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The Lab Rat - SFR's R&D Comanche
- Thread starter StinkyFab
- Start date
Some of you may have noticed the missing rear bumper recently. Well I'm planning to build a new one of course, but first I decided that she needed a bit of a butt lift.
Then I mounted up one of the new tires to see how much fender well to cut.
I probably should have done some research before cutting, but I'm impatient and had a grinder in my hand. For the others that don't know cutting off the flare separates the wheel well from the outer skin and leaves you with a rather floppy bed side.
That's OK, I have a welder. I can fix my mistakes.
A little spraypaint and we're good as new. Now I just need to do the other side, and the fronts.
Then I mounted up one of the new tires to see how much fender well to cut.
I probably should have done some research before cutting, but I'm impatient and had a grinder in my hand. For the others that don't know cutting off the flare separates the wheel well from the outer skin and leaves you with a rather floppy bed side.
That's OK, I have a welder. I can fix my mistakes.
A little spraypaint and we're good as new. Now I just need to do the other side, and the fronts.
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I have a bunch to update, but for now just the little stuff.
From day 1 I had some random starting issues with this thing. Sometimes it would crank just fine, others I got no response at all. All the signs pointed to the Neutral safety switch, but I was too lazy to deal with it so I just bypassed it by grounding the starter relay directly.
I still wasn't getting reverse lights though, and with those nice new LEDs in back, and the fact that I live on a VERY dark rural road I kinda wanted them to work. I happened to have the truck up on the lift so I went ahead and pulled the switch and took it apart as I'd heard they are easy to repair. What I heard was definitely right. The switch was just really gunked up and the little copper tabs that move across the contacts had stuck in their slots. All I had to do was pull them and their little springs out, clean it all up with some electronic cleaner, put some new dielectric grease on everything and reassemble. Now the shiny new reverse lights actually work!
I also got a new winch line in the mail. The 9.0RC only holds 50' of 3/8 line so I decided to step down to 5/16 rope since it still has plenty of strength. Hoping I can get a good amount of it on the little drum, and if I can't get it all on there I'll just turn the rest into an extension.
From day 1 I had some random starting issues with this thing. Sometimes it would crank just fine, others I got no response at all. All the signs pointed to the Neutral safety switch, but I was too lazy to deal with it so I just bypassed it by grounding the starter relay directly.
I still wasn't getting reverse lights though, and with those nice new LEDs in back, and the fact that I live on a VERY dark rural road I kinda wanted them to work. I happened to have the truck up on the lift so I went ahead and pulled the switch and took it apart as I'd heard they are easy to repair. What I heard was definitely right. The switch was just really gunked up and the little copper tabs that move across the contacts had stuck in their slots. All I had to do was pull them and their little springs out, clean it all up with some electronic cleaner, put some new dielectric grease on everything and reassemble. Now the shiny new reverse lights actually work!
I also got a new winch line in the mail. The 9.0RC only holds 50' of 3/8 line so I decided to step down to 5/16 rope since it still has plenty of strength. Hoping I can get a good amount of it on the little drum, and if I can't get it all on there I'll just turn the rest into an extension.
Last edited by a moderator:
SByota
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Ventura, CA
I figured as long as I was building lowers I'd go ahead and do some uppers to match. It's really quite amazing how much easier the suspension moves around when it's not restricted by crummy rubber bushings.
Love to hear your thoughts on using rod ends on both sides of the lower control arms. I see most kits using a bushing or limited mobility joint on the frame end and a rod end on the axle side.
The reason for that is mainly cost. Bushings are cheap. I personally prefer rod ends everywhere, but if I were trying to pinch pennies doing 2 bushings would save me about $50 in cost difference. Multiply times thousands and you can see why major manufacturers choose the route they do. Also doing rod ends on both ends does introduce a little more NVH that rubber will damp out, but from driving this thing the last couple weeks I can say that it doesn't really add to the discomfort at all. It's a 27 year old pickup with leaky window seals and plenty of rattles. If I wasn't paying attention to it I never would have noticed.
There's also the very minor issue of the link arm being able to rock side to side, but since these bend downward and there's nothing for them to bump into it's really a non-issue.
There's also the very minor issue of the link arm being able to rock side to side, but since these bend downward and there's nothing for them to bump into it's really a non-issue.
- Location
- Houston, Tx
Are you going to offer the uppers as well?
trippled
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- colorado springs, co
What did you do for the bolts on the uppers? Drill to 1/2"?
So this weekend was a lot more on the cosmetic side. You can't have a shop truck that looks like poop, so the goal is to make this one shine and catch eyes. There's a bit of prep that had to be done first though.
Cal came down and helped finish removing all the old OEM graphics, which was a job in itself.
Meanwhile I finished cutting out all the wheel wells.
Cal came down and helped finish removing all the old OEM graphics, which was a job in itself.
Meanwhile I finished cutting out all the wheel wells.
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I had originally planned on painting this thing to match the StinkBug, my Isuzu Amigo.
After a lot of thinking about it though, I decided I didn't wanna deal with paint. I have the equipment, and I've painted a number of vehicles, but I really don't enjoy the process, and even more than that I hate the cleanup. My entire shop always ends up tinted whatever color I'm painting. I recently did a partial vinyl wrap on an airplane, and it was actually a lot of fun, though quite a lot of work thanks to all those rivets and compound curves. In comparison the Comanche seemed super easy. The other thing with vinyl is that you can get it in a ton of patterns and textures, which makes it super easy to do a more complex and eye catching design. In the end I decided to go with a black/grey "midnight digital camo" print for the base, and will be adding some accent colors later.
First things first, measure once, cut twice!
After a lot of thinking about it though, I decided I didn't wanna deal with paint. I have the equipment, and I've painted a number of vehicles, but I really don't enjoy the process, and even more than that I hate the cleanup. My entire shop always ends up tinted whatever color I'm painting. I recently did a partial vinyl wrap on an airplane, and it was actually a lot of fun, though quite a lot of work thanks to all those rivets and compound curves. In comparison the Comanche seemed super easy. The other thing with vinyl is that you can get it in a ton of patterns and textures, which makes it super easy to do a more complex and eye catching design. In the end I decided to go with a black/grey "midnight digital camo" print for the base, and will be adding some accent colors later.
First things first, measure once, cut twice!
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Putting down the first sheet. We removed the front header panel and grille first, as it seemed like it'd be easiest to do that separately.
Add a little heat...
And some time with a squeegee
And next thing you know it's all nice and smooth.
Wrap around the edges...
Trim the excess
And your hood just disappears.
Add a little heat...
And some time with a squeegee
And next thing you know it's all nice and smooth.
Wrap around the edges...
Trim the excess
And your hood just disappears.
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- Location
- Duck River
Good choice. The Highway Patrol aircraft won't be able to spot you 'cause you'll blend right into the highway from above.
- Location
- In a strange land
- Location
- Williams AZ
Yeah, and offroad you just park...big granite boukder.
- Location
- San Diego
It's a Comanche, it's not like it can go fast Why would highway patrol be interested in it?
You read my mind.
