School me on jeep Comanches

[truk]

Thinking of sell my tracker and building or buying a Comanche. What should I look for ?? Don't want a 4cly or a 350 Chevy.

[WrenchMonkey]

4.0 auto 4x4s are hard to come by, and pricey when you do.

Floorboards rust out, watch for that.

The renix cooling system is temperamental, watch for overheating.

The tailgates and taillights are getting very hard to find.

It's pretty hard to kill the rest.

Good luck, and post pics of whatever you find!

[truk]

First trackers , there a different breed . now looking at these their harder to find. I guess I should quit. Lol nope .

[underpowered]

pretty easy to convert to 4wd if you get a 2wd one. otherwise what Wrenchmonkey said

[Incommando]

I have owned a few and have one now. They are very easy to convert to 4wd if you find the right 2wd one to buy. From the firewall forward the are the same as the same year of XJ. From there back there are differences. If you can find a '91 or '92 they have the Chrysler injection/ignition. The earlier ones use a Renix system. It isn't bad if you know how to work it.

They are getting harder to find but they are out there.
Starting point: '91 2wd 4.0/auto $400


4wd conversion with 5.5" front lift/SOA rear on 32's at Haspin

[truk]

Thanks. I'll be looking on Craigslist.

[WrenchMonkey]

Originally Posted by Incommando

They are very easy to convert to 4wd if you find the right 2wd one to buy.

Great looking rig. Nice job.

When you converted, did you just swap tranny tailshafts, or the whole transmission? Assuming you swapped the whole thing, did you find a similar year, or did a later one work?

I've heard it told both ways, curious about some first hand experience...

[Incommando]

Originally Posted by WrenchMonkey

Great looking rig. Nice job.

When you converted, did you just swap tranny tailshafts, or the whole transmission? Assuming you swapped the whole thing, did you find a similar year, or did a later one work?

I've heard it told both ways, curious about some first hand experience...

Thanks

I bought a tranny with attached transfer case along with the front axle and driveshaft from a '98 XJ. It all bolted up to my '91 with no issues and everything worked including speedometer. If you go earlier than with an MJ '90 then the later stuff may or may not work with the RENIX wiring. I am not sure. '91 & '92 are OBD Chrysler stuff like the later XJ's.

[WrenchMonkey]

Ah, I missed that yours was a 91. Rare bird.

Yes, the early ones are different. I know first hand that the Renix speedo is mechanical, not electric. I think getting everything to match is pretty important.