In your Jeep Creep questions, please list your first and last names, your hometown, and your state/province/country, so that we can publish that information here. If you don’t provide this information, we may not be able to publish your question and answer. Don’t forget to be as complete as possible with the description of your Jeep and its problems, too.

No Jeep Recalls

Trail Tips
In April 2010, I instituted a new feature. I call it Trail Tips, and I’ll be including up to three tips each month shuffled in amongst the questions and answers. I’ll be numbering them sequentially so if you keep a file on the tips, you’ll know right away if you’re missing any.

Trail Tip #15: If you’re going to be traveling in the Golden State this year or next, take a peek at http://www.californiajeeper.com/. You’ll love this site. It gives all the information you’ll need to find most of the best trails in California.

M38 T-case
On my ‘52 M-38 I have a Dana 20 transfer case mated to a 456 Saginaw tranny via an Advance Adapters’ adapter. My question is this: The main drive gear doesn’t mesh properly with the drive gear on the intermediate shaft, can I just keep shimming the main drive gear til it matches properly or am I missing something? There’s about a 1/3” difference.
BCWillys
Elkford, British Columbia, Canada

Advance Adapters has one of the best customer service centers in the business. Just call or e-mail Advance Adapters and ask a rep for the procedure. He can lead you through it step by step.

Two-inch Cherokee
I have a ‘96 Cherokee. I’m wondering if it is possible to get 31s under the body without a lift by just using 2-inch spacers all the way around?
Cherokee
Westerlo, NY

Depending on the width of the tire you use, it may fit with some light trimming around the wheel openings, but it will still be a tight fit. You might consider Bushwhacker fender flares for more clearance.

Lock-Rite Lockers
I own a 1992 YJ. The previous owner installed Lock-Rite lockers. It pulls when accelerating, bucks when turning slowly, and occasionally pops for no apparent reason. The manual assures me that this is normal. Am I hurting my drivetrain? Is it bad for it to drive on pavement? It has great traction!
George Alford
Tallahassee, FL

When I built my son’s Scrambler about 15 years ago, I installed Lock-Rite lockers in it. I have to admit that their torque release snap in the corners is annoying and scary to a new driver, but the Scrambler’s lockers are still working fine. And I haven’t noticed any additional wear and tear on the drivetrain—although you may want to replace the U-joints in the rear driveshaft more often. Before I gave it to my son it was my daily driver for several years, and all the pavement miles didn’t hurt it.

Trail Tip #16: Visit http://www.4x4books.com/ for a selection of books on trails in several Western states. They’re accurate, educational, and entertaining.

Red Hot Header
I have ‘97 Jeep Wrangler TJ. I recently installed a Banks torque tube. The other day I was driving and the Jeep was running like it was missing really hard or like it wanted to stall out in all gears except idle. I also noticed the header was glowing bright red. I know both O2 sensors are bad. I just changed the fuel pump also. Any insight?
Frank
Visalia, CA

How are the walnuts coming in this year, Frank? You really need to replace the O2 sensors. The computer is getting bogus information and causing the fuel injection to run really lean (that’s the reason for such a hot exhaust and the misfiring). You may have other problems as well, but the O2 sensors are the first step.

Chevy Transplant
I have access to a 1987 Chevrolet 350 V8, 700R4 transmission, and the transfer case. Will the transfer case work in place of the Jeep’s original T-case and avoid the purchase of the adapter needed for the conversion? And if so, what would the level of difficulty be?
Pitmaster
Pembroke, GA

You didn’t mention what year Jeep but that doesn’t really matter in this case. I happen to have a ‘76 Chevy small block 400 V8 with a Turbo 350 tranny in my own CJ7—and it’s awesome—but I used an Advance Adapters’ adapter to mate the T-case and tranny. You have two major problems in trying to use the Chevy T-case; length of driveline versus wheelbase and mating the T-case outputs to the locations of the differentials. U-joints can only handle one angle at a time and live, so they have to be straight and parallel with the length of the Jeep. In my opinion, the combination of the 700R4 and Chevy T-case are too long for a CJ/YJ, not to mention on which sides the output shafts are found.

X Marks the Sport
How can I tell if my 2005 Wrangler is a Sport or an X model? It has no markings either way—no “Sport” nor “X.” The VIN shows a “3” in the sixth character, but no markings on the exterior.
Bill Klausman
Vancouver, WA

I’m not sure why you wish to know which is which, but the only things I could find that are different are the OEM wheels and tires. Wheels: Both offer 15x7 steel wheels as standard and 15x7 aluminum wheels as an option, but the Sport also offers 15x8 aluminum wheels as an option. Tires: SE & X = P215/75R15 Goodyear Wrangler RT/S; Sport (optional on X) = P225/75R15 Goodyear Wrangler GS-A. I did find some Jeep TJ forums online. Check the Off-Road.com forum or Google or Bing “Jeep TJ forums” if you’d care to look into this further.

Cracked Cherokee Hose
I’m kinda new to owning a Jeep, and I recently acquired a 1988 inline 6, 4.0 Cherokee from a guy in New Jersey. He used it for rock crawling and was no longer able to drive it, so he sold it for a pretty sweet price, but it has a lot of little problems with it. One problem is that one of the air lines is cracked on it, right where it goes into the top of the engine. I think it’s a vacuum hose, but I’m honestly not sure. It leads straight from the intake box to the top of the engine, when the molded piece that goes into the engine has a crack in it. Because of this, the engine sometimes fits and starts as I drive it, in a way that makes me worry about doing further damage trying to drive it. This car is my main way of getting around, and I need it for basic travel. If you could recommend to me where I can get a replacement part for this, as well as let me know what might have caused such a crack, I would appreciate it.
Tommy
Shirley, NY

This sounds like your engine’s crankcase vent tube, which allows blow-by to be sucked into the intake. Your best bet is to visit your closest Jeep dealer. They still carry these OEM parts. While you’re there, buy a repair manual for Cherokees.

Trail Tip #17: Next month I start a new series on building a Jeep. This time I’m using a 1989 Jeep Cherokee equipped with an inline 4-liter six-cylinder engine and automatic transmission. This project XJ will use a Cherokee chassis, but all of the mods being installed are applicable other Jeep models as well, so keep your eyes peeled!

T-Case Parking Brake
I have a 1949 Willys with a T-18 transfer case. I would like to put a transfer case mounted e-brake on it but cannot find a kit that will work on my transfer case. Any help would be appreciated.
jjk1948
Clovis, CA

Go to the Tom Wood’s Custom Drive Shafts website (http://www.4xshaft.com/) or TSM Brakes (http://www.tsmmfg.com/). You should be able to find what you need at one of those websites.

Trail Tip Teaser—In next month’s tips, I’m going back to providing tips you can use while on the trail to stay safe and maybe get you home.

As usual, each month, I’m shouting out a huge THANK YOU to Paul Schupp at Rock Lizard 4x4 in Kingman, Arizona, for his invaluable assistance in answering many of the Jeep Creep questions.