CA to PA in a CJ
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CA to PA in a CJ
After driving the CJ5 across America I've decided that it's not nearly as bad as most people told me it would be or I thought it would be. The ride was great, even with an 84-inch wheel base. Yes, some new bushings and shocks would improve things, but it's hard to take the time to fix stuff after the Jeep just proved itself on a 6000 mile loop. The power of the one barrel fed AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l was great, plenty of torque down low to pull every gear yet revs at speed. A little cold blooded in the morning, but aren't we all? The exhaust manifold that heats the intake manifold is a horrible design. I had to patch the exhaust leak in PA to survive the trip home. However it often registered between 10 and 14 MPG, not bad for a 38 year old Jeep fresh from the junk yard. The 3-speed manual was just fine. Yes an Overdrive for above 59MPH would have been nice, but it all stayed together just fine for a few highway jaunts up to about 69. I can't say I like driving it that fast though as the loose manual steering and double pump brakes were less than confidence inspiring on highways. The dana/spicer 20 Transfer Case only popped out of gear once while off road. Though the amount 4wheeling I did on the trip was dismal. That is a complaint I have, I should have wheeled er more.
I guess that's my point, this CJ was awesome for back roads. It cruised great at speed, not high speed, or low speed, but right in the middle speed. say 35 to 55, the best Cross-America speed I'd say. Fast enough to get somewhere, slow enough to see stuff. The old low back seats were just fine, the half doors only were installed on cold nights or mornings, but mixed with the tired under dash heater it was plenty of protection from the wind to make for comfy driving. The worst parts of the trip were when we ran big highways like 40 and 70. The noise from other vehicles is so tremendous it wears you out. Plus the big rigs can push and pull the little Jeep around just from the amounts of air they displace. It got spooky a couple times. Oh and the rain was great on hot days except that the wipers don't work, making for less than safe travel.
So there is my quick little synopsis, and these photos show an article from Fourwheeler mag where they tested a similarly equipped CJ back in July of '73.
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After driving the CJ5 across America I've decided that it's not nearly as bad as most people told me it would be or I thought it would be. The ride was great, even with an 84-inch wheel base. Yes, some new bushings and shocks would improve things, but it's hard to take the time to fix stuff after the Jeep just proved itself on a 6000 mile loop. The power of the one barrel fed AMC 258 i6 / 4.2l was great, plenty of torque down low to pull every gear yet revs at speed. A little cold blooded in the morning, but aren't we all? The exhaust manifold that heats the intake manifold is a horrible design. I had to patch the exhaust leak in PA to survive the trip home. However it often registered between 10 and 14 MPG, not bad for a 38 year old Jeep fresh from the junk yard. The 3-speed manual was just fine. Yes an Overdrive for above 59MPH would have been nice, but it all stayed together just fine for a few highway jaunts up to about 69. I can't say I like driving it that fast though as the loose manual steering and double pump brakes were less than confidence inspiring on highways. The dana/spicer 20 Transfer Case only popped out of gear once while off road. Though the amount 4wheeling I did on the trip was dismal. That is a complaint I have, I should have wheeled er more.
I guess that's my point, this CJ was awesome for back roads. It cruised great at speed, not high speed, or low speed, but right in the middle speed. say 35 to 55, the best Cross-America speed I'd say. Fast enough to get somewhere, slow enough to see stuff. The old low back seats were just fine, the half doors only were installed on cold nights or mornings, but mixed with the tired under dash heater it was plenty of protection from the wind to make for comfy driving. The worst parts of the trip were when we ran big highways like 40 and 70. The noise from other vehicles is so tremendous it wears you out. Plus the big rigs can push and pull the little Jeep around just from the amounts of air they displace. It got spooky a couple times. Oh and the rain was great on hot days except that the wipers don't work, making for less than safe travel.
So there is my quick little synopsis, and these photos show an article from Fourwheeler mag where they tested a similarly equipped CJ back in July of '73.
CA to PA in a CJ | Digg It | Add to del.icio.us
More...