Seeking Cj5 Expert In Tahoe/truckee/reno Area

I joined for the purpose of finding some expertise. I was referred to this forum in a FB group by a guy who I think goes by Big John. I recently inherited a '69 CJ5 from my dad who passed not long ago. It's my first Jeep. I want to love it because it was my dad's. I don't know a lot about it. My dad bought it about 10 years ago in it's current condition (a pretty good restomod) only because he thought it was cool as heck and he wanted to drive it around Tahoe on sunny summer days. Since it was restored, it has been babied. I want it for driving a little more often and maybe light 4-wheeling. I know it's got a V6-225 with SM420 trans. I thought it had a Dana 20 transfer case with Dana 44 rear and Dana 25 front, but I posted pics on FB and somebody (who may or may not know what he's talking about) told me that might not be right. It runs and drives good, although there is a ton of play in the steering but that seems normal from what I have read. I am looking for a mechanical expert, somebody who lives maybe within an hour or two of me, who would come to me to inspect it and drive it and tell me what I need to know and what I need to consider. Right now I just want to pay you for your opinions and your expertise. I have an emotional attachment to the Jeep so it's worth it for me to invest some money in it. If it leads to you perhaps doing some work for me that's great, but right now I'm not asking you to come wrench on it for me. I'm just asking you to come educate me. I will pay for your time and your travel. Thanks for any ideas or referrals. Looking forward to learning a lot here.

 

Welcome and post some images, lots and lots of knowledgeable members here.

 

Welcome to the forum! There are a few members in that area, so I'm sure someone will pipe up. We'd love to see some pictures when you get a chance, which might help us answer some questions for you virtually.

 

Welcome, and post some pics. Folks here will steer you straight.

 

Took me a minute to figure out how to add pics, but here are pics of the Jeep in question...

 

Welcome to the forum, that is one clean CJ....

 

Wow! Nice Jeep.

You'll need to post pictures of the axles, suspension, steering, transmission, transfer case so we can give you more info.

A couple things that stand out from those pictures:

• Looks like it has a Saginaw power steering conversion
• It has a full-float conversion on the rear axle
• I appears to have a Warn/Saturn overdrive which would imply a Dana 18 transfer case. That also implies an offset Dana 44 rear axle.
• It looks like it has a 4" or so lift

First appearances are it's a really well built rig. This is all good stuff.

Condolences for the loss of your dad. He had very good taste.

 

Me likey

 

That’s a nice looking jeep. Great color blue.

 

Take a look at your casting on the front differential. I bet it is a Dana 27 if it is a '69.

Fun fact: In California, you are not allowed to have "69" on a custom license plate unless the car is a 1969 model!

 

My dad had notes from the previous owner. It does have Saginaw power steering according to those notes. These notes also say Dana 20 transfer case, but you're right it is a Warn overdrive with an offset rear axle so it yeah it seems that's a Dana 18, not a 20. I've heard that elsewhere too. So yeah my goal in connecting with an expert is to figure out how to improve it, especially the steering. It runs great but steering is super sloppy going down the road. I'd like to drive it more but really want to know how to tighten that up. Plus I'm sure if somebody who knows what he is looking at could start it and drive it I'm sure he could identify things that need attention that I would never even think about.

 

If it has a 4" lift as noted by Fireball it may not have the correct shims for the caster. I did not have the correct caster on my old 71' and it was all over the road. Check out post #230 on this thread. Also you should check your toe in. It is pretty easy to do this on a flat surface, but takes some time.
http://earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/123414/page-12

 

Agreed. As long as the knuckle pivots,wheel bearings, tie-rod ends and steering box are tight, it probably needs some caster shims. Wouldn't hurt to check the toe-in too.

 

Nice looking Jeep. Welcome

 

Yeah that thing is pretty sweet. As mentioned; caster. 6-7 degrees is about right. These things don’t really have “tight” steering anyway. But it shouldn’t wander around all over the place. I bet it’s a simple fix. It looks too newish after the build to have worn out stuff. And looks built pretty well. I’m going with the typical 2.5” lift. It’s got slightly longer shackles too. Looks like 1.75” wide springs.

Improve? Well there’s always something to do on these. Get it handling well, decide how you want use it and go from there. It already has some pretty nice components. Sm420, OD, PS, full float rear. Front disc brakes ? Might even have a Dana 30 front end already.

 

That is one sweet looking CJ. Sorry to hear about your Dad, but he obviously had a passion for it and shows. Above advice about verifying/installing 6 degree shims is great advice. Mine was all over the place even with new steering gear. Once I installed the 6 degree STEEL shims, it was night/day difference. Installation of the shims is very easy to do.

 

Couple more thoughts:

Although there are certainly folks here that are way more “expert” on building old Jeeps than myself (at least one of them is in the Tahoe area), I have put together a few over the years. Anyway I come through Tahoe a fair bit (usually for fishing or rock climbing trips, sometimes jeeping). I’d be willing to go through it with you sometime…just not sure when…I may be up there next month going for lake trout. I’m down near Mammoth/Bishop. You wouldn’t need to pay me or anything. I dig checking out and talking about these old rigs…and meeting other classic jeep enthusiasts.

Also, as I alluded to earlier, just by what we can see, that thing is already pretty upgraded. Any more improvements, upgrades or modifications will likely be either for personal preferences or four wheeling performance. So just food for thought as you decide how you want use your new, old jeep. They’re easy to spend money on.

 

Beautiful Jeep

 

Yes, a very nice looking old Jeep!

Correcting the sloppy steering should be top priority. With a short wheel base vehicle like this it is critical to not have a problem with the steering system, and with the lift I agree with others that the issue is likely due to the caster not being correct for the angles produced by the lift.

 

Welcome aboard! You may have a lot of potential visitors-http://www.earlycj5.com/xf_cj5/index.php?threads/153722/

That was my first thought too.