How can I tell if I have a Renegade?

Is there a way to tell what model CJ-5 I have? Looking through some Jeep history books, my '75 seems to have a lot of the renegade options, but it was repainted at some time. Is it possible I could tell from the vin plate under the hood? One more thing - I'm not clear on which wheels the renegade had - were they the aluminum ones or steel? Thanks much, Pete.

 

I'm more familiar with the '72 Renegade than any, and I think the '72-75 Renegades are basically the same. If you look at the VIN plate under the hood, there should be 3 numbers on the line above the VIN - the first number on this line is for factory use, the second is the paint code, and the third is the trim code. If you look here http://autocolorlibrary.com/cgi-bin/search/searchpic.pl?1975-jeep-pg01.jpg you'll see the paint chips for '75. If the paint code is 584 (Renegade Orange) or 585 (Renegade Blue), that's a pretty good indication that you have a Renegade. The trim code should also match, but I don't have those numbers - someone with a factory parts manual may be able to decipher the trim code.

After 1971, the Renegades all came with aluminum wheels. Except for the wheels, paint and stripes, having the Renegade accessories is neccessary but not sufficient to ID a Renegade. Specifically what accessories are you referring to? AFAIK all the 72-on Renegade attributes (except wheels, paint, stripes) were available from the factory option list. At the time, you could buy the wheels too - simply order the Jeep PN and install them.

hth!

BTW welcome from Boston! It helps a lot to fill in your location and sig in your profile.

 

Thanks for the warm welcome. Looks like a really neat site and I'm glad I joined. Yesterday while searching around, I found a source (NAPA) for the original-style round tail light lenses, which made me real happy.

I've got my vin plate right here and according to your paint chip diagram, the color was 514 - fawn beige. Now it's painted a tan/gold color, but after looking under the hood, I can see a color difference. The trim number is 501.

The options I have to which I was referring to are: trans/transfer case skid plate, padded dash, limited slip diff, rear mounted spare w/o tail gate, oil and temp gauge, padded sun visors, 304 V8, 15 inch 5 "spoke" aluminum wheels and the handle above the glovebox.

Here's a link to a picture that looks almost identical to my Jeep: http://www.film.queensu.ca/CJ3B/Photos/Dating/Taillight/CJ5Renegade74.JPG

Reason I say "almost" is that mine doesn't have the decals or the third seat and the "Jeep" letters on the sides of the tub are a little more modern looking.

Does any of that information help? I hope so..

 

Hope you're not too disappointed, but AFAIK Jeep never made any beige Renegades. In my amateur expert opinion, it's not a Renegade.

If you like the Renegade look, you can paint it the proper color and install stripes. http://www.goldeneagledecals.com/renegade.html - nothing wrong with that... there's no mechanical difference between the CJ-5 and the Renegade.

Except for the wheels, all those options were available individually from the regular option list. Wheels aren't really telling because they can be changed so easily. When I bought my new '73 CJ-5, it had all those options.

The Jeep letters changed from the block JEEP lettering in 1972 to the more modern script "Jeep". In '74, the letters changed to a new script again and were moved lower on the body, and I believe they stayed in that position till the end of the run. The link you posted looks like a '73 body with a '74 stripe, but it could be an early '74 I suppose.

 

Nah, I'm not disappointed. I do wish there were a way to tell for sure. FWIW, one of my Jeep books by Jim Allen says that beginning in 1974, potential Jeep owners had a choice of ordering a Renegade in any available color used for regular production besides Renegade Yellow and Renegade Plum. Too bad this Jeep was repainted.

What about the body tubs that did not have tailgates? Were those Renegade tubs or was that just an option?

 

Option. My '73 had the optional solid back panel.

Jeep would let you special order just about anything at that time, so you can't really rule out such things as a beige Renegade. However, I worked for a large Jeep dealership at the time, and they sold a lot of Renegades; they were all the special Renegade colors.

 

Thanks Tim, that's good to know.

Regarding those Renegade decals in that link above, are there two different sets of decals for 75? If I'm reading this correctly, the black & white scripted L-shaped decals were used from 74 until sometime in 75, at which point they were replaced with the gold red-lettered decals which continued to be used into 76...is that right?

 

I always like to throw a wrench into things. I have a '74 renegade and it has the same options list as Sud (except for alum. rims, mine has chrome). The paint is original as is the sticker on the hood/front quarter - just like in the referenced pic. My jeep is black, and according to a paint chip brochure I have and my tsm renegades never came in black, only green and purple. However, dint get too enthusiastic yet, I have read that after amc took over almost every jeep was called a renegade and that the renegade option package did not hold the same regard as 72 and prior ren I and ren II packages.

Karl

 

Re Karl's Jeep, black is not an official AMC/Jeep color for '74, but it was available as a fleet color. Ordering a fleet color was the same as ordering one of the "commercial" colors - you simply filled out the form and wrote in the color code.

Also, Karl's right that the pre-72 Renegades are held in higher regard than the later Renegades becasue so many fewer of them were made, and becasue they had features that weren't available otherwise in the CJs. In '72 and later, the only options that weren't otherwise available were the stripes and the wheels. Any dealership could order the stripes and the wheels as Jeep service parts and install them on any vehicle. So, without having the actual vehicle invoice, you can't know absolutely. From the order number on the VIN plate, you could have looked up the order at the dealership or Toledo... no doubt those records are long gone.

So, I'd say fix it up so that it pleases you - and don't worry about whether it's an "authentic" Renegade.

Re the stripes, AFAIK the gold stripes started in 1976, and all the intermediates had the black and white stripes. Rather, I don't recall seeing a '75 Renegade with anything but the black and white stripes.

 

Hey Timgr,

mine does not have the 3 letters above the vin, in fact I cant find anywhere the 508 that my 72 should have, but it is a Rene, it has a Renegade decals on the hood, the Rene Orange in every crack and crevice, but nowhere could I ever find the 508 paint code. I looked. yours is the first I heard of where it should be on the plate. is '72 different?? or was it painted on the plate? my plate had been sprayed over so this is the only thing I can think of. Wierd.

 

'72 VIN plates are different. IIRC there is a separate paint and trim sticker on the other side of the firewall. Since it's a sticker, it may not have survived the respray.

 

Ahh,

I went nuts when I read this. I was all over the Jeep outside looking thinking I missed it lol. glad you were online. wife thinks im nuts as-is but when Im pulling the title, going out in the rain to look everything over, she REALLY thinks im looney! lol

 

There's a picture of the trim "plate" on page A-2 here: http://www.c104.net/manual/Section_00A.pdf
It's a piece of embossed foil glued to the body, so it could easily have been lost.

 

'75 was the first year for colored stripes. I've scanned some pages of my Dealer Ordering book to help clear up some questions.

 

AMC Jeeper,

Hey, thats a cool book! Where did you get it?

Karl

 

More FWIW, my 74 has the "Jeep" script high on the side like the first Jeep pictured and not low like the 75 pictured above. They either changed the location in 75 or midway through the 74 model year.

 

I found it on Ebay! It wasn't cheap, but well worth the $$ for the info it provides. I have some other '75 Jeep Literature, such as a Dealer Parts Book for '74-'75, Dealer Brochure, and a '75 Service Manual, among other things, all of which I found there.

 

Thanks for posting that Curt; it's a great reference.