Amazing how far into the wilds this Liberty got - Matt's recovery

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Paul Dalby

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Especially for people who may be new to KJ's and have heard the chorus of "not real off roader!" etc.
An amazing car I think: I always suspect it was purposely held back by design to protect Wrangler market share/ prestige.
The weakest link in a the stock 4x4 is arguably the front propeller shaft. CV joint with light duty splines - why?
Too severe an angle of shaft and possible vibrations if a UJ was used? protection of weak front diff?
I have sheared the splines off on the front prop shaft on my 2.5 CRd, rendering the 4x4 useless. It's a cheap trail fix and doesn't take much storage space being prepared to replace one on the trail, but has anyone successfully replaced with a UJ (that hasn't been SFA'd?)

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Johnny O

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Ironically, this video was made in one of the areas I went on my trip last month.

It ain’t the car, it’s the driver.
 

Johnny O

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Yeah. But notice they flipped it, dumped in juice a it ran…

I suspect this was due to an undercut on the wash and went off the edge. Or beer…
Trail there is pretty narrow. With the Berts being top heavy and the infamous mushy stock suspension, it’s not surprising. It’s one of those areas where it would help to have a passenger eyeballing the edge. You can see how the brush hides the undercuts.
 

Johnny O

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Especially for people who may be new to KJ's and have heard the chorus of "not real off roader!" etc.
An amazing car I think: I always suspect it was purposely held back by design to protect Wrangler market share/ prestige.
The weakest link in a the stock 4x4 is arguably the front propeller shaft. CV joint with light duty splines - why?
Too severe an angle of shaft and possible vibrations if a UJ was used? protection of weak front diff?
I have sheared the splines off on the front prop shaft on my 2.5 CRd, rendering the 4x4 useless. It's a cheap trail fix and doesn't take much storage space being prepared to replace one on the trail, but has anyone successfully replaced with a UJ (that hasn't been SFA'd?)

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I’d argue the 4 speed auto and it’s weird shifting is the weakest point. The prop shaft itself aint the issue in my mind, it’s the proximity of the BUNA boots to the exhaust lines that are the issue. They get soft and fall right off due to the heat…then the grease is gone and the **** gets in.

I’ve lost two in the last four weeks and honestly have only used the 4WD for ten minutes…and that was after the first boot disappeared leaving only the clamps behind.

Ended up replacing them with silicone boots off a VW rear transaxle. They at least are designed for heat.

Good news is a can of Endura and a can of Red spray grease will get you through. Did about 1500 miles total as my MacGuyver field fix didn’t last long. Every 200 miles I washed out the dirt and grease residue with Kroil, then hit it with Endura. Over that a heavy dose of red spray grease, and good to go. Did Amasa, Sinbad, Dugway and 5 mile pass with nothing at all on the rear CV.
 

Paul Dalby

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I’d argue the 4 speed auto and it’s weird shifting is the weakest point. The prop shaft itself aint the issue in my mind, it’s the proximity of the BUNA boots to the exhaust lines that are the issue. They get soft and fall right off due to the heat…then the grease is gone and the **** gets in.

I’ve lost two in the last four weeks and honestly have only used the 4WD for ten minutes…and that was after the first boot disappeared leaving only the clamps behind.

Ended up replacing them with silicone boots off a VW rear transaxle. They at least are designed for heat.

Good news is a can of Endura and a can of Red spray grease will get you through. Did about 1500 miles total as my MacGuyver field fix didn’t last long. Every 200 miles I washed out the dirt and grease residue with Kroil, then hit it with Endura. Over that a heavy dose of red spray grease, and good to go. Did Amasa, Sinbad, Dugway and 5 mile pass with nothing at all on the rear CV.
yep, that's what happened to mine - didn't realise heat was the issue with the boot (had to look up BUNA - I'm guessing that's the material?). The dirt ingress made short work of the joint which seized and sheared the splines off.
I didn't even think of the gearboxes as possible weak links - manual only for me.
 

Johnny O

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This issue can be resolved with an air cooled VW bug part. Brand doesn’t matter, but you will want the boot kit for the Early Swing Axle VW. Given the proximity of the transaxle and boots to the air cooled engine, they are designed to take the heat.

you can also get them in a split style for emergency field repairs. I wouldn’t trust them for long as the little bolts to hold them together would throw the balance off, but they will keep the **** out of your CV until you get a proper boot on.

pro tip: let them sit in direct sunlight for a few hours on a hot day to fit them on and user a small amount of red RTV on the seals before you tighten the clamps down.

I highly suggest spending the 20$ on Amazon to get the two tools to install the OE style clamps too.
 

Johnny O

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I’ve been wondering if a bit of navy style fiberglass lagging wrapped around the exhaust there would reduce the heat damage to the boot.
 

bajasoobnut

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When I pulled the shaft on my kj after the rear cv decided that it wanted to be a steer and then replace both cv's I did start contemplating u-joints to replace them next time. There is absolutely no articulation going on with that shaft since the diff and transfer case have minimal movement so you don't need to worry about having to articulate that shaft at all, so why not? I will prolly talk to a shaft shop later about it and see if we can do something about it for sure.
 

sota

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while you're at it, see if they have any ideas on a carrier bearing just in front of the t-case, and a mechanical disconnect method, something using a cable pull.
 

Johnny O

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Can we all just take a moment and, for those who follow Matt's channel regularly, be in total awe at how amazing the Morvair works?
Truth. Secretly, I always hope I’ll run into them or Cthulhu forbid, have to call them just so I can get drool spits all over that beast.
 

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