To look for....

A V8 and a 'stock' original suspension.

That will be the best CJ5 going. A 258 6 is the best engine for
crawling torque (she won't stall at 500 rpm on a serious hill climb,
just dig if you get too steep) and gas mileage and still is respectable
for power on the highway. A 4 is great off road with the highway still
able to hold legal speed, but it is a 4 banger after all.

I actually have been surprised by 4's, they have kept up on the highway
getting there and on the trail so well that I didn't realize they were
4's until told and I take out a lot of Jeeps on semi organized trips.

Look for stock.

If it has been modified in any way, the owner has very likely driven it
to the limits of it's modifications. This causes extreme wear on stock
parts. That is reality. If it has 35's on it, it is a toy that will
cost big to keep on the road.

'You play, you pay' is real saying in an off road vehicle, double that
for an old one.

There are narrow track and wide track ones, I don't know the cut off,
but think it is 78 or so. In a CJ5, 'I' would want the older narrow
track one. I run on deep Canadian Bush trails and my 86 CJ7 wide track
Dana 44 is wide in places, an old narrow track Jeep can follow an ATV
easy. I have to work at it for physical size with wide tire YJ's or
TJ's having to actually climb the trees to fit through some places.

My opinion for you,

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

drex wrote:
>
> any suggestions on what to look for when purchasing a cj5?

 

To look for....

A V8 and a 'stock' original suspension.

That will be the best CJ5 going. A 258 6 is the best engine for
crawling torque (she won't stall at 500 rpm on a serious hill climb,
just dig if you get too steep) and gas mileage and still is respectable
for power on the highway. A 4 is great off road with the highway still
able to hold legal speed, but it is a 4 banger after all.

I actually have been surprised by 4's, they have kept up on the highway
getting there and on the trail so well that I didn't realize they were
4's until told and I take out a lot of Jeeps on semi organized trips.

Look for stock.

If it has been modified in any way, the owner has very likely driven it
to the limits of it's modifications. This causes extreme wear on stock
parts. That is reality. If it has 35's on it, it is a toy that will
cost big to keep on the road.

'You play, you pay' is real saying in an off road vehicle, double that
for an old one.

There are narrow track and wide track ones, I don't know the cut off,
but think it is 78 or so. In a CJ5, 'I' would want the older narrow
track one. I run on deep Canadian Bush trails and my 86 CJ7 wide track
Dana 44 is wide in places, an old narrow track Jeep can follow an ATV
easy. I have to work at it for physical size with wide tire YJ's or
TJ's having to actually climb the trees to fit through some places.

My opinion for you,

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

drex wrote:
>
> any suggestions on what to look for when purchasing a cj5?

 

To look for....

A V8 and a 'stock' original suspension.

That will be the best CJ5 going. A 258 6 is the best engine for
crawling torque (she won't stall at 500 rpm on a serious hill climb,
just dig if you get too steep) and gas mileage and still is respectable
for power on the highway. A 4 is great off road with the highway still
able to hold legal speed, but it is a 4 banger after all.

I actually have been surprised by 4's, they have kept up on the highway
getting there and on the trail so well that I didn't realize they were
4's until told and I take out a lot of Jeeps on semi organized trips.

Look for stock.

If it has been modified in any way, the owner has very likely driven it
to the limits of it's modifications. This causes extreme wear on stock
parts. That is reality. If it has 35's on it, it is a toy that will
cost big to keep on the road.

'You play, you pay' is real saying in an off road vehicle, double that
for an old one.

There are narrow track and wide track ones, I don't know the cut off,
but think it is 78 or so. In a CJ5, 'I' would want the older narrow
track one. I run on deep Canadian Bush trails and my 86 CJ7 wide track
Dana 44 is wide in places, an old narrow track Jeep can follow an ATV
easy. I have to work at it for physical size with wide tire YJ's or
TJ's having to actually climb the trees to fit through some places.

My opinion for you,

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

drex wrote:
>
> any suggestions on what to look for when purchasing a cj5?

 

On Sun, 1 Aug 2004, DougW wrote:

> drex did pass the time by typing:
>> any suggestions on what to look for when purchasing a cj5?
>
> Round tires are always a good sign.
[...]
> I'd be checking the frame for rust as that's the most difficult
> thing to fix.

Right. Frame rot in the last foot and a half, body and floor rot just
about everywhere. Make sure that the body and the frame still have mounts
that bolt together instead of jumbles of rust that line up. If you can
pick up the body back by the wheel wells, that's a bad sign. Look for
badly hacked up and patched wiring harness. Look for signs that it has
been tossed, like a twisted roll bar or dents in the forward foot of the
hood -- CJ-5s liked to get sideways when driven aggressively on slick
pavement and roll over. (Think: Kid, parking lot, first snow, lead foot,
hidden curb... bonk.)

As others have noted, a CJ-5 that has been built up has probably also been
beaten up. Look for snow plow mounting points -- plowing snow is hard
work on a truck and ages it fast. Look to see if all the original safety
equipment is in place: A fellow was here last week wanting to know how to
add 4-way flashers to his CJ with an aftermarket steering column. He
won't pass his local inspection without them. Find out what emissions
equipment is required for your locale, and how much of it still exists on
the Jeep you are looking at. Remember that the engine you find under the
hood probably isn't the one that the factory put in and that in some
places you've got to comply with emissions regs for the vehicle or the
engine, which ever is more restrictive.

Some gauges might not work: The oil pressure sender is a known failure
point, as is the voltage regulator built into the gas gauge/temp gauge
set. The ground (between the tub and the tank) for the gas gauge
eventually gives out. Gas tanks eventually rust where they meet the skid
plate.

Look to see if the front drive shaft is in place -- people have been known
to pull them off, probably to hide problems. All of the U-joints will
eventually give up, they're replacement items, but sloppy splines on the
drive shafts are more expensive problems. The parking brake probably
hasn't been used in years and the cables are rusted tight. Turn the hub
locks to 4WD and try to turn the U-joints in the steering knuckles with
your finger -- if the hub lock is working you shouldn't be able to. Turn
the locks back to 2WD and you should be able to spin the U-joints. The
older Warn hubs have plastic parts that give up.

Know that you can mail order just about everything you need to build,
repair or rebuild a Jeep. Depending, of course, on how deep your pockets
are. If you're looking at something that needs a lot of work just to be
roadable you could drop $5K on it before you see pavement.

Ask here if you've got questions about anything you're looking at, before
you drop any money on it. There's plenty of folks here that want to help
and there really aren't many stupid questions, apart from "Is a big crack
down the side of the transmission and a pile of gear teeth on the floor
under it a bad sign? or "Are pistons supposed to be visible from outside
the engine while it is running?"

Let us know what you find.

 

On Sun, 1 Aug 2004, DougW wrote:

> drex did pass the time by typing:
>> any suggestions on what to look for when purchasing a cj5?
>
> Round tires are always a good sign.
[...]
> I'd be checking the frame for rust as that's the most difficult
> thing to fix.

Right. Frame rot in the last foot and a half, body and floor rot just
about everywhere. Make sure that the body and the frame still have mounts
that bolt together instead of jumbles of rust that line up. If you can
pick up the body back by the wheel wells, that's a bad sign. Look for
badly hacked up and patched wiring harness. Look for signs that it has
been tossed, like a twisted roll bar or dents in the forward foot of the
hood -- CJ-5s liked to get sideways when driven aggressively on slick
pavement and roll over. (Think: Kid, parking lot, first snow, lead foot,
hidden curb... bonk.)

As others have noted, a CJ-5 that has been built up has probably also been
beaten up. Look for snow plow mounting points -- plowing snow is hard
work on a truck and ages it fast. Look to see if all the original safety
equipment is in place: A fellow was here last week wanting to know how to
add 4-way flashers to his CJ with an aftermarket steering column. He
won't pass his local inspection without them. Find out what emissions
equipment is required for your locale, and how much of it still exists on
the Jeep you are looking at. Remember that the engine you find under the
hood probably isn't the one that the factory put in and that in some
places you've got to comply with emissions regs for the vehicle or the
engine, which ever is more restrictive.

Some gauges might not work: The oil pressure sender is a known failure
point, as is the voltage regulator built into the gas gauge/temp gauge
set. The ground (between the tub and the tank) for the gas gauge
eventually gives out. Gas tanks eventually rust where they meet the skid
plate.

Look to see if the front drive shaft is in place -- people have been known
to pull them off, probably to hide problems. All of the U-joints will
eventually give up, they're replacement items, but sloppy splines on the
drive shafts are more expensive problems. The parking brake probably
hasn't been used in years and the cables are rusted tight. Turn the hub
locks to 4WD and try to turn the U-joints in the steering knuckles with
your finger -- if the hub lock is working you shouldn't be able to. Turn
the locks back to 2WD and you should be able to spin the U-joints. The
older Warn hubs have plastic parts that give up.

Know that you can mail order just about everything you need to build,
repair or rebuild a Jeep. Depending, of course, on how deep your pockets
are. If you're looking at something that needs a lot of work just to be
roadable you could drop $5K on it before you see pavement.

Ask here if you've got questions about anything you're looking at, before
you drop any money on it. There's plenty of folks here that want to help
and there really aren't many stupid questions, apart from "Is a big crack
down the side of the transmission and a pile of gear teeth on the floor
under it a bad sign? or "Are pistons supposed to be visible from outside
the engine while it is running?"

Let us know what you find.

 

On Sun, 1 Aug 2004, DougW wrote:

> drex did pass the time by typing:
>> any suggestions on what to look for when purchasing a cj5?
>
> Round tires are always a good sign.
[...]
> I'd be checking the frame for rust as that's the most difficult
> thing to fix.

Right. Frame rot in the last foot and a half, body and floor rot just
about everywhere. Make sure that the body and the frame still have mounts
that bolt together instead of jumbles of rust that line up. If you can
pick up the body back by the wheel wells, that's a bad sign. Look for
badly hacked up and patched wiring harness. Look for signs that it has
been tossed, like a twisted roll bar or dents in the forward foot of the
hood -- CJ-5s liked to get sideways when driven aggressively on slick
pavement and roll over. (Think: Kid, parking lot, first snow, lead foot,
hidden curb... bonk.)

As others have noted, a CJ-5 that has been built up has probably also been
beaten up. Look for snow plow mounting points -- plowing snow is hard
work on a truck and ages it fast. Look to see if all the original safety
equipment is in place: A fellow was here last week wanting to know how to
add 4-way flashers to his CJ with an aftermarket steering column. He
won't pass his local inspection without them. Find out what emissions
equipment is required for your locale, and how much of it still exists on
the Jeep you are looking at. Remember that the engine you find under the
hood probably isn't the one that the factory put in and that in some
places you've got to comply with emissions regs for the vehicle or the
engine, which ever is more restrictive.

Some gauges might not work: The oil pressure sender is a known failure
point, as is the voltage regulator built into the gas gauge/temp gauge
set. The ground (between the tub and the tank) for the gas gauge
eventually gives out. Gas tanks eventually rust where they meet the skid
plate.

Look to see if the front drive shaft is in place -- people have been known
to pull them off, probably to hide problems. All of the U-joints will
eventually give up, they're replacement items, but sloppy splines on the
drive shafts are more expensive problems. The parking brake probably
hasn't been used in years and the cables are rusted tight. Turn the hub
locks to 4WD and try to turn the U-joints in the steering knuckles with
your finger -- if the hub lock is working you shouldn't be able to. Turn
the locks back to 2WD and you should be able to spin the U-joints. The
older Warn hubs have plastic parts that give up.

Know that you can mail order just about everything you need to build,
repair or rebuild a Jeep. Depending, of course, on how deep your pockets
are. If you're looking at something that needs a lot of work just to be
roadable you could drop $5K on it before you see pavement.

Ask here if you've got questions about anything you're looking at, before
you drop any money on it. There's plenty of folks here that want to help
and there really aren't many stupid questions, apart from "Is a big crack
down the side of the transmission and a pile of gear teeth on the floor
under it a bad sign? or "Are pistons supposed to be visible from outside
the engine while it is running?"

Let us know what you find.

 

On Sun, 1 Aug 2004, DougW wrote:

> drex did pass the time by typing:
>> any suggestions on what to look for when purchasing a cj5?
>
> Round tires are always a good sign.
[...]
> I'd be checking the frame for rust as that's the most difficult
> thing to fix.

Right. Frame rot in the last foot and a half, body and floor rot just
about everywhere. Make sure that the body and the frame still have mounts
that bolt together instead of jumbles of rust that line up. If you can
pick up the body back by the wheel wells, that's a bad sign. Look for
badly hacked up and patched wiring harness. Look for signs that it has
been tossed, like a twisted roll bar or dents in the forward foot of the
hood -- CJ-5s liked to get sideways when driven aggressively on slick
pavement and roll over. (Think: Kid, parking lot, first snow, lead foot,
hidden curb... bonk.)

As others have noted, a CJ-5 that has been built up has probably also been
beaten up. Look for snow plow mounting points -- plowing snow is hard
work on a truck and ages it fast. Look to see if all the original safety
equipment is in place: A fellow was here last week wanting to know how to
add 4-way flashers to his CJ with an aftermarket steering column. He
won't pass his local inspection without them. Find out what emissions
equipment is required for your locale, and how much of it still exists on
the Jeep you are looking at. Remember that the engine you find under the
hood probably isn't the one that the factory put in and that in some
places you've got to comply with emissions regs for the vehicle or the
engine, which ever is more restrictive.

Some gauges might not work: The oil pressure sender is a known failure
point, as is the voltage regulator built into the gas gauge/temp gauge
set. The ground (between the tub and the tank) for the gas gauge
eventually gives out. Gas tanks eventually rust where they meet the skid
plate.

Look to see if the front drive shaft is in place -- people have been known
to pull them off, probably to hide problems. All of the U-joints will
eventually give up, they're replacement items, but sloppy splines on the
drive shafts are more expensive problems. The parking brake probably
hasn't been used in years and the cables are rusted tight. Turn the hub
locks to 4WD and try to turn the U-joints in the steering knuckles with
your finger -- if the hub lock is working you shouldn't be able to. Turn
the locks back to 2WD and you should be able to spin the U-joints. The
older Warn hubs have plastic parts that give up.

Know that you can mail order just about everything you need to build,
repair or rebuild a Jeep. Depending, of course, on how deep your pockets
are. If you're looking at something that needs a lot of work just to be
roadable you could drop $5K on it before you see pavement.

Ask here if you've got questions about anything you're looking at, before
you drop any money on it. There's plenty of folks here that want to help
and there really aren't many stupid questions, apart from "Is a big crack
down the side of the transmission and a pile of gear teeth on the floor
under it a bad sign? or "Are pistons supposed to be visible from outside
the engine while it is running?"

Let us know what you find.