My saggy old girl. (with pics)

[ShafferNY]

Out of bored'em, and cabin fever, I went outside this morning and took some pics of the stock suspension on my Jeep. You can see just how little clearance there is before contacting the bumpstops.

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The rear is pretty bad too.

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[kjpilot]

Oh, you were talking about your KJ...

 

[JeepJeepster]

Whew, thats a lot of rust..

 

[ShafferNY]

Oh, you were talking about your KJ...

I knew that would get some attention. lol

Whew, thats a lot of rust..

I know. For a vehicle of it's age, it does have quite a bit of rust. I don't think it's normal. There is also a lot of corrosion on things like the door catches, hinge bolts, and other hardware.

The Jeep was originally from MA.

 

[kj924]

That's what happens when the road salt/liquid sodium brine takes it's toll. I've noticed a lot of rust on the KJ since we started using the liquid salt brine up here. I talked to a couple mechanics in ME about it, and they said the brake lines(steel) are showing the most problems, basically rusting out way before they should.

How many other places use this liquid road salt/de-icer?

 

[Dave]

^^^ Nice bumpstops Shaffer..........

^^^kj924.....Around here they are useing a sand/salt mix and that is bad enough.

Dave

 

[icarl]

Road salt and grime will help to rust your vehicle faster but i think it is normal for those parts to rust. I know when i was looking to buy a kj several years ago i even found rust starting to form on the under parts of brand new kjs sitting on the lot. This was a peeve to me because every vehicle i had owned previous to the kj had some body rust on it and i did not think something so new should be rusty. However, having had a rusty undercarriage for 4 years now it hasn't slowed me down, yet.

 

[icarl]

BTW salt changes the chemical composition of water so that it lowers the freezing temperature of water from 0 deg Celsius to around -10 deg Celsius. That's why it can be below zero and the road ice will still melt. If temperatures are consistently below - 10 degs than there is no point to using road salt.

 

[ShafferNY]

Here they primarily use salt. When they start getting low, they switch over the sand.

This year the town was supposed to try some new *special* salt.

I guess the way I've come to look at it is, since my vehicle has some rust I won't feel so bad if it's not show room quality and I put a scratch on it here and there.

 

[sleeve]

Man, those springs are really saggy. (it makes me want to check mine)

That rust, around seams and bolts is going to be very common because MA is near the ocean and the salt mist can enhance corrosion just like road salt.

My only comment about your rust is those brake lines. Please have them replaced before something bad happens. Especially those elbows at the front tires.

 

[ShafferNY]

^^^ Nice bumpstops Shaffer..........

^^^kj924.....Around here they are useing a sand/salt mix and that is bad enough.

Dave

Ya like those? lol

They sure get plenty of use.

 

[moparman]

Maryland is using the brine too.

 

[tjkj2002]

If you plan on replacing your suspension you better be spraying all the suspension bolts,ball joint nuts with PB Blaster at least twice a day for 2 weeks before install or you will have a very,very bad day.And don't be stingy with it,use a whole can everyday if needed,soak them real good but make sure you do not spray the brakes.

You know you could have prevented that bad of build up by at least once every 2 weeks,no matter the weather,you thoroughly wash the undercarriage of your KJ.It helps get's the build up of that crap off,who cares if there is still snow on the ground or if it's 10 degrees outside it still needs to be done to keep corrosion like that in check.I was my KJ very well every sunday,rain,snow,or shinning outside it does not matter it gets a very good washing and no corrosion build up,just the normal light surface rust on the non-painted parts like the driveshaft and knuckles.

 

[ShafferNY]

If you plan on replacing your suspension you better be spraying all the suspension bolts,ball joint nuts with PB Blaster at least twice a day for 2 weeks before install or you will have a very,very bad day.And don't be stingy with it,use a whole can everyday if needed,soak them real good but make sure you do not spray the brakes.

You know you could have prevented that bad of build up by at least once every 2 weeks,no matter the weather,you thoroughly wash the undercarriage of your KJ.It helps get's the build up of that crap off,who cares if there is still snow on the ground or if it's 10 degrees outside it still needs to be done to keep corrosion like that in check.I was my KJ very well every sunday,rain,snow,or shinning outside it does not matter it gets a very good washing and no corrosion build up,just the normal light surface rust on the non-painted parts like the driveshaft and knuckles.

I agree. I'm **** about washing my Jeep. I go to the car wash at least once a week. I get down and get the suspension too.

Ford had a recall on our 2001 Taurus regarding the front coil springs. In climates that use heavy salt, the coil springs would corrode and snap. It happened ours. Ever since them I've been **** about washing my vehicle down.

Unfortunatly I've only had my Jeep for a little over a year and it was like this when I bought it.

 

[JeepJeepster]

They use calcium chloride and sodium chloride on the roads around here. Usually they put down the liquid before it snows then the rock salt after it snows..

I also spray my under carriage off after every snow fall. So far so good other than normal surface rust on the drive shaft, front knuckles, cv shafts, etc.

If he used a can of PB blaster(~$5 per can) per day for 2 weeks hes looking at over $70 of PB blaster! Better buy the gallon size!

I think spraying all the bolts 2-3 times over the course of a week would suffice.

​

 

[tjkj2002]

I think spraying all the bolts 2-3 times over the course of a week would suffice.

​

That's what they all say.More you spray the easier it will be.

 

[ShafferNY]

While spraying down all the suspension bolts this morning I noticed the shock-to-control arm bushing was completely shot. The thru bolt was considerably below center, almost resting on the bottom of the metal sleeve the bushing is held in.

I guess I'll be ordering those too.

 

[kj924]

Hey Shaffer, you need some tow hooks on that Limited man.

 

[tjkj2002]

While spraying down all the suspension bolts this morning I noticed the shock-to-control arm bushing was completely shot. The thru bolt was considerably below center, almost resting on the bottom of the metal sleeve the bushing is held in.

I guess I'll be ordering those too.

It is easier and cheaper(in the long run) to buy whole new LCA's that come with all new bushing already pressed in.Those bushings are like $25 but will cost you big $$$ to have replaced.

When mine needed to be replaced the cheapest place wanted $1200 to replace just those 2 bushings.I ended up paying $400 for new LCA's and installing them myself,thank god the alignment was free due to being a lifetime alignment.

 

[ShafferNY]

It is easier and cheaper(in the long run) to buy whole new LCA's that come with all new bushing already pressed in.Those bushings are like $25 but will cost you big $$$ to have replaced.

When mine needed to be replaced the cheapest place wanted $1200 to replace just those 2 bushings.I ended up paying $400 for new LCA's and installing them myself,thank god the alignment was free due to being a lifetime alignment.

Really?

I check with Advance Auto and they have them for $10.99 each.

Are we talking about the same bushings? They're the ones where the strut mounts to the LCA. Not the bushings were the LCA mounts to the frame.

Hey Shaffer, you need some tow hooks on that Limited man.

I know.

I think I might have enough material to make a front receiver for it. If I do, I may just go that route and put some recovery points on it.

If not, I may just go with a KJ Backbone system. I just wish there was a receiver integrated into it. How sweet would that be? It probably wouldn't be that hard to modify one.