XJ Expedition Basics

T>D>C

New member
Breaking down is part of the adventure...

My DD is a 91 cherokee beater with 272,000 miles on it. I bought it used in 2002 with 134,000 miles on it and I drove it to Utah bowhunting 2 weeks later for a shake down cruise. Over heated in Albuquerque and the dealer tried to rip me a new one because I was in a pinch. They charged me $95 just to look at it. I would not allow them to empty my checking account but since I paid my $95, they let me talk to the mechanic. I left there and bought the replacement parts and changed them out in the town I spent the night in.

I live in East TX and I take an annual trip or 2 to places like Big Bend SP/NP in West TX (650 mi) & Manti LaSalle national forest in Utah (1,200 mi). I changed my fuel pump in my garage (had to drop the tank and the metal ring that holds it in is a pain) so I would not take one. I had my alternator replaced in Odessa once and I changed it once in my garage (huge pain on Cherokees). One year, pulling my friends Samurai to Big Bend, I had the gears in my rear-end replaced in Dallas.

So, if you break down, so what? You might lose a day or two at the most. I never lost more than 4-6 hours on any of my adventures due to mechanical problems. As long as you look at it as part of the adventure and keep a positive attitude, who cares? I guarantee you the break down will force you to slow down a little and probably see things you would not normally see and meet people that you would not meet normally (most being descent people willing to help you out).

I carry replacement radiator hoses, heater hoses, and idler pulley, additional fluids and fuses. I would also reconsider the gun, it's not for the little furry animals if you know what I mean...

After that, carry enough food, water and personal gear to stay comfortable until help arrives for the big stuff. And most importantly, have fun!

No worries...

T>D>C
 

YJake

Adventurer
I agree with evrything above.
I would not go anywhere w/ out a extra CPS. but I would also add
a idler pully. I have seen these just fail and your dead in the water.
Its less then 20 bucks and it is small. I even carry one in the Rubicon.

This man speaks the truth. I've had one completely fail and another begin to fail within the last 8 months and am tempted to carry a spare the next time that I go on a long trip. The first one's bearing fell apart causing my Serp belt to fall off on the way one fall afternoon.

Not fun.

The second was making an intense whining noise so I just replaced it before something silly happened.

Moral of the story is, carry an extra idler pully and lots of tools. It is a Jeep after all! (Although my YJ has 145k on it, with mostly little repairs and nothing too major to date!)

-Jake
 

Forum statistics

Threads
186,183
Messages
2,883,022
Members
225,985
Latest member
taunger
Top