New Jeep in the mix

Hi all,

A buddy of mine just aquired a '71 CJ5 with the dauntless. Very cool Jeep. The motor runs strong and smooth. The saginaw conversion has already been done. Everything looks good to take it to Tellico. BUT as always there area a couple of questions...

1. The steering is tight and responds well, but a little too well. We don't know where the box came from, but it is too quick. It works great at low speeds, but is terrifying at highway speed. It is a 4bolt saginaw box. Beyond that I don't know how to ID it. What's a good candidate to take its place? A variable ratio would be great, otherwise I'll probably go with a late 70's/80's CJ box.

2. Somewhere along the way the parking brake was removed. There's nothing inside, and there's no drum on the transfer case. Did they come with the transfer mounted brake in '71? We'll probably swap in 11" brakes which would provide access for parking brakes in the rear drums, but I'm curious about the original setup.

3. Speaking of 11" brakes, does anybody have a good source for these? The $25 dana 30's on ebay seem to have dried up as soon as I needed another one.

THanks,

Jon

 

1) The box could be from a Firebird, Camaro, or some similar "Performance" type car. They typically have a quicker ratio. I have one from an '81 Firebird Turbo in my CJ-5 and really like it, but can be twitchy on the road, especially if you're not used to it. My wife won't drive it! One from a later CJ or full size Wagoneer/Cherokee/Pickup works great.

2) '71 with 18 transfer case had the park brake on the transfer case. Could be someone swapped it out with one from a Wagon or Pickup, or simply removed it.

3) R&P sells them reconditioned ready to go with new drums, hardware, shoes, wheel cylinders, etc. 503-557-8911. If you can find the backing plates and some of the little hardware the rest can be purchased from your FLAPS.

Nickmil.