Comanche Pre-runner Build

[Tan Comanche]

Does grinding dust all over the floor count as progress?!?

Removed front fenders to replace with glass, stripped axle housing for new links and brackets, currently redesigning front crossmember...more to come.

 

[Tan Comanche]

Lowered the ride height 2.5" and stretched the front an additional 3.5". With new glass fenders it is ready for 37's. With the 37's the roof height will be around 5 1/2' tall. It is low and wide...



Bunch more plating.



All new links for the front end. The lowers ended up 37" long. New brackets added a little more vertical separation also. The drag link/panhard bar are exactly parallel and within a 1/4" of equal length. With the ride height as it currently is it will allow for 8" up travel and 8" down.

I would like to hear some opinions on the front coilovers leaning backward a few degrees. I have heard that 15* is ideal and it helps with high speed bumps better. Thoughts?

 

[crosbike]

My buggies coilovers are about 12* tilted in and the same way angled back.

 

[skippy]

View attachment 97825

Lowered the ride height 2.5" and stretched the front an additional 3.5". With new glass fenders it is ready for 37's. With the 37's the roof height will be around 5 1/2' tall. It is low and wide...

View attachment 97826

Bunch more plating.

View attachment 97827

All new links for the front end. The lowers ended up 37" long. New brackets added a little more vertical separation also. The drag link/panhard bar are exactly parallel and within a 1/4" of equal length. With the ride height as it currently is it will allow for 8" up travel and 8" down.

I would like to hear some opinions on the front coilovers leaning backward a few degrees. I have heard that 15* is ideal and it helps with high speed bumps better. Thoughts?

Are you going to make the knuckle double or triple shear? you will snap off the knuckle in no time like that

 

[Tan Comanche]

Yup. Everything is just in place for suspension cycling. Knuckle plating will be next week. Thanks for being observant.

 

[Tan Comanche]

This week has been chaotic and progress has been minimal [emoji17] although the knuckles were plated and reinforced tonight.


Pass inside.


Pass outside


Driver inside


Driver outside.

And the very most important thing of the evening was this little gem...


A new steering box brace and pitman arm double shear are pending. Stay tuned...it's going to be awesome!

 

[Gravy]

Nice work on the knuckles.

 

[Tan Comanche]

Thanks! I really appreciate the feedback. It is a bit never racking to post progress pics due to so many high quality builds on RME.

 

[Deleted member 12904]

Keep posting! It's exciting to see people building prerunners

 

[I Lean]

Yep, keep it up. There are some of us not posting, but still looking.

 

[Tebbsjeep]

Those Knuckles look awesome. Would that setup work with stock sway bar brackets? Or would they have to be moved? I need to replace my steering in the near future and that looks way better than any after market set up I've seen. Also would this be considered street legal?

 

[Tan Comanche]

Street legal...I sure hope so. This prerunner is supposed to be street legal when it's all said and done. For the sway bar brackets, I have no idea. With the 64" spring swap it is really planted in high speed corners. The truck hasn't had a sway bar for years. If it needs it later an antirock will be installed.

Thanks for the positive feedback guys!

 

[Tebbsjeep]

I was just wondering because the inspection info says the techs should look for any altered steering/welding of parts. Another question, would this steering work on a stock xj set up with a 3in lift? Or would I have to relocate the track bar/sway bar mounts? Would this set up be overkill for a jeep that is only at 3in of lift and 33's?

 

[Tan Comanche]

It won't work without some fab work. You will need new steering links, new panhard bar, swaybar link relocation, coil spring plate relocation or removal (coilovers), etc. You're more than welcome to come over and check out the steering setup; see if it will fit your project.

 

[Tan Comanche]

Last night was huge for progress. The knuckles got cleaned up and bathed in flat black.



All of the frame plating was burned in solid. Links were burned in. More misc gussets were built and burned.



Beam axle...nuff said.



This is something I'm super stoked about. I couldn't figure out how to do the steering box brace. It seems like most people run a clamp (similar to above) and then run a piece of tube over to the opposing frame rail. Well I hated that idea so made a clamp and then found a piece of 3/8 plate and made this. It it is burned in on top and bottom of the 1/4" crossmember. This made the steering box so stiff and supported it really well.





Also the crossmember for the fuel cell and crossmember for the back of the frame were cut and welded in.

 

[Tan Comanche]

I finalized all the link brackets and welded them solid on the existing crossmember. All the front three link brackets are hung from this. I'll get some pics of the setup tomorrow.



The pitman arm is now double shear + plating.



New pitman attached to the box...BEEF.

 

[Tan Comanche]

I meant to get this pic posted a couple of days ago but life for in the way. This is the crossmember that the three link is hung from. On the sides is a 5/8 piece of steel drilled and tapped in three places. So a total of 6 bolts hold this on. Then then it is tied directly into the cage in 2 places. Just to make sure this thing stays put I'm going to add a piece of tube with 2-hole flanges to each side and tie them into the b-pillar underneath the floor. Should be more than enough meat to support it.



Decided to put in an antirock. It just makes sense. Plus new 4" bumpstops just showed up. They will be going in this week.

 

[Tan Comanche]

Antirock is in...well the bottom tabs are at least. Zip ties hold up the rest 'till the brown van shows up with bushings.

Also the pic above is a sneak peak of what is coming. I still have to stuff 4" bumps in there...somewhere.

 

[Tan Comanche]

Today was more of a planning session/suspension cycling day. Couple of ideas are kicking around are: mid-engine install, trailing arms, spare tire location, etc. More to come on that.

The original lower coilover mounts were a fail so they were redesigned. The spring kept hitting the caliper at lock. Also, There wasn't enough room for the strike plates/bumps. So they were cut out and replaced with these.



The fuel cell went in tonight. It is now supported by three straps along the bottom and in the future will have two more holding it down. Drilling out the holes really does shave a lot of weight; three pounds were removed from the straps alone.

 

[Rock Taco]

View attachment 98041

Last night was huge for progress. The knuckles got cleaned up and bathed in flat black.

View attachment 98042

All of the frame plating was burned in solid. Links were burned in. More misc gussets were built and burned.

View attachment 98043

Beam axle...nuff said.

View attachment 98044

This is something I'm super stoked about. I couldn't figure out how to do the steering box brace. It seems like most people run a clamp (similar to above) and then run a piece of tube over to the opposing frame rail. Well I hated that idea so made a clamp and then found a piece of 3/8 plate and made this. It it is burned in on top and bottom of the 1/4" crossmember. This made the steering box so stiff and supported it really well.

View attachment 98045

View attachment 98046

Also the crossmember for the fuel cell and crossmember for the back of the frame were cut and welded in.

I may be incorrect but your steering box mount seems insufficient to me. It looks like you just have it butt welded to the angle iron. Do you have more support than that?