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Photography: Richard Giordano and Harry Wagner As the weather warms up and much of the country thaws out, many people start to think about spending time out exploring and camping. That might mean that your 4x4 comes out of hibernation in the garage, or perhaps you have been using it as your daily driver all winter. Either way, there are a few things you should inspect before you leave the pavement with your family and friends. We understand that it isn't as exciting to check your ball joints for wear as it is to say… buy a Rubicon Express long arm suspension, but it is an important practice that can keep you from breaking on the trail. Or worse, sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck while your friends are living it up in Moab. This is good advice for any vehicle, but wheeling rigs that are subjected to hard use off-road really need to be inspected regularly. Large tires and wheels with little backspacing create stresses that would destroy the drivetrain of most passenger cars in short order. Airing those tires down, wedging them between boulders, and trying to turn the wheel to negotiate obstacles all increases those stresses exponentially. New noises and small vibrations are clues that you have an issue that should be investigated before they turn into more significant problems. A little preventative maintenance and giving your rig a once over can be the difference between an enjoyable day on the trail or rolling around in the dirt fixing busted parts.  All the fluids in your vehicle should be full and relatively clean. These include not only the oil but the coolant, transmission fluid, transfer case, differentials, power steering, and brake fluid. Have leaks? Check the fluid even more often until you can get the leaks fixed.  Your wheels and tires are what connects your vehicle to the road, so it is important that they are in good condition. Items to check include tire pressure, tire balance, wheels torqued to spec, and ensuring all hardware is tight if you have beadlock wheels. Also check for cracks or cuts in the sidewall or tread area.  Your brakes will typically let you know if the pads or rotors need to be replaced, either with squealing noises or vibration you can feel through the pedal or steering wheel. Worn brake lines can be less obvious though. Also, ensure they are not rubbing or pinched by anything as that can lead to major problems.  We caught this leaking axle seal when doing a recent inspection. It wasn't bad enough to leave gear oil on the driveway yet, but it certainly needs to be replaced. External seals like this are much easier to swap out than inner axle seals that require removing the differential carrier.  The track bar is a common wear item on coil sprung Jeeps. The hardware can come loose, the bushing on the axle end can wear out, or the tie rod end on the axle end can wear out. You should check these bolts regularly to ensure that they are tight as well as inspect the bushing and tie rod for wear.  An easy and inexpensive trick we have borrowed from the racing world is to use a paint pen on bolts after they have been torqued to spec. This allows us to see if they have worked their way lose with a quick glance. If you need to disassemble the parts, brake cleaner takes the paint off easily.  Turning big tires can place a huge strain on steering components, particularly when the tires are aired down and wedged against rocks. We noticed some play in our steering wheel, so we had a friend turn the wheel back and forth while we checked for play. What we found next shocked us!  Sometimes we are guilty of just ignoring a noise and hoping for the best. This rarely works out well for us. If you bash and scrape something, check and make sure it did not do any damage. And if there is a new noise or vibration, it is definitely worthwhile to find the source before it gets worse.  Ball joints and unit bearings are two items that can experience accelerated wear with big tires and shallow offset wheels. To check them, jack the tire off the ground and give it a shake up and down, and front to back. If it wobbles up and down the ball joints are worn, but if it wobbles in all directions, it is likely the unit bearing. |
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