Don't even think country song, you can't there are no tail lights, yet. Dad was down in Tuscon so he stopped by Willys Works and picked up some parts for his 55 cj5 and our Jeep (Thanks Dad). Among the parts for our Jeep were Factory Tail lamps. They will be mounted in the Factory position (in order to be different on this build I find my self resorting to factory specs). Can you see the Hole in the sheet metal on the left? That is the original spot for a tail lamp.
This will need some attention. Thanks Pyeatt Draw for showing me all the flaws of our Jeep.
This is where the battery used to bounce around.
I have the frame all cleaned up ready to align the crack, v-grove where I plan on welding, weld it up and grind it flat, then fish-plate it. But first I need to get some Superduty front shock mounts. The mounts might need to be taken into consideration when fish plating.
Look close, I will be fish plating this soon.
Typical early cj. cracks at the spring mount.
Since the fender is off we are going to be installing some taller shock mounts, hopefully ones off a superduty. Also on the agenda are tube fenders. The original fenders will be donated to the "Uncle Kelly restoration" which needs fenders after I cut them into flat fenders in high school.
Maybe its the taller tires on our jeep but on the goose neck trailer RTI ramp both jeeps scored the same. Our jeep has the 2.5 rancho lift and Dads has the 13 pack thin worn out sagging on one side factory springs. It could be the shocks and ditching the taller bump stops would help too but then my tires would rub worse. Its time to start from the begining, remove the shocks remove some leaves take some measurments and think it through. Black diamond offers a nice set but have not heard any comparisons. Steering first though, lift wont affect that im not lifting to the moon. I'm thinking Volvo portal Axles and stock thirteen packs in a perfect world.
Our cj5 did pretty good given its "fuel sipper" gutless 4 cylinder engine. I'm not complaining it has plenty of power for my needs infact it idled up most obstacles thanks to the low gearing. They could be lower, I feel the gear ratio range is to close.
These old jeeps have the worst steering, not joking. I'm not talking about how hard it is to turn the wheel but in tight spot you turn the wheel and it feels like the steering system is made of rubber bands all wound together, and watch out for the recoil. We arrived home Sunday mid day and one of the first things I did was look up steering conversion. I knew a Saginaw conversion would not work because of the winch. I ended up finding conversion that even requires no cutting or welding (not that that's a problem). The kit is sold by Herm the overdrive guy and uses a steering box from a ford ranger pickup. So when I get some moneys together you will see pics of the install.
I also decided that I'm going to steal the spool from Uncle kellys jeep and put it in the rear end of my jeep. The only thing that might not work are the axle shafts, I dont know if the spline count is the same. The shafts from uncle kellys might work or I could swap out the whole rear end but then I would have to swap the 11" brakes over too. I figure I could try it out for a while.
Check out that articulation. Rancho springs suck. I blame all my problems on them. No not really, I'm not impressed though, Rancho designed these springs for people who wanted hieght and had no idea what performance meant. You can't just bend springs and throw them under a vehicle they need to be designed for that specific vehicle and the vehicles purpose, profound eh.
This trail is a great trail and was exactly what I needed to test my skills and to find room for improvment in our jeep. I had been wanting to change a few things so now I have the reasoning and a few more ideas.
