Well, I FINALLY got my '85 CJ7 into the mud for the first time since I
bought it. She did surprisingly well considering it's mostly stock (WAYYYY
better than my '88 YJ). I only got stuck twice in the 2 hours of pure
mudding and both times I probably could have gotten out with a bit more
effort (both times in the same damn spot too ...grr!). Anyways, I managed to
get her home and here was the damage report:

1. Rear bumper and hitch actually were FIXED. They were bent prior to going
out but I got hung up on the pavement as I was entering the offroad area (2
foot straight drop) and it bent it back into place ..lol. I took a bit of
concrete with me too ...whoopsies.
2. Broken passenger side fender flares both front and rear
3. Bent both tow hooks on the front slightly downwards (because of the
oversized stock bolthole in the frame on each hook that I used ...I guess
they just shifted a bit from the force)
4. Broken wiring harness under the hood (no idea where it goes either)

And ...I finally figured out in the light of day today why my foglights
stopped working ...I popped the hood and lo-and-behold, my battery broke out
of the tray, snapped ALL of the wires that were hooked up to it (including
my foglight wires), except for the positive and negative cables. It was
HANGING by these two cables and that's it. Somehow it never shorted out and
would start fine (restarted at the gas station afterwards ...luckily no
ground-spark from the positive terminal!). Quite a surprise to say the
least. I guess repair job #1 is to SECURE the battery in with some kind of
strapping system seeing as how the stock tray system is not working out too
well ;p So ya, just so everyone knows ...battery cables are quite strong :)

Damn it feels good to be back in the mud again. My neighbours don't seem too
thrilled about the mud-clumps littering my driveway again ;p

 

Reminds me of my first Jeep. I was 17 at the time.
It was a 63 CJ-5 with a 350 Chevy V8 (poorly installed
by the previous owner). The positive battery cable
slipped between the battery tray and the fender. As
I bounced up and down on the dirt road, it pinched the
cable enough between the tray and the fender to cut
the insulation and short the wire. The Jeep suddenly
stopped running as smoke poored out from under the hood
and battery acid ran down my right front tire.

Fortunately, my friend and I were close enough to walk
2 miles back home.

Pete

--

Pete Elton
2002 Solar Yellow TJ (Wrangler X)
1950 Orange CJ-3A
m416 trailer http://vegasauto.net/m416/

remove the '.jeep.' for the correct e-mail address.

 

Reminds me of my first Jeep. I was 17 at the time.
It was a 63 CJ-5 with a 350 Chevy V8 (poorly installed
by the previous owner). The positive battery cable
slipped between the battery tray and the fender. As
I bounced up and down on the dirt road, it pinched the
cable enough between the tray and the fender to cut
the insulation and short the wire. The Jeep suddenly
stopped running as smoke poored out from under the hood
and battery acid ran down my right front tire.

Fortunately, my friend and I were close enough to walk
2 miles back home.

Pete

--

Pete Elton
2002 Solar Yellow TJ (Wrangler X)
1950 Orange CJ-3A
m416 trailer http://vegasauto.net/m416/

remove the '.jeep.' for the correct e-mail address.

 

Reminds me of my first Jeep. I was 17 at the time.
It was a 63 CJ-5 with a 350 Chevy V8 (poorly installed
by the previous owner). The positive battery cable
slipped between the battery tray and the fender. As
I bounced up and down on the dirt road, it pinched the
cable enough between the tray and the fender to cut
the insulation and short the wire. The Jeep suddenly
stopped running as smoke poored out from under the hood
and battery acid ran down my right front tire.

Fortunately, my friend and I were close enough to walk
2 miles back home.

Pete

--

Pete Elton
2002 Solar Yellow TJ (Wrangler X)
1950 Orange CJ-3A
m416 trailer http://vegasauto.net/m416/

remove the '.jeep.' for the correct e-mail address.

 

Holy smokes! That sounds a little like me when 1) I get pissed at the
world and 2) I need to find the weakest link for my next upgrade:)
Jim
"griffin" <gryffy@DELTHISshaw.ca> wrote in message
news:4LBad.74423$a41.40444@pd7tw2no...
> Well, I FINALLY got my '85 CJ7 into the mud for the first time since I
> bought it. She did surprisingly well considering it's mostly stock (WAYYYY
> better than my '88 YJ). I only got stuck twice in the 2 hours of pure
> mudding and both times I probably could have gotten out with a bit more
> effort (both times in the same damn spot too ...grr!). Anyways, I managed
> to
> get her home and here was the damage report:
>
> 1. Rear bumper and hitch actually were FIXED. They were bent prior to
> going
> out but I got hung up on the pavement as I was entering the offroad area
> (2
> foot straight drop) and it bent it back into place ..lol. I took a bit of
> concrete with me too ...whoopsies.
> 2. Broken passenger side fender flares both front and rear
> 3. Bent both tow hooks on the front slightly downwards (because of the
> oversized stock bolthole in the frame on each hook that I used ...I guess
> they just shifted a bit from the force)
> 4. Broken wiring harness under the hood (no idea where it goes either)
>
> And ...I finally figured out in the light of day today why my foglights
> stopped working ...I popped the hood and lo-and-behold, my battery broke
> out
> of the tray, snapped ALL of the wires that were hooked up to it (including
> my foglight wires), except for the positive and negative cables. It was
> HANGING by these two cables and that's it. Somehow it never shorted out
> and
> would start fine (restarted at the gas station afterwards ...luckily no
> ground-spark from the positive terminal!). Quite a surprise to say the
> least. I guess repair job #1 is to SECURE the battery in with some kind of
> strapping system seeing as how the stock tray system is not working out
> too
> well ;p So ya, just so everyone knows ...battery cables are quite strong
> :)
>
> Damn it feels good to be back in the mud again. My neighbours don't seem
> too
> thrilled about the mud-clumps littering my driveway again ;p
>
>

 

Holy smokes! That sounds a little like me when 1) I get pissed at the
world and 2) I need to find the weakest link for my next upgrade:)
Jim
"griffin" <gryffy@DELTHISshaw.ca> wrote in message
news:4LBad.74423$a41.40444@pd7tw2no...
> Well, I FINALLY got my '85 CJ7 into the mud for the first time since I
> bought it. She did surprisingly well considering it's mostly stock (WAYYYY
> better than my '88 YJ). I only got stuck twice in the 2 hours of pure
> mudding and both times I probably could have gotten out with a bit more
> effort (both times in the same damn spot too ...grr!). Anyways, I managed
> to
> get her home and here was the damage report:
>
> 1. Rear bumper and hitch actually were FIXED. They were bent prior to
> going
> out but I got hung up on the pavement as I was entering the offroad area
> (2
> foot straight drop) and it bent it back into place ..lol. I took a bit of
> concrete with me too ...whoopsies.
> 2. Broken passenger side fender flares both front and rear
> 3. Bent both tow hooks on the front slightly downwards (because of the
> oversized stock bolthole in the frame on each hook that I used ...I guess
> they just shifted a bit from the force)
> 4. Broken wiring harness under the hood (no idea where it goes either)
>
> And ...I finally figured out in the light of day today why my foglights
> stopped working ...I popped the hood and lo-and-behold, my battery broke
> out
> of the tray, snapped ALL of the wires that were hooked up to it (including
> my foglight wires), except for the positive and negative cables. It was
> HANGING by these two cables and that's it. Somehow it never shorted out
> and
> would start fine (restarted at the gas station afterwards ...luckily no
> ground-spark from the positive terminal!). Quite a surprise to say the
> least. I guess repair job #1 is to SECURE the battery in with some kind of
> strapping system seeing as how the stock tray system is not working out
> too
> well ;p So ya, just so everyone knows ...battery cables are quite strong
> :)
>
> Damn it feels good to be back in the mud again. My neighbours don't seem
> too
> thrilled about the mud-clumps littering my driveway again ;p
>
>

 

Holy smokes! That sounds a little like me when 1) I get pissed at the
world and 2) I need to find the weakest link for my next upgrade:)
Jim
"griffin" <gryffy@DELTHISshaw.ca> wrote in message
news:4LBad.74423$a41.40444@pd7tw2no...
> Well, I FINALLY got my '85 CJ7 into the mud for the first time since I
> bought it. She did surprisingly well considering it's mostly stock (WAYYYY
> better than my '88 YJ). I only got stuck twice in the 2 hours of pure
> mudding and both times I probably could have gotten out with a bit more
> effort (both times in the same damn spot too ...grr!). Anyways, I managed
> to
> get her home and here was the damage report:
>
> 1. Rear bumper and hitch actually were FIXED. They were bent prior to
> going
> out but I got hung up on the pavement as I was entering the offroad area
> (2
> foot straight drop) and it bent it back into place ..lol. I took a bit of
> concrete with me too ...whoopsies.
> 2. Broken passenger side fender flares both front and rear
> 3. Bent both tow hooks on the front slightly downwards (because of the
> oversized stock bolthole in the frame on each hook that I used ...I guess
> they just shifted a bit from the force)
> 4. Broken wiring harness under the hood (no idea where it goes either)
>
> And ...I finally figured out in the light of day today why my foglights
> stopped working ...I popped the hood and lo-and-behold, my battery broke
> out
> of the tray, snapped ALL of the wires that were hooked up to it (including
> my foglight wires), except for the positive and negative cables. It was
> HANGING by these two cables and that's it. Somehow it never shorted out
> and
> would start fine (restarted at the gas station afterwards ...luckily no
> ground-spark from the positive terminal!). Quite a surprise to say the
> least. I guess repair job #1 is to SECURE the battery in with some kind of
> strapping system seeing as how the stock tray system is not working out
> too
> well ;p So ya, just so everyone knows ...battery cables are quite strong
> :)
>
> Damn it feels good to be back in the mud again. My neighbours don't seem
> too
> thrilled about the mud-clumps littering my driveway again ;p
>
>

 

"griffin" <gryffy@DELTHISshaw.ca> wrote in message
news:4LBad.74423$a41.40444@pd7tw2no...
> Well, I FINALLY got my '85 CJ7 into the mud for the first time since I
> bought it. She did surprisingly well considering it's mostly stock (WAYYYY
> better than my '88 YJ). I only got stuck twice in the 2 hours of pure
> mudding and both times I probably could have gotten out with a bit more
> effort (both times in the same damn spot too ...grr!). Anyways, I managed
to
> get her home and here was the damage report:
>
> 1. Rear bumper and hitch actually were FIXED. They were bent prior to
going
> out but I got hung up on the pavement as I was entering the offroad area
(2
> foot straight drop) and it bent it back into place ..lol. I took a bit of
> concrete with me too ...whoopsies.


I would take a very close look at that hitch if you "fixed" it that easily.

 

"griffin" <gryffy@DELTHISshaw.ca> wrote in message
news:4LBad.74423$a41.40444@pd7tw2no...
> Well, I FINALLY got my '85 CJ7 into the mud for the first time since I
> bought it. She did surprisingly well considering it's mostly stock (WAYYYY
> better than my '88 YJ). I only got stuck twice in the 2 hours of pure
> mudding and both times I probably could have gotten out with a bit more
> effort (both times in the same damn spot too ...grr!). Anyways, I managed
to
> get her home and here was the damage report:
>
> 1. Rear bumper and hitch actually were FIXED. They were bent prior to
going
> out but I got hung up on the pavement as I was entering the offroad area
(2
> foot straight drop) and it bent it back into place ..lol. I took a bit of
> concrete with me too ...whoopsies.


I would take a very close look at that hitch if you "fixed" it that easily.

 

"griffin" <gryffy@DELTHISshaw.ca> wrote in message
news:4LBad.74423$a41.40444@pd7tw2no...
> Well, I FINALLY got my '85 CJ7 into the mud for the first time since I
> bought it. She did surprisingly well considering it's mostly stock (WAYYYY
> better than my '88 YJ). I only got stuck twice in the 2 hours of pure
> mudding and both times I probably could have gotten out with a bit more
> effort (both times in the same damn spot too ...grr!). Anyways, I managed
to
> get her home and here was the damage report:
>
> 1. Rear bumper and hitch actually were FIXED. They were bent prior to
going
> out but I got hung up on the pavement as I was entering the offroad area
(2
> foot straight drop) and it bent it back into place ..lol. I took a bit of
> concrete with me too ...whoopsies.


I would take a very close look at that hitch if you "fixed" it that easily.