The Jeep Comanche is a beloved pickup truck, in part because it takes a reliable and stylish SUV that everyone loves — the XJ Cherokee — and gives it the truckish form factor that America is obsessed with. Add the fact that the Comanche went out of production nine model years before the XJ and sold in relatively low volumes, and it becomes clear why MJ Comanches are worth more than both the truck’s Cherokee XJ sibling and its Jeep J10/Gladiator forebear. Many have dreamed of a four-door version of the beloved Jeep; those folks can stop dreaming, because the “Crewmanche” is here.
I used to own an MJ Comanche. In fact, it was a great spec — a 1992 long-bed with a bench seat. And even though it was an automatic, since it was 1991+ it had the venerable 4.0-liter Chrysler fuel injected engine, which not only lasts for ever but feels legitimately powerful in a reasonably lightweight truck. But I could only afford that truck ($500!) because it was completely rusted out; the truth is that MJ Comanches are not for the cheap. And while that may lead you to think that a custom four-door version would reach stratospheric levels of pricing, actually this one for sale is only $25 large. A nice stock MJ goes for similar money.
It’s called the Crewmanche, and according to its Comanche-obsessed seller, Nathaniel Lanken (a Jeep Comanche enthusiast since he was in high school, a former dealership owner, a marketing guru in the auto industry, and now owner of Off Grid Research “remaking Street Comanche parts and bringing back the race heritage”), the starting point was a 1998 Jeep Cherokee, which had a long bed Comanche grafted onto the back.
“Right where the door corner is squared is where the Comanche starts basically,” he told me over Facebook Messenger. “It has twin cross members and a two-piece driveshaft with a carrier bearing,” he said about how the drivetrain was elongated to handle all that wheelbase. Lanken says the “Crewmanche,” built in 2002 by Hilltop Customs from Lynchburg, Virginia, features a stock 4.0-liter straight six bolted to an AX-15 five-speed manual and NP231 “Command Track” four-wheel drive transfer case. “They did a wing window conversion up front as well. But it’s all stock late model Cherokee up front,” he told me.
“Then the backseat is the front benchseat of a Comanche reupholstered to match. It also has a custom grafted Oem+ headliner and power sliding rear window.” Wow; that’s extremely cool — a power rear window?! And I love that they kept the MJ bench, even though an XJ bench would have worked fine.
Per Lanken, the “Crewmanche” was hanging out in “the local show circuits for years and then was sold in 2017 to a fellow in Washington.” That’s whom Lanken bought it from. “I get stopped all the time and people ask if it’s a Concept, or Global model that was never offered in America. It’s extremely well done in and out down to the pinch seams. Turns heads everywhere”
You can watch Lanken’s journey buying the Crewmanche in the video above. “Drives extremely well,” he told me. “I did a 1000 mile road trip when I purchased it. Which can be seen on my youtube as well…I havn’t weighed it but it’s definitely more than a Stock cherokee! And it’s as long as a Full size Dodge ram crewcab.”
What do I, as a five-time XJ Cherokee owner, one-time MJ owner, and former Jeep engineer think about this? Well, on one hand the Jeep purist in me might call it blasphemy; the best things about the XJ and MJ were that they were relatively compact. Why ruin that?! I also have concerns about the structural integrity of welding two chopped up unibody vehicles together. Sure, this type of build has been done before, and the Jeep Cherokee XJ does have a “Uniframe” type construction that basically consists of two U-shaped unibody rails running the length of the SUV, with floors welded to those rails. The front end of the MJ — which was welded to the back of the XJ — features this very same construction. I’d love to know more how those bits were joined/stiffened.
Still, despite these reservations, I think the truck looks awesome, especially with those modern JL/JT wheels and that brow on the cab.
All Images: Nathaniel Lanken (Facebook Marketplace)
I loved everything about the original Comanche, except maybe the GM Iron Duke 4 in some of them. And the original truck (as well as the high resale values of the remaining good ones left) tell me that Fiat Chrysler made a big, big mistake in not bringing back the Comanche to fight against the Colorado/Canyon and Ranger pickups.
They never sold the GM Iron Duke 4 ina Comanche. They did sell it with the terrible GM 2.8L carbureted V6 for one year. There was also AMC 2.5L fuel injected 4 which was considered much better than the GM V6, the AMC 4 actually made more power than the bigger V6.
The engine to have though is definitely 4.0L I6 introduced in 87.
I would be willing to bet it’s more structurally sound than the average salt belt XJ I see around now a days.
http://www.nzpwi.co.nz/wp-content/uploads/2014/07/060127_booker_t.jpg
For once, a long-bed crew cab that actually fits in the width of a parking space, with room to open the doors.
5/7, would buy again.
Way too long, but cool concept nonetheless.
am I the only one who thinks the short bed would’ve done wonders here? Better proportioned, yet still more usable than most new Crew Cabs on sale today
Looks well done, but part of the Comanche’s appeal for me is that it is not a super long, giant crew cab truck.
Regular cab, long bed, 4×4, load height at my waist, enough power with the 4.0 to get out of its own way.
Yep, but would love to see it with an extended cab and short bed.
I have seen the short bed versions. some with no over hang and the wheel nearly at the door and the other way around which appears to be the long bed version shown here, but bobbed. I think that would be the one I would really want if I was to still use this for Jeep Stuff, but I would definitely not say no to the full Tilt Crewmanche shown here.
Looks like David has found his rig for moving out to the suburbs after the engagement.
Outside of some of the concerns about structural rigidity, does it look like the rear axle is set too far forward? It could be an angle issue, but from the pics it looks like there is a lot more daylight at the rear or the wheel than the front.
Other than that, this thing is totally bad ass and I would rock one any day of the week.
Check out comanchecrewcab on Instagram and youtube. Same idea but shorter bed and much beefier suspennsion. He also has a long post on one of the cherokee forums detailing the build process. This one was built by the owner in his garage.
Better than a real one would’ve been from the factory 😛
Why didn’t they make a factory 4-door Comanche from the factory? We didn’t get small 4-door trucks over here until some time after 2000, but Japanese small crew cab/double cab trucks have been around much longer
I would just be guessing but by the time trucks became daily driver stuff with 4 doors, Chrysler had killed the Comanche to prevent Dakota sales losses.
A crew cab pickup in the days of the Comanche was fairly rare. And certainly not on a “compact” truck like the Comanche.
“A crew cab pickup in the days of the Comanche was fairly rare. And certainly not on a “compact” truck like the Comanche”…
To finish your statement need to add “In the US market” at the end
I remember seeing 4 door small-medium sized trucks in Mexico, France and Italy in the early 1990s.
The bed is too long but otherwise looks good. Just seems sketchy but whatever, I have driven way sketchier cars over the years.
Superficially at least, this thing looks really nicely done, but the one thing I can’t get past is the placement of the rear axle. It looks like someone miscalculated and the wheelbase is about 1-1/2″ too short.
the thing I can’t get past is the rear door cards not matching the front ones.
I understand these came from an MJ, but I guess they could’ve rigged some extra front ones from a refreshed XJ in there.
If I was the original owner back in 2002 I wouldn’t have accepted it that way from the builder. Or maybe that’s how the OG owner wanted it to be?
I always felt it would be cooler to have a 2 dr cherokee grafted on the front to achieve extended cab status.
Not so long that it hurts the Jeeping, adds some usefulness. Confuses people.
I have strange desires.
Agreed! I can’t even find a photo chop of that… My google-fu is failing.
Google is trying hard to ensure that their search results are not useful and only result in sales links. It used to be you could do a search and in the first page or two find a quirky blog.
Now … just sales.
Waiting on your long newsworthy article about all the cybertruck issues. Cf r/cyberstuck
Comical length from rear door to truck bed in true Jeep pick-up truck fashion
Can’t get past the mismatches of late model and early parts. Front fender flares are rounded, late model units but rears are old Comanche units. Do the whole thing in the early (better) body style please. Same with the mismatched front and rear door cards. I agree a shortbed would be better proportioned.
I owned an ’89 XJ and kinda like the chunky old AMC dash.
couldn’t agree more. I can see a ton of effort but details like the door cards are a turnoff for me.
I thought the same. Would prefer to see it in the older style, dash, front clip and door cards. With some Eliminator buckets or even a full front bench.
We call those trail limos in my neck of the woods.
That C-Pillar/door shape, though…. My brain can’t get behind it from the inside OR outside.
The outside looks like one of those toddler toys that wants you to push different shapes through the correct holes.
On the other hand, the whole thing is over-the-top ridiculous, so I approve.
Yeah, I’m not sure why they chose to modify the door. A unmodified rear Cherokee door would have looked better, and then modify the C-pillar as needed. Or if you want to give it 110%, modify the door and the fixed pane of glass to make it look best.
The boi is L O N G
That’s what she said…
The long bed is too much. The short bed would be perfect. Would be even better had AMC (or later Chrysler) made a factory version and anticipated the crew cab compact pickup trend. Giving the Comanche a crew cab option might have kept it around longer since it would give buyers a reason to want it over the Dakotas in CDJ showrooms.
This is the exact ethos behind the “Like Photoshop, but with Welding” Facebook group that I love so dearly. Practical or necessary? Nope. But it is glorious and extremely well executed.
I love it but I would quickly break it in half off-roading it.
Not really my thing but it looks nice. The breakover angle must be terrible, though.
This is excellent. Though the long bed is perhaps a bit much? Who am I to judge? I’m halfway through building a Nissan 720 Quadcab by putting two cabs together. Mexico and Australia and lots of other places got them, but we in the US didn’t. So I’m building one. Just to torment me though, for some reason, Facebook Marketplace periodically shows me ads from Australia for those trucks.
As someone who has vaguely fantasized about doing similar things to get an unobtanium US vehicle – one – congradulations on taking it out of the realm of thought and into the real world of financial pain and physical suffering – and two – why not get a Mexican market body to start with?
2 reasons really. At the time I started the project, double cab nissans were at least $4K. Add in a trip to Mexico, it wasn’t something I could afford. I never managed to find just a cab body for sale.
Other reason, its about the journey not the destination. I love metal fab. Its my personal favorite part of the car world. So I decided I would take a crack at building one because that seemed really cool and really challenging. Along the way I made decisions like “you know what won’t really add any extra time? Suicide doors!” I was wrong. they added time. Like…. lots and lots of time.
Ah, that makes sense! I completely get `the work is the reason for the project’ rather than the other way around.