First Jeep-first post, advice and help please

Good looking Jeep! Looks like the "Avocado Mist" metallic paint - a distinctively Jeep color.

I would replace that small steering wheel with the original bus wheel - unless your gut will get in the way.

The overdrive will let you go 55-60ish on the highway, as long as you don't encounter any hills. With the F134 and the poor aerodynamics of the CJ-5, you'll either be RPM limited or power limited in that speed range.

 

I've only had my CJ5 a short time but my wife and I are really excited about making a few things right on it. Thanks for all your help and replies to my new guy questions. I'll be looking into a FSM so I can ask and name parts correctly instead of looks like, sorta is, might be a thing-a-bob. But I have another question, from the front of the grill there is a air scoop and I'm missing the vent flex pipe to the box mounted on the firewall. Is a there a diy or a site that you can suggest?
Thanks again.
Jake

 

Nice Jeep and welcome from Ward, Arkansas.

 

Regarding the overdrive, I presume you've looked under the Jeep and seen it. It's a 2-speed planetary transmission that replaces the output gear on your transmission, going into the transfer case. It has two gears, 1:1 (direct drive) and 0.75:1 (overdrive). Thus when you shift from direct to OD, your RPM will drop by 25%.

I've never owned a Jeep with one of these ODs, but I have some experience with them. You could split all the gears with the OD if you want, but I think the better strategy is to drive around town in direct, and then shift to OD on the highway - this has a couple of advantages, as I see it. First, being in direct around town will give the Jeep more scoot than in OD, and make maneuvering and keeping up with traffic a little easier. Additionally, this Jeep does not have a synchromesh 1st gear. So you want to be able to easily use 2nd from any forward speed other than a full stop. Staying in direct routinely will help with this.

But try out some different strategies and see which works for you. The OD is plenty durable, and shifting it as much as you want won't hurt it.

 

The top of the forum has a sticky thread that lists and discusses parts sources for these vehicles. I recall that JC Whitney used to stock a fresh air hose that fit this application ... but I would try one of the specialty suppliers first, ie Walck's.

 

Great looking cj.

After you change the oil I highly recomend you look at the most important part of any vehicle. The breaks. A trip down to your local break shop for a free estimate will save you a lot of guess work in the condition of the breaks.
The breaks on these are sub par at best compared to those around you on the highway. At highway speeds (70mph downhill) it is recommended you drive it as if you were pulling a trailer leaving at least (minimum) 200 feet in front of you.

As a daily driver it is also highly recommended you install some side bars (nerf bars) that mount to the frame for some side impact protection as well as protecting the rockers off road. It will add a bit of weight but could very well save your life with the way people drive these days.

 

Welcome from Va. Nice looking Jeep you got there.

 

Love the ash tray. Dunno why. That is the second one I have seen. Your jeep looks great.

 

Very nice looking '5 you've got there.

 

Thanks for the id on the paint Tim. I'm 6'4" 245 so it's s snug fit. That bigger wheel does look better.

 

Thanks for the link that helps out.

 

Thanks for the heads up on having the brakes checked out thats a good iidea. A long time ago I used to ride and semi restore British motorcycles. Before you make m' go fast make m' go stop. I'm only using our Jeep to get BLM land which is less than two miles away....carefully.

 

Thanks for the link on the manual!