Do you have a local, reliable, honest mechanic? I do and after I bought my used F-250, I had him go through it from top to bottom. He told me what to do today, what to do next year, etc...

I was worried about the transfer case, transmission and differentials but he checked them all and said they were fine, to wait a year or two on them as I put less than 5K miles on the truck every year and the fluids looked great.

He was more worried about the condition of the brake lines (rusting) and it needed some minor front suspension work.

Since I don't drive it very much (drive my fleet SUV from work mostly), when I go on vacation I drop it off at his shop and tell him to drive it for the week when he's running errands or picking up parts. Sometimes I'll come back and he's fixed something minor he's found, other times he just says she's running great.

Thanks for the responses so far. I have a mechanic that I trust who’s going to go over it on Wednesday. I went ahead and changed the oil and fluid in both differentials today. I debated on pulling the covers on the differentials but the oil looked pretty clean and there were no metal shavings or chunks on the drain plug magnet so I elected not to. I think the transmission service is too much for me due to clearance issues getting the pan off. I need to figure out how to service the transfer case and a coolant flush to see if those are things I can do.

As far as brake and power steering fluids- is it good enough to do the turkey Baster method and refill on those rather than do system flushes?

Come to think of it, FWIW, winter is coming soon and that's when I like to replace my windshield wipers. Usually the Sun over the Summertime has beat them up pretty badly.

You might consider getting the battery tested, assuming it doesn't look very new, or you can verify how old it is by visual inspection.

I always like going into Wintertime with fresh wiper blades and a good strong battery.

AND BTW although I carry jumper cables in both vehicles, I now really like the little jump boxes. They're small, will fit in either of my gloveboxes, etc. And by golly, they work very well. The one I recently bought weighs probably just a few pounds, definitely less than 4 or 5 pounds.
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quote:

Originally posted by phxtoad:
Three possible outcomes:

1. You'll drive the Jeep and discover its a Jeep, and you are not a Jeep fan.

2. You'll drive the Jeep and like it, but not really take it off road much and be happy with it as is.

3. You'll take it off road, get the goofy grin, discover that bigger tires would be nice, start researching lifts, lockers, axle swaps, bumpers, winches, recovery gear, roll cages, on-board air, armor, etc. etc. etc. Just Empty Every Pocket...

In all seriousness, for off-roading the biggest improvement for any Jeep is good tires. Learn to drive it stock before you make any other modifications.

Enjoy!

Todd

Even though it’s not an answer to the OP, this is still an excellent post. Jeep Wranglers are not for those looking for comforts in their ride. 2010 Wrangler Sport for me. Lift kit, oversized wheels and tires with some other stuff added. It’s a vehicle that you can customize & make to look all your own. I love it!

Enjoy!

I have a mild case of the "death wobble" on my TJ. It occurs about 55-60mph and hitting a bump in the road. It feels like a tire out of balance. Had tires balanced again at last rotation. Wanted to rule out tire imbalance. The issue was still present.

So I look around and noticed the lower front control arm bushings are getting cracked at bit. Something to be aware of and check out before it becomes an issue.