Another Scrambler Purchase/Road Trip - UPDATE- BODY ON FRAME AGAIN

[CHIEFWAHO]

I've ran into the different size shafts, found this in my notes to self.

3/4"
Precision # 28401454
Gates 351320
Edleman 8525

13/16"
Gates 351310
Edleman 7095

 

[spankrjs]

I've ran into the different size shafts, found this in my notes to self.

3/4"
Precision # 28401454
Gates 351320
Edleman 8525

13/16"
Gates 351310
Edleman 7095

I'm thinking this shaft is 13/16 with the corresponding larger OD seal, too. I think the pre 1980 CJ's use the 13/16 shaft so will start there.

 

[spankrjs]

Picked up this seal kit today:



IIRC this is for a 1978 CJ7 which has the larger input shaft. Looks like a match:



Decided to lay in the mud/water/ps fluid mud hole and install the seal.

This seal went in much better:



Seal looks a little crooked in that picture but once I installed the dust shield then screwed the big round disc back into place it went in perfect. I unscrewed the big metal disc to verify

Speaking of dust shields, this box did not have one installed originally, but I installed on this go round. It goes outboard of the seal. Maybe that is why this one started leaking so soon? Wasn't dirty so who knows???



Got it back together, refilled the system with fluid, so far so good. I drove it around 30 minutes tonight, no fluid dripping out the back of the box, so fingers crossed!!! Need to clean all the PS fluid off the rest of the bottom of the Jeep to confirm, but cautiously optimistic! Hope its fixed because I need to use it this weekend to clean up a yard full of tree limbs from the storm today.

That's it for now!!!

 

[spankrjs]

Drove it to work today, parked it over clean concrete for 8 hours, no leaks

Put it to work tonight cleaning up storm debris in the yard, 2 trailers down probably 4 more to go



That's it for now!

 

[spankrjs]

Had a "no starter starting" issue out of the blue yesterday, whiff of smoke from under the dash. Manually jumped the solenoid and it started right up.

Of course, nothing simple like a bad solenoid or just the ignition switch. I replaced the ignition switch to be safe, but this is my problem, and pretty sure it took out the switch:



That blue wire runs straight from the ignition switch through electrical bulkhead connector to the top post on the starter solenoid. No fuse or fusible link between the two components. Wire is still fine, but looks a little iffy at this plug.

What caused this is simple to deduct but I have no idea how it could occur. I have a stock steering column and pedal assembly, ignition switch sits flat to the column like it should:



But, on the other side, where the wire plugs plug in, the lower portion of the brake light switch mounting tab has apparently been making contact. You can see how there is a chamfer/angle cut to this tab to provide clearance in the picture below with the wire plugs not plugged in.



BUT, with the wires plugged in, the plastic plug is jammed tight to the tab. and the tab eventually wore through the plastic, allowing a direct short to ground when I turned the key to "start", energizing this blue wire:



The blue wire and connector were most probably fine, but I pushed the tab out of the plastic and cut it off the blue wire to make sure. I ghetto fabricated it back together for now, and it is working fine, just butch.

I also bent this lower portion of the tab out of the way:



I need to order a new plug assembly and install it, my current set up is working but it is pretty meh. NAPA can get either plug, I just need to figure out which one I need and redo this entire plug end.

Always something, that's it for now

 

[spankrjs]

Washed this one today, been my daily driver for the last few months:



Total miles since the rebuild, time for another oil change soon.

 

[mhinchliffe]

It gets driven that’s for sure!
Everything is looking good Raymond!

 

[spankrjs]

Rained all weekend long so I worked on the Red Scrambler, maintenance/inspection/minor repairs before the National/Sand Blast trips this summer. Kicked the 392 out the garage so I could work inside where it is dry LOL:



Not just summer showers, I would have been swimming out here!!



I'm not having any issues or problems, but I like to periodically take stuff apart to inspect verify condition. All four tires off, time to get to work:



Pulled the front calipers off the pads, spread pads off rotors, removed lock in hubs, both front wheel assemblies look/feel fine. I last did maintenance on all this stuff 20k miles ago, a few minutes inspecting in the garage beats the hell out of a problem out on the road somewhere.

Not many tools needed:



Grease still looks new, no contamination, bearings still snug and rolling freely, brake pads and rotors OK, lock in hubs good to go.



All four front caliper pins had slight corrosion, so I cleaned them up with some emery cloth. The pins had these plastic sleeves between them and the rubber boot thing. Not sure why, but I greased and reinstalled them.



I just greased the front steering linkage two weeks ago when I changed the oil. The drag link knuckle end joint was being a PIA taking grease. So worked on it a bit, good as new.



Not sure why those pictures are blue

 

[spankrjs]

inspected the rear wheel hubs, too. I am running Warn Full Float axles with RCV drive flanges. I did not want to remove the covers because they can be a bitch to get them to stop leaking gear oil. The bearings should be packed in grease, and they were, but the inner seals leak so the wheel bearings are running in gear oil, which is fine.

This is the passenger side that had been leaking. I thought it was leaking again but the brown stuff is excess Aviation sealant that I coated everything with a few months back. No signs of leakage.



Driver side good to go:



I really need to obtain some o-rings with the same ID but a thicker cross section creating a slightly larger OD to better seal these caps. But since I have been driving this one almost everyday I don't feel like disabling it. Next time it is down for major maintenance/repairs I'll pull it back apart.

The rear caliper brackets must be removed to pull the rotors off. When you remove the wheel/lug nuts, the rotors get a little loose. The lug studs do not secure them in place like the front end. I want to check for bearing play/smoothness, so pull calipers, spread pads off rotors, secure rotors to hubs with some washers/lug nuts:



Both rear wheel hubs are good to go. Since these bearings are currently running in gear oil which I just replaced a few months ago, oil condition is fine.

Bent another rear lower shock stud in Hawk Pride a few months back, changed it out. Need to order a few more, out of spares!!!



Cleaned out the last of the Hawk Pride mud, all four u-bolt skid plates were still packed full!!!!



While all four tire/wheels were off also completed the following work:

Greased all suspension zerks
Removed/checked all four shocks
Greased clutch linkage
Checked front and rear axle lube
Checked Dana 300/AX15 oil level
Greased both driveshafts
Checked engine oil/coolant/brake fluid

Siphoned all the PS fluid out, filled with 100% Lucas PS stop leak, PS system no longer making noise.

Wasn't really due for most of this work, but since it was in the garage what the heck. I was also able to snake the grease needle into all three rear CV grease fittings WITHOUT dropping the rear driveshaft, pretty happy about that!!

Back on all four, that completed Saturday's work.

 

[spankrjs]

I have been using OEM Base model seats in this Jeep, which I love. But, they are getting hard to find, and I have been driving this Jeep to work every day, scared I am going to jump in with a screw driver and ruin them. So, installed my Leon Rosser seats I picked up last year at a swap meet.

OEM vs Leon Rosser:





Cool logo:



This was the manufacturer, which I Googled, still in business.



They manufacture seats for buses and commercial/delivery trucks. This would explain why these seats are so heavy duty!! The internal frames and the vinyl are super heavy duty. If you are familiar with how flimsy the OEM seats are, you can see the beef these jewels have!!



I bought a pair of these same seats new when I was in high school for my first/daily driven Jeep CJ7. That Jeep never had a top on it, sun rain high school abuse no problems. When someone stole that Jeep and stripped it, they stole the seats!

Not the best picture, but cleaned up and installed:



These seats are super comfortable. I love OEM seats but these are more comfortable/durable. They are a hair thicker and wider then OEM, but I still have plenty of room between my thighs/belly and non-tilt steering column/wheel. If need be I could remove my aftermarket seat sliders, install an OEM slider on driver seat, and gain an inch, but I have no need. I'm 5'-11", 180 pounds, fit fine and my head is still clear of the Rock Hard in cab roll cage. YMMV. Quick test drive, love these seats!!!

I might contact the manufacturer and see if they could still build a pair of these seats. They are very comfortable and durable, I would buy a new set if available.

 

[spankrjs]

And decided to more properly repair my melted ignition switch plug.



New plug:



How my old plug was wired:



And repaired:



Fingers crossed, but I am thinking this one is about as ready for Hot Springs as it can be. I will be daily driving it the next few weeks so if any issues crop up I should be able to nip them in the bud.

That's it for now

 

[spankrjs]

Spoke to soon!!



Front brakes started sticking/dragging bad Friday morning on the way to work. No smoke but it wouldn't pull 45mph in 5th gear. At lunch it worked fine. On the way home I could feel it dragging some. When I was about a mile from home I couldn't shift out of 3rd gear they were dragging so bad.

Pulled it apart, at first I thought it was only the driver side front. Nope, both fronts. Front calipers are two years old. Had a new pair in garage so I swapped them on, same thing. Pulled both front flex lines off, clean with no internal degradation.

Only a little bit of trash in fluid:



I put it back together, bled the fronts, they worked for a few minutes but the last time I hit the brakes both front calipers were locked up again.

I am assuming something happened to the master cylinder. It pushes fluid down but will not allow it to flow back up. If I blow into one front hard line air blows out the other side, nothing pushing back up to master cylinder.

Will install a new master cylinder tomorrow and report back, that's it for now.

 

[spankrjs]

New master cylinder seems to have fixed the issue of the front brakes sticking. Cleaned the wheels and drove it about 80 miles with no issues and the white wheels are still clean. Much more peppy without front brakes stuck on

I actually drove it to the junkyard to go pull two core calipers to turn in when I buy two rebuilt rear brake calipers. I'm running SSBC rear disc brake conversion which I like, but calipers have been installed on this jeep over 10 years/81k miles. I just want some spares. I pulled the parking brake springs off a car out there 2 years ago before I went to Colorado IIRC. Pulled the calipers off a different car today, they are not the exact ones I am buying but close enough. IIRC I need rear calipers off a 1998 Ford Mustang, or Taurus around that year.

Will be driving it to work everyday this week so it will get a good work out, that's it for now

 

[XadenWing]

Me and the Scrambler made it home safe and sound with no major drama.

On Thursday December 31, I flew from Gulfport MS to Atlanta GA and finally to Cincinnati OH. Toby and his wife picked me up at the airport and brought me to the Scrambler. Toby also gave me a brief tour of his top secret jeep depository. I would have liked to have visited longer but I was trying to get on the road before it got dark and before the roads started freezing. I test drove the Scrambler, it met all my expectations and Toby’s descriptions, so I paid the man and off I went.

Toby had gave me very explicit instructions on a shot cut route back to I65, but I promptly forgot them and proceeded to drive in a big circle for an hour. After driving for about an hour, Jeep started sputtering like it was out of gas, so I stopped at a station to fill it up. Only took 3 gallons, so I knew something was not good. Got back on the road, made it to a town by I65 and found several parts stores. Of course, being New Years Eve, they were all closed, so no fuel filter for me.

Got on I65, heading south to Louisville KY. Made it to Louisville, started sputtering, stopped and got gas, only took a couple of gallons again. By this time, around 8 pm, it is dark, cold, and drizzling. Got on the highway, drove south a couple of miles got off the interstate in Shepherdsville. I stopped there because they had 3 things I needed: (1) a place to eat (2) a place to sleep (3) a parts store that would be open the next morning. So, I spent New Years Eve sleeping at a Motel 6 after eating dinner at a Waffle House. But, I was pretty tired because I had been up since 5 am, so it was one of the best meals/showers/sleeps I had had in a long while.

I got up at 6am the next day. It was still dark outside and the temp was around 17 degrees. I went back to bed. I headed to the parts store at around 8am. I changed the fuel filter in the parking lot of the store. I also bought a few spares I thought I might possibly need (stuff that I have had break before on long trips in Jeep CJ’s – u-joints and an ignition module). I also bought a 2 gallon gas can (in case I ran out of gas – it’s a Jeep CJ, of course the gas gauge doesn’t work). I also bought all the fuel filters that store had for the Jeep, which turned out to be only 2.

Hit the road at 9am and made it all the way to Nashville, TN before it started sputtering again. Got fuel and changed the fuel filter. Got back on the road and it was running fine again. My next stop was in North Alabama, right after crossing the state line. Jeep started sputtering, so it was another gas and fuel filter stop. I also had to buy some more fuel filters because I had no more spares, I also ate lunch here. Got back on the road and made it through Birmingham. I decided to do a preemptive fuel filter/fuel stop. I left the gas station to find a parts store (to buy more fuel filters) and that is when my only problem struck. I hit the brakes to stop at a light and the petal felt soft. I thought that maybe I had accidentally knocked the top loose on the master cylinder while removing my “check the engine oil rag”. No such luck.

I pulled into an Auto Zone to inspect the problem. I found brake fluid leaking from the passenger side rear brake backing plate. By this time it was starting to get dark, and get colder. I bought a new wheel cylinder, but due to the fact that it was getting dark, the parts store was going to close early; I decided not to change the wheel cylinder. I went to a Home Depot in search of a 5/16 cap to put on the brake line. I planned on taking the line loose from the wheel cylinder and capping it. Home Depot didn’t have what I needed. So, in frustration, I pulled the line off, cut the end off, bent it back over itself several times in the hopes it would stop leaking. No luck. Turned out I should have just left it alone. The Scrambler did still stop, just only on front brakes and the petal was spongy.

I don’t necessarily condone my actions, but I have had experience in this area. I decided to keep driving the Jeep. I went into a large empty parking lot and repeatedly slammed the brakes. Each time I did, the Scrambler would stop in a safe distance without any bad pulling or other drama. When I first bought my brown CJ-7 it had only front brakes hooked up and I drove it like that for several months, so I was experienced in the front brake only characteristics (which surprisingly aren’t that bad, except on wet or icy streets). With my new found “faith” in the brakes I pressed on.

I got back on I65 and kept heading south. My next stop was south of Montgomery. Another fuel and filter stop. I kept on trucking south. It was dark, cold, and I was getting tired at this point. My next stop was in Greenville, AL, got fuel and changed the filter for the last time. I was now out of fuel filters and all the parts stores were closed. I could have gone to Wal-Mart and maybe scored a few fuel filters but I didn’t feel like wasting a bunch of time at Wal-Mart so I kept on trucking.

I had to stop 3 more time on the way home. Each time I would simply remove the fuel filter, tap it out the best I could, reinstall it and keep on trucking. The “tap out old fuel filter” trick did cut down my range from 150 miles to 75 miles, but I was close to home so it didn’t bother me.

I made it home (to Biloxi, MS) around 10pm Friday night. Beside the fuel filter issues and the blown wheel cylinder, the Scrambler ran and drove perfect. No bad vibrations, no loose or wandering steering, no weird noises or smells, etc. I only lost ½ quart of oil in roughly 750 miles of driving. I made the trip in 13 hours, which taking into consideration the fuel filter changes and the time I spent wasting trying to “fix” the brakes, was pretty good time. By using mile markers and the stop watch on my phone, I was averaging between 70-73 mph (while driving, average trip time of 57mph) and getting 18mpg. Not bad at all. And, for such a long trip in an old Jeep, to only have lost a wheel cylinder and the fuel filter issues, I am not complaining at all. Fuel filters are easy to change, especially considering any other potential problems.

I would like to thank Toby for selling me this Jeep Scrambler. He is a great person to deal with, and I was glad I got the chance to meet him Hopefully, I will see him again at one of the national scrambler meetings. I know Toby feels terrible about the fuel filter problems I had, but there was really no way of knowing that this problem existed. The funny thing is, after the first few filter changes not that much crap would come out of the filters. I still have some of the filter I changed on the trip, so I might cut one open and see what’s inside them. I never got any rust out of them, so I am really not sure what the issue is. Maybe it was an ignition problem? All I do know is, is that after 2 hours of interstate driving, like clock work, the Jeep will sputter and want to die (like it is starving for fuel or the ignition is cutting out). If you stop, turn it off, let it sit for 2-3 minutes (the amount of time it takes to change a fuel filter) it will fire right back up and run perfectly for 2 hours at interstate speeds. Drives fine around town for 3-4 hours straight with no problems. I will diagnose the problem and let everyone know what I find. Even with the current “cut out after 2 hours driving” issue, I drove the Jeep to Daphne, AL the other day to pick up a used fuel tank for my Brown CJ-7. The scrambler drove perfect, except for one filter change. I am really pleased with this Scrambler. Thanks again Toby, that’s it, for now…….

 

[wm69]

I'll be watching this closely. I need to do new ujoints and bearings in the front end of my green CJ7. Pulled a tractor back to the house the other day (injector pump) and noticed the left front axle making some noise when turning in 4 low out on the farm. Looks like the needles in my ujoint on that axle are about gone. Lots of play in the ujoint.

Lots of pics please (not that you don't always post lots of pics) and thank you!

Well I made it two years! Yesterday took the Jeep out to pull out some telephone poles and some steel I beams with which I intend to build a bridge (property is for sale, current owner said I could have the stuff). Used the 8274 to pick up the ends of the I beams enough to get a floor jack under them. Then propped up the ends with cinder blocks. Now the plan is to back a trailer under the ends of the beams, and winch them up on the trailer, using pipe as rollers.

But back on topic, had to use 4 Low yesterday pulling this stuff around with the Jeep, and man was the front end making some ugly noises. Once I got out of the woods, back in 2wd with the hubs unlocked again (Superwinch), the left front is still making a scrape, scrape, scrape sound going down the road, so looks like I can't put it off anymore.

@spankrjs , came on here to dig up this thread. I very much appreciate you documenting stuff like this when you do it. It should be a big help!

 

[Belizeit]

Dr. of CJ Jeeps with a PHD in Documentation.

 

[spankrjs]

Made it up to Hot Springs last Saturday, wheeled 4 days, no major issues. Front brakes started sticking again whenever I would head into town, worked fine on the way home. I think I might have found the issue, relates to another issue, more on this later. No trail pictures, too busy driving, but I'll post up a few travel pictures.

Loaded up:



Heading north: IIRC HWY 49 to HWY 17 to I55 to HWY 27 to I20:















Crossing the Mississippi River from Vicksburg into Louisiana:

 

[spankrjs]

Heading north in Louisiana, IIRC I20 to HWY 80 to HWY 65:



Always love passing through this town on HWY 65 in Louisiana:



Creepy old Transylvania Elementary School:



Wall art in Lake Providence, LA:



Crossing into Arkansas on HWY65. Basically stayed on HWY65 to Pine Bluff then HWY270 into Hot Springs.





Car wash between these two pictures to clean off all the dead bugs from the night before LOL:

 

[spankrjs]

Finally arrived:



Ready for the trails:



Happy little water melon outside the Sunday morning pancake restaurant in Hot Springs:



No trail pictures, hands busy driving and handling the radio :-(

A few random heading home pictures:







All cleaned up, mostly ready for Sand Blast, more on this in a bit.

 

[Belizeit]

Spent a few hours today myself washing and getting all that 4 days trail dust off.