Once running, I backed the jeep up a few feet and then attempted to drive it up my set of ramps. Wet grass and a flat left front tire proved a bit too much to get the old beast up to the top of the ramps. While the tires were spinning, I noticed that the throttle response isn't exactly sports car like, but it gets the job done. No stalls, but not much fire breathing power either.
Rather than give up with the ramps for the night, a quick throw of some levers and a trip outside to lock the hubs and I idled up the ramps with aplomb in 4wd high. At least I think it's 4wd high - the tranny lever and the transfer case lever have so much slop in them it's all a guessing game! The 4wd light on the dash came on and the front axle seemed to be grabbing so that worked for me. The left front hub is a bear to lock up but I don't think we'll be using 4wd much for the rally! I still can't figure out how to get the truck out of 4wd - you need the magic touch to find the sweet spot with all the backlash in the lever.
Once up on the ramps, I was able to take some shots of the underside of the truck. Crawling from front to back I was surprised to see that the jeep still has the OEM steering stabilizer - it's in pretty good shape and will definitely help keep us right behind the sport bikes at Deal's Gap. Yeah right.
Speaking of sport tuned suspension, here's a pic of the right front shock absorber:
Here's a pic of the passenger side frame rail - some surface rust here and there but overall it's in decent condition - just don't scrape too much of the undercoating off!
Here's a pic of the frame rot on the driver's side near the rear door:
This is probably the worst of any area on the frame. We may choose to beef it up with some angle, flat bar or a sectioned piece of scrap channel. The gas tank is immediately behind this frame rail, so welding will have to be approached VERY carefully. Here's a pic showing the height of the frame rail:
And here's a pic showing the width of the frame rail and the flange holding the gas tank. It's a crummy shot, but the frame rail is about 2.5" wide. The frame is mostly C Channel but is boxed in various places for extra strength.
Here's a pic of the forward part of the driver's side frame rail - much better condition:
Moving on to the tranny - here's a pic of the tranny pan. The rust is really not as bad as I thought and only leaks a small amount. We'll replace the pan and add new fluid as cheap insurance though.
A shot of the crossmember under and aft of the transmission. You can see some fluid puddling but it's not the torrent that the previous owner talked about.
One more tranny pan shot:
Here's a shot of the gas tank. Seems a lot sturdier than the driver's side frame rail would suggest and I couldn't find any signs of leaking. When we get the truck on 4 jack stands we'll do a better inspection and see if we need to reinforce the tank mounting. The bottom of the tank is rough but the sides seem to still have factory undercoating on them.
Here's a pic of the puny catalytic converter:
I was glad to see that the previous owner subscribed to the "baling wire" exhaust repair school! Rest of exhaust system is rusty but no big holes and no loose hardware or hangers.Before calling it a night I checked the alternator voltage as the truck idled with all the lights turned on - a healthy 14.7 volts! That's good news and hopefully will keep the battery juiced up on our trip. Last but not least - the horn works too!
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