'71 and '72 CJ5 differences?

I bought a 71 CJ5 that needs a little work, nothing huge but general "replace this" and "add that" kind of work. I've noticed that it is difficult to find parts that cover 71 CJ5's (or maybe I'm not looking in the right places) but pretty easy to find parts that cover 72. Now I understand that there were some changes but the part I'm looking at specifically are 1. Stearing Box, and 2. General Bolt-Ons (bumper, etc). I guess what I'm asking is if there is a difference in the actual parts when it comes to this kind of thing? From the pic's I've seen the 72 box I need looks like what I have on my Jeep but I wanted to ask to be sure. My Jeep is a '71 CJ5 with the Dauntless V6, original everything... Thanks!

 

1. totally different.
2. mostly the same.

'72 was the first year of a complete redesign by AMC. AMC bought Jeep in roughly 1970, and started to make changes in the line then. A '71 is basically the same Jeep that Kaiser sold, while a '72 was significantly changed: new longer frame, new longer front fenders and hood, new grille, new AMC engines, new transfer case, new transmissions, new axles, new brakes, new steering. Those are just the major changes.

The next big change was in 1976, when almost everything changes except for the appearance.

 

there are so many differences it is an entirely different beast, I have a 70 and will tell you that, yes sometimes parts can be hard to find, but that it is worth the looking. You see before 72, few changes happened and between 72 and 75 lot did untill 76. We kind of consider the periods early, intermediate, and late because of the different personality each have.

 

I have a 70 and have found that most items are the same as rigs from the 60's. I think that part of the problem is that not all CJ's built in 70 are the same, so the people selling the parts don't want to say that a certain part will fit a 70 because it may or may not.

An example might be the gas tank. Mine is under the drivers seat like on a 69 but I have heard that some 70's have the gas tank under the rear between the frame rails like on a 71 or 72.

 

Thanks for all the help guys. I'm currently moving to a new duty station and hopefully soon I'll be able to get some pics out. Once I'm established I'll be able to crawl through the Jeep and start trying to figure it out... Thanks again...