Actually, I guess what I should be asking, since its the weekend and I bought the Jeep this past week, is what maintenance should I perform? The guy said he does oil changes and such, but what else should I be weary of? What should I change / take a look at no matter what?

 

Change all the fluids. Its very easy. Pull diff covers, drain, refill. You can either do your own gasket with RTV or buy a gasket. Tcase is easy, trans is easy. You have unit bearings for wheel hubs on the front, so get the tires off the ground and see if there is side side play with one hand on top of the tire and one on the bottom for that movement, if so replace the unit bearings. . If so the assembly is about $100 and another easy job.

Place hands on front of tire and back of tire and see if there is any side to side movement, if so new joints are needed in your steering. Check all your steering for any play. Inspect all ujoints (axle shafts and driveshafts). Ujoints are a pain to replace but once you do one they are easy after that. Check your toe. Toe is really the only thing you can change on the front of a Jeep. Pull a tape measure, measure center of tire on front an back. They should be dead on and you can have a 1/8in toe in that is acceptable. Adjust toe by turning the drag link.

Ummmm what else, of course check brakes and crap like that. Thats about it. Jeep TJ's are one of the easiest to work on and there is SO MUCH info out there, you can do literally all work to a Jeep with the right tools and a how to guide.

 

I can do the work to any vehicle with the right tools and a how to guide. Haha.

That's a great start, thank you.

Also, the brakes seem a bit, ummm, "squishy?" Like there is an air bubble in there or the master cylinder is going out. But once I get past that point of "squishy" it brakes like normal. Common?

 

Jeep brakes are mediocre at best. They are a one piston sealed design. I've had two lock up on me (not at the same time). They get mud and gunk in them and after awhile don't want to work. All you can do is replace them. Def. make sure no air in the lines and the bigger the tire the more stopping distance to give yourself. You can upgrade pads and rotors but it only helps for so long. A lot of guys that keep the stock axle in front switch over to the Grand Cherokee knuckles and brakes because of the bigger brakes and the steering setup.

Also you can add a 98-99 Dodge Durango Steering box from the V8 in place of your stock box for tighter steering ratio. I had this on mine before it started leaking (I have to get it fixed but I noticed a difference in steering on the trails)

I remember you were in school for mechanics, so yea Jeep are REAL easy to work on. I believe the axle nut is a 36mm or 32mm. If you ever pull unit bearings you need to remove the nut and axle shaft.

 

JB, isn't the power steering box the one from the Durango with the hydraulics for a snow plow if I'm not mistaken? I've read a lot about that but it's been a while. I need to replace mine instead of adding fluid once a week, but I've been lazy and have other things to spend money on.

 

There are two options. The one box for the snow edition Durango has a better steering ratio then their regular Durango box. I had the regular V8 box I got from a yard and I could tell a difference from factory. Ideally you would want the snow edition but you can't find them in a yard, you would have to buy one new.....unless you were lucky to find one.

They are both direct bolt ons.

 

I've been meaning to check the Pick-N-Save in Rustburg. That might give me a reason to head back up there tomorrow. I remember seeing several Durango's. I wish the few Wrangler's they had up there hadn't been so picked over so quickly! Now they say they can't get any more of them because they don't make any money off of them.

 

Now this will work on the 97-02 TJ's. 03 -06 that put that gay steering box on and well it's a pain in the ass

 

Congrats on the jeep chris. Let me know if you have questions about lifts / tire combos.


I've owned a few

 

'a few' is something you can count on your hands. you dont have enough fingers for that