Keepin' it runnin'...

[StG58]

@mrblaine brought up a good point in another thread where I asked about retrofitting a manual steering box to my power steering equipped TJ. His comment made me realize that I was probably approaching the train of thought on how to keep my TJ running over the long haul from the wrong perspective.

So, with that being said, what's your thoughts on how to keep the Jeep running for the next 20 years? Some wear parts are hard to get now, and some are no longer available. It happens. What, if anything, are you doing to keep your Jeep TJ running?

I've got a '99 TJ SE with a manual transmission. It's about as simple as it gets. I'm assuming that normal wear parts associated with the brakes will be available. I'm also assuming that tune up parts aren't going anywhere. I've replaced the ECM with a re-manufactured ECM. My power steering pump is probably on it's way o ut, but still works, so there's that. Alternators can be swapped out for various upgrades and GM single wire units.

Some of the other stuff I've been thinking about is the AX5 transmission.

The heater core. It's going to start leaking eventually. Water pumps?

Suspension related parts look like they will be available for awhile in one form or another.

Fuel pump and various sensors seem to be getting problematic.

A/C related parts?

What'cha all got that you think would be a wise investment to buy now and put on the shelf for later?

 

[Chris]

I stopped bothering with this train of thought as I think it's counter productive. I used to be in the mindset of hoarding parts and keeping things around incase something fails.

I realized this is pointless, as I can't predict the future. I came to the conclusion that it's better to cross those bridges when I get to them.

If 20 years passes and I can no longer get an OE Mopar sensor for instance, I would rather think about myself then as oppose to thinking about it now.

I relate it to those doomsday preppers who spend all their time thinking about "what ifs", stockpiling things, and worrying about what might come. I'd rather not have that type of mentality with a vehicle.

I realize this isn't helpful whatsoever. Personally though, I think with as many TJs as they made, and as popular as they are in the off-roading community, you'll never have to worry about being able to keep it running.

And as I always tell @psrivats, if worse comes to worst, put in a Chevy LS engine and call it a day. Parts for those things will be available forever. They are after all the most commonly swapped aftermarket engine out there.

 

[StG58]

I stopped bothering with this train of thought as I think it's counter productive. I used to be in the mindset of hoarding parts and keeping things around incase something fails.

I realized this is pointless, as I can't predict the future. I came to the conclusion that it's better to cross those bridges when I get to them.

If 20 years passes and I can no longer get an OE Mopar sensor for instance, I would rather think about myself then as oppose to thinking about it now.

I relate it to those doomsday preppers who spend all their time thinking about "what ifs", stockpiling things, and worrying about what might come. I'd rather not have that type of mentality with a vehicle.

I realize this isn't helpful whatsoever. Personally though, I think with as many TJs as they made, and as popular as they are in the off-roading community, you'll never have to worry about being able to keep it running.

And as I always tell @psrivats, if worse comes to worst, put in a Chevy LS engine and call it a day. Parts for those things will be available forever. They are after all the most commonly swapped aftermarket engine out there.

Well, there is that...

You can still get parts for MB's and CJ2A's from various sources, so if that is any indication, we can probably assume that we can keep our TJ's running essentially longer than we have to worry about it.

 

[Chris]

Well, there is that...

You can still get parts for MB's and CJ2A's from various sources, so if that is any indication, we can probably assume that we can keep our TJ's running essentially longer than we have to worry about it.

Yes, what's funny is that back in the day for instance it was much harder to get parts for lets say an MG (the British roadster) than it is nowadays! Now you can easily get parts for them, as more-and-more people are restoring them, and there is an entire industry that's popped up around it.

The same can be said for classic Camaros as well.

I'm not sure if this will happen with the TJ, but I predict it eventually will. The TJ seems to be incredibly popular among off-road guys, because we both know that no one wants to go out and drop 55k on a brand new JL Rubicon only to take it on the trails and get it all beat up a month later. I mean why do that when you could do it with a much cheaper TJ?

I'm just thinking out loud to be honest. I gave up on my parts hoarding though because I think I finally came to my senses.

 

[RV-TJ]

I would add that in the muscle car world (which I am part of in my "other life"), when demand gets high enough for a large enough collection of a type of car, parts become available. In the mid-80's, I scoured junk yards for parts. Had an 8x8 shed FULLLLLL of trim pieces, engine parts, fenders, you name it....even for cars I did not nor never did own (but wanted to).

By the mid-90's, during an extensive frame-off resto-mod, all of a sudden the aftermarket responded with parts I had never dreamed would be available. Headliners, dash bezels, trim rings, reproduction air cleaner stickers and spare tire jack instructions, etc etc. I'm not talking just your everyday '69 Camaro here...I'm talking my 1971 Buick GSX. BUICK! Not Chevy, Buick! Yes, I used a reproduction trunk pan from a 71 Chevelle because Buick's were unavailable, but still.

Today, you can buy BRAND NEW body shells for 69 Mustangs, 67-69 Camaro's, 55 Chevy's, even 28-34 Ford's and a huge host of others. Even 1980's era Fox Body Mustangs, you can now buy all the small stuff....interior pieces, engine components, more. Quadratech sells body shells and many parts for CJ's and older.

I'd say if it's popular enough, and maintains the popularity, the aftermarket will continue to respond. I know you originally talked steering pumps and brakes and transmissions, and A/C stuff. On my daughter's 1994 Buick Park Ave (54,000 miles) this past summer, the A/C compressor took a dump. It's a 25 year old car that is NOT a collector car. Still, we got a new A/C compressor from the aftermarket (not a rebuild — though they were available) that was a multi use / multi fit unit. Some tweaks here and there and the A/C is better than new. The local A/C service shop got a NEW condenser from a similar sized car....we made it all work.

Hope this gives you hope....bottom line....where there's a will there's a way!

 

[Chris]

I would add that in the muscle car world (which I am part of in my "other life"), when demand gets high enough for a large enough collection of a type of car, parts become available. In the mid-80's, I scoured junk yards for parts. Had an 8x8 shed FULLLLLL of trim pieces, engine parts, fenders, you name it....even for cars I did not nor never did own (but wanted to).

By the mid-90's, during an extensive frame-off resto-mod, all of a sudden the aftermarket responded with parts I had never dreamed would be available. Headliners, dash bezels, trim rings, reproduction air cleaner stickers and spare tire jack instructions, etc etc. I'm not talking just your everyday '69 Camaro here...I'm talking my 1971 Buick GSX. BUICK! Not Chevy, Buick! Yes, I used a reproduction trunk pan from a 71 Chevelle because Buick's were unavailable, but still.

Today, you can buy BRAND NEW body shells for 69 Mustangs, 67-69 Camaro's, 55 Chevy's, even 28-34 Ford's and a huge host of others. Even 1980's era Fox Body Mustangs, you can now buy all the small stuff....interior pieces, engine components, more. Quadratech sells body shells and many parts for CJ's and older.

I'd say if it's popular enough, and maintains the popularity, the aftermarket will continue to respond. I know you originally talked steering pumps and brakes and transmissions, and A/C stuff. On my daughter's 1994 Buick Park Ave (54,000 miles) this past summer, the A/C compressor took a dump. It's a 25 year old car that is NOT a collector car. Still, we got a new A/C compressor from the aftermarket (not a rebuild — though they were available) that was a multi use / multi fit unit. Some tweaks here and there and the A/C is better than new. The local A/C service shop got a NEW condenser from a similar sized car....we made it all work.

Hope this gives you hope....bottom line....where there's a will there's a way!

Yep, I see this happening with TJs as well, especially since they made quite a bit of them in comparison to some of the other vehicles out there.

I remember when I owned my '69 Camaro. I could literally open up an Eckler's catalog and find ANY part I wanted from a headliner all the way down to a friggin' tiny little trim piece for the dash. It's all there, and while it's not OE, the quality on the parts probably just as good as OE.

More reason I think this will happen is because with cars going towards electric, I would say that 40 years from now, there is going to be a lot of guys restoring older I.C.E. powered vehicles, even if they are just things like Honda Civics, Buicks, or Jeep Wranglers.

There's an industry there 30-40 years from now, I'd be willing to bet on it.

 

[MountaineerTom]

I’d say it depends on what it is. I replaced the original heater core in my LJ a year ago. I put an OEM heater core back in. It wasn’t really a hard job, just time consuming. Not something I’d want to do often. I took it to my local shop to get the a/c evacuated and asked my guy there how much they charge to do a heater core on TJ/LJ’s. He said the figure in about 8 hours for around $750. I definitely don’t want to do that often. So, I just recently bought another new OEM heater core from @Chris at a great price compared to what online dealers charge. It will sit on my shelf of Jeep stuff until I need it or if I ever get rid of the Jeep. Like I told Chris, if the original lasted 12 years and the current one AND the one I just got from him last 12 years each, I’ll probably be set for the rest of my life with OEM heater cores. LOL

 

[RV-TJ]

Now, none of this should stop you from, say, storing that factory fresh dash or Sahara seats, or a nice transfer case in the garage for future use. Right? Right?!?

 

[psrivats]

@Chris I agree with you that it's simply impossible to buy spares for everything, and it's usually not a good idea in general to buy and hoard stuff unless you have unlimited space and money. Life plans may change, we may end up selling the jeep or simply your tastes and needs change over time. I think the best thing to do is to take care of the vehicle as best as you can while you own it and figure out what to do about parts that need to be replaced when time comes. Look at the CJ guys, they still are keeping their vehicles running and our TJs will end up the same way. I always tell myself the Jeep is an end to a means - which for me is travel towards hiking/camping and enjoying nature. I do agree how you travel matters (as in that Petrolicious video I posted) which is why I bought a Jeep. And for all the negativeness around JK/JLs, I think worst case we can get one of those and still go on our with our lives. That's a good worst case to have, honestly.

 

[UPJOHN]

Rumor has it, driving anything running on fosil fuel might be against the law 20 years from now.

 

[Chris]

@Chris I agree with you that it's simply impossible to buy spares for everything, and it's usually not a good idea in general to buy and hoard stuff unless you have unlimited space and money. Life plans may change, we may end up selling the jeep or simply your tastes and needs change over time. I think the best thing to do is to take care of the vehicle as best as you can while you own it and figure out what to do about parts that need to be replaced when time comes. Look at the CJ guys, they still are keeping their vehicles running and our TJs will end up the same way. I always tell myself the Jeep is an end to a means - which for me is travel towards hiking/camping and enjoying nature. I do agree how you travel matters (as in that Petrolicious video I posted) which is why I bought a Jeep. And for all the negativeness around JK/JLs, I think worst case we can get one of those and still go on our with our lives. That's a good worst case to have, honestly.

Exactly. I don't like sitting around thinking about "What if this breaks 20 years from now, where will I get a part?". That's no way to live life. I'd rather just cross that bridge when (and if) it happens. But truthfully, I'd almost bet on it that 30 years from now, you'll be able to keep a TJ running without any issue at all. Hell, Quadratec sells complete replacement tubs for YJs and CJs, so I suspect it's just a matter of time before they have one for a TJ.

With the Wrangler being more popular than ever, if that trend continues, you can bet that these things will turn into classics at some point, and people will be restoring them and keeping them on the road.

I also think that other aftermarket companies will step-up and start offering OE quality (or better) replacement parts (i.e. radiators for instance) at some point. There is money to be made here in the Jeep industry, and it can't be ignored.