Any Knowledgeable CJ Guys Around Raleigh?

orange150

orange150

Well-Known Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2005
Location
Fairfax City, VA
Bought an '82 CJ-8 as a weekend daily driver, and having never owned one before I would love to talk with some knowledgeable folks that live in the Raleigh area. Some things right off the bat that I am going to address are the steering, and some dash stuff.
The steering I'm going to order all new TRE's and an AGR Super Box 2 and hopefully be done with it.
The dash is a little tricky to me, being new to these. None of the interior lights work, the windshield wipers don't work, and the air controls don't seem to do anything. I'm thinking about ordering all new switches, air control cables, indicators, etc. and just going at it...
I haven't had a lot of time to poke around the dash or anything either, but sitting at my desk at work all I can do is think about it... :)
I also need to line the doors up better, and do a few misc. body stuff; but nothing that is too important right now.

Some pictures... because everyone loves pictures
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I also want some skinnier wheels and tires if anyone wants to do some horse trading
 
really nice rig! those air vents look aftermarket, system may have been switched out.
 
Nice looking Scrambler!! I've had a few CJs. I'd be glad to help if you need. Check out your air control cable routing. It should go like this with the red lines being the cables:

awww.jeep_cj.com_forums_attachments_f7_3356d1277493636_heater_vent_controls_heatercontrolsonbox.jpg
 
Yea the A/C is either aftermarket, or "dealer installed" but it's missing the pump, condenser, and the accumulator.

I'm more interested in getting all my air controls, wiper controls, and lights working right now. The A/C will have to wait!
 
For the steering, I found that an aftermarket crossbrace that links the body of the steering box to the passenger side frame rail tightened everything up tremendously. I had to take it off for some reason, maybe ps box replacement, took a test drive without the brace and was surprised how loose it was. Put the brace back on, it was better.
I also have a big daddy's steering box bracket. Instead of scrounging for junkyard brackets when I swapped from manual to power steering, I figured the beefy bracket upgrade was a no brainier. I'm not sure if the ps brackets are susceptible to tearing, but I had ripped my manual steering box off wheeling URE once before.

As far as dash lights, if you figure something out post it up! Seems like I rewired mine yearly, just to pass inspection...never could get them right. I did get the hvac controls right, but it's a CJ, they don't really matter.

And nice scrambler btw
 
RenegadeT said:
I did get the hvac controls right, but it's a CJ, they don't really matter.
Click to expand...

Well you say that, but like I said, this is my daily on the weekends (have a company vehicle for mon-fri). So rain, sleet, or snow I have to drive this around. I'd like my heat and A/C to work properly...

adman02 said:
What's wrong with the steering? Death wobble?
Click to expand...

It is very very light, no feeling at all in the steering wheel, and won't return to center. It is power steering.
 
return to center usually has more to do with your caster angle than your steering setup. go take it to a big tire shop that does free alignment checks and see what the printout says.
 
Don't jump the gun on an AGR steering box. there's much more to steering than just the box. Not to mention AGR is a bit of overkill in my opinion on a Daily Driver. There's plenty of reman boxes out there for far cheaper. The one everyone seems to look for is the Saginaw steering box with a 76 cast into the side. Said to be beefier internals, but I've never opened them up to compare.

Change your TRE, put a steering box brace on like Tony talked about. Check your alignment and get it fixed. the Ujoint in the steering shaft is often a worn out part that will leave you with play, as well as the Rag joint or Bell coupler at the end of the steering shaft that bolts to the Steering box. You'll have one or the other. Check for play or worn out parts. do all that before replacing your steering box. those are wear and tear items that should be checked, serviced, replaced more often than a steering box. If all that checks out good, then look to the steering box.

Looks like you are spring under. Does it look like the Spring perches have been cut off and rewelded on? How's your pinion angle? if that's bee rotated for any reason, and your knuckles haven't been rotated. (not often done on a mild build) then this could throw your caster off and account for your steering wheel not returning to center. that's the way my Commando is and it's annoying.
 
CJs are spring under front the factory. As mentioned before, the caster is what helps give the steering the return to center feel. You should take a look at the shackle length, make sure it is very close to stock. I tried a 1" longer shackle thinking 1" should be close enough. I was wrong, it was scary as all get out, wouldn't return to center and darted left/right randomly. I got some stock,length shackles from 4wdHardware and it all felt good again.
I should have mentioned that in my previous post. I did a lot to get my steering dialed in right, shackle length and the box brace were the biggest improvements. I looked at the agr box, but decided stock napa replacement was good enough, I didn't even go with the j20 or whatever upgrades you find on the net. Also have the HD steering box bracket, the cast shackle hangers, borgenson steering shaft. Replaced tre's, draglink,ball joints, etc, and steering column lower bearing.
I was kind of joking about the hvac, but I can under stand trying to get it all good. Even when I got mine all hooked up right, I found the Amc system just sucked. Now mine is a 1977, they changed it all soon after that, maybe even 78 and up. The heat would blast my right foot, but if I want anything else to be warm, I better bundle up. And the best defroster was an shower squeegee from bedbathbeyond with occasional rainx treatments
 
Alright, I've bought all new TREs and power steering hoses, and a few other odds and ends things. I'll pick up a steering box brace asap. One of the biggest reasons I was going with the AGR is because it is cheaper than a stock box (on Quardratec anyway).
 
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