The Hoon Chronicals: Help With an 85 CJ-7

jesse3638

Hooked
A buddy of mine wanted in to the Jeep world and had 5K burning a hole in his pocket so went and got himself an 85 CJ7 on an impulse. I'm not too familiar with CJ's so I'm doing my best to help him out. First order is to get his spare mounted. Any recommendations for that is greatly appreciated. It's also on 35's and looks to have a 6"+ lift on it. A bit too high for my taste but its his. He said his steering feels really loose and the steering box has a leak. Any idea where to begin hunting down a solution to tightening it up? Anything I can pass along to him would help too. Thanks for your help. Looks like I got a free project Jeep to learn on...haha.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
With 35's, your buddy really needs a bumper tire carrier. He does NOT want to run the factory swing out tire carrier as it will not be able to handle the weight. Back in the day, I ran a LoD bumper tire carrier on my 81 CJ7 and it held up well.

DSC06704.jpg

http://4x4xplor.com/LoD-CJ.html

Regarding his steering, do you know if he has lift shackles installed? If so, they need to go as they are throwing his caster off. Also, the factory steering box bracket was known to tear/break and when it does, it'll cause slopping steering. A good fix for that is a HD steering box bracket and brace.

morebracket01.jpg

http://4x4xplor.com/MORE-steeringbracket.html

Hope that helps.
 

jesse3638

Hooked
With 35's, your buddy really needs a bumper tire carrier. He does NOT want to run the factory swing out tire carrier as it will not be able to handle the weight. Back in the day, I ran a LoD bumper tire carrier on my 81 CJ7 and it held up well.

DSC06704.jpg

http://4x4xplor.com/LoD-CJ.html

Regarding his steering, do you know if he has lift shackles installed? If so, they need to go as they are throwing his caster off. Also, the factory steering box bracket was known to tear/break and when it does, it'll cause slopping steering. A good fix for that is a HD steering box bracket and brace.

morebracket01.jpg

http://4x4xplor.com/MORE-steeringbracket.html

Hope that helps.

Awesome, Thanks for the help. I was going to look at LoD as I remember them having CJ tire carriers. I remember reading about those steering box issues and was reading about lift shackles and what it could do the steering. As far as the shackles go, what would be a good alternative? I appreciate all the help.
 

wayoflife

Administrator
Staff member
Awesome, Thanks for the help. I was going to look at LoD as I remember them having CJ tire carriers. I remember reading about those steering box issues and was reading about lift shackles and what it could do the steering. As far as the shackles go, what would be a good alternative? I appreciate all the help.

Anything that's closer to stock is what I would recommend. Back in the day, I ran a set of 1/2" lift shackles from M.O.R.E. because they were the only heavy duty ones I could find that was closer to stock. These are not what you see in the steering box photo - I had gotten rid of them as they were too tall. I know there are more options out there now.
 

jesse3638

Hooked
Anything that's closer to stock is what I would recommend. Back in the day, I ran a set of 1/2" lift shackles from M.O.R.E. because they were the only heavy duty ones I could find that was closer to stock. These are not what you see in the steering box photo - I had gotten rid of them as they were too tall. I know there are more options out there now.
Sounds good. I'll get busy spending his money..haha. Thanks for your help. I'm sure I'm going to have many more questions.

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jim817

New member
With 35's, your buddy really needs a bumper tire carrier. He does NOT want to run the factory swing out tire carrier as it will not be able to handle the weight. Back in the day, I ran a LoD bumper tire carrier on my 81 CJ7 and it held up well.

DSC06704.jpg

http://4x4xplor.com/LoD-CJ.html

Regarding his steering, do you know if he has lift shackles installed? If so, they need to go as they are throwing his caster off. Also, the factory steering box bracket was known to tear/break and when it does, it'll cause slopping steering. A good fix for that is a HD steering box bracket and brace.

morebracket01.jpg

http://4x4xplor.com/MORE-steeringbracket.html

Hope that helps.





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jesse3638

Hooked
I was just thinking about this thread as he is having another issue now. He went to drive it the other night, backed out of his driveway, put it in drive, and it went no where. He said the rear drive shaft is spinning but not going forward. I'd think if he had catastrophic rear end failure there would be noises leading up to it or a loud noise when it happened. He told me there was none. I haven't been over there to see what he is dealing with but wanted to find out what this could be. He said in trans N and T-case N he cannot spin the rear drive shaft so it seems the R/P are still connecting/contacting. He also told me he had only been able to get the 4x4 to operate in 4lo not 4hi. I'm not sure what he is seeing spinning under there but to me it seem maybe this is an issue with his T-case not the rear diff. Any help is much appreciated. If I get a chance I'll go see what he is dealing with. I knew when he bought this Jeep he was making a mistake as he has no drive to fix things himself or even trouble shoot problems. Maybe he'll just decide to sell it cheap..;)

Edit: Can a mod change the title of this thread to "The Hoon Chronicals: Help With an 85 CJ-7"...haha. Its going to be much more than a tire carrier.
 
Last edited:

jesse3638

Hooked
I was just thinking about this thread as he is having another issue now. He went to drive it the other night, backed out of his driveway, put it in drive, and it went no where. He said the rear drive shaft is spinning but not going forward. I'd think if he had catastrophic rear end failure there would be noises leading up to it or a loud noise when it happened. He told me there was none. I haven't been over there to see what he is dealing with but wanted to find out what this could be. He said in trans N and T-case N he cannot spin the rear drive shaft so it seems the R/P are still connecting/contacting. He also told me he had only been able to get the 4x4 to operate in 4lo not 4hi. I'm not sure what he is seeing spinning under there but to me it seem maybe this is an issue with his T-case not the rear diff. Any help is much appreciated. If I get a chance I'll go see what he is dealing with. I knew when he bought this Jeep he was making a mistake as he has no drive to fix things himself or even trouble shoot problems. Maybe he'll just decide to sell it cheap..;)

Edit: Can a mod change the title of this thread to "The Hoon Chronicals: Help With an 85 CJ-7"...haha. Its going to be much more than a tire carrier.

Wanted to follow up on this. He had it towed to a shop and it turned out to be a broken 2-piece axle. After $900 he is back on the road.
 

jesse3638

Hooked
Well he was back on the road until Monday evening. When he returned to work and went to start it, it fired up and stalled several times. He applied a little throttle and it backfired then continued running. While on his way home he lost power and it then stalled and could not be restarted. He had it towed home and that is where is currently sits. The previous owner had it converted to fuel injection. I'm not sure as to the system which was installed. First thought which comes to mind would be fuel filter and/or fuel pump. Any ideas as to where to begin would be appreciated. Thanks!
 

Strodinator

Caught the Bug
Well he was back on the road until Monday evening. When he returned to work and went to start it, it fired up and stalled several times. He applied a little throttle and it backfired then continued running. While on his way home he lost power and it then stalled and could not be restarted. He had it towed home and that is where is currently sits. The previous owner had it converted to fuel injection. I'm not sure as to the system which was installed. First thought which comes to mind would be fuel filter and/or fuel pump. Any ideas as to where to begin would be appreciated. Thanks!
First thing would be to spray starting fluid into the intake. If it fires right up and then does after burning it up then after checking all the injectors, trace the lines all the way back to the fuel pump to check for leaks. If you still havnt found it then check for voltage at the pump and pull the pump. I had the same thing wrong with my TJ and with the pump out sitting in gas, when I primed the pump, it would whirr but not send fuel to the hose.

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jesse3638

Hooked
First thing would be to spray starting fluid into the intake. If it fires right up and then does after burning it up then after checking all the injectors, trace the lines all the way back to the fuel pump to check for leaks. If you still havnt found it then check for voltage at the pump and pull the pump. I had the same thing wrong with my TJ and with the pump out sitting in gas, when I primed the pump, it would whirr but not send fuel to the hose.

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I thought the 85 came stock with a mechanical pump and I'd assume since it was converted to EFI it would need to have been switched to electrical. Do you think is a correct assumption?
 

Strodinator

Caught the Bug
I thought the 85 came stock with a mechanical pump and I'd assume since it was converted to EFI it would need to have been switched to electrical. Do you think is a correct assumption?
I would think so yeah. Just check off the easy things. Spark plugs, spark plug wires, battery, alternator and then start at the intake and move back to check if it's the fuel system.

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jesse3638

Hooked
Well he's having issues with it again. An 87 CJ probably wasn't a wise choice for someone without the time or ability to troubleshoot and make necessary repairs. He's thinking of selling it again. I'll keep everyone posted so if anyone is looking.

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Jsouder53

Hooked
That’s a sad moment, definitely a good idea to have some sort of knowledge about Jeeps to get involved in that sort of project...
 
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