Hello from Tennessee, CJ5 project

[Harley Jim]

I cut off the rest of the old welded bumper and a filler plate that was fully welded from the bumper to the crossmember. Cleaned up all the welds and inspected for cracks. Thought that may have been why the plate had been put there. All good no cra

 

[Hickey]

I'm glad you cut that bumper off. It was... Wrong. You can adjust the steering box engagement, but if you get it too tight it will have no return to center effect and may even bind up.

 

[Harley Jim]

I'm going to try a small adjustment on it tomorrow just to see if it tightens any. I don't want to do too much until I get the axle back in it and can drive it. The box is a new rebuilt with no miles on it. The adjustment screw on the old box was halfway through the locknut it didnt look to safe to me.

 

[Harley Jim]

Should I move this to another place other than the welcome page?
If so where should I post it

 

[Greg]

If you want it moved, I can move the thread... General Discussion would be a good fit for it.

 

[Harley Jim]

If you want it moved, I can move the thread... General Discussion would be a good fit for it.

Yes thank you.

 

[Jinx]

Welcome and I second what has been mentioned.

I love the old CJ5s, heck anything in CJ land is a good place to be.

Keep posting up and we will help where we can!

 

[Jinx]

Side note: you mentioned wandering/vibration starting around 45 mph. What size tires and have they been balanced recently? Radials or bias ply?

With the alignment not being the problem, the box looking ok, I am curious if the tires are out of balance and fighting each other?

Lastly, any locker up front? a front locker with the hubs turned in can really be a pain to drive...

 

[Harley Jim]

If you want it moved, I can move the thread... General Discussion would be a good fit for it.

Greg it dose need to move. Can you do that for me. Thank you

 

[Harley Jim]

Greg it dose need to move. Can you do that for me. Thank you

General discussion will be fine

 

[Greg]

Greg it dose need to move. Can you do that for me. Thank you

You got it!

 

[Harley Jim]

Side note: you mentioned wandering/vibration starting around 45 mph. What size tires and have they been balanced recently? Radials or bias ply?

With the alignment not being the problem, the box looking ok, I am curious if the tires are out of balance and fighting each other?

Lastly, any locker up front? a front locker with the hubs turned in can really be a pain to drive...

Jinx, thanks for the input. I have had the tires balanced, aired them down then up, rotated front to back all to no avail. I may have found my problem tonight

 

[Harley Jim]

I started to disassemble the front axle to check the bearings and noticed that I could not rotate the hubs/ outer axle assembly, all 4 ball joints are froze up. Called my local guy and he has all 4 on the shelf. Going in the morning to get them.

 

[Jinx]

I started to disassemble the front axle to check the bearings and noticed that I could not rotate the hubs/ outer axle assembly, all 4 ball joints are froze up. Called my local guy and he has all 4 on the shelf. Going in the morning to get them. View attachment 121467.

I think you are heading in the right direction

 

[Harley Jim]

I am moving like crazy on this thing, we have a monthly cruise in at a local drive in, last month some of the boys asked about the jeep and I said I would bring it next month. That is this saturday

 

[Harley Jim]

Made good progress last night. New ball joints installed. New shackles fit great. New Rancho shocks. I will finish assembly today. (Said through crossed fingers) I found four items during this proocess that I feel contributed to my steering problem. The ball joints were so tight that I could not rotate either side and that was with the tie rod off. Both front shocks were bent. The new shackles that were on it when I bought it had the threads stripped (looks like they were over torqued) and the pitman arm was stock and caused the drag link to be at an extrem angle ( I added a 2" drop pitman arm) I have checked everything That was suggested during this process. I thank all who offered help. Now its time to finish assembly and go for a ride to see if it worked.

 

[Jinx]

Glad to hear! Post up some pics from cruise night!

 

[Jay5.9L]

Super clean CJ. Good luck and definitely post pics.
Remember it’s a 40 year old Jeep. Even brand new they won’t steer like a modern car. A little wander is natural, just adds to the charm . I think you are on the right track replacing all the suspect parts.

 

[Harley Jim]

Jinx I will get lots of pics. Thanks

Jay this thing was not doing the typical cj5 dance, it acted like there were deep ruts in the road and was trying to follow the grove. Found several problems already and not what I expected. Also tried to collapse the calipers to reinstall them this morning and they are stuck. Got 2 new ones and about ready for the first test run

 

[Jay5.9L]

Looking good. Hope the new parts fix the problem.