A few months ago I purchased a manual transmission, V8-powered 1989 Chevy K1500 — possibly one of the greatest pickup trucks ever. I used that truck to move my entire household, and fell in love with how it drives; it’s smooth, torquey, and supremely capable. But I’m a Jeep man — I have been for over 20 years now, which is why I don’t think that K1500 will fill the gap in my heart that will exist when I begrudgingly part ways with the 1985 Jeep J10 that the state of California won’t let me drive due to SMOG. For this reason, I have made a questionable choice that will on Wednesday put me in Idaho, about 1000 miles from my home.
With my J10 on the chopping block and my heart unable to truly cherish the K1500 like a Chevy truck fan would, I find myself with a truck problem. How will I carry big, heavy parts like those needed to build my eBay World War II Jeep? How will I cary washing machines and driers and drywall and other things needed to maintain this ancient house my wife, child, cats and I live in?
What I need is a Jeep pickup truck that won’t fail SMOG, and that leaves me with four options. The first is an old Willys pickup truck; this thing:
These are basically pickup truck versions of the first true family 4×4 SUV, the Willys Wagon, and like the Wagon, the Pickup was loosely based on the World War II Jeep (on which the first civilian Jeep, the CJ-2A is also based). They’re old, really don’t go much faster than about 45 MPH sustained, and they’re small.
The truth is, finding one of these in decent shape is difficult and pricey, and what’s more, they’re basically antiques; they’re for driving either on a farm or slowly around town; they are not meant for LA highways.
I could also hunt for a pre-1976 Jeep J10, which would allow me to forgo annual emissions checks. Of course, decent Jeep J10s from that vintage — coveted for their beautiful “Razor” grilles — aren’t cheap. Most of these have rust on the bedside seams, and fixing that is really tough. I’m lucky enough that my bed doesn’t’ have this.
What I could do is buy a pre-1976 with a rust-free cab but a crusty bed, swap my bed and 85,000 mile powertrain, and boom: I’d not only have a California-legal truck, but the rust on my floorboards and the back of my cab would no longer be an issue.
This would take time, of course, and then I’d be tempted to paint it all to make the bed match the cab. And in the end, I’d still have a temperamental, carbureted old truck that makes 112 horsepower.
I could also do an engine swap — namely do the 4.0-liter “stroker” mod that involves taking the crankshaft out of the 258 currently in my J10, swapping that into a 4.0-liter engine. (they are a dime a dozen), and installing a new Hydroboost brake booster (since the 4.0’s intake manifold would interfere with the J10’s brake booster) as well as an engine computer and all the requisite wiring.
It wouldn’t be trivial. The easiest “J10” option involves me just plunking down $15 grand for a nice pre-1975 J10.
Door number three involves buying a new Jeep Gladiator. This is a good option for a few reasons; first, because it’s newer, it’s more refined, more reliable (thus giving me more time to do family things), and safer. This latter point, along with the fact that the truck has four doors, means I could actually drive my kid around in it. Not to mention, it’s really the only option on this list that can actually tow.
The downside to this option is that the manual version of the truck isn’t rated to tow more than 4,500 pounds, and I refuse to ever buy an automatic ICE car again. What’s more, pre-2024 Gladiators don’t have rear side-curtain airbags, which is totally ridiculous. 2024+ trucks are too expensive, but older Gladiators are actually fairly cheap, with 2020s going for around $23,000. That’s not bad for a modern truck, but it’s only got a 5-foot bed, towing with the stick is limited, there are no rear side curtain airbags, and $23,000 is still $23,000.
That brings me to the final option, and the one that I’m exploring.
The Jeep Comanche.
And not just any Jeep Comanche; I just committed to purchasing the very last model-year: 1992. Jeep built only 1,000 Jeep comanches this year, so this is an extremely rare truck.
I’m usually not a snob about final model-years, but what I am a snob about is engine management systems, and all Jeep Cherokees and Comanches prior to the 1991 model-year had what was called a “Renix” fuel injection system, along with a “hot bottle” cooling system. These tend to be a bit temperamental, and the Renix-era vehicles make less power. I’ve gotten used to the Chrysler Fuel Injection system offered in 1991+ Jeep Cherokees and Comanches and Grand Cherokees, so I really didn’t want a pre-1991 Comanche.
So this left me with 1991 and 1992 options.
I’ve actually owned a 1991 Jeep Comanche before, but it was not only an automatic, it was horribly rusty and outfitted with a janky lift kit. I barely recall that truck since I owned it for only a year or so. But I do remember it being reasonably comfortable and capable enough to haul over 11,500 pounds of scrap metal to the metal-yard. Here’s old-me doing feral things in Michigan with that old Comanche “MJ”:
Some people call it a backyard. I call it a proving ground. pic.twitter.com/AEWDkHaUAj
— David Tracy (@davidntracy) March 3, 2020
Anyway, I recently spotted a 1992 MJ for sale up near Boise, Idaho. It is a bone-stock, final model-year model with the coveted AX-15 manual transmission. The asking price of $6,500 seemed reasonable, and if I sold my K1500, I’d actually come out ahead. So I told the seller I’d buy the MJ, only to later realize it was a no-AC truck. Oh well!
Tomorrow I’m flying from Burbank up to Boise to pick up this rust-free 200,000 mile pickup that I hope will fulfill my truck wants and needs. I hope it will offer a bit of the comfort/reliability of the K1500 and the cool factor of the J10.
We’ll see. Before I decide on which truck to keep, I have to get this machine from Idaho to California, which is a tall task for any 30+ year-old car with that many miles on it.
I know you like the 92, but you should’ve gotten a diesel so you’d be exempt from smug check 😛
(diesels are exempt pre-97, while gas is only exempt pre-75)
They made like 17 diesel MJs. They are very rare and with 75 hp, not suited for LA traffic, or towing.
75 hp is enough for stop-and-go-traffic LOL
Jason Torchinsky says you only need 50hp to get by even in modern traffic.
Aftermarket AC systems are reasonably available and not too bad to install. I did one on my 1990 Toyota Pickup (that I bought new off the lot – the only option installed was an actual rear bumper – those were the days!) after I got tired of driving around the SF East Bay in the heat, at ~100K miles.
I predict an after market ac install in May or June. I think I would check the brakes and replace the rubber if it looked the least bit sketchy. Nothing like slamming into a runaway ramp full of sand to wake you up.
I’ll definitely inspect it all.
Look at all these rational, good ideas from all these rational, good people.
Folks. Foooooolks.
There’s two types of TRUE Jeep people.
1) Ones who perform days worth of mental gymnastics to successfully rationalize an irrational, completely emotional vehicle purchase, re-hashing and changing the order of importance of all relevant factors in the decision making process, until the one that makes the least actual sense is now viewed as the only option.
2) Ones who just be lying to themselves
Seriously though, I understand. I love those GMTs, but I’ve never owned one longer than about a year before I run into some kid at the gas station in the middle of summer in a topless shitbox TJ. Instantly, every single legitimate reason I told the wife I needed this truck (firewood, mulch, equipment moving, actual tow capacity, ability to serve as a backup mail vehicle) fly right outta my head about the time I walk up and say “Hey kid, you wanna trade that jeep for the best truck of all time?”
Are you me?
We talked on the phone once. My brand new lawnmower started blowing blue smoke and rusting immediately.
Im pretty sure it proved string theory.
We gotta get you blogging.
Let’s GO!!!
My wife and I are both 1 and 2. Because of that our fleet of cars has a ’15 Wrangler JK Unlimited, a ’23 Wrangler Rubicon 4xe, and as of last week a ’25 Gladiator Rubicon. We’ve had the ’15 for nearly 10 years, it was paid off quite a while ago and is built just how we want it for our weekend Jeep adventures. It was my daily driver, but we also wanted a truck around for truck things. A rational person would sell the ’15 and that was the plan, until it wasn’t. Why would we get rid of a perfectly good, paid for trail rig when we can keep it?
We performed all kinds of gymnastics as to why we needed the Gladiator and how much better our life would be with it, and then straight up lied to ourselves that we would pare down the amount of cars we own.
It is a sickness.
It’s why we’re here at this support group.
Simple Boy Scout math here: Two is one, and one is none.
And who can go without a truck? Two jeeps and a gladdy? Honestly, you’re just being prepared.
There’s also something to be said about a family that has solid axles underneath 100 percent of their vehicles. Bless ye.
Not quite 100%. My kids drive a Town and Country and an Equinox. I feel shame for this – they are indifferent to the Jeep cult. I failed as a parent.
$6500 for a 33 year old, 200k mile truck with no A/C bought sight unseen – and you’re going to suddenly drive it 1000 miles over five mountain ranges?
*facepalm*
Wait how many mountain ranges?
Your fine on mountain ranges, you won’t be crossing the Rockies. I propose you take highway 93 south through the entirety of Nevada to get home, what an amazing contrast of endless nothingness and towering mountains that road is. There is nothing else quite like it and what other chance will you get in life now that you are a dad.
Its’ been a while since I’ve taken that drive….so if memory serves….
If you’re starting in Boise – you have the Boise Mountains, which are a subrange of the Rockies. If you’re starting farther east of Boise toward Sun Valley – you might be in the Sawtooth Range.
If you go straight south – you’re heading into lots of hills and sub-mountain ranges in mid-Nevada between the Sierras and the Rockies. It’s not all flat when you go south of 80 – just desolate.
If you take 80 West to 395, which is a more scenic and populated route – you’ll be flat along 80, but hit the Sierras just past Reno/Sparks – and when you turn left on 395, you’ll continue along the eastern slope of the Sierras thru the Owens Valley, but that road still reaches over 8000ft altitude, which can mean snow – but you’ll also get a view of Mt Whitney from the east.
Either way you’ve actually got to cross the Sierra Nevada mountains – so the straight south route will take you past Las Vegas where you’ll cross the southern end of the Sierras just west of Vegas – and the 395 route will take you thru Red Rock Canyon before you cross the Mojave Desert.
Either way, you’ll then be crossing the San Gabriels, and then the Santa Monica Mountains.
So 4 or 5, depending on the route.
He’s doing good. I spent $9800 for my 250k mile Comanche. Though it was only 5 hours away across PA and was my unicorn dream spec. It didn’t even idle when I bought it.
Not sure I paid that much for my brand new 1988 four cylinder 5-speed Comanche. Drove it for 20 years, the first five as a professional building contractor. I did a lot of renovation work and it was nicer to drive around town than the Dodge Ram 1500 it replaced. Hauled pretty much everything I needed and I even pulled a wrecker out of the mud on a jobsite once. Got a long enough chain to get the Jeep on pavement, put it in 4wd low range and that 60 hp 2.5l four walked that 25k gvw truck right out of the mud.
DAVID RUSTOVIOUS TRACY!!! WE HAVE TALKED ABOUT THIS!!! At length!!! Cars go OUT, more cars DO NOT COME IN.
Sweet fancy Moses…
I LOLed at Rustovious
The man literally became a crazy cat dad because a stray took up residence in his car, what else would you expect?
Obviously he has been skipping the OCD meetings for a good while.
Get back Loretta!
The rest of the world looks on in bewilderment of purchasing and driving back a car in a world without any sense of vehicle inspections.
But then why you need a truck based on the excuses you’ve given? Paying Home Depot for delivery or borrowing their van seems like the most effective way to deal with drywall, and a hatchback for the rest.
His hatchback shouldn’t be subjected to hauling home e-bay jeep axles and things like that and those HD pickup rentals get expensive quick if you don’t just take your stuff home, unload and return it. U-haul seems OK until you look at their mileage charges. Neither will be happy if it is returned with grease and oil in the bed. David definitely needs a pickup for doing truck things.
You’re being so nice to David. Helping him out and making him feel better.
But he needs tough love, to get a VW Golf or, ideally, a Golf wagon – with a decent tarp to protect the fabrics from incidental drips or when hauling worse, like bulk soil (just don’t open the windows)
Yeah but a VW of any type pales in comparison to the greatest car ever made, David’s own i3 REX.
Well said.
No. He already has what he actually needs. The K1500. It’s paid for and does everything he currently is doing.
If he needed a goldilocks solution, it’s probably a Maverick. I’m sure there’s people fine with regularly soaking their interiors with various automotive fluids. But I’d rather not subject my family to it.
Taking a transmission home in my Sorento was the most stressful drive ever cause not only was I worried about spills, there’s no good way to secure heavy shit in a hatch compared to a bed with tie downs. A truck bed I can pressure wash and then throw luggage in as well.
Which is why, after 4 years of my godawful Sorento, both my wife and I have unanimously agreed my next daily will be a truck again. She also regularly gets frustrated with the lack of utility compared to the F150 I’d had previously.
Her complaint is “nothing fits in this fucking thing” every time she needs to pick up or move things.
You’re thinking you need your one vehicle to be able to resolve every scenario.
Whereas I’m suggesting that the few times I need a truck, I rent one or have it delivered. Or, as I’ve done many-a-time, borrow a utility trailer from family (or use a Uhaul trailer).
fwiw: most of the hatches I’ve owned over the years, I could use the rear seat’s frame latches as very solid tiedowns, as well as the seat anchors for childseats
As mentioned above, that proposition becomes expensive fast. Especially when time is a currency.
If I needed to pick up a rental, trailer or truck, the process adds about about 2 hours to whatever I’m doing. Add in fuel and mileage charges with that from the 20 minutes each way to the closest depot.
So the feasibility is directly proportional to frequency. In my case, I’d be paying for half a month’s vehicle payments with rentals, while being out the time/convenience, AND I still need to pay for the original not-truck vehicle.
The insult to injury on my Sorento is that my fuel economy is the same as my old F150. On the highway it barely nudges it out by a liter per 100km.
I don’t live downtown, I don’t get free delivery from stores. I have to pick stuff up myself. I also have no desire to pay insurance on multiple vehicles when one vehicle can serve that purpose.
So if someone would hurry up and release an EREV truck in the Canadian market, I’d just buy that and be happy.
Exactly. Fuel economy has gotten so good on fullsize trucks they can make sense as DD’s. My buddy gets better mileage in his crew cab F150 2.7 than I get in my 4Runner.
Her complaint is “nothing fits in this fucking thing” every time she needs to pick up or move things.
Haha, the gf and I feel that way about my 4Runner quite often. After 6 years with the 4R, I’m starting to look at fullsize trucks. F150 is currently the top contender.
I’m so tired of having to mess with folding the rear seats every time I need to get something large in it only to find that item is ever so slightly bigger than what will fit in the 4R.
Or just a cheap utility trailer.
Utility trailers are just a hassle compared to having a pickup and you still need a vehicle up to towing said trailer. The trailer also doesn’t help at all when you want to go tow home yet another project and have space to carry all the loose parts that come with it.
Yep, I tried the SUV and rent/borrow a trailer for a couple of years, and then went back to a pickup.
Yikes, there’s a whole lotta nothing on that drive. Are you doubling all the way back to Salt Lake to stay within the safety of the cell signal network on the 15, or taking your chances in the Nevada wilderness?
I think I’d go Boise->Winnemucca->Sacramento->LA
No AC in Los Angeles is kind of a big whoopsie.
A lot less of a whoopsie than it would be in much of the rest of the country.
Nah, it’s got vent windows.
This gives him an excuse to partner with Ebay again and try out one of those electric A/C retrofit kits.
Shockingly, they seem to work pretty good when you install them properly.
The mind of David Tracy must be a chaotic space.
Like a friend of mine says, “I bet it sounds like a drum kit being pushed down the stairs.”
I’ve described my own mind as a coffee can full of ball bearings, when asked by trainees how I know/remember so much.
It’s all piled in there like a neglected storage unit.
Probably looks like a Pick-a-Part yard.
That looks darn good for 200k.
“I refuse to ever buy an automatic ICE car again”
This seems highly unlikely, but I applaud you if you pull it off.
Does this truck have all its emissions equipment intact or is that a future series of articles?
You very strategically didn’t show any pictures of the engine bay of this 30 year old truck from a non-emissions state.
Emissions equipment is just a CAT, which it has.
Ah, that early-90s sweet spot when fuel injection got good and emissions standards were still relatively loose.
True, going with an HO 4.0L does avoid the Renix EGR.
Someone told me that if you park a Jeep in a special place, basically abandon it for a while, a CAT will magically install itself! For Free!
“Livin’ with Comanches ain’t bein’ alive.”
— Ethan Edwards (John Wayne) from “The Seachers”
(Full disclosure: had a Comanche; loved it.)
I always found the Apache and Cheyenne much easier to live with. YMMV
Correct me if I’m wrong (and I often am) but isn’t the Comanche significant as the last vehicle that was fully designed by AMC before they got bought out by Chrysler?
Eagle Premier seems more likely.
Hard to say, honestly. I don’t quite remember when AMC got into bed with Renault, I think it was before the XJ. Regardless, the Eagle Premier (and Dodge Monaco twin) feel more like a Renault design, with help from AMC, than an AMC design.
The ZJ!
Proving once again that The Autopian is a support group for the clinically, if not criminally insane.
It’s aboveboard!
Absolutely! No one is sneaky about it.
Maybe the Comanche is at a very nice residential facility and the whole thing is a set-up / intervention.
This solves exactly none of your issues in regards to thinning your automotive heard and addresses exactly none of your safety concerns for the kiddo. I guess some people just need to do things the hard way?
Hell yeah, never change!
No rear doors eliminates the concern about no side air-bags for those doors.
The K1500 is currently doing everything you ask of it, and can fit a child seat. So of course it has to go.
You don’t want a Gladiator cause it has no rear curtain airbags. Compared to the Comanche that has *checks notes* NO airbags at all.
You were always gonna get the Comanche, this is just a list trying to justify the move.
Also, do you REALLY need curtain airbags in the rear? Your kiddo is gonna be strapped into a car seat for the next 6 or 7 years. My daughter is 6 and she’s still in a high back booster (using the 3-point now). Airbags are for the belted passengers, your little one is in their own crash cell, and will be for years to come.
Don’t try to apply logic to DT’s automotive choices.
You joke, but it’s true. Car buying isn’t logical, else I’d be dailying a 20 year old Corolla.
Your justifications are insane, but it makes for greats reads and discussions. So, never change DT.
I absolutely will have to change for the sake of my budding family.
But that change is for another day. Tomorrow we fly to Boise.
You’ll find equilibrium as you go. I’m currently trying to sell my w126 so I can buy a Geo Tracker to transport the family around in the summer.
Just look at how you can modify your hobby to include your family. The YJ would be terrific for family outings once the little one is big enough to be forward-facing.
> I’m currently trying to sell my w126 so I can buy a Geo Tracker
Tell me you’re joking.
Nope. I’m over the land yacht life. I desire stick shift and no top. My wife has fond memories of trackers, so it’s an old car she actually likes.
Dang.
“Damn it Jim, I’m a DR. not a therapist! Let Spock handle it.”
Also, no Gladiator because it can only tow 4500lbs when equipped with a manual, so going for a truck that needs to be equipped with the automatic to tow 5000lbs?
Mind you, respect to anyone who downsizes from a full-size to a compact truck in 2025.
I forgot about that. “The Gladiator only tows 4500lbs with a stick, so I’m buying a Comanche that only tows 4000lbs with a stick”.
Don’t forget the lack of any safety devices aside from a seatbelt….
Yeah, my neck didn’t like the collision that totaled my ’88 XJ. If it weren’t for the fact that I was 20 at the time, I’m sure more long term damage would’ve been likely.
I think he was comparing the gladiator for its price, not the other choices. Shitty towing and safety are easier to accept for 1/4 the price.
I’d make a wisecrack about sleeping in it, but I’m sure Elise Googled him before the first date and knew exactly what she was getting into.
Amazingly she did Google me, which makes no sense honestly. How could she possible forge ahead after seeing… all that?!
Having followed your journey from driving a postal jeep to Moab from an upside down milk crate and reveling in the relative luxury of a U-Haul Chevy Express box truck to the point Jason noticed, to writing a whole article about the 2017 i3’s olive-tanned leather armrest being replaced by vinyl in the ’21, maybe she was starting to think she’d changed you?
David is to Elise as crusty old Jeeps are to David.
Maybe she likes a project as well
CA is not letting previously compliant vehicles on the road any longer?
(but the Comanche is awesome so it’s like an upgrade anyway, or side grade)
David’s J10 had the smog equipment deleted back when it was in a state that didn’t require emissions testing for it. California still requires emissions testing for it though, which means it’s lacking the equipment it needs to pass smog in California.
Ah, makes sense then.
Called it like three months ago. No way was it ever NOT going to be a Comanche.
YOU’RE COMING TO BOISE!? This is the nearest you’ll have ever been to me! Boise Autopian meet maybe please??
Even if you don’t want to do that, I’d recommend stopping by Jack’s Urban Meeting Place, a sort of community center in Boise, which has a ton of vintage steam and early gas tractors on display for you to geek out about the mechanical details of.
Email me! David@TheAutopian.com
Alright, sent you an email 🙂
Yeah, but where is the kid going to sit?
That bed looks to have plenty of room….
Early 90’s truck requires an early 90’s safety mindset.
Flashing back to crawling through the little sliding portion of the rear window of a Datsun 720 into the bed, which was lined in shag carpet and capped with a shell, to go to Chuck E Cheese’s…
Are you my brother? No, wait, our Datsun didn’t have carpet in the bed. Or a shell. We just stood up in the back and let the bugs hit us in the teeth over top of the cab. Illegal, you say? There are very few things actually illegal in Ala-damn-bama.
As we all know.
It’s only a crime if you get caught.