First Mods

After purchasing the jeep, I noticed the steer was not precise and the jeep tended to wander. As a result of this issue, I did some reading and found there were a variety of possible causes several things to consider when working on the front suspension. I decided to gusset the Cs and truss the front axle since work needed to be done on the front end and decided the work was probably beyond my ability (I am NOT a good welder) and to take it to a local 4x4 shop for troubleshooting. The shop suggested to sleeve the axle instead of adding a truss. I had had an alignment check done previously and found the axle's camber was just a little out-of-specification and there was a possibility an axle sleeve would correct the camber. That was a gamble regarding whether it would fix the camber problem but I figured that the sleeve would make the axle a little stronger so there wasnt much of a risk since it was less expensive to sleeve the axle and since I wasnt planning to do difficult trails, an axle truss might not be needed. Also I had read that it might be a good idea to do the lift before the axle truss as otherwise there could be interference. I'm not sure that is right; however, I also didnt see much of a downside. While installing the sleeve, replacing the ball joints, and installing the C gussets, the work, the shop found noticed several issues that needed to be addressed. Initially the tie rods were worn and could not be adjusted due to rust so I decided to replace both the tie rods and the drag link with Teraflex HD hardware. The shop also found a significant amount of rust inside the axle and that 2 of the 4 hub bolts on the passenger side where almost rusted half way through and we decided to replace all the hub bolts. After the purchase, I found that rust is an on-going issue with jeep and each should be looked at closely prior to purchase. In my jeep's case, the frame was undercoated with a thick undercoating which since applied has started to crack. My understanding is that when that happens, water enters through the cracks, gets trapped an then causes rust. I have since been removing as much of the cracked undercoating as possible. From what I can tell, the frame hasnt been damaged significantly; however, it is something I'm watching closely. There does not appear to be significant rust elsewhere but I have a suspicion the jeep sat for a period of time in water up to the bottom of the cab or was exposed to salted roads (it was from Nebraska) for a while.