What did you do to your jeep today?

[burntkat]

Are you gonna clean the old one out with electronics cleaner and compressed air to keep as a spare?

Probably not. Once they're gone they're gone.

 

[burntkat]

Because Jeepy has a bad axle seal and has quite the leak…

You must be registered for see images attach

I dropped the skid plate today to check the level of diff oil. You can see the fill plug in this photo.

You must be registered for see images attach

I put a finger in the fill hole and the fluid level is within about 1/4” from the bottom of the hole. Not too bad yet. I was worried it was much lower. So that’s good news.

However … this floppy fragment of rubber was sitting on the skid plate.

You must be registered for see images attach

The front bushing on the diff seems to be the source. The bushing is so bad you can see light through it!

You must be registered for see images attach

Just another reason to drop this front diff soon and regear it! (And press in new bushings.)

I think I would be tempted to put poly there, and never deal with it again.

 

[CherokeeLiberty]

Because Jeepy has a bad axle seal and has quite the leak…

You must be registered for see images attach

I dropped the skid plate today to check the level of diff oil. You can see the fill plug in this photo.

You must be registered for see images attach

I put a finger in the fill hole and the fluid level is within about 1/4” from the bottom of the hole. Not too bad yet. I was worried it was much lower. So that’s good news.

However … this floppy fragment of rubber was sitting on the skid plate.

You must be registered for see images attach

The front bushing on the diff seems to be the source. The bushing is so bad you can see light through it!

You must be registered for see images attach

Just another reason to drop this front diff soon and regear it! (And press in new bushings.)

Solid axle swap it!!!

 

[KJowner]

Replaced the center console window switches. Only three screws involved. Barely required a screwdriver. A 3 minute evolution, two of which was testing after plugging in the windows, and reassembly.
Nice to have a crossbreeze in the jeep again, lacking AC.

Mine is getting weak and I can hear it cycling so I'd better get booked in for some gas.

 

[burntkat]

A rare weekend of not having to fix something on one of the family Jeeps.. My son pointed out he's been working 6 days a week for 6 months or more. So instead of installing the locker I bought for him for his 25th, he's taking a 2 day weekend. He's certainly earned it. We'll install the locker and the cast iron diff cover (on his XJ) next weekend.

Used the Jeep to run to the home store for paint and related crap - bucket hook, brushes, etc...

 

[lfhoward]

A rare weekend of not having to fix something on one of the family Jeeps..

I can relate!

 

[lfhoward]

Having a brand new vehicle would be boring, compared to a fleet of old Jeeps!

 

[burntkat]

Having a brand new vehicle would be boring, compared to a fleet of old Jeeps!

Not to mention, expensive as ****, and probably in the shop more as well.

 

[lfhoward]

Not to mention, expensive as ****, and probably in the shop more as well.

No doubt!!! Seeing serious issues with the Pentastar 3.6L now that are pretty bad, and that’s the bread and butter engine of everything Mopar since 2011. I watched a tear down of that engine and there are a ton of plastic parts, and lots of stuff buried underneath other stuff, making it difficult to work on.

Mopar isn’t alone though. The Ford Ecoboosts of all flavors have wet timing belts and water pumps under the timing covers.

GM is dealing with the manufacturing issues with its big V8’s and 0W-20 oil.

I could go on.

Glad to have two older Jeeps I can work on myself. Besides the 08 Liberty I own an 07 Commander with the 4.7L V8. There were millions of these engines produced so finding parts is not cost prohibitive.

 

[CherokeeLiberty]

No doubt!!! Seeing serious issues with the Pentastar 3.6L now that are pretty bad, and that’s the bread and butter engine of everything Mopar since 2011. I watched a tear down of that engine and there are a ton of plastic parts, and lots of stuff buried underneath other stuff, making it difficult to work on.

Mopar isn’t alone though. The Ford Ecoboosts of all flavors have wet timing belts and water pumps under the timing covers.

GM is dealing with the manufacturing issues with its big V8’s and 0W-20 oil.

I could go on.

Glad to have two older Jeeps I can work on myself. Besides the 08 Liberty I own an 07 Commander with the 4.7L V8. There were millions of these engines produced so finding parts is not cost prohibitive.

All these catastrophic issues in new vehicles just reinforces my want for old iron. My wife and I just bought a “new” truck a month ago. It’s a ‘98 Dodge half ton with the 318. It’s not fast, but that motor will go forever. We just have a transmission fund to go with the truck, is all

 

[seafish]

Like you say, the Mopar 318 is a solid motor…among other things it was used for decades in high mileage NYC cabs.

Personally I’m gonna make due with the 2005 Libby for my UAV (urban assault vehicle), the 2005 Dodge Ram with I6 5.9L Cummins for my tow pig and the 1980 Toyota 20R (carbureted) 4wd converted flatbed as my ranch truck.

All that said, the International 7.3 diesel was also a great (read bulletproof) and powerful turbocharged engine…t’was a sad day when Ford, in attempt to keep more $ for itself, replaced it with their house made but problem plagued 6.0 diesel … more commonly known as the “sick-O”

 

[REDACTED]

Thanks to the wonderful ideas of timmyb457 from a 15 year old thread, I built myself a shelf for the back of my jeep

 

[seafish]

^^^NICE … looks like it’s time to drop a couple of 18” subwoofers in there!!!

 

[burntkat]

Thanks to the wonderful ideas of timmyb457 from a 15 year old thread, I built myself a shelf for the back of my jeep

I am looking to do this as well. Got a link to Timmy's post?

 

[burntkat]

Circling back on my tire rubbing the suspension arm issue...
Looking at installing 1" forged, hub-centric, billet aluminum spacers. Anyone done this?

I expect there will be rubbing issues with the fenders. I'm at 3" of lift, just wondering how bad the issues might be.

 

[REDACTED]

I am looking to do this as well. Got a link to Timmy's post?

https://www.jeepkj.com/threads/rear-cargo-shelf.46552/
here you go. He even drew up blueprints and gave detailed instructions

 

[duderz7]

https://www.facebook.com/share/19rjqFBH3k/ not mine, but should have the desired gear ratio.

 

[lfhoward]

If it's not one thing it's another...

Today on my way to work the steering started clunking really badly when turning left to right, and the Jeep felt really unsteady around corners.

I crawled under it while someone moved the steering wheel for me and I saw that the rack and pinion seemed to be held down at only one of two attachment points to the subframe! I am not sure why or what's broken, because I can't see it easily.

I limped the Jeep to a local mechanic that was recommended by a friend (close to where I am near work, not home) and they are going to diagnose it for me and see what we are dealing with.

I took the bus and subway home, then returned in my 07 Jeep Commander with the spare parts I had been storing up for a steering refresh: Moog inner and outer tie rods, Creative Steel bushings, and a spare rack from LKQ with a fraction of the miles on it. Those parts are in the Liberty's trunk now awaiting the diagnosis...

Somehow the Liberty passed state inspection a week ago Monday, so this is a big surprise.

 

[seafish]

If it's not one thing it's another...

Since owning Giddyup, I have learned that sometimes with these Jeeps it’s more accurate to say—

“If it’s not one thing, it’s a bunch of other things.”

 

[lfhoward]

Since owning Giddyup, I have learned that sometimes with these Jeeps it’s more accurate to say—

“If it’s not one thing, it’s a bunch of other things.”

No truer words have been spoken. Love it.

I’ve owned Jeepy since 2011 and 24k miles, and now she’s got 230k. I would say that most of the time she was pretty reliable up until about 170k, and since then she has helped me learn all sorts of new things from YouTube mechanics. Most things under the Jeep have been replaced by now, with the exception of the transmission and the steering. Hopefully we will get into another era of relative calm and reliability soon. (My spare transmission is waiting in the wings for its time to shine.)