We can’t deny it Jeeps are about the right size to fit on off-road trails, but nothing in Jeep’s (domestic) lineup offers a pickup bed.
However before you mention the recently announced Mopar kit to convert a JK Unlimited into a half-cab pickup, that just don’t cut the mustard. MJ Comanche in fact shared just about everything with the four-door XJ from the doors forward, including the UniFrame chassis and the XJ’s choice of fuel-injected 2.5L four-cylinder engine, GM-sourced carbureted 2.8L V-6 engine, or Renault-sourced turbodiesel 2.1L four-cylinder.
Under its skin, the 1986 Comanche became a sort of one-year-only design, with the substructure forward of the firewall changing in 1987 to permit the longer 4.0L engine in both the XJ and MJ.
Though Jeep continued to produce the MJ through 1992 – including the rare and desirable Eliminator versions – its fate was effectively sealed in 1987 when AMC came under the control of Chrysler, which already had its own compact pickup in the Dakota. Jeep built a total of 45,219 Comanches in 1986, the second-highest total for the MJ over its lifespan. From the cab back, however, the MJ used a specially-designed subframe that connected to the forward UniFrame chassis and used a leaf-spring suspension similar to the XJ’s, but fitted with longer springs to handle heavier loads as well as a height-sensing proportioning valve that changed the brake bias when the bed had a load in it.
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