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1972 Jeep J4000 Brake Master Cylinder - Photo 60402689

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  • I changed the oil and filter with some fresh 15W-40 Valvoline diesel oil and a good Wix filter and topped off all the fluids. Rather than buy a new air filter element for the factory housing I just installed the whole filter assembly from my ’78 Cherokee Chief since it already had a new filter element in it. I’m cheap. The TH400 shifts perfectly and the Dana 20 doesn’t leak a drop.
I changed the oil and filter with some fresh 15W-40 Valvoline diesel oil and a good Wix filter and topped off all the fluids. Rather than buy a new air filter element for the factory housing I just installed the whole filter assembly from my ’78 Cherokee Chief since it already had a new filter element in it. I’m cheap. The TH400 shifts perfectly and the Dana 20 doesn’t leak a drop.
Rats had chewed through some of the headlight and front turn signal wiring during the truck’s storage. Thankfully the “tune up” the seller said the truck needed wound up being nothing more than stale fuel. Some in-tank fuel cleaner and a full tank of fresh gas quickly cured the stumbling. Unfortunately, the maiden voyage to the gas station uncovered two new problems. Other than an aftermarket mechanical oil gauge and a funky fuel level gauge from when the vehicle was operated on LPG back in the ’80s, the interior is completely stock. The factory under-dash A/C needs a recharge, but the AM radio works perfectly. Sadly, the factory bench is tattered and broken. It’s the one thing in the interior that needs replacement. The bed is incredibly solid but has a scary gooseneck ball mount that’s welded right to the underside of the bed sheetmetal. Hopefully nobody actually towed a horse trailer with it. I added some hardware store tie-downs to keep stuff from sliding around. The farm bars, as I call them, will stay. This ’72 is a 1⁄2-ton with five-lug Dana 44s and 4.10 gears. The 11-inch drum brakes are in good condition and were already properly adjusted. The closed-knuckle front seals don’t leak, so I’ll most likely toss some CJ discs on the front and call it a day. There’s a bearing growl from either the front or rear, but I’ll track that down when I get into the brake upgrades in a later installment. The previous owner knew his way around a toolbox. The 360 is in great mechanical condition with no leaks or issues. The factory Motorcraft carburetor was replaced with a 500 cfm Holley two-barrel after the LPG system came off, but everything else under the hood is in perfect working order from the factory points-type ignition to the wiper motor. The front of the pickup rides like a marshmallow. The springs are majorly fatigued and the bushings are probably toast. After 42 years the factory shocks do virtually nothing to arrest vertical motion, so some new shocks will be in this truck’s future. I don’t want to lift the suspension, so I’ll look into stock replacement springs or possibly fixing up the originals. I changed the oil and filter with some fresh 15W-40 Valvoline diesel oil and a good Wix filter and topped off all the fluids. Rather than buy a new air filter element for the factory housing I just installed the whole filter assembly from my ’78 Cherokee Chief since it already had a new filter element in it. I’m cheap. The TH400 shifts perfectly and the Dana 20 doesn’t leak a drop. The first problem was the tires, which were totally dry-rotted and unbalanced. Even keeping speeds under 35 mph to and from the gas station, the Jeep squirmed and wandered all over the road and the tires jumped and thumped like they were riding on cobblestones. A receipt from the glovebox showed the 30x9.50R15s were installed in 1996. No wonder.
The second problem was fuel started dripping on the ground from the filler neck as soon as the tank was topped off…and didn’t stop until at least six or seven gallons had spilled out. The factory rubber fuel filler neck was completely dry-rotted and split. Thankfully, MTS Company had just the right fuel filler in stock and ready to ship, so a couple days later I was able to fill the tank without most of my fuel dribbling onto the pavement. The MTS filler neck dropped right in place of the original. A little more investigating around the fuel system and under the hood led to a few dry-rotted vacuum lines which, after being replaced, smoothed out the idle tremendously. The engine runs cool and strong, although the manual choke lever for the carb is busted. Injection, here I come—eventually. Not wanting to die in a fiery wreck anytime soon, I ordered five Toyo MT tires in a slightly larger 31x10.50R15 size and brought them to my local 4 Wheel Parts to be mounted and balanced on some 15x8 Pro Comp white steel wheels. The Toyo MTs are every bit as quiet as an all terrain on the road, yet bite like nobody’s business off-road. I’ve already put the Toyos to the test, pulling out a buddy’s diesel pickup and trailer that got stuck in the sand out in the desert. The Pro Comp wheels are made in the USA, and the price definitely fits the low-budget theme of this rig. The need to pull my ’71 CJ-6 project to a shop required some trailer towing ability, so I wired up a seven-pin connector into the old-school aftermarket wraparound bumper and made sure it was properly attached to the framerails. I also ran wiring for my electric trailer brakes controller, but I have a period-correct hydraulic controller I’m debating on installing. At an estimated combined weight of 6,500 pounds, I can’t say towing my Rockwell-shod CJ-6 on my trailer with a bed full of CJ tires and axles was a pleasure. The 360 has plenty of low-end grunt for around town, but it lacked the top-end pulling power to maintain speeds on steep highway grades. It needs at least 330hp and 400 lb-ft, so I may build an AMC 360 for it. The front suspension and steering control was also marginal, and the brakes...ugh. Check back next time for solutions to some of these problems.
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