1975 Brutally Simple Daily Driver

[FinoCJ]

Unfortunately, my potential trailer spot isn’t going to work out either. I reserved a U Haul going there and the return trip, but now I’m about 60% leaning towards keeping the return reservation as a plan c… d?… and just driving it out there.

Its totally up to you what you know/feel comfortable with in terms of towing with your truck....Maybe my later Tacoma was bit bigger, especially in terms of the brakes. Looking at your pic above, and this one it does seem the newer generation tacos are probably a bit bigger:

In addition to flat towing the CJ a lot, I also brought home the 58 with it, but I put it on a uhaul tow dolly. The tow dolly has a surge brake that makes towing easy....towing the 58 home a few hours on the interstate was way easier on the dolly than flat towing the CJ.
this was behind my tacoma shown above:

 

[neohic]

Its totally up to you what you know/feel comfortable with in terms of towing with your truck....Maybe my later Tacoma was bit bigger, especially in terms of the brakes. In addition to flat towing the CJ a lot, I also brought home the 58 with it, but I put it on a uhaul tow dolly. The tow dolly has a surge brake that makes towing easy....
this was behind my tacoma:

I thought about a dolly with brakes but it came down to my truck just now being truck enough. Brakes aside, the power was adequate for pulling the CJ, but I think it’s at the top of what of what it can (mostly) handle. There’s zero regret with making the tow bar. It'll make for a good plan b at a moments notice in the future.

 

[colojeepguy]

I keep debating if I should go this route in the CJ with low backs (shoulder point would go into the body mounted roll bar like yours). I believe Doug has the same set-up - sure other do as well. I put 3pt in the 58, but I have aftermarket high backs in that. Guess I am not sure what to think about shoulder belt and low backs....hopefully this doesn't derail your thread....if it does, I can break it into its own thread.

Yep, these are what I use.

https://www.julianos.com/Chrome-Lift-Latch-Retractable-Shoulder-Belt-p/jull3pt.htm

I share your concern about low back seats & shoulder belts, but I put them in to appease my ex wife who was concerned about safety in the CJ.
It is nice knowing I won't get a face full of steering wheel in the event of a front collision, but whiplash with the stock seats is a big concern.

 

[Militarymetal]

I keep debating if I should go this route in the CJ with low backs (shoulder point would go into the body mounted roll bar like yours). I believe Doug has the same set-up - sure other do as well. I put 3pt in the 58, but I have aftermarket high backs in that. Guess I am not sure what to think about shoulder belt and low backs....hopefully this doesn't derail your thread....if it does, I can break it into its own thread.

I put 3 points on both of my jeeps. The 67 has low back seats. I bought a threaded bung and welded that in just above shoulder height for the seat belt. They work quite well.

 

[Militarymetal]

Yep, these are what I use.

https://www.julianos.com/Chrome-Lift-Latch-Retractable-Shoulder-Belt-p/jull3pt.htm

I share your concern about low back seats & shoulder belts, but I put them in to appease my ex wife who was concerned about safety in the CJ.
It is nice knowing I won't get a face full of steering wheel in the event of a front collision, but whiplash with the stock seats is a big concern.

The CJs from the 80s had low seat backs with shoulder belts.

 

[neohic]

I went for a little drive today.

70 miles or so around hills and inclines and plenty of curves. Now I’m wondering what a sway bar would do for on road driving. Might be worth trying?

Anyhow… this morning I spent some time in the shop doing little things to get ready for EJS. I know that my license plates were low hanging fruit so I made some temporary mounts to get them up and out of harms way.

This was all very much scraps I had around the shop. Kind of a “not even measure anything” type project. Couldn’t even bring myself to throw some any paint on the rear mount. It’s crooked too… doesn’t matter.

I also have a functioning parking brake!

Also another junk around the shop type project. The adjuster was bottomed out so I added some spacers (lug nuts) to make up some additional adjustability. After that I noticed the new auxiliary tank looked a little puffed up just sitting in the sun. There’s no fuel in it yet, but it definitely needed to breathe. Some spare hose later and I’ve got a vent that comes out of the rollover valve.

Since I’m trying to talk myself into just driving to Moab, I passed the end cap at the parts store that has all the phone junk on it. I didn’t like any of the phone mounts so I just got the cheapest one to modify.

A p-clamp and a bolt later and we’re good to go. Then came the drive. It was mostly awesome!… but the temp gauge had me nervous after I turned around for home.

This was after a long(ish) grade but it stayed up when the road leveled out. I pulled over to let the city breathe for a minute and it went back down. For reference, the sensor is right on the side of the block and the gauge usually reads here…

… but an inferred temperature gun tells me that it runs right around 210 like a normal 4.0. I don’t think the gauge is right on the money. Thinking about finding a different spot for the sensor? Most 4.0s read from either the thermostat housing or the back of the cylinder head.

Also, that fancy new fuel tank caught the sun the whole way on the return leg.

Felt like a laser beam at the back of my head. Otherwise, I’d say the practice run went pretty well. I haven’t really driven the Jeep that far in a very long time. On the way back into town I picked up a new radiator cap. Maybe the current cap has a bad seal?… stay tuned. I’m considering drilling/tapping the thermostat housing for a second gauge.

 

[Militarymetal]

I went for a little drive today.

70 miles or so around hills and inclines and plenty of curves. Now I’m wondering what a sway bar would do for on road driving. Might be worth trying?

Anyhow… this morning I spent some time in the shop doing little things to get ready for EJS. I know that my license plates were low hanging fruit so I made some temporary mounts to get them up and out of harms way.

This was all very much scraps I had around the shop. Kind of a “not even measure anything” type project. Couldn’t even bring myself to throw some any paint on the rear mount. It’s crooked too… doesn’t matter.

I also have a functioning parking brake!

Also another junk around the shop type project. The adjuster was bottomed out so I added some spacers (lug nuts) to make up some additional adjustability. After that I noticed the new auxiliary tank looked a little puffed up just sitting in the sun. There’s no fuel in it yet, but it definitely needed to breathe. Some spare hose later and I’ve got a vent that comes out of the rollover valve.

Since I’m trying to talk myself into just driving to Moab, I passed the end cap at the parts store that has all the phone junk on it. I didn’t like any of the phone mounts so I just got the cheapest one to modify.

A p-clamp and a bolt later and we’re good to go. Then came the drive. It was mostly awesome!… but the temp gauge had me nervous after I turned around for home.

This was after a long(ish) grade but it stayed up when the road leveled out. I pulled over to let the city breathe for a minute and it went back down. For reference, the sensor is right on the side of the block and the gauge usually reads here…

… but an inferred temperature gun tells me that it runs right around 210 like a normal 4.0. I don’t think the gauge is right on the money. Thinking about finding a different spot for the sensor? Most 4.0s read from either the thermostat housing or the back of the cylinder head.

Also, that fancy new fuel tank caught the sun the whole way on the return leg.

Felt like a laser beam at the back of my head. Otherwise, I’d say the practice run went pretty well. I haven’t really driven the Jeep that far in a very long time. On the way back into town I picked up a new radiator cap. Maybe the current cap has a bad seal?… stay tuned. I’m considering drilling/tapping the thermostat housing for a second gauge.

Good shakeout run. I wish I was going to the Easter Safari. I’m jealous of all you guys getting ready. I hope you all have a blast and are safe.

 

[neohic]

Okay… one week to go before I take off for Moab. Let’s start with getting a different temperature reading.

I lucked out and O’Reilly’s and found the same temperature gauge that was already in the dash. That’s great after running the Jeep around today and comparing both the new and old gauge. The old one is definitely going to get the boot.

There’s a 180° thermostat in there so that’s very comforting to see after a 30 mile drive. I had to do something about the blinding fuel tank also.

Fingers crossed that’ll do something for the better. It was what I had on the shelf that wasn’t black. After a bit more toodling around I stopped at my buddy’s shop to watch them do some Moab prep of their own.

 

[neohic]

Another day closer. I changed the spark plugs today. They would’ve gone in three years ago when the engine got swapped and I just wanted to see how they were doing. Turns out they looked pretty good! Cylinders 1 and 6 did look a little worse than the rest, but that comes with the territory with that long intake manifold. Tire pressure also got set 28# after being at 35# for flat towing. Haven’t driven it yet but I’m hoping to take it out everyday this week so it can gain some trust.

Pics for clicks.

 

[Buildflycrash]

I also have a functioning parking brake!

Nice nut stack.

 

[neohic]

Another day closer to Moab. I’ve got a 16” electric fan that the tracking says I might see it tomorrow. Fingers crossed tight enough to squeak on that one. I took the mechanical fan off along with my fancy fan shroud. If the electric fan comes, great. If it doesn’t, then the mechanical fan will go back on but I’ll skip the fan shroud being it’s over achieving in the cooling department already.

It runs noticeably smoother without the fan hanging off the water pump! The wiring harness for the electric fan got run along with deleting the coolant passage through the intake manifold. I plugged all of the ports but left the front fitting open to vent out the rest of the coolant. I’ll get a somewhat loose fitting vacuum plug also.

There was another fitting in the block that I could use being I still need three spots for temperature readings, and it was a real buggar to get out.

I made a tool being it was smaller than a 3/8” socket extension but bigger than a 1/4”. The block and plug also needed some persuasion with a torch to twist free. After than, the coolant fittings got rearranged, wiring extended, and a heat sock went over the new wire closest to the exhaust exit. The front sensor has tons of room between it and the manifold.

Then all of the lights got checked, gear got loaded, and I even planned ahead for wear my duffel bag will go

Under the driver’s seat, I managed to not even put anything there!… feels wrong to leave open space in a CJ5. In the meantime, the old mechanical fan is waiting on standby, but will also make the trip as a redundancy.

Under the driver’s seat, I managed to not even put anything there!… feels wrong to leave open space in a CJ5. In the meantime, the old mechanical fan is waiting on standby, but will also make the trip as a redundancy.

One more day for packing and planning.

 

[neohic]

Wheels up by 7 tomorrow morning.

My fan showed up!! Everything got installed within an hour so I could take it for a rip. The maiden voyage was to fill up at the gas station. Maybe I should’ve gone for a further drive? Realistically, it is what it is at this point. Probably fine… probably fine.

The fan install went fine but I didn’t consider the overall depth of the fan. It had to get mounted off center to clear the water pump pulley and I’m a little bummed that my fancy fan shroud won’t work anymore. On the plus side, it works awesome. It’s a 16” fan that pulls 3000 cfm (advertised as such, anyhow) however the radiator core is only 15.25” between the caps. To get it to sit flush I had to do some trimming but it doesn’t affect fan movement.

The wiring is very much “don’t get it right, just get it running” that I’d like to revisit in the future. For this trip I wanted everything exposed to I can easily do any potential troubleshooting.

The switch activates the system while the relay obviously powers it. We’ll see how everything goes but the plan is to wire it on a switched ignition source later. Otherwise it’s functional and, more importantly, it works great. The fan comes on at 185° and shuts off at 175°. It cools well enough that the fan actually does cycle on and off. I’m still going to bring the mechanical fan as a backup.

It passed the “hold the Harbor Freight receipt” test while it was running, so I’m calling it good. Adventure starts tomorrow.

 

[givemethewillys]

Nice! Which fan did you get?

 

[neohic]

Nice! Which fan did you get?

https://www.amazon.com/Team-Performance-Radiator-Electric-Assembly/dp/B01MTLGP1Q/ref=mp_s_a_1_1_sspa?crid=3PTAI6K39MJXR&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lZlLlD96-q-mbXfDhP6JIbgvPVWS1h0YThwJNJH16w402W7fbbKyWumRbnJ8EanhpF8fCKz7u516M42bL43qmXq4xwAzgq3U-M7FIuVrrvBtMLUWN4-MFQYOFMM0dZ9jbAqbV8OBYroJp7_N3l9HHkiZ5ol-m30kWZ8a7grW-o9i8huEZyz4u98GRcwSX5l4i5QH7ZKAKn53aqYnrGumfQ.EDaLb4Yimspmi48nFxgQVzQrMoxbLWIbUbFuPxrx8Ww&dib_tag=se&keywords=16+electric+fan+4000+cfm&qid=1774377194&sprefix=16%22+electr%2Caps%2C206&sr=8-1-spons&sp_csd=d2lkZ2V0TmFtZT1zcF9waG9uZV9zZWFyY2hfYXRm&psc=1

 

[neohic]

It was a very long day. Apparently if you want to turn a seven hour drive into twelve, then you need to own a clackity, old Jeep. This morning was bliss. Cold… but bliss. Everything was just as it should be.

My biggest worry was getting over Monarch pass and sure enough it over heated just shy of the summit.

I found a very loose temperature sensor that I’m a bit worried about for how many times I would’ve checked every fastener over the past couple weeks. At the first available stop I picked up another jug of coolant and some teflon tape to readdress things in the morning. Then the air temperature started climbing and the CJ let me down.

… and again…

…and again… and then a total of nine times I was on the side of the road. Something was getting hot. I tried turning my air cleaner towards the cool(er) side of the engine bay…

… still no change. I drifted my way to a parts store and tried swapping the ignition coil, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. At its worst I was stopping as little as a few miles. In the past it has vapor locked and I was hoping to be done with that with deleting the coolant passage in the intake manifold. Then I was still 92 miles from Moab that it finally hit me that I should investigate the fuel pump… and it was hot.

That is my roadside custom heat shield fashioned from my front license plate and zip ties. It worked!… mostly. I was able to click off 40 miles before it started acting up again but that was just in time to stop for gas. The last 50 or so miles got a little stupid that I looked down a few times to find that I was doing over 70. Not smart in an 83” wheelbase rig that wasn’t engineered for anything over 55.

I rolled into Moab right at 6:45.

Plan for the morning is to hit up the dollar store for some turkey baking trays to make a new exhaust heat shield. Not sure what else for trails. Probably taking it easy.

 

[Rozcoking23]

Half the fun is the adventure getting there, hope the rest of your trip goes smooth.

 

[Militarymetal]

It was a very long day. Apparently if you want to turn a seven hour drive into twelve, then you need to own a clackity, old Jeep. This morning was bliss. Cold… but bliss. Everything was just as it should be.

My biggest worry was getting over Monarch pass and sure enough it over heated just shy of the summit.

I found a very loose temperature sensor that I’m a bit worried about for how many times I would’ve checked every fastener over the past couple weeks. At the first available stop I picked up another jug of coolant and some teflon tape to readdress things in the morning. Then the air temperature started climbing and the CJ let me down.

… and again…

…and again… and then a total of nine times I was on the side of the road. Something was getting hot. I tried turning my air cleaner towards the cool(er) side of the engine bay…

… still no change. I drifted my way to a parts store and tried swapping the ignition coil, but I wasn’t getting anywhere. At its worst I was stopping as little as a few miles. In the past it has vapor locked and I was hoping to be done with that with deleting the coolant passage in the intake manifold. Then I was still 92 miles from Moab that it finally hit me that I should investigate the fuel pump… and it was hot.

That is my roadside custom heat shield fashioned from my front license plate and zip ties. It worked!… mostly. I was able to click off 40 miles before it started acting up again but that was just in time to stop for gas. The last 50 or so miles got a little stupid that I looked down a few times to find that I was doing over 70. Not smart in an 83” wheelbase rig that wasn’t engineered for anything over 55.

I rolled into Moab right at 6:45.

Plan for the morning is to hit up the dollar store for some turkey baking trays to make a new exhaust heat shield. Not sure what else for trails. Probably taking it easy.

Good story. Have fun. I’m jealous!

 

[neohic]

After the long… VERY… long day getting there, Monday started with tracking down a couple turkey pans. Originally I had the idea to take two and clam shell around the muffler to contain more heat. The biggest pans they had were big enough so only one was used to shield the fuel pump. The temperature sensor for the gauge got resealed as well.

It did pretty good but the CJ burbled a couple times throughout the day. After running trails all day I added a fresh air in and outlet.

That might be the ticket. I had zero running issues on the trail Tuesday and this poor little CJ definitely got a workout. More on that in a bit.

While roaming around town Monday morning, I had the absolute pleasure of meeting a for-real personal hero by chance.

This is Tim. Tim was 19 when he volunteered to sign up for the Expedción de las Américas in 1978 with Mark Smith. If you’re not familiar, this is an easy topic to rabbit hole down, but the gist is a group of dudes ran their Jeeps from the southern most point of South America all the way up through Alaska. Watch here:

Meeting Tim was awesome and really took the edge off Monday morning after a sketchy drive the day before. He’s an amazing guy filled with stories and he’s not afraid to jump in his CJ7 and just pick a direction and go. Tim easily made this trip worth it and made me proud that I decided to drive it all the way.

Let’s talk about EJS. I was fully expecting the whole town and trails to be a zoo, but it really wasn’t! This is an event that you make as busy as you want it to be. Planned trail rides can be scheduled ahead of time but we just ventured around on our own barely seeing anyone else on the trails. Knowing where the scheduled trail days is important if you want to have a quiet day on the trail. As for being in the downtown area, this seems to be consistently busy. Not overly crowded but busy. I would recommend spending at least one day in town during the week to roam around to sit and just watch the constant show of custom and recognizable rigs going up and down the main drag. Tip of the cap to the local PD for keeping a cap on anyone being an idiot on the road. DO NOT SPEED!… they have zero tolerance for the anything and it makes total sense for the amount of people in the area. If you have any interest in going to EJS, do not be discouraged by anyone who says that it’s too busy or that every trail is overcrowded. Go! Be prepared for a somewhat pricey hotel if you choose to go that route, but definitely go.

Monday: Onion Creek and Kokopelli Loop.

We did great! I met up with an old friend from Minnesota and we ventured out.

Beautiful day. Onion Creek is a scenic trail that is very easy. We didn’t get to the trailhead until late morning due to running around town. The trail winds around the creek and there’s constant crossings. You’re at a daily low elevation for the area but Kokopelli winds up and up and up into the snow. Eventually you make your way back to pavement and back to town.

 

[neohic]

Tuesday: Kane Creek and Fins N Things.

This turned into a hard day at times. Kane Creek is another fairly easy and beautiful trail and also winds around the bottom of a valley with lots of water crossings. Things were moving a lot more than Onion Creek and the water was over a foot deep in spots. Made it fun to go splashing through!

Prior to heading towards Moab, I was talking with the rest of the group and the term “CJ friendly” was brought up multiple times. If you know Kane Creek, then you know about Hamburger Hill. I’d call this CJ friendly but only if you’re confident in your rig, it’s got at least 33s (although I’d recommend at least 35s), and at least one locker. Mine?… I’ve got barely the minimum of the list with my 33s and limited slip rear axle.

There was a group of Suzukis in front of us that let me know that I was in trouble. I was obviously the little guy amongst 35-40” tires and much longer wheelbases. There’s no shame in using your winch either! What’s the use in dragging it around if it doesn’t get used from time to time?! I spent Hamburger Hill on the hook and I’m extremely grateful for my larger trail mates acting as anchor points. The second half of the trail went back to being easy as the remainder of the obstacles were tight for the bigger rigs but easy for my short wheelbase.

 

[neohic]

Fins N Things was just as expected as it always is. I like this trail at the end of the day because the obstacles are as challenging as you want them to be due to the bypasses and there’s multiple exit points if you want to duck out early. We showed up just after the Jeep concept vehicle presentation was getting done so we saw them all leaving the entrance as we went in. Very cool!

By Wednesday my clutch knee was just about shot. It was a drizzly day off and on so I took the opportunity to just wander around town. In the morning, it just about felt like I had the whole town to myself! The afternoon was spent doing some parking lot things getting the CJ in trailer mode. Yup… I chickened out on the return leg back home. This allowed me to go back through Vail pass to the twisty mountain roads and enjoy the scenery without having my foot to the floor the entire time.

The drive home felt like it was done in record time compared to getting there! After dropping off the U-Haul I took a quick damage report.

I honestly don’t remember banging around on the transmission crossmember enough to twist it around as much as I did, but I recall exactly when I could’ve sworn I took out my rear driveshaft. Close call there! There’s a few good scratches on the rock sliders and I couldn’t seen to keep the rear leaf spring shackles off the rocks. I’ve got a list of things needing attention.

Good job, little buddy.