1973 Wagoneer - Full Size Camping Goodness

[Dr. Marneaus]

A few more awesome pics of the trip, thanks to PhotoJared and his mad camera skills.

VegasJeepGuy in the lead

the ONLY way to cook on a fire:

And now some crappy pictures from my cell phone:


Looked like we were going to have some weather on the way in

Standard trail:

It's real nice having a tailgate!

Just Relaxing

Awesome trip, nice weather, jeep had zero issues (other than standard dumping fuel everywhere). I'm ready for a big trip in a few weeks.

This weekend I'll be lifting the camper a few inches, and also ordering some 24.5" tires for it.

 

[Funkicidal]

Beautiful FSJ! ... It's tough to tell if the above picture was taken 20 minutes, or 20 years ago....perfection.

I agree. This a great shot of a great truck.

 

[Falkon]

Man that's a nice rig! An American icon.

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Thanks guys!

Well, I dont have any pics, but my leaking fuel tank has been nagging me for a few weeks now.

There's a small vent tube at the front of the tank, on the top corner. The weld here had long since let go. I discovered this because it was leaking when i put it in, and had been sealed by pervious owners, at least twice judging by the fact that there were 2 different colors of epoxy on it haha.

I tried using gas tank putty, and it seemed to work...for a month or 2 at a time. I think the issue was that it cant get into the crevices ad actually prevent the tube from wiggling.

Well, i just crawled out from under the jeep after chipping a bunch of the putty off, and slopping on some JB weld, and watched it settle into the cracks. That should do it.

Also, i mentioned this in a different thread, but I went and installed an OEM wing on the truck. This is hardly a offroad or performance mod, but it greatly helps with drivability. If the back window is down now, the wing keeps about 99% of the exhaust smell out, where as previously it would just get sucked in by the negative pressure created behind the truck. It also keeps a ton of dust off the rear window, which helps alot on these desert roads.

Also, lately I've been spending a bunch of time after work figuring out ignition gremlins on my girl's toy..... But thats for another forum, haha.

Tomorrow I'm going to go pick up my camper, and I'll be doing a few inches of lift, hopefully. I'll report on that later in the weekend.

 

[1leg]

Not sure if you added the Edelbrock carb off-road kit.
http://www.4wheelparts.com/Performa...=74&t_s=46&t_pt=3595&t_pl=104919&t_pn=EDE1465

I would try lowing the fuel level a little bit until it stops surging on the hills

Not sure if you would be interested in a new carb but i'm told the Holley Truck avenger carb works OK.
http://www.holley.com/types/Truck Avenger.asp

My vote would be to leave the Jeep drive train alone and just continue to fine tune it until it run the way you want it. If you must change something i would go with a GM TBI set-up. really easy swap on an old Jeep V8.
Really good site http://www.gearhead-efi.com/Fuel-Injection/forum.php

For the radiator i would call RON DAVIS and have him build you a custom cross flow with an electric fan and shroud. Set up a proper recovery tank.

Very cool Jeep :sombrero:

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

Well, progress was made!

With the help of a VERY GENEROUS member on jeepforum, who not only donated some steel, but also his time and tools and expertise this morning to help me knock this out. and when i say help me, i mean allow me to help him do about 90% of the work, haha.

For references, here's how it sat when I bought it.

I could barely back it into my driveway without scraping the concrete with the back bumper.

So, my plan was originally to add some blocks essentially, between the frame and the brackets on the torsion axle.



So, I headed over to his house with that in mind.

We ended up going a different, much simpler route. First we dropped the axle.

We grabbed some 20something inch long chunks of angle iron, and just used them to create a lower mounting surface for the axle brackets. So rather mounting to the bottom of the frame, they were mounted about 3"lower. There were flanges on the side of the frame that centered the axle, and the axle brackets bolted to the flanges (bolts were horizontal) Well, we just used the existing hardware and holes to mount the angle iron, then mounted the axle to that through the top of the brackets, rather than the side, through existing holes.

had to drill a few extra holes. whoops. measure once cut twice is the motto, right? haha.

So you can see how we mounted the angle iron, and then just bolted the axle to it. Easy Peasy.

preview looked good!

drove it home and it sits sooo much closer to level now, its awesome. When I add the bigger tires it should be almost perfectly level, and if not, close enough.

 

[Josh Hixon]

VERY nice build. Working on a 78 Cherokee myself. Been eyeing a mid 60's pop-up everyday for the last 2 weeks. MIGHT just jump on it

Has 31x10.5-15s on it Now, will have 33x10.5s on it by the end of next month. Have to go with BFGs because it seems they are the only company offering the size. Not sure if I want the KM2s or just the ATs... Central Oregon is mostly gravel/sandy roads for off-roading, will deal with a lot of snow in the winter and I am worried about the ATs packing up. Will probably end up with the KM2s...

 

[Falkon]

Josh - Nice truck :thumbup:

The KM2's may not be the best choice for snow/ice. Since they have no siping, they would not get good grip in snow/ice, theoretically. Just throwing that out there, I'm sure you've done your research. They are awesome looking tires.

 

[sylgeist]

I vote for the ATs - I have the KM2s and they are ok but not great for the weather.

 

[Josh Hixon]

I vote for the ATs - I have the KM2s and they are ok but not great for the weather.

Good to know. I like hearing from actual owners of these items before I make a purchase, at just shy of $900 for the set I will be doing a lot more research before I "pull the trigger". I could always have them siped I suppose... Last set of Mud Terrain tires I had were Cooper STTs in 33x12.5-17 on an 01' Yukon, they did AWESOME in the snow. I REALLY wish they made them in a 33x10.5 so I could use them again. Honestly I am going to need new tires for winter before I have the money to do the lift, was going for a 4" Rusty's Kit but the tires take priority at this time. Figured I could move up to the 33x10.5 and still be able to drive it without rubbing too much being that it is a Wide Track I have a ton of room. Do the lift either mid-winter or early spring. I don't want to just throw another set of 31x10.5 on there and have it look ridiculous with the lift installed. Thank you for your opinion!

 

[Josh Hixon]

Josh - Nice truck :thumbup:

The KM2's may not be the best choice for snow/ice. Since they have no siping, they would not get good grip in snow/ice, theoretically. Just throwing that out there, I'm sure you've done your research. They are awesome looking tires.

Falkon thank you for the Thumbs Up I am happy with it! Ever since Stacey David built one back in 05 or 06 on Trucks! I have dreamed of the FSJ and drooled everytime I saw one. Children came along and pushed my dream back a few years but now I have it! Bought it back in February and have mainly been doing the neglected Maintenance items. Drive it almost daily (on call every 3rd week so I don't drive it during that week) but it gets 50+ miles a day.

 

[sylgeist]

Don't get me wrong, I love the KM2s on my jeep but they are not the best winter tires. I still drive all winter on them and it's decent enough but I would get ATs if I could have dedicated winter tires.

You are making me want an FSJ!

 

[Josh Hixon]

Don't get me wrong, I love the KM2s on my jeep but they are not the best winter tires. I still drive all winter on them and it's decent enough but I would get ATs if I could have dedicated winter tires.

You are making me want an FSJ!

Deep down, every Jeep guy wants a Full Size and a Flattie... Even those JK guys! Realistically the ATs make more sense, actually carry a warranty (50k miles), will go ALMOST anywhere the KM2 will go and they are a few bucks cheaper per corner... I see them everywhere and everytime I have asked the owner they don't have anything bad to say about them. Okay I am convinced haha

 

[Josh Hixon]

http://www.jpmagazine.com/featuredvehicles/154_0607_custom_1949_jeep_willys_cj_3a/photo_01.html
Don't tell me you wouldn't want this too... OH and Doc, I am NOT trying to jack your thread!

 

[Dr. Marneaus]

I was going to chime in with the same thing. In rain, snow, and ice you will be FAR better off with the AT's.

P.S. your cherokee looks great!