I just found a “yard find” 91 Comanche, 4.0 AW4, 4x4 with the NP231 t-case. It’s been sitting for who knows how long, and I got her cranked up and idling right. I even drove it, but the brakes didn’t really work, and it feels like it death wobbles above 20 mph.

Aside from that, it’s bone stock aside from a 3 inch lift with 33’s on it. To my surprise, the tires held air and weren’t in that bad of shape. Visual inspection of the cab showed some holes in the floor, no carpet, torn up headliner, no radio or speakers, instrument cluster is pretty much dead, no climate control, the seat was very hard to move, and there was a lot of junk everywhere.

Underneath the hood, there was the HO 4.0, and the valve cover was leaking. Coolant was bright green, oil was a little goopy, but when it cranked up, it idled pretty well for how long it’d been sitting up, and it was really quiet. No ticking, knocking, nothing really.

Underneath, the exhaust was mostly intact. Lots of rust on the exhaust, but nothing horrible for how old it is. There was no rust on the frame, only on the leaf springs and the front suspension. I don’t know if the gas tank was rusted out, but on my little “joy ride”, it ran out of gas about a mile down the road. Filled it up and it drove fine though.

Now, this brings me to my question…

What should I do with it?

I have a few options it seems like.

First option, which I like the most, is to fix it up enough to get to be able to be road worthy, and do just enough to keep it going to take it off roading. Nothing more, nothing less.

Second option, is to fix it up to be a second mode of transportation. Only problem with this is that I have to do more work to it to get it to drive 100+ miles a day (if I take it one day of the week), and the auto 4x4 4.0 doesn’t get that great of gas mileage.

Third option, is to decommission it and use everything to swap over to my RWD 2.5. I’d have everything I need, but the only problem with this option is that my XJ is my daily, and it’s quite a lot of work to swap out an engine and drivetrain on jack-stands and willpower.

I should also note that i’ve always liked the MJ’s in the way that they’re like XJ’s, just with a bed. Plus it’s forest green, and it’s faded in all the right way to make it look old but good.

Let me know what y’all think I should do with this hunk of junk.

Oh, and i’m going to get it for really cheap, like maybe 100 bucks or less.

 

I'm not sure how much work would be needed to swap the electrical over. If the PCM connectors are the same, it might be less work than you think. Some homework, comparing wiring diagrams and connectors might be in order. Is it easy enough to accomplish over a long weekend and be ready for work Monday morning, though? Front springs should swap. The rear leaf springs are about 6" longer on the MJ and won't swap. As I recall, the rear shocks are longer too.

As a MJ owner myself, I'd hate to see one sacrificed for parts though. Forth option - get it running well, fix the obvious problems, and resell. That would sell for at least $3500 around here.