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Strength of battery cables!!

Well, I FINALLY got my '85 CJ7 into the mud for the first time since I bought it. She did surprisingly well considering it's mostly stock (WAYYYY better than my '88 YJ). I only got stuck twice in the 2 hours of pure mudding and both times I probably could have gotten out with a bit more effort (both times in the same damn spot too ...grr!). Anyways, I managed to get her home and here was the damage report:

  1. Rear bumper and hitch actually were FIXED. They were bent prior to going out but I got hung up on the pavement as I was entering the offroad area (2 foot straight drop) and it bent it back into place ..lol. I took a bit of concrete with me too ...whoopsies.
  2. Broken passenger side fender flares both front and rear
  3. Bent both tow hooks on the front slightly downwards (because of the oversized stock bolthole in the frame on each hook that I used ...I guess they just shifted a bit from the force)
  4. Broken wiring harness under the hood (no idea where it goes either)

And ...I finally figured out in the light of day today why my foglights stopped working ...I popped the hood and lo-and-behold, my battery broke out of the tray, snapped ALL of the wires that were hooked up to it (including my foglight wires), except for the positive and negative cables. It was HANGING by these two cables and that's it. Somehow it never shorted out and would start fine (restarted at the gas station afterwards ...luckily no ground-spark from the positive terminal!). Quite a surprise to say the least. I guess repair job #1 is to SECURE the battery in with some kind of strapping system seeing as how the stock tray system is not working out too well ;p So ya, just so everyone knows ...battery cables are quite strong :)

Damn it feels good to be back in the mud again. My neighbours don't seem too thrilled about the mud-clumps littering my driveway again ;p

Reply to
griffin
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Reminds me of my first Jeep. I was 17 at the time. It was a 63 CJ-5 with a 350 Chevy V8 (poorly installed by the previous owner). The positive battery cable slipped between the battery tray and the fender. As I bounced up and down on the dirt road, it pinched the cable enough between the tray and the fender to cut the insulation and short the wire. The Jeep suddenly stopped running as smoke poored out from under the hood and battery acid ran down my right front tire.

Fortunately, my friend and I were close enough to walk

2 miles back home.

Pete

Reply to
Pete Elton

Reply to
Drink

I would take a very close look at that hitch if you "fixed" it that easily.

Reply to
CRWLR

Ya, it's only "fixed" in the sense that it's straight now. The entire hitch assembly bolts have ripped right through the frame bumper part at the back and is quite ready to come off at the slightest pull ...Speaking of which ...is there any easy way of replacing that piece ...it looks to be welded to the frame and is part of the Jeep frame member itself ...I'm going to get a local guy to build me a custom rear bumper next spring but it looks as though it either has to bolt to this piece or go around behind it and bolt through the frame.

I'll have to take a picture since it's hard to describe ...unless someone out there has the same design ...

Reply to
griffin

On a CJ the rear bumper is the frame rear cross member. It is welded along the top edge to the frame rails, I'm not sure if it is also welded to the bottom of the rail or not, but hazy memory says it is. There are also beads joining the frame rail to the member inside the channel of the member, and that cross member is also your rear body mount points. I don't have a catalog in front of me right now but either 4WD.com or Quadratec (or both) sells new, heavy-duty rear cross members, prepunched and ready to weld in. It'll be easier than having your local ironmonger cobble up something that almost -- but not quite -- fits.

If your rear cross member has gone to cheese you should be prepared to do some repair work to the last 18" of frame as well, especially the inner face of the box. You'll need to drop the fuel tank and skid plate to get the cross member out anyway, so it shouldn't be quite so difficult. While you've got the tank out inspect it carefully for rust, now would be the least painful time to replace a 20 year old fuel tank.

Don't skimp and try to just weld extra metal over the rot. That's like putting extra mustard on your sandwich to cover the taste of the bad turkey. Either way you'll regret it later.

Reply to
Lee Ayrton

Thx for the advice. I'll look into that over the winter and try and build enuf of a Jeep fund to have that done. That rear "bumper" crossmember is TOAST ...I'm not sure wth the previous owner was doing ...trying to pull a house off it's foundation I'm guessing ...but he sure bent it and ripped it all to shreds.

Reply to
griffin

Mine is toast too.

I need the back 8" of frame as well.....

Mike

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

griff>

Reply to
Mike Romain

Reply to
L.W.(ßill) Hughes III

I have a 3/16" or maybe even a 1/4" 2x4 angle iron welded to the cross member, with a pintle hitch welded to the angle iron. I also had a couple of gussets added to the frame and cross member to reduce flexing of the frame.

One might be inclined to suggest that my welded-on part would pull the cross member apart, but I have drug a mid '60s Dodge 3/4 ton truck with split-rim tires - well, only one remaining - and one of those utility boxes on the back like plumbers used back in the day, about 2 miles down a mountain gully to the street so the wrecker could pick it up. The pintle hitch was the anchor point for the chain, and the spotter said there was no sign of flexing. I am pretty sure I could hang my Jeep by its pintle hitch from a helicopter if I had to - of course, if I had to, I am not sure I would want to bother.

Reply to
CRWLR

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