OT: Glad to be home, Done with Jeeps Options

[timothy_nd28]

It is good to be back on here! My son was given a super POS jeep as his first car from his uncle last February. After it was towed to my house, we stripped the Jeep down to its bare frame. The tub folded up like a burrito, and the frame wasn't too far behind. My brother had a 350 SBC engine married to some sort of Chevy transmission in this jeep. It was a frankenstein setup, so I decided that I would put this car back to all stock for the benefit of my son, since he isn't all that mechanical. Now he can go to any part store and get real parts for his car. After restoring this Jeep, I still have zero feelings for Jeeps. I'm happy it is done, and it was enjoyable working with my son on this over that past year.
I have been on the Jeep forums, and it is not as friendly as it is here, super glad to be home. My other brother had been keeping my 914 at his for the past few years, and it was towed to my house a few hours ago. I'm so ready to bring it back to its former glory.

Anybody have good luck with these easy 123 ignition dizzy's on a Ljet? I'll probably start with that purchase first.

[timothy_nd28]

[r_towle]

Fantastic to get to build a car with your child.
I did a 914, beetle, and jeep with my boys.
Just finished another keep build for plowing.
Jeeps just suck....in so many stupid ways.

Welcome back, go vacuum the shop floor, get the rust dust off everything and pull a new 914 project into that empty slot!!

[mepstein]

Welcome back.

I’ve always liked Jeep’s so I’d say your son is a lucky man.
My son, knows my mechanical skill and bought himself a Honda.

[Cairo94507]

Great work and smart move returning it to stock for him. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)

[ConeDodger]

Tie your shoes Tim! Geterdone! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sawzall-smiley.gif)

[timothy_nd28]

Hi Mark! It's been awhile buddy, hope all is well. How did the tach for your motorcycle turn out? I still have two of your 911 tachs that I need to get back to you!

My son is very excited about his Jeep. I think this is a terrible first car for a teenage driver to have. With that said, I think I have done everything I can to make it as safe as possible. In example, I removed the brake power booster and installed an aftermarket dual diaphragm brake power booster. I never knew they made such a thing! He receives his drivers license in a few weeks which scares me.

Yes, I need to do a monster clean in my garage. I currently have a roller that Garold sold me that will soon be getting flares and a LS4. Before that project, I will need to get my other 914 (74 1.8) back to a DD status. It's now in my garage and thawing out. This car was restored about ten years ago and was a great DD and absolutely beautiful. For whatever reason, my young niece didn't appreciate the glossy guards red and attacked it with golf clubs (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) The red angered her as if she was a bull! Anyways, I'm excited to do some real work!

[r_towle]

Well, sometimes you just need to shrug, say ok.
Might want to hide all golf clubs in the future?

Seriously, vacuum the floor.
You will be amazed.

Get the DD back....it will inspire you to do the LS4.

[ericoneal]

This post was discouraging. I just bought an old Jeep this morning. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/sad.gif)

[timothy_nd28]

On the bright side, Jeep parts are cheap and plentiful

[buck toenges]

The jeep wrangler Tj frames are crap. Had to replace frame parts in front of rear leaf springs and behind the front leaf springs. I was shocked how bad they rusted out.

Buck

[ClayPerrine]

I own a Jeep.....


Jeep stands for "Just Empty Every Pocket"

[Superhawk996]

Jeep Wrangers are great . . . at one thing. Off-Road Use. Other than that they largely leave you shaking your head wondering what good they are on the street. 2008 JK.

I guess the other cool thing about Wranglers is there is the Jeep Wranger Wave that goes from owner to owner. The more gear you got (winch, lift, etc.) the bigger the wave. The only other car I've experienced that with is my 914. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/bye1.gif)

Hmm . . . maybe more in common than I 1st thought and maybe explains why I own both.

[timothy_nd28]

The YJ frames are probably just as bad as the TJ frames, I ended up welding steel everywhere.
I never drove a jeep before this one, and we put a leaf spring kit that raised the car up a few inches. This Jeep is a rough ride, feels like the axles are welded straight to the frame. We have new 33" tires on it, drop the tire pressure down from 45psi down to 20psi, and it made a good improvement. I just don't know if this is normal for Jeeps or am I just too spoiled with modern cars and their suspension?

[Superhawk996]

The YJ frames are probably just as bad as the TJ frames, I ended up welding steel everywhere.
I never drove a jeep before this one, and we put a leaf spring kit that raised the car up a few inches. This Jeep is a rough ride, feels like the axles are welded straight to the frame. We have new 33" tires on it, drop the tire pressure down from 45psi down to 20psi, and it made a good improvement. I just don't know if this is normal for Jeeps or am I just too spoiled with modern cars and their suspension?

Yes it's normal. Yes you are spoiled by modern cars.

JK slightly better with coil springs that eliminate a lot of the problems of leaf springs which should have gone out of style with the covered wagon.

Leaf's are easy to lift but they are beyond ridiculous with respect to internal friction and their effect on ride harshness, evil hadling traits, etc. 33" tires aren't helping you a bit.

Do not run them at 20 psi at highway speeds.

[ClayPerrine]

I have a 2 wheel drive MJ. I used to drive it 80 mph on the freeway, but after experiencing "Death Wobble" at speed, I stay in the right lane and never exceed 60-65 mph. Leading arm suspension should have gone away n the 1920s, but it was built on this truck in 1988.

For those of you who reading this, Death Wobble is a notorious front end issue with Jeeps, and other straight axle vehicles. The front end gets worn, then one front wheel hits a bump, and the front end starts to shake. The axle keeps trying to tow out the front wheels, oscillating back and forth between the two wheels. It feels like the whole truck is coming apart, and it will tear up the front suspension and the wheels.

I broke a few lug studs and ruined two steel wheels the first time it happened. And I have been off track in a 914 at speed, but never felt like I was in the "bunny zone". After "death wobble" in my Jeep, I felt like I had to extract the seat cover from my personal exhaust port.

[timothy_nd28]

Yes, this death wobble is talked about frequently on the Jeep forums and it does scare me. I installed a dual shock steering stabilizer in hopes that this won't happen. I also ordered another leaf spring kit called Old man emu, in hopes to soften this Jeep, hopefully this is the last thing that I'll do on this car.
I was caught off guard with people waving when I took the jeep out on a shake down test. I think another Jeep guy honked at me for now waiving. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Root_Werks]

We have two Jeep's. Pretty much always have at least a Jeep and old Bug.

[Superhawk996]

Yes, this death wobble is talked about frequently on the Jeep forums and it does scare me. I installed a dual shock steering stabilizer in hopes that this won't happen.

Death Wobble is a Wranger "feature" . (IMG:style_emoticons/default/lol-2.gif) It let's you know that something in the front end has worn out and that it needs the root cause to be identified and fixed. Not unique to Wranglers. Really any vehicle with a live front axle is going to be prone to it.

Had it on my JK at 60,000 miles. Worn lower ball joints. Annoying. For sure. Scary, yup for plenty of people. But not aptly named. If there were real deaths occuring you can be assured the various class action lawsuits would have paid out big time but yet they have not. Likewise, all vehicles with solid front axles would be banned which also won't happen.

Lifting your vehicle increases the liklihood of it occuring. Big tires increase the liklihood. Typical lift kits don't compensate for the reduced front axle caster that comes about due to the lift. The higher you lift, the less caster you will have unless you're using adjustable linkages, and proper length driveshafts. It's actually a pretty complex phenomena.

Steering stabilizer won't really prevent it. It is an uncontrolled ressonance and you can't possibly put enough steering damper on it to control a resonance. As a down side, the steering dampers mask some of the earliest signs of it which then means the offending components continue to wear until things get really bad. Eventually the forces involved will overwhelm the steering damper and now you have wobble even worse than you would have had you fixed it early!

If anyone out there is getting this on your Wranglers. Get it fixed properly. Deal with it before it gets worse over time which it will as whatever worn component continues to wear.

[TargaToy]

Some of the lift kits have adjustable leading/trailing arms with jam nuts. Make sure the nuts stay tight or there’s yet another place for slop to take place and induce the wobble.

This doesn’t apply to the OP because he has leaf springs, of course.