What's The Heaviest Thing You've Carried In Your Cj5?

I just found a good 6.0 ls motor out of a truck for $600 (thank you facebook marketplace) for my brother's '65 Malibu project. The plan is to load the sucker into the back of my '67 cj5, drive from Central Florida to SouthEast TX, drop the motor off, hook the jeep up to my '63 c10 that's still in TX, and drive back.

Anyone on here ever put ~500 or more pounds in the back of their ecj5 regularly?

 

Make sure you strap that thing in, to your frame if possible. Even a minor fender bender could be disastrous. Maybe rent a trailer for it?

I've hauled some serious weight, but never for any type of distance.

 

Oldtime carried this in his CJ3B.
Oldtime's 1964 Jeep on CJ3B.info

 

Run the straps thru the tailgate opening to the draw bar and add tie down loops to the bed with a backer plate. Put it on a Tire and plywood to protect the bed. Adjust the brakes and take extra fluids per any usual road trip. That weight is not more than 2 grown men and gear in the back seat.

Heaviest load for me was the last haul from upstate NY to college in MO. It was a lot more and a trailer for the snow plow and totes with a 4cyl and 9" drums.

 

Myself!

 

Be careful on corners! You'll have a lot more body roll than you're used to.

 

I regularly haul 5-600lbs firewood in winter.
Have had 3 other adults with me.( not with wood).
Both of these were short on farm trips.

 

I regularly go places with 4 adults and whatever else we can fit in it. often piled to the celing with groceries or whatever. Really doesnt feel that much different handling with stuff inside the jeep. A few times I had about 600lbs of lumber on the roof now that was sketchy

 

With 10 leaf rear springs I had no suspension problems.
I hauled several of the big oak blocks down the interstate for a few miles.
I pushed it to my driving limits to see what the jeep would take.
It was a very windy day and as you know a high hood 3B's sucks in the wind without a load.
The front end was extremely light. Like soft power steering.
A gust of wind would set my adrenaline to surging.
Eyes wide open with all 5 senses at full operation.
55 mph, loaded and windy was my version of getting crack pipe high !

As you can see in that pic I could not get the big block fore ward of the rear axle.
That only added to the light front steering.

That said I think I would certainly want to haul a good engine across state lines...
So keep the weight foreward as best you can.

 

Sorry if I seem a killjoy, but I would point out - overloading the Jeep will put a lot of strain on the wheel bearings, even if the springs appear to handle it. The Jeep-a-trench got a different rear axle, for this reason. Also, large heavy objects in the passenger compartment must be tied down. A collision will turn an engine block into a 300 lb battering ram. Even small objects should be tied down to avoid secondary injury in case of collision, roll-over or such.

 

Count me in the club of that's a bad idea. I can't imagine driving my '79 CJ-5 for that kind of distance. With an AMC 360 and disc brakes it goes and stops pretty well, but it is a "never blink" experience at speed and I'm tired after 15 mile highway drive.

But if you insist, I think the trailer is a great idea...

 

In high school I dated this girl..........Oh never mind.

 

My vote trailer, modern cars are driven by a lot on nuts, that have no idea how
an older car acts, so they tailgate, and cut u off.

 

That's awesome

 

Pulled the pto cover to see how many teeth and splines I have on my output gear so I can order an overdrive, and look what I found. Apparently my dana18 is cracked, and a PO tried to jb weld it or seal it up with some kind of epoxy.

 

That's a downer. How long until your trip? Any chance of finding a late d18 or d20 case?

 

I won't be making the trip till late March, but I'll probably just run it as is. I baby this jeep, so I'm not worried about anything grenading. I'll just have to watch my fluid levels closer.