After a long summer of off-roading and overlanding, our Jeep Wrangler is in need of some maintenance. Most of these things you can do at home, but we went to Nate’s Precision to get some expert advice on what to look at after your vehicle has spent hundreds of miles going down washboard roads. Nate Jensen is a master fabricator who is responsible for building the Ford truck we used in our 37” vs 40” tires video, but he is also an ASE certified mechanic with years of dealership and fleet maintenance experience for local businesses in Reno. This gives Nate a unique set of skills when it comes to anticipating, identifying, and troubleshooting issues, and we are going to share some of his tips and tricks for you to apply to your own vehicle at home in your driveway.
We understand that it isn’t as exciting to check your ball joints for wear as it is to say… buy bigger tires, but it is an important practice that can keep you from breaking down on the trail. Or worse, sitting on the side of the road waiting for a tow truck while your friends are living it up in Moab. This is good advice for any vehicle, but ‘wheeling rigs that are subjected to hard use off-road need to be inspected on a regular basis. Large tires, like the 37-inch Nitto Trail Grapplers on our Jeep, create stresses that would destroy the drivetrain of most passenger cars in short order. Airing those tires down, wedging them between boulders, and trying to turn the wheel to negotiate obstacles all increase those stresses exponentially. Keep in mind that “new” noises and vibrations are clues that you may have an issue that should be investigated before they turn into bigger problems.
10 Items on your off-road rig you NEED to check regularly:
—Tires (cuts, bruising, or missing lugs)
—Suspension hardware (torqued to spec)
—Bushing wear (track bar, control arms)
—Fluid levels and condition (coolant, oil, transmission, transfer case, axles, power steering, brakes)
—Brakes (pad wear, warped rotors, brake lines, drum adjustment, leaking seals)
—Front axle (ball joints, unit bearings)
—Steering (tie rod ends, jam nuts, steering box, rag joint)
—Wheel torque and balance
—Filters (oil, tranny, fuel)
—Leaks (identify and fix)
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Great video