Pulling the front wheels off the Jeep CJ7

What happens when you give a lawyer a Chilton's Guide and an air ratchet? ... a mess!

Okay, knowing that it is very important to clean and repack the locking hubs and wheel bearings at least every two years ... I decided to jack up the CJ7 and do it! I went to NAPA and got a bunch of premium lithium grease and I set out to take off everything on the front wheels down to the steering knuckle and clean the parts and repack the locking hubs and wheel bearings with grease. I thought it would take about three hours. Do you remember what happened to the SS Minnow when they set out for a three-hour tour? They ended up on Gilligan's Island. Do you know what happened to me when I set out on a three hour grease job? I ended up in Gilligan's Garage ... except I had no Mary-Anne or Ginger to "improve morale."

First, I couldn't get the little allen bolts out of the hub. I had to use an impact driver to crack them loose and I destroyed the allen heads in the process. Apparently this CJ7 hadn't had the front wheel components disassembled in a long time ... which is scary given the fact this Jeep has been primarily driven on a beach with sand and salt water splashed up on it. I have a HUGE 1/2 drive ratchet, but it was not enough to get off some of the wheel bolts so I went to the little Amelia Island Sears outlet and bought an 18" 1/2 drive breaking bar. That did the trick ... and I strongly recommend that you add both a breaking bar and an impact driver to your toolbox if you plan on doing serious work on an old CJ (or any Jeep for that matter). Five hours and a quart of PB Blaster into this "three-hour project," I had the front right wheel disassembled down to the spindle ... and quickly realized this 3 hour project would turn into a multiple day job.

The next problem I had was the lack of information in my books. I got down to the spindle and then decided to take the spindle off too in order to check the spindle bearings. The problem was: I couldn't get the spindle off and my books had no pictures or detailed written instructions. I have three different CJ tech manuals and none of them helped that much. One of them said something like: "disassemble the front wheel assembly and remove the spindle and check spindle bearings." Gee ... ya think? Well, I GoJo'd my hands and took off my coveralls and went into my home office and fired up Google ... and I found a REAL GEM. The folks at Novak Conversions have a Jeep Knowledge Base that is amazing. I quickly found the Novak Guide to Jeep Closed-Steering Knuckle Repair and there it was ... step-by-step instructions with exploded diagrams and helpful tips. The $35 book was worthless ... the free website Novak Jeep Knowledge Base was outstanding. I printed it out and too it into the garage and read the "hint" in step 4: "This may require rapping with a block of wood of a soft-faced hammer if the spindle is stuck in the knuckle. I had spent almost an hour just trying to figure out how to get the spindle off. Armed with this knowledge I put a 12" piece of a 2x4 on the spindle and whacked it with my 2.5 pound hand sledge hammer ... and the spindle popped off on the second whack. The spindle bearings actually looked like they were in real good condition and spindle bearings are cheap ... only about $6 ... so I was thinking about replacing them anyway since I had come this far. But then I applied RULE #1 to working on old CJs: "If it ain't broke, don't fix it." Reinstalling spindle bearings can be very tricky (according to my tech books) so I packed them with grease really good and stuck the spindle back on. I repacked the wheel bearings too and then got everything reassembled. I have drum brakes on the front of both the 77 CJ7 and the 73 CJ5 ... so I had to manually adjust the brake lever to get the drum back on (that went amazing well).



Helpful notes from this project: 1) Have an 18 inch 1/2" drive breaker bar and impact driver handy for disassembling wheel components that haven't been disassembled in a long time (if ever). 2) Save the Novak Conversions Knowledge Base in your "favorite places" on your web browser (see link below) ... the information is awesome. 3) remember that a job that takes two hours on a newer, well-maintained Jeep will probably take a LOT longer on an old CJ that needs restorative work.




Here is a link to The Novak Conversions Knowledge Base Gateway.

1977 CJ7 Fuel Filler Hose - One of a Kind

I am going to post a few notes here and there that cover little projects that I have recently accomplished prior to starting this blog. The first such note is about the gas tank on the 1977 CJ7.

My gas tank had rust holes in it so it had to be replaced. I ordered a new 15 gallon tank and a new tank level indicator (TLI) from J.C. Whitney with no problem. I bought new fuel hose at my local NAPA (thanks Tommy) and I set out with a can of PB Blaster to get the bolts that hold the tank skid plate to the rear frame. In the end I had to attack two of the bolts with an angle grinder to get them off. I decided to replace the fuel hose and the vent hose since I was in there ... but guess what: you can't get them. I looked and searched and contact all kinds of vendors and it turns out that the 1977 CJ7 had a "one off" filler hose set up. They changed the setup in 1977 from 1976 and didn't like it so they changed it again in 1978. Which means you can't get pre-bent (preformed) aftermarket fuel filler hose for the '77. I used a piece of generic hose to replace the vent hose and I reinstalled the old filler hose since it was still usable. I know when I go to replace it I will have to make something work.

Let me throw in another comment about this little project. While I had the tank out I decide to get the wire brush on the drill and take off loose rust on the underside of the body and frame and slap a coat of POR-15 up in there before I put the tank back in. I had heard GREAT things about POR-15 from many people and I bought a few quarts for projects such as this so I decided to slap some on. Here is the teaching point: make sure you really cover up when you use this stuff! I used the cheesy latex glove they provided and they tore while I was painting and I had a few exposed areas to so I got POR-15 on me in a few places. I discovered that not only does this stuff stick to rusty metal permanently ... it also sticks to sweaty people permanently. I scrubbed and scrubbed and couldn't get this stuff off of me. Solvents, cleaners, thinners, even nail polish remover ... FORGET IT! I had to wait for it to wear off. I went on the POR-15 website and there it was in black and white ... it bonds permanently to skin and must be worn off. They said it would take 3-5 days. It took two weeks. I am glad to know how well this stuff sticks, but take my advice and really cover up when you use it! Next time I am going to wear a bio-hazard suit or something.

Footnote: I order parts from J.C. Whitney, 4WD, and Quadratec as well as NAPA fairly frequently. I am not getting paid by any of these folks and I don't endorse any one over the other. I am simply telling you where I got it. Most of the Jeep parts in the catalogs are made by a handful of companies anyway ... so go with the supplier that is cheaper! I get many smaller parts from NAPA because they either have them or can get them fast and I don't pay for shipping.

Initial Post - the project begins ... and then expands

THE PROJECT BEGINS

Okay ... so I have owned two CJ7s in the past. My first Jeep was a beautiful new midnight blue 1979 CJ7 Renegade with a 304 V8. I got it in high school right before I went into the Navy. It was awesome. I sold it before I went to Pearl Harbor ... big mistake. About 7 years later I got another CJ7. I got out of the Navy and took it to the University of Florida with me for law school. I sold it in 1992 right before I got married ... another big mistake (selling the Jeep that is ... not getting married). My wife convinced me it was "not practical" so I sold it. It was a nice CJ and it ran great. I replaced a clutch and rebuilt the top end and replaced the distributor so I learned a little bit about the 258 I6 engine in the process.

Now, 17 years and a military career later, I was finally able to get another one. My wife actually lined it up for me. She knew I regretted selling my Jeep years ago and she felt she was partially to blame (actually, it was ALL her fault) but I am not pointing fingers. So I picked up a 1977 CJ7 for a couple of grand and the project officially began. This is truly a project because this CJ7 is a "rust bucket" and it had all kinds of problems initially. Although you can't really tell from the picture, this blue CJ7 has serious body rust issues, but the frame is in very good shape and it was basically sound. It has a 258 I6 in it and, to my surprise, it has a T-18A transmission with the "granny gear" at first gear. That is great! I had to put in a new gas tank and distributor, rebuild the carburetor, fix a crack in the radiator, replace the alternator, and replace literally every hose and belt ... but it runs! I live on an island in Florida so salt water and sand is a given. I like the 33x12.5s on it ... so I will stick with that tire size.

Well ... as if one Jeep wasn't enough ... I saw this CJ5 on eBay for a few hundred bucks. It is a 1973 and it was in Podunk, Georgia about 200 miles from where I live in Florida. It had been in a barn for ten years since the owner ran it on the farm with a hole in the oil pan and the 304 engine froze up. They went to a junkyard a couple of years back and took another 304 engine out of another Jeep and put it in the back but never got around to fixing it so the guy's wife told him he needed to sell it (I think I am picking up a pattern here with wives and Jeeps). Anyway ... apparently no one else wanted to drive to the middle of nowhere in south Georgia to haul off an old Jeep ... so I was the high bidder! My buddy (with a truck ... thanks Scott) and I drove out to Podunk, just south of East Bumble, and brought this little beauty home. It has a T-15 transmission and both 304s are totally locked up. I snatched the one that was in it out and I couldn't beat two of the pistons out with an iron rod and a sledge hammer. The one in the back was just as bad ... so out it went too. The body has NO rust except for the floorpan. The frame is in great shape as is the transmission and Dana 20 transfer case.

So now, my to my wife's dismay, my garage is now a "Project Jeep" garage and I am working on both of these two little beauties in my "spare time." The CJ7 project will eventually include a new 4" suspension lift kit (it currently has a 2" suspension lift with 2" shackle lift) and a new body. Since I live 75 yards from the Atlantic ocean and plan to have it on the beach quite a bit (read: all the time) I am thinking about dropping big bucks for a aluminum tub ... wait until wifey-poo hears how much THAT will cost! Although both will be "off frame" rebuilds, the CJ5 project will be the "flip" of the CJ7 project in that the focus will be on the drive train. I am currently planning to lift the CJ5 only two inches (suspension lift of course ... none of that body lift garbage in my garage). I plan to put 31x11.5s on it. I am not sure if I will put a 304 in it or mate a 258 to the heavy duty T-15 tranny. I have had both engines in functional Jeeps and for my purposes the 258 has plenty of power and a heck of a lot easier to work on so I am leaning that direction. I am also considering making the CJ5 into a "Super Jeep" since 1973 was the year they did that (although I am not committed to that yet).

So those are the projects in a nutshell. I am not a mechanic ... I am a lawyer who loves CJs. I am hoping to share my experiences so that others who are considering fixing up an old CJ can learn from my experiences and maybe have a little easier time doing it. If you have any suggestions or questions you can send them to me at ProjectJeep@yahoo.com