My New Big Project...1989 Jeep Comanche

Well i bought another Project, its a 1989 Jeep Comanche with a 4.0L HO from a 1996 Jeep Cherokee(Plus it comes with a Hypertech Programmer for it), the Drivetrain, etc is also from the Jeep cherokee excluding drive shafts. it has a custom 3" Lift, Coil spacers in the front and the Axle is Flipped in the Rear End, a Limited Slip Rear Diff and a Locked Front diff, it has 33" Hercules Trail Diggers on it with about 55%-60% tread left, a Custom made set of bumpers. The only Problem with it is that the Previous Owner got in an accident with it and bent the front two "uniframe" rails, An SUV hit the license plate which goes into the hitch receiver and the Bumper kinked the passenger frame rail and wrecked the drivers side frame rail. i paid $900 for it and the Title is not Branded(so i dont need to go through an inspection to get it back on the road other then the basic like a safety, etest, etc.). Last Summer my Father took his 1998 Jeep Cherokee off the road because of rust issues so i am going to use some of the parts from his Jeep for mine(like the front frame rail). i am hoping to make it look like what a Comanche would of looked like in 1998. Here is the only picture i have of it right now, i am going to pick it up the beginning of next week and i should take more pictures.

Never seen one of those, wish I had one.

Doug Fackler wrote:

Never seen one of those, wish I had one.

A guy just up the street has one, said he'd sell it for 300 bucks (older than the one in the pic, I think it's an 85) ... not as rugged looking as that one but off roads nicely

$300 running? That sounds great, even if its not.

Doug Fackler wrote:

$300 running? That sounds great, even if its not.

Yep, it runs... not very well, carbureted engine and badly out of tune. I want to drop a 4 cyl diesel into it if I get it. Possibly a 4BT Cummins

that thing is nice. i have always loved jeep trucks like the FSJ the CJ-8 scrambler ad the mighty FC . its my dream to one day own a truck mad by jeeplol

Iv alway like those jeep trucks.
Easy to modifiy and you can even use jeep cherokee part on em.

Seems like a positive response:P i would of prefered a Jeep J10 or J20 but the only one within 1000km is a little much but it has a 6BT Cummins, etc. and he wants $19k if im right.

i would like to eventually put a 4BT Cummins in this beast if i can find one for a reasonable price, but the 4.0L's are good motors and i have a complete parts Jeep Cherokee with a 4.0L HO, Auto and 4x4(never seen a 2x4 cherokee but it might be around)

i will be picking it up Tuesday(im not sure if i posted that i would of been picking it up today on the last post, that was the original plan but ice rain, snow, etc. and a 2x4 truck with a trailer dont mix to well and the guy wouldnt have much time to help today), but i managed to get some of the pictures my brother took of the truck. Here they are:






The guy looking at the Camera is the Previous Owner, Not me. im the one half in the Last Picture incase anyone was wondering.

Also since im not planning on having this Jeep on the Road soon i was planning on doing a restoration and update it to the newer style Cherokee since my father has one and since most front end parts need to be changed anyway... i was thinking of going with a Burnt Orange look, i could only find one Orange Comanche on the internet that looks like how i would want it to look(but i would want my bumper, etc.)


This is what i wanted it to look like colour wise, with the same front grille and the fender flares, but i would want to put my bumpers on and roof rack(the roof rack and rear bumper are getting some modification.) and No im not doing General Lee Stickers/ Paint Job, i just like the Colour, if this is in another accident i hope the cause isnt because they didnt see it


i was also thinking of painting it White or a Green like one of these Comanches too:

The only problem i see with White is that it would get dirty really quick and even just running it on a wet paved road would show up over the paint(i dont mind it looking dirty but there are sometimes where you want to take a picture or show it off and have it look clean)



i like the look but no one else ive asked does:P This one looks closest to the 98 style, excluding the Rear Fender flare, rear bumper and tail lights.

I like the burnt orange color, most cars looks good with it.

Doug Fackler wrote:

I like the burnt orange color, most cars looks good with it.

Yeah, i know people would make fun of the colour just because its such an odd colour for a car and so noticable, i cant even remember the last car ive seen drive on the road with a Burnt orange paint job

I see quite a few of them, somebody near me has a Daytona Charger thats burnt orange.

W1ldyOvvnZ wrote:

Doug Fackler wrote:

I like the burnt orange color, most cars looks good with it.

Yeah, i know people would make fun of the colour just because its such an odd colour for a car and so noticable, i cant even remember the last car ive seen drive on the road with a Burnt orange paint job

well you know who t they say haters gonna hate lol i like the look to it . it looks awesome

I would go with the burt orange color.

When i get it home on Tuesday i am probably going to have to park it on the lawn(gotta hate small garages:( ) and start tearing it apart. i will try to get a picture of my Fathers Cherokee and my Comanche beside each other, its alot easier to tell the difference in the front ends and everything else.

Does anyone know much about paint? i was wondering what would i use for a primer? a guy at work used red epoxy primer for his truck and it hasnt even started to get rusty and its been sitting outside for about 2 years no undercoating, etc. and it doesnt look like he even prepped the metal all that well. and has anyone had any good experiences with POR15, etc.? Also has anyone heard of "Tractor Trailer Primer"? The guy who used to own the Comanche mentioned about him using if for patching the floor and he said he used that then Asphault undercoating. i dont really know much about paints, primers, undercoating stuff, etc.

i cant ait to see it finished. i know someone who used to have one with 40 in tires and a chevy 350 in it tlk about badass

mudmonkey06 wrote:

i cant ait to see it finished. i know someone who used to have one with 40 in tires and a chevy 350 in it tlk about badass

i dont like the Chevy part but it would sure have power. im just not a chevy fan, i like to watch my brother, father, and mother break down...3 transmissions and a rear end later they are still on the road:P i cant wait to get it back home...seems so long to be waiting.

I had to change the transmission out in a Chevy Astro van I used to have... at around 250,000 miles.

TheRainbowBoxer wrote:

I had to change the transmission out in a Chevy Astro van I used to have... at around 250,000 miles.

Thats pretty good, my father so far hasnt had to much bad luck with his suburban but my mothers Yukon has had 3 transmissions swapped, we bought it and it wouldn't shift into 4th(270ish kms on it), so we brought it to a garage and got them to swap it out for a rebuilt one(forget the company that rebuilt it) and that lasted 7,500km's, then we brought it back to the garage and they swapped it for another rebuilt one and got another 4,000km's out of that transmission then we brought it back again and the company wanted to know why and they kept it for a while and we got it back with another rebuilt transmission and so far have 15,000-17,000km's on it. Then my brothers truck had 260km's on it when the rear end started making noises so he changed the fluids and it never stopped so he drove and topped it up every so often and it ended up nocking when you put it into reverse so we changed it. My Father also used to have a Cadillac Fleetwood and it had a fair share of troubles too but mainly because it was winter driven.

Got the comanche home today, its too dark out to take pictures. He gave me a Rockford fosgate 600W amp and a 10" Sub with it too. i am going to try moving it around after work and put some plywood under it so i dont get so dirty rolling around in the mud, then me and my brother will eventually bring my Fathers old Cherokee up beside my Comanche and we will do the same thing so i can tear down the comanche and when i am ready to put it back together i wont have to walk to the other side of the yard for parts. we had to cut the bumper a bit because it was rubbing(forgot to bring tires small enough, even though they were in the back of the car i forgot to put them on the bed of the truck we were towing with.

Got to get some pictures today, All i mainly did to the Comanche was move it to where i want to tear it apart and work on it and take the grille off, took forever to move it with my Jetta... then my brothers friend came over and pulled it and as soon as we were finished my father showed up with his Suburban and offered to pull it:P


Looks sweet from the Back end:P


Thinking of possibly doing a Snorkel on the Jeep, Should increase some power compared to the way it is now.


The Not so nice looking side.


DUALS...from the Muffler Back:P its a new exhaust system, he went for an E-Test and needed a New Cat so he bought everything and made an entire new system.

The Picture of the Front Left side reminds me of an older Ford F-Series Pickup:P Early to Mid 1980's

Rads a little bent:P

Awesome ride. I wish I could have had a MJ rather than the XJ I got, but you can't complain with free. It will look great with the 97+ front clip.

Looks like a fun little project ya got! I got a lifted 95 grand cherokee myself