Question about steering

[lordnight]

Ok so i test drove this 86 CJ with 62k orig miles today. The one thing i noitced that is that the steering seems to be really sensitive. It also tends to drift a little more then a tad. Is this normal for CJs. This will be my first CJ, right now i have a 97 TJ and its not rugged enough for me hehe i culd also you use the money.

Thanks
Adam



:dance:
WHAT?

[SamFromCO]

Does this CJ have any suspension mods? What do you mean by really sensitive? Is that a good thing like responsive or a bad thing like it doesn't want to re-center itself? The things you are describing sort of sounds sound like a lack of caster.

[lordnight]

Its like it doesnt want to recenter itself. You may be right when you say the caster might be messed up. I didn't even think about that. I'm having the whole jeep checked out on monday. Is there any common problems with 86 CJs i should look for?


Thanks
Adam

[SamFromCO]

Even something like tall shackles in the front can mess up the caster, that's why I asked whether it was stock or modified.
The main things to watch out for on the '86's are pretty much the same for all CJ7's. Check out the frame for excessive rust or cracks especially around the spring mounts. Check that the body mounts aren't rusted away. The body mount that's right in front of the rear wheels seems to be the most vulnerable to rusting away. If you live in an area that requires emission testing, be sure that all of the emission stuff is there and that it will pass. Other than that just check the same things that you would check for in any 16 year old vehicle.
Have you checked to see whether it has the AMC 20 or Dana 44 rear axle. Some '86's came with a Dana 44. If you look at the rear differential cover and it's totally round and looks like a WW1 army helmet then it's an AMC 20. If it's kind of stop sign shaped with a hump on one side, it's a Dana 44. If it's a D44 you'll have a rearend that's nearly as popular as Heather Locklears' :D, well maybe not that popular but they are a good find.
I don't know that the CJ's are any more rugged than a TJ but you're right about them being a lot cheaper and you don't worry as much about scratches and dings. And an '86 with that few of miles sounds like a great find.:)

[lordnight]

Awsome, thanks for all the help.

Adam

[lynn]

If the shackles are stock length, or close to stock length, I'd check the steering shaft as a possible source of your steering woes.
Open the hood, find the long shaft that goes from the bottom of the steering column, to the steering box.
Grab this shaft, and shake it pretty hard, near each end. If you notice any movement in the joints, this could be a source of your problem.
The bottom joint is rebuildable if the pins aren't too badly worn, the top joint is not rebuildable.

New stock shafts are available from 4WD Hardware or Quadratec, as well as premium Flaming River replacement shafts.

This dancing smiley, to the left of the reply screen, is really annoying. I think I'm going to put that in my sig. :P

[lordnight]

Thanks for the advice. The jeep goes in today for a overall inspection. I'll check the shaft myself though. With any luck it will all check out pretty good and i'll be the proud owner of new (old) 1986 CJ but i'll have to say good bye to my TJ.


:dance:
That dancing guy reminds me of the blues brothers...


Adam

[jimmy hat]

My 86 came with a factory dana 44 rear. look for this. if the jeep is a fair price snatch it up.

[lordnight]

I took it in to have it looked at. Turns out that the steering linkage was pretty much frozen and couldn't recenter itself because of rust. Also it was blowing a lil blue smoke so either the valves themselfs were messed up or it was just the seals. Either way i don't really want to do a valve job. But we'll see. If the jeep is still there by the time we get our new house i might go for it. Its been really hard finding a CJ around here. They said they would sell it to me for 5200. Not to bad...