Welcome to the

Topic of the Week

This week, we're going to talk about the essential things you need to be able to rebuild, workaround, or jerry rig while out on the trail.

Can you fix your alternator using bailing wire, duct tape and a screwdriver?

Can you you fix a leaky radiator using an empty soda can and some twist ties?

Tell us how!

My all time favorite is when I broke both rear leafsprings. We jacked it up, put some rocks between the springs and frame and duck taped the hell out of them. Got me home, just eliminated all flex

I made a fan shroud for my XJ out of cardboard and Ductape.
Did this at camp at spider lake after overheating the whole way in.
Only got a little hot once on the way back out.

It worked so well I actully kept it as the permanent fix.
I believe the guy I sold the XJ to is still using that shroud.

we always have a couple of gas station cans of pepper in our tool boxes... Be amazed how big of a hole in a radiator you can clog up with about 5 cans of pepper. I know mines had 2 cans in it for the last year.. my buddys has 5 (whole side tank on his scout is almost falling off). (horse sh!t or sawdust works well too)

Saw a jeep in colorado break its frame in 1/2. They cut down a small aspen and ratchet strapped it to the frame to hold it all together .. drove it back to camp.

Buddy of mine tore his tranny out of his (un-reienforced) frame on his k5. We ratchet straped it back into place.. he drove out...

other than that.... i dont know haw many people owe me a

:beer: because i'm the only one who carrys a long magnet for retreiving broken axle pieces.:D


GREAT TOTW!!!

Well I didn't think of this while on the trail, it was after wheeling out of the snow and driving 100 miles back to Sacramento without a clutch but this is very easily doable on the trail.
My XJ(a '93) has this stupid plastic hydraulic clutch line and the thing broke for some reason while I was in some deep powder.
I cut each end of the plastic line(where it had melted against the header) for clean ends then took a piece of metal brake line and filed each end so it was sharp. Then while holding it with pliers I heated it up with a lighter(a torch would be much easier! :D ) and once it was about red hot I jammed it into the platic line. Finnaly I layed under the truck and heated the other end and jammed it in the line, bled the clutch and drove on it for two weeks till I got a new line to install.

Jes

I rebuilt a starter on Die Trying. The jackasses were pounding on it before because the drive was a bit sticky. When you pound on perminate magnet starters the magnet breaks in the armature.
Don't pound on starters.

Pull the through bolts on the back of the housing, the cover should come off, keep a hold of the grommet insulating the ground strap. Then there should be some sort of support for the brushes (Fords are the biggest PITA for the brushes) You can either pull the brushes now, or wait until the armature is off.
Next go to the nose cone, pull the 2-3 screws that hold the solinoid to the nose cone (most starters). Two of the screws stripped at the head on the starter being trail fixed. We took a drill and drilled the heads off the screws than pulled the nose cone off. You now should be able to pull the gear, and actuator off the armature. The armature should come out easy unless the magnet is fawked up and holding it in..so you might need to beat it out of there.
Now the armature is out, and so are the brushes. Take sand paper and clean the com (copper thing that the brushes ride on) until it looks like you grandmas copper tea kettle. Do the same to the brushes.
Spray housing down with brake/carb cleaner
Take a socket that is just slightly bigger than the com, nad put that in the brushes to hold them out for assembly in a minute. Put the armature back in the housing, add a little grease to the shaft where the drive slides on, put the nose cone back on, and attach the solinoid (we had to use self tappers) . Now you flop the starter over, and put the socket that has the brushes on top of the com, slide the brushes down, rotate to the correct spot. Put the grommet in for the ground strap
put the rear cover back on, tighten up the thru bolts, and you should be good to go, unless the armature fried, which is not very common.
The starter we did lasted for 2 months until it died at a gas station around town :laughing:

I sheared off my front left brake line once..To get it home, I smashed the metal line closed with a hammer against the axle housing.. brakes worked except it pulled really bad to one side. Had to drive it about 15 minutes on the freway.. Was an interesting drive.. Went to a pick'n pull and found a brake line off of a cherokee and drove the rest of the way home.

I pulled the clutch peldal brackets off where it mounts to my body on rocker knocker. I used bailing wire and 2 c clamps to hold it in place for the rest of my moab trip....it lasted the rest of prichett canyon, dump bump, pottao salad, hells reveng, and then broke pulling on the trailor.......

I know this changeing the question for the TOTW but it is sort of the same and that is what should you bring to do many of the trailside fixes? For me I bring a welder, air, and for parts I bring spring center pins (used 1 last trip) radiator stop leak, some nuts bolts and some wire connectors, driveline stuff, 1 stub axle, JB weld, some hoses of all sizes and some belts. Not much else because the more crap you haul the more often you will need those spare parts. IMHO

IMO, an essential for trail fixes is extra beer. At some point there will be a time where you need a favor and no way in hell will anyone take money for it but they will bend over backwards to help you and bust their ass doing it. beer is universally accepted as a token way of saying thank you and can help make a crappy situation bearable.

Yeah not everyone drinks, thats cool. No worries, I carry extra pepsi's also

- Dan

ps: I like Dean bringing his welder :D (thanks again)

I have a question about battery welding. There was a situation involving the steering box not being mounted like it was supposed to :rolleyes: so I grabbed some spare rod out of the trail box, and goggles. Well, 2 batteries wasn't enough to strike the arc and 3 was like a blowtorch. If you waited for a puddle to start you had a hole instead. It wasn't me messing with hooking up the batteries but the guys doing it tried lots of different ways with no success. Or maybe 7018AC is a bad choice for trail rod? :confused:

1/8" 7018 will run between 28-30 volts @100-120 amps. Try 2 batteries and 3/32"-1/8" 6011 but use #6 - #8 weld cable with at least 20 feet to give some resistance for current limit (play with the length/size to trim the arc). 6013 will run also but gives poor penetration compared to 6011. Remember to use the + stud for the electrode.

Originally posted by sgeissler
1/8" 7018 will run between 28-30 volts @100-120 amps. Try 2 batteries and 3/32"-1/8" 6011 but use #6 - #8 weld cable with at least 20 feet to give some resistance for current limit (play with the length/size to trim the arc). 6013 will run also but gives poor penetration compared to 6011. Remember to use the + stud for the electrode.

What he said.

Dan has a good point though. A bear or 10 can buy you allot on the trail. Thanks again for the:beer: Dan:p

I broke both motormounts which sent the fan into the radiator on a "Nice Little Hill" in Clayton OK last year. Used ratchet straps to hold the motor down, and Quiksteel on the radiator. Quiksteel is a 2 part putty, availible at most auto parts stores. Its a bit more clay like than JB weld, and both parts are together in the package.

i always carry a ton of the cheaper imitation jb weld. some fixes i have used it for are repaing a huge gash in a friends oil pan after he put his driveshafts through it. also fixed his radiator with it and he still runs the same radiator now 2 years later. i have patched tranny pans and gas tanks with it also.

another great fix i have done is use a highlift jacks main part, the 48 inch part the jack slides on as a tie rod. we did this on my buddies toyota axled rig and it was the perfect size. we just used 2 grade 8 bolts through the knuckles. he actually had to drive it off the trail and then on the road like this for about 2 miles and didnt have a problem. im not sure if it would work on a jeep axle but its about the same width.

i cant think of any others right now but if i remember ill put them in for yah

Did the broken leaf spring thing with firewood and bailing wire, wheeled for two days like that.
Bailing wire steering shaft coupler worked well.
Pepper in the radiator made me hungry, smelled like soup. Stitched a tire together with bailing wire then plugged the little holes.
Square lashed the leaf to the axle with cotton line after u-bolts broke.

JB'd a hole in the gas tank the size of a dime.


Chris G.

A pocket knife -- whittled some small sticks to patch a hole in the oil pan.

Bicylce inner tubes -- make all sorts o' seals, washers, straps, tire patches, tourniquets....

I have an 88 cherokee with the high pressure colling system crap, its all funding till it gets replaced.

so the plastic chamber cracked, Im in arizona, plastic lasts for seconds out here. So its a weekend Im in the middle on nothing.

I busted out the butane torch and melted the crack shut, I then agitate the crack with a screwdriver then melted it again, I heated agitated then cooled it like 3 or 4 cycles, then it worked fine, no cracks.

for plastic dash work you can use a soldering iron, to melt the pieces togeter, much better then glue.

have fun.

My motor mount broke and the oil filter became the new mount which popped a hole in it. I took a beer and drank it. Then I took the can and wrapped it around the filter and sealed it with duct tape. Then I ratchet strapped the motor up and wheeled all weekend like that.

i broke a u-joint, axle, upper ball joint last time i went out... we pounded the ball joint out, got a bolt long enough to go through took a chain link to make a washer for the top side (big hole) and cranked it tight as we could, removed the axles and drove it off the trail, and then home 25 miles (i did replace it the next day)

Hmm.. haven't seen the hi-lift jack handle used to put two pieces of tie rod back together trick listed yet.

Originally posted by 66CJdean
spring center pins (used 1 last trip)

Yes, center pins. I've had to file a bolt to fit once. Never again.

Originally posted by mike


Yes, center pins. I've had to file a bolt to fit once. Never again.

why didnt you just buy a cap scew? they can be found the right size. i think the ones in all 4 of my springs are metric SHCS the head was the exact dimension on the center pin.

Originally posted by sceep


why didnt you just buy a cap scew? they can be found the right size. i think the ones in all 4 of my springs are metric SHCS the head was the exact dimension on the center pin.

Where you gonna buy a cap screw out in the middle of the desert? Go wheeling often in front of the local Kragens? :eek:

i bet i'd have a HELL of alot easier time finding a cap screw than finding a file to shave down a hex head. :D

Winch cable around a busted shackle.

Sprite to clean a bad/corroded battery cable.

ARB Airline.

It is 5mm in size but 1/4 will sleeve it real tight. I put a little Super glue on the ARB line and pushed it into a chunk of 1/4 line used for ice makers. Worked like a charm for awhile. I did also use some electrical tape to help hold it together even more.

Worked well for a weekend of wheeling, that would have gone bad for 2.50 cents worth of Airline.

- hi-lift jacked the steering box to the frame on an early cj-5.

- ratched strapped the t-case to the roll cage though the hole for shifters after the crossmember lost its bolts..

- used the crappy tj jack to straighten a bent tie-rod, then zip tied & duct taped a hi-lift handle to the tie rod to keep it from rebending

- used crappy stock tj lug wrench as a poker stick at a camp fire

(and many say that the stock jack is useless..)

generally, if it can't be fixed with zip ties, duct tape, jb weld, or a bungee cord, then it's hopeless... :)

Originally posted by JohnnyJ


generally, if it can't be fixed with zip ties, duct tape, jb weld, or a bungee cord, then it's hopeless... :)

Don't forget the BFH!!!
Seemed like a lot of pissing around to fix a tie rod, I just used a rock and the BFH. :D

A buddy of mine broke the output shaft on his transfer case. Luckily it was a D300 that he hadn't twin-sticked yet.
We just set the linkages from underneath to give him front wheel drive-low range and he drove it home.
Yeah, I know, most people already know that. :rolleyes: But some don't. :flipoff2:

Originally posted by sceep
i bet i'd have a HELL of alot easier time finding a cap screw than finding a file to shave down a hex head. :D
I carry a file in my tool box.

Pressed in ball joints on a D-30 with rocks and a hi-lift after a U-joint grenaded, taking the ball joints out, through the top with the clips still in place. Welded the ball joints in to get home.

Was so wasted after a day in the hot sun and too many :beer: 's that I forgot one of the wheel bearings in the hub...

Ball joints were great though... Spindle wasn't so hot. Drove it three miles off the trail with no brakes or bearings in low range, rear wheel drive to a buddy's house 4 miles on pavement.
Went the next day, kicked myself for the bearings. Dropped a new brake line and bearings in and drove it home.
No problems at all. Still running those ball joints, new owner.

Originally posted by 66CJdean
I Not much else because the more crap you haul the more often you will need those spare parts. IMHO

Dean, I actually believe the inverse of this: You only break the parts for which you have no spares.

SeanP

bolts for steering arms(or studs) because winching once(drunk) the bolts were sheared off, leading to my next suggestion, some kind of bolt extraction.:rolleyes: extra hoses, belts, u-joints and fluids(ways to clean up the fluids also). ;)

lost a tie rod while flat-towing my cj7 70mph. yes it was violent. the bolt was nowhere to be found. used a shackle for a bolt/nut (see pic). then towed it 200 miles home...

What a great old thread.
I just read it for the first time and I have done or been party to many of these trial fixes.