Long before this old Jeep Comanche fell into my life, Black Bear Off-Road was just a dream. The dream was to own my own shop. But not just that, I wanted to produce show-quality builds. And one day – have a vehicle at The SEMA Show. I’m inspired by guys like Chip Foose, Bobby Alloway, & Richard Rawlings. You know, the kinda guys who are never satisfied just building cars for a living, but want more. You take a kid who grew up watching Pimp My Ride, Unique Whips, and The Fast and the Furious, and mix that with some Speed Channel wrenching shows, & whole lot of industry ignorance… and you get the younger version of me. As I grew up and cut my teeth in the industry, I came to realize that some of these shows were smoke & mirrors. And real builders painfully craft vehicles over years (not a 30-minute time-slot). They obsess themselves with every nut & bolt. I told all my car buddies, “One day that will be me.”
Well fast-forward to 2024…
And our good buddies at KnKut Drill Bits made that dream a reality. Check out the podcast for the backstory on how we got a car in the show. Long story short: We brought a 2021 Jeep Wrangler 392 with 7-inch coilover lift kit, 44” tires, and 1-ton axles (see it here). Truth is, we basically built this Jeep for a good customer, Mr. Steven Morris. And the whole build was his design. We never even had thoughts of bringing it to SEMA, and we didn’t plan it out with a show in mind. Nonetheless, we made it. We had a “feature vehicle” at the SEMA show. As I walked around the show, head held high, basking in the Nevada sun, my wife said, “What are you gonna build next year?” She said, “I think you should bring the Jeep Comanche.” Honestly… I was tired lol. The excitement of getting our build to The SEMA Show & everything involved with that… had worn me down. I didn’t even wanna think about next year, I just wanted to celebrate the victory & enjoy the moment.
But like great wives do…
She planted a thought ninja in my brain that I couldn’t shake. The Jeep Comanche was a personal project car on mine. One that a drove for 6 months, blew the transmission, and then sat behind the shop (for 2 years now) collecting moss. I honestly had thoughts of selling it. Of course, like every car guy, we can’t help but stare at a vehicle & see its potential. So, a few weeks after The SEMA Show, I made some calls & ran the idea by my crew. The answer was “You have to do it.” So here’s what we have…
A 1988 Jeep Comanche Pioneer Edition…
It came factory with a 5-speed manual, 4WD, and a 4.0 inline-6. I’d already lifted it about 4” using spare parts. And put 32” tires on it… mounted to take-off wheels from a Jeep Wrangler JL. We wheeled it wheel it once or twice, but the OE Peugeot transmission just never shifted right. I kinda knew what lift I wanted & what size tires, but with show vehicles, it’s a good idea to have a theme. I spoke to the big kahuna himself – Mr. Jonathan Wooley. And he gave me a great idea (inspired from the legends at TredWear). He said – create ‘a story’ for the Jeep Comanche. It can be fiction, but it will help you figure out the spirit of vehicle.
So I came up with the story of Ranger Bob…
A guy who worked for the Forestry Department in the late 80s & dreamed of building his service vehicle into the ultimate trail riding rig. Not only that, but he dreamed of riding trails and helping campers along the way… swapping stories, and enjoying nature. He didn’t need an overlander or a rock crawler, just a well-equipped truck for riding fire roads, maintaining trails, & cruising the countryside.
With the story in place, it was time to come up with a build plan…
We reached out to Sport Truck USA, who sponsored the lift. They hooked us up with a set of Zone Offroad 4.5” front springs, FOX shocks, JKS control arms, and .75” front spring spacers. This will net us a 5.25” lift up front. For the rear – we found a Facebook Marketplace C8.25 rear end to replace the weak Model 35 rear. We then partnered with Yukon Gears and got 4.56 gears, differential covers, and a Dura Grip limited slip for the rear. The 8.25 we got was for a Jeep Cherokee & was spring-over, so we decide to run with that. A spring-over lift on stock leafs will net us 5-5.5” of rear lift. And we will compliment that with FOX shocks as well.
I then reached out to Dom Stacks…
A hoarder of Comanche tailgates, and other MJ & XJ parts. He had a AX15 from a 1998 Jeep Cherokee, which is the holy grail 5-speed transmission for the Jeep Comanche. We already had some sweet DIY bumpers & a chase rack from JCR Offroad, and beefy 1-ton steering from Cavfab… so those things would stay. I’d also added Currie antirock sway bars & Corbeau suspension seats right before the Peugeot transmission failed. So that’s where we sat (no pun intended).
The next thing on our agenda is wheels & tires…
Falken came through with a set of 35×12.50×17 tires. And we currently have our eyes set on a new Mamba billet wheel we saw at SEMA (that hasn’t officially come out quite yet). The battery was dead, so Optima came in as a great sponsor with a Yellow Top. Of course, if we want the truck to look like an old forest service truck… it’s got to have lighting. That’s where things got really exciting. We reached out to our friends at Mpower silicone lighting, and not only did they come-on as a sponsor, but they offered us booth space at the 2025 SEMA show. I was overjoyed, finally a ground-up build that will be inside the show. I’m also in love with Mpower lighting. As a current & past brand ambassador, I know how great they are. Plus, their parent company Sound Off Signal, outfits emergency vehicles across the country with lighting… so they are a great match to say the least. We still need components like driveshafts, a radio, and lots of box store parts like gaskets & hoses. But the core idea is in place & in motion. So…
We got a rendering of the Jeep Comanche by Renderd Rides…
As seen in these photos. We posted our idea on social media, and the feedback was great. And it gave me an additional idea for the build. What if we document the process on my Youtube channel, and on S3 MAG (download the free S3 Magazine app y’all). Not only that, what if we took it to shows during the year (in various states of construction), and let people witness the progress. So, we reached out to our favorite cutting tool company, KnKut, and Andy offered us booth space at Jeep Beach in Daytona… as well as booth space at the Great Smoky Mountain Jeep Invasion in Pidgeon Forge, TN. Mpower lighting also offered us a space at Jeep Jam in PCB.
So now it’s set, we’re building a SEMA rig for 2025…
We’re documenting the progress on our Youtube channel & here on S3 MAG. And – you can see it in person at 3 different shows leading up to SEMA. Here’s the thing: I’m not Bobby Alloway, I’m an off-road vehicle builder. So it’s gonna take all the talent my team has to restore this bad larry, & make it SEMA worthy. Everything I’ve ever built leading up to this was for off-road purposes. Of course, they usually turned out looking pretty good. And my current blue 2020 Jeep Wrangler has been in plenty of shows. But we’ve never attempted something quite on this level. I hope you’ll follow along, and let us know what you think. I’ll leave you with this: Follow your dreams relentlessly, and surround yourself with supportive people. And with a little luck & lots of outside help… you just may get a chance to make ’em happen.
Article by Bradley “jeepinbubba” Cohron
