Project New Gen Comanche

As long as you're always standing several feet behind me when I'm casting........ I'm down...... well, until removing hooks from your person becomes boring anyway.

:moon:
 
But see, I TOTALLY understand building a rock buggy with savant-level precision and detail, putting thousands of hours into making it pretty and just right..... just to go bash and grind it off the rocks! Come awn Mr. Pot calling the kettle black....... I mean aren't you the guy seriously considering close to $1,000 in paint for your buggy? It'd called "obsession". I have mine, you have yours...... :shhh:

But it's all good, you're not building your buggy for me, I'm not building my MJ for you....... :moon:

It's like this..... I like what I like and right now, I'm seriously considering bailing on the off-roading thing and getting into an SCCA style MJ to play with on the track. And what would be cooler than an MJ tow rig and a light trailer to haul one of these around with? :D

TA89-44.jpg


Dunno that I'll actually ever get there...... but I'm having fun on the journey. :thumbup:



.

Ok fair enough...though the off-road bug will creep back and draw you back in (but with something probably a little less time consuming to maintain) :D

I will admit...an SCCA MJ pulled in by an MJ dually is pretty sweet...ya got me there.

Kinda like a VW bug towing a Baja bug to the Baja1000 :D
 
Ouch........ expensive lesson learned today.........


So, thinking it'd save money and be a better option for shipping, I used the shipping account for the company my wife works for - boss approval and all.


When we entered the info for the pick-up from Lurch and used the dimensions and weight he provided, UPS gave the "negotiated rate" price of $39 each fender.


Now, initially, I had asked Lurch to just "bubble-wrap the heck outta them" and slap a label on them. Ultimately, he wrapped them and put them into wardrobe boxes.


Lurch told me this and I expected the rate would go up a bit since the size had increased, but the weight shouldn't have by much since the initial info we'd given was a weight of 30 lbs each (when I got these home, I weighed them - 10 lbs each.)


Well, UPS boned me hard.


The size of the wardrobe boxes had to be shipped using their "Dimensional Weight" calculations. Essentially they charged me $55 each box for "Large Box" size which they say we didn't select when we were given the original negotiated rate. THEN, they charged $105 for one box and $100 for the other box....... UPS says those boxes "dimensionally weigh" 180 lbs each. the actual rate was reduced a bit when UPS applied the company's account rate.


I now owe $280 to cover the shipping.


HOLY BALLZ. :gonnablow


"Dimensional Weight"........ what a crock of :bs:


Don't get me wrong, I'm not in the least mad at Lurch.......... but UPS can go smoke a pole. Neither of those boxed should have weighed more than 40 lbs each all said and done. I guess the size is what got expensive.
 
The 10.25 is a pig but given that the bed actually has a frame under it, you should be fine. I would just put some more beef on those leaf spring mounts. Might not hurt to strengthen the cab/frame bulkhead either. I would put frame stiffeners all over that thing for a build like this. Air bags and mid arms, nice cushy ride.

P1280166.jpg


P1280160.jpg


I always liked this one with the street MJ air dam, minus the Lund visor.

rrnjih.jpg
 
Last edited:
FOUND IT! Got my dually project truck! :D

'88 long bed from New Mexico........ yep...... ZERO rust. And a stupid-straight body.

The guy got a notice from the city to get rid of it and since he'd removed the engine/trans/t-case and axles from it..... he decided he couldn't get it together in time and decided to sell. He had bought a bunch of brand new lift parts, 31's and whatnot, and the engine was blown so we struck up a deal where he kept the new parts, builder engine, trans and t-case to sell off and I bought the roller body. For $600. :D

It was his father's truck since new. He wanted to do a resto-mod. Helluva nice base-truck for my project. The bed had a topper on it all it's life so the bed rails are perfect except for 6 bolt holes from the topper. Perfect bed all around. Perfect tail gate too. Never been in an accident, the only body filler is on the right rear and that's very minor.

The odometer says 30K miles....... unfortunately, it quit working years ago. His father kept oil change records and the last oil change was at 145K before it spun a bearing. Being that I wasn't interested in the drivetrain, mileage really wasn't a factor.

The interior is damn near like new. The bench has had that seat cover on it since new - so he says - I'm anxious to pull it off and see what it looks like under there.

It has rebuilt rear leaf packs with new leaf insulators and bushings, and a 3" AAL. The front has a new poly bushings, Black Diamond 3" lift arms upper and lower and a dropped track bar bracket. The coils were shot and he cut those out with a torch, so I popped in a pair of Metric Ton front coils to get it home.

He also installed clear corners and signals with new halogen head lights, then painted the grill/trim.

IMG_20131031_172511343_HDR_zpsdf757399.jpg


IMG_20131031_172655535_HDR_zps657f642e.jpg


IMG_20131031_172807475_zpsaeb0962c.jpg


IMG_20131031_172827157_zpsd9c31982.jpg


IMG_20131031_172609210_zpsabf34f0f.jpg


IMG_20131031_172547860_HDR_zps8416c859.jpg


IMG_20131031_172449712_zps836958eb.jpg
 
Last edited:
Yeah, um..... The bed ain't going anywhere Jim. Where do ya think I'm mounting those friggin' expensive fenders??? ;)
 
LOL...... in my excitement I overlooked the fact that this truck has factory skids and hook brackets!


Some "oddities" with this truck:


Too bad this isn't actual mileage.......

IMG_20131031_173100518_zpse25560c4.jpg


Previous owner (his father) musta been short........

IMG_20131031_173203971_zpsdf221c75.jpg


Old school track bar drop bracket.......

IMG_20131031_173423083_zpsb57911c9.jpg


Original headliner still intact and both pillar lights work and work correctly.....

IMG_20131031_173014128_zps068b4e5e.jpg
 
So when are you dropping in a 5.3 and making it a real towing vehicle?
 
Probably putting a stroker I have in it.

Don't imagine I could do an LS swap for under $2k..... Can't swing that much to throw at this project.
 
Well, keeping true to form..... I've bought parts for yet another project I don't have yet....:looney:

4 16" racing wheels with tires...... $100. Wheels were used on a '71 383 'Cuda 4 times. Road racing it caused some serious cracking to the rear quarters.... Guess he shoulda done some stiffeners. He said no more track racing and wanted these gone. The back spacing looks perfect for an MJ with WJ LCAs and brakes...:D

IMG_20131116_124826215_zpsdff17750.jpg
 
Last edited:
Getting the last of the odd pieces ordered today........ the front axle 5 on 4.5 to 8 on 6.5 dually wheel adaptors!

Motorsport Tech www.motorsport-tech.com
Sparks Nevada

$350 shipped for the pair!



They said 2 weeks. I'll hopefully post up a pic with them test-fitted ....... if we're not buried in snow by then....... :D
 
Well the adaptors arrived. Beefy...... Maybe TOO beefy? They're 3.5" offset..... Looks bigger in the pic. I set a rotor and unit bearing assembly in place to get an idea. These things are 13.5 lbs each. I'm a little disappointed in the lack of machining..... Meaning it seems they should have been whittled down to save on the rotating mass. I may look into having a local shop do that. I guess it'd be safe to say these aren't likely to break..... Lol!

IMG_20131224_181953876_zps7d8c14a3.jpg
 
I kept thinking this picture looked like it was taken in the kitchen of a restaurant. Kinda looks like your cooking a rotor in a mini stove on a cookie sheet.
 
There is a certain continuity of humor here. I'm just a simple guy, and thought, "WTF is up with the cookie sheet." Note similarity to another thread. :)
 
Back
Top