to do in my drive way with out a jack big enough for the truck, it would be cake if I had access to a lift. The shop is going to charge me $160, which I feel Is a fair price.

After that I still have to do the following which I will try to do some of it before it gets dropped off at the shop...

Electrical:
-Adjust TPS to factory recommendation (I believe its too advanced and I get some back firing from time to time. )
-Left headlight sometimes works some times doesn't. (bad ground?)
-Rear right tail light not working (could just be a bulb)
-Install NSS to get reverse lights working again
-diagnose and fix why half of Light bars are working (bad grounds/Fuse blocks most likely)
-Remove lights in rear bumper and install replacement LED lights


Other:
-Remove headliner ( its falling)
-Install Rear locker


I hope to have most of this done so I can enjoy the truck at the deer lease and down at Matagorda beach this winter. Its hard to get motivation to get out and work on it when It is 100+ degrees though....

[zebvance]

got some more work done on the comanche over the weekend and last night.

-Adjusted TPS
Runs alot better but It does still bog down and back fire a little when in 4x4.

-pulled the headliner that was falling down and found a date (1990) on what looks to be a after market roof panel. I guess this thing had a new roof put on it at some time before it got laid over, now it needs another new roof ***.



Last night I got all the light bars back working. One had a blown fuse, the other a bad switch, and the other a loose connection.


Now for the bad news. When I went to go pull the switch panel out I had to pull the gear shift down to get to the screw that holds the panel to the dash. Well after trouble shooting some switches I decided that I needed a test probe and hopped out of the truck headed to the store to get one..... 10 mins later I get a call from my wife that the truck rolled down the drive way and into my brother-in-laws car. BONE HEAD MOVE! I forgot to put the truck back in park when I got out of it...... SO now I have to fix his car. A big expense that could of be avoided if I was paying attention and not in such of a hurry.

Here is a picture of his car. The back corner of the bumper ran into his hatch, no damage to the Comanche except a scuff on the bumper and a cracked tail light....




Never the less im not going to cry over spilled milk. Need to keep the momentum going on the truck so I can use it for the hunting season. Opening weekend for dove is closing in quick.

Tonight I will trouble shoot and install new headlight bulbs.

Still to do:
-install new NSS to get brake lights/revers lights working consistently again.
-remove old rear bumper lights/install new LED ones
-Fix headlights
-install rear locker
-get long arms in correct alignment (dropping it off Thursday)

[Sharpe]

Is your brother in law Hot Pocket? Only Hot Pocket or a teenage girl would drive a white Honda wagon. Tell him to **** off and not park behind you anymore.

[zebvance]

Is your brother in law Hot Pocket? Only Hot Pocket or a teenage girl would drive a white Honda wagon. Tell him to **** off and not park behind you anymore.

Only place he has to park and him,his girlfriend and their 2 year old are living with us for the next month or so.....

[zebvance]

Replaced the head lights last night and a turn signal socket that was intermittent. I now have both low beam and high beams now unlike before. Plus those old bulbs were as bright as candles.... Still need to adjust the head lights down cause with lifting it they are pointing pretty high now. Ran out of time last night though. The list is getting smaller. Not sure what Im going to tackle next, the NSS or the rear bumper lights.



Still to do:
-install new NSS to get brake lights/revers lights working consistently again.
-remove old rear bumper lights/install new LED ones
-install rear locker
-get long arms in correct alignment (dropping it off Thursday)

[zebvance]

Got the jeep back from getting an alignment Friday. It is actually a lot more stable and controllable than the old lift and it cruises straight down the hwy with no problems.

On the way back from the shop I lost brakes while sitting at a stop light. Turns out I didn't have a brake line tight enough and it spewed all the fluid out. Limped it back home with just rear brakes and got that sorted out in enough time to head to the brazos valley jeep meet. They had the RTI ramp there and I was able to test out the long arms there along with checking for brake line slack and future bump stop measurements.

I scored a 769 on the ramp. I was expecting it to do a little better. But still a large improvement over the old RC lift. I started to lose traction going up it so im sure if I had the locker in I would have scored better. The suspension was not maxed out either, it still had a good bit of room to tuck but I was limited by the fenders. I didn't feel like ripping them off with the baja claws.

[zebvance]

Sunday I got up and took the truck to lowes for a few things and just drove it around a bit. Got some good pictures of it. Everything always looks better in the rain, bad paint jobs dont look near as bad ***.

I also noticed I have a decent fuel leak at the in line fuel filter. Once it stops raining I button that up.

Things left to do:
Fix fuel leak
Install rear bumper lights
Install rear locker
Install NSS