Will this ever end ?

Hi all

Just to vent a little. Yesterday I went to my dad's home to get the jeep. We have been working something like 15 hours last week to make new bumpers. I'm a little short on $$ these time, and I have just enough to fix the muffler, and to buy a towstrap for some trail ride with the local club.

First thing I know, the front driver side break makes some new grinding sounds !! The disk is not warped, but seems like some rivets grinded in the surface. What I will do I guess for now is to buy el-cheapo pads to finish the season, and next winter find myself two disks.

But what's next ? I know that a jeep is a never-ending project (especially a 30 year old one), I do like the fixing time (I learn a lot), but I would also like to run the thing without problem for some time...

So all bets are accepted, What on Bob's jeep will break next ??

(Already done, gas tank, carb, gas filter, frame repair, battery cables. soon to be done, muffler, front brake)


Thanks for listening

Bob in Sherbrooke, province of Québec

 

At least you realize it will NEVER be done. I've replaced EVERYTHING in my Jeep, it still breaks. I just had a 2 year old wheel cylinder start leaking At least the rebuild kits were less than $4

 

Yep trust me even if you don't move the Jeep stuff will break. Just a fact of life.

 

No it will never end. I took my Jeep down to Newport RI with my girl this weekend. My radiator hoses are shakey at best so I had replacements with me, my tools, and even a gallon of water. Drive all the way down (70 mi) without incident, ran superb in fact. Go to a Tiki bar for lunch go to drop the leftovers off in the Jeep. I look underneath, about 2 qts of oil had leaked out in 1 hour! And it is leaking from where the oild pan skid plate meets the bottom of the pan! Didn't bring a welder with me I couldn't fix that. Just filled her up and drove home as quick as possible. Luckily the leak was less severe while driving, still nerve racking though. BTW anyone want to sell me a new oil pan?

Again IT NEVER ENDS!

 

Yeah, this is why people buy new cars. If we could fix up the old ones well enough so that they were as reliable as new...

And of course, even new cars can have failures.

 

Yep, it will never end. Give it a little while and you will start trying more and more obstacles when you are trail riding. Next thing you know you need a little more hp for some of them. Then, you start breaking axles every time you go out so you decide to go to chromoly. Then there is the lockouts that you blow out every time. When you get tired of all of that you decide to go with a 60 front and 14 bolt rear. With that your tires are not big enough so you need 44" swampers. That causes you to break driveshafts and you decide you need lower gears and more lift or some cutting on the body to clear the tires.


And it doesn't stop there.

 

I will offer these words of encouragement: I did eventually get to a point where my repairs kept up with the mechanical failures such that I did not suffer too many inconvenient problems. There will always be something wrong (or about to go wrong) but once you get to know your Jeep, it does get easier.

 

My grandpa's 1983 truck- two years ago replaced the fuel pump. That and spark plugs over the years, everything else is original. My '99 Jeep, $17K new, which was daily driver/ first vehicle I ever tinkered with (ie, learning curve) , beat to heck on rocks... never let me down. I finally bought a $50K, reliable daily driver, vehicle in 2003 that lasted a whole year before deciding it wouldn't start. "Nothing wrong with it"- it just had to "rest" for a few hours- reset itself. So NEW cars aren't that reliable, either.

 

Just Empty Every PocketR)
Nobody ever said this would be economical transportation,but it sure is fun!

 

There ya go Bob,

Now, don't you feel better about having that Jeep?

 

Thanks all

Just Enough Essential Parts (jeep) is a good one also. I know it cost money, but I guess that I have to be imaginative. Speaking of it, I just remember that my dad have a Dodge 600 muffler probably lying around in a shed on is lot. I'll try to find out if it is still there, and I'll put this on the jeep.

For the breaks, I'll buy only the pads (31$) for now, and I'll change the discs next year.

Muffler question : Apart from the hole sizes, is there other things to know when I want to fit a muffler ? Are these things designed to fit engine, or can I fit anything there ?

As I said, I probably have the old Dodge muffler available, and don't worry for me as to make it physically fit there, you'd be surprise what can wire do.


Thanks all

Bob in Sherbrooke, Province of Québec

 

Yeah, if the holes match and there's room, go ahead. Street mufflers are mostly generic - the muffler shops will carry only a few universal types, and cut and bend the pipes to fit.

Bob, re your disks, have you measured them? In the past the disks could be turned. Not as common today AFAIK, since modern pads are harder and the disks wear about as much as the pads.

 

I have the typical 1 1/8 thick (I think) discs. They are severely grooved, but maybe I'll have them turned a little bit, so there is more flat spot for the pads.

One of my cousins had a trick for turning discs. He put his truck on stands, removed all wheells, and started the truck, and he engaged the transmission. Them he took a hand-held grinder and worked on the spinning discs, making them as true as he could. it was fun until he catch the brake hose, but this is another story...


Good idea, thanks


Bob in Sherbrooke

 

Old Jeeps, Old houses and Women require a little attention from time to time. Non can tolerate inattention or neglect. Just a fact of life.

 

And you would think that if you buy an expensive vehicle, it would require a little less attention. In that case, since women are more expensive than Jeeps and Houses put together, you would think that they wouldn't require much attention at all. Not the case though.:evil:

 

I require, and am less expensive, than my Jeep. The '99 has more in upgrades than I've ever put into clothes and jewelry. Okay, now I'm a little depressed. I think the '73 is worth more than my closet, now, too- no, wait...I did buy a pair of Lucky Jeans. One more Quadratec order and it'll be worth more than my closet, lol.

 

There are a few exceptions, and most of the exceptions are women who like Jeeps. These rare women have the same addiction as all of us, and once they have it they tend to forget about most everything else.

 

Do it with a die grinder and that is common practice in sports car racing. I have done it myself before, the circular groves it puts in actually help with the pad biteing into the rotor and gives you a little better stopping.

 

New vehicles suck up the $s too. My 97 Z71 with 63K miles with no real offroading puked the xfer case ( $1800 ). Just saw where Buick got the Dauntless name, WWII fighter!!!!!

 

Jeeps are a lot like being married to some women; You have to work on them all week just to "enjoy" them a little on weekends. But on a serious note, once you get to know your Jeep the work becomes easy and even if you break something every now and then they are still a lot cheaper then payments on something that is new. Heck some new vehicles cost more than it would've to buy a house just a few years ago. Also, as your buildup continues your Jeep is increasing in value, rather then making payments on a new vehicle that is depreciating as fast as you are paying for it. Hard to beat those old Jeeps.