2010 Wrangler lifted with Christmas tree lights

Hi vman, looking at replacing the suspension tie rods, steering clock, abs sensors and wheel bearing would that tighten up the steering wobble, also it’s for a tow behind an Rv. Would you have the transmission and axle fluids swapped .
 
Rvusa said:
Hi vman, looking at replacing the suspension tie rods, steering clock, abs sensors and wheel bearing would that tighten up the steering wobble, also it’s for a tow behind an Rv. Would you have the transmission and axle fluids swapped .
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I bought an '07 that needed a lot of work, but got it really cheap and did the work myself. I did a ton of work and put a lot of better than stock parts into it, got it regeared, and have about $20k into it including the purchase price of the vehicle.

Check the VIN for the clock spring. There is a major recall on the early year JK's so you may be able to get that one done for nothing.

You can spend about $1.5k and get top of the line aftermarket drag link, track bar and tie rod. Replacing all of them yourself with stock parts would cost around $500 I think.

A top of the line steering system, including a gear box, is about $1.7k. You can get a stock replacement gear box for about $600.

You could replace the knuckle ball joints and front wheel bearings for about $400.

You'd want to change all the fluids of course because you have no idea of their condition. Trans, coolant, oil, diffs, transfer case.

Dropping the pans on the oil, trans and diffs I'd do before buying it. You don't want to drop the pans/covers after paying for it and find chunks sitting in there.

I'd also ask for a compression test. That's a lot of miles. Mine has almost 160k on it too, but the compression is still around 165 on all cylinders so high mileage isn't necessarily a deal breaker.

All depends how much you're willing to work on it and do what's going to need done.
 
Thanks for all the input and advise inc the walk away part, the Christmas tree lights appear to be all suspension, brakes, abs wheel sensors and possible clock sensor, just from what I’ve read, it’s been in the swamp not too bad with rust and neglected recently, my thoughts are any Jeep I buy needs all of this around the price I have 8k. I’m buying one to tow behind an RV… with that being said how much abuse will it get being towed behind and and what suggestions on the above items which are on the dash need immediate work to ensure it doesn’t wander or lock up behind the Rv. Thanks
 
Rvusa said:
Thanks for all the input and advise inc the walk away part, the Christmas tree lights appear to be all suspension, brakes, abs wheel sensors and possible clock sensor, just from what I’ve read, it’s been in the swamp not too bad with rust and neglected recently, my thoughts are any Jeep I buy needs all of this around the price I have 8k. I’m buying one to tow behind an RV… with that being said how much abuse will it get being towed behind and and what suggestions on the above items which are on the dash need immediate work to ensure it doesn’t wander or lock up behind the Rv. Thanks
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It's the same as flat towing any 4x4 with a solid front axle.

If it were me I'd make sure it's driveable before trying to tow it. You'd need to make sure all the steering components, driveshafts, transmission, transfer case, wheel bearings, ball joints, diffs, etc etc were all good to go first. You don't want it locking up or having death wobble while towing it.

It's cost effective if you do the work on a 3.8L. Those engines don't have much power but they very dependable. When I got mine I figured that even if I needed to replace the engine and tranny I was still getting a deal, and that was before used vehicles were at the 40%+ markup they are now.

A bone stock 2007-2010 JK with about 50k miles is going to run you $20k if you can find one. Question to me is, can you get everything done for $12k? I think you can, and then it's running better aftermarket parts than that $20k bone stock JK with 50k miles (assuming no rust or major electrical problems).

Miles are also not as good of a baseline as one would think. A 50k mile engine is not necessarily better than a 150k mile engine, especially if those 50k miles were all frequent short trip miles.

To me it all comes down to the fact that for an $8k purchase price, some sweat, and an investment, you can make an older Jeep better than the off the lot options for the same cost. It seems I'm in the minority with that viewpoint, but it's also the reason you can still find nice CJ's floating around.

Maybe it's just the hillbilly in me, but I find a lot of satisfaction in taking something no one would be interested in and turning it into something people offer me money for in parking lots.
 
Hi vman, wheel bearings and drive shafts is that one piece , brakes rotors looks straight forward and could go aftermarket on the existing suspension. Parts see attached

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Hi vman, reading the below and looks like all would need to be replaced to ensure safety and no chance of death wobble, not sure the 8k is such a good deal

Jeep Death Wobble: Explanations & Fixes

Wrangler death wobble is both fixable and preventable. After reading our guide, check out our Jeep death wobble video to see how we solved this Jeep issue.
www.extremeterrain.com www.extremeterrain.com
 
Rvusa said:
Hi vman, reading the below and looks like all would need to be replaced to ensure safety and no chance of death wobble, not sure the 8k is such a good deal

Jeep Death Wobble: Explanations & Fixes

Wrangler death wobble is both fixable and preventable. After reading our guide, check out our Jeep death wobble video to see how we solved this Jeep issue.
www.extremeterrain.com www.extremeterrain.com
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Unless you're looking at a much newer model it would all need to be replaced anyway. Stock cost for new drag link, tie rod and track bar is about $500. I spent closer to $1500 for top of the line aftermarket stuff, replaced the entire steering system, and got it regeared all in (inc purchase price) at that $20k mark. That includes all of the other little stuff like replacing sensors and gaskets as well as replacing the flooring system with Armorlite.

Cost comes down to who does the work. If you pay someone to do the work, it's probably not worth it.

If you have the luxury of doing it yourself, you'd be surprised what you can get done for $12k.

That $12k of do-it-yourself would cost 4x that amount with labor from a shop added.

You can always spend more for something you can drive off the lot, but there's no guarantee you won't be seeing the same problems 1k miles down the road.

To each their own I guess.

In my case, I have all brand new top of the line components for the same price I would have paid for a stock vehicle with no obvious problems off a lot.
 
Thanks for weighing in, with it being at a dealer not sure they will go down further than 8 I thinking it needs 2k to clear the errors with just doing rotors brakes any of the suspension and sensors bushes etc which are worn out, that not thinking of any drive shaft or axle things
 
I call BS that they don't have a code tool. Ask at a local O'riellies or something like that if you can borrow one. Explain the situation, you may need to leave a deposit or phone.

My understanding for when all the lights are on is that a big thing is wrong and not necessarily what the lights are telling you. The brain could be failing, or it could be as easy as a major ground. Codes can at least give you an idea. Take a pic with your phone and look them up yourself, or bring them here.
 
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