Renegade's Patrol Log

JEEP LINKS including vendor sites for parts and tools as well as sites for jeep organizations

PATROL LOG includes log entries of minor repairs and and adventures between time of purchase and the present.

RENEGADE MAINTENANCE Ever changing detailing, oil change, lube, etc. maintenance routines developed for Renegade based on the BillyBob routines, including required tools, materials and procedures.

8. One damn thing after another

September 27^th 2015  Yesterday, I finally spent a few hours in the BillyBob Shop before the heat and humidity sent me scrambling for cover. Ever since I got Renegade back on the road as a daily driver, I've been suffering with chassis noise much like a lawn service trailer makes when crossing railroad tracks. Sounds like things are falling apart under there sometimes. It sounds bad but feels fine. There is no wobbling or erratic tracking behavior. I've been under the Jeep half a dozen times trying to find something loose. I did find that the transfer case stabilizer nut on the bottom of the crossmember to be loose but can't be tightened as it's stripped. Couldn't find the stabilizer by itself for sale so I got a complete engine mount kit (engine mounts, transmission mount and stabilizer) since it was in the range of only forty bucks. Yesterday, I got the grinder out and ground the stripped nut off. Then, propped up the drive train with a scissors jack and lowered the crossmember with a transmission jack. After I had it all back together, took a run around the parking lot and I'm still trying to convince myself that there is an improvement to the chassis noise problem.

October 7^th 2015 On Saturday when Gato stopped by, I told him about the chassis noise and that I hadn't found it yet. He offered to put it up on his lift (GTO Auto Repair) to get a better look on Wednesday after he got some other work out of the way. Gato found a problem straight off.

The panhard rod mount on the rear axle was loose. I could only blame myself for this because back when I installed the Gale Banks Catback exhaust system, I had to remove the rod to get the tailpipe in.  Gato ran the nut in, then lowered Renegade to the ground to tighten it up with the suspension at its normal riding height. I don't know why Jeep puts a panhard rod on this vehicle since the parallel leaf springs already perform the job of laterally locating the axle. Seems redundant to me.

In the afternoon there was a power outage up in Boca and when the power came back, the computer network didn't so I had to make a run to the Krash Lab to get the network up for my co-workers. The chassis noises were gone. Gato had nailed it. On the trip back from the Krash Lab, however, the left front brake started sticking again. It's one damn thing after another.

Before Gato was ready for me yesterday, I repaired the tailgate latch.  It had stopped working soon after I got Renegade back on the road. Several weeks ago, I took the latch cover off. It was a Catch-22 operation. When the latch broke, it would not open anymore. However, to get the latch cover off the tailgate has to be open. Damnation! I crawled into the back over the front seat and took the latch cover torx cap screws out. Two were concealed, however, between latch and striker. These I got out with tedious vice-grip technique. Latch cover still would not come off as the latch fits through a hole in the cover, not a slot. Damnation again.I was able to bend the cover enough to the side to get my hand in there and explore by touch.  After several curses, I found a loose rod and hole it belonged to and was able, with more curses, to get them back together long enuf to get the tailgate open.

The lock rod plastic retainer clip had become brittle and broke and then the rod fell out.  I consider these biodegradable plastic items to be a dubious engineering achievement. I decided to thread the end of the rod and put double hex nuts on it to fix the thing. This idea didn't work so well. Had to disconnect the rod from the lock cylinder for this task and, in the process, sent the e-clip that secures this connection sailing into space. Triple Damnation! After I threaded the rod and fitted it, I abandoned this solution. It would work but the rod is substantially smaller than the hole it fits in and the solution was therefore sloppy. The accursed plastic clip fits around the rod where it fits thru the hole and , as such, is also a bushing.

It took several weeks and a few false purchases but I finally ended up with an e-clip assortment from McMaster-Carr and a rod retainer clip assortment from Clips and Fasteners that would work. In the meantime, I had cleaned and painted the tailgate latch cover. I got the rod retainer clip installed but it was loose where it clipped to the rod. If it comes loose because of this, I will secure it with a zip tie. I didn't think to do that until I had the latch cover back on. A 1/4" e-clip secured the lock cylinder connection. I sprayed some white lithium grease on rubbing parts before I replaced the latch cover and put paid to this operation.

December 20^th 2015  Over the weekend, Renegade's front disk brakes were replaced. Been having trouble with the driver side sticking ever since I got it out of the warehouse. Gathered the parts and kept putting it off. Last week the situation hit critical mass. It was metal on metal and I hoped it wasn't as bad as it sounded every time I came to a stop. Saturday was spent cleaning and rearranging the BillyBob Shop so I could get the front end of the Jeep into it for the work. After the Jeep was up on jack stands and the wheels removed, this is what the driver side brake looked like.

I had watched the Youtube vids and read the manuals but, having never worked with disk brakes before, I was apprehensive and,  with Renegade, there are always gotchas that I don't anticipate. This job was no exception in the gotcha department. First task on Sunday was replacing the brake hoses, a half hour job on the trucks, but not Renegade. The hose bracket is part of the hose assembly and held in place on top of the frame rail with one of the accursed Torx cap screws. The fly in the buttermilk is that said fastener resides directly below the inner fender well and said fender well is one of the few items of real steel on this plastic Jeep. On top of that, everything was rusted, including the hose fitting and on the driver side, the intake air box had to be removed to get access. Much cursing was deployed but, after a couple of hours, I got things apart, losing one of the Torx screws in the process. The new hoses were installed and buttoned up as best could be. The reason the hoses were replaced was because I suspected the driver side hose had swollen nearly shut and was not releasing the caliper when the brakes were released.

Except for having to employ a BFH (Big Friggin' Hammer) to get the old (twenty-four years) calipers and rotors off, the rest of the job went smoothly. The Youtube videos helped in this area. None of the many I watched covered the brake hose replacement and now I know why. Then, I broke my Power Bleeder tool while trying to replace the rotted vinyl tubing on it and rendered it unusable for this job. Got out my old Mitivac vacuum bleeder and suffered with it for a hour and a half but eventfully got solid pedal. Put the tires back on for a test drive and it nearly took the limit of my strength to manhandle the oversize wheels on. Closed the shop on this one and retreated to the Flamingo Room to nurse my aches and pains.

April 2^nd 2016  About six weeks back, the outside driver's door latch on the Renegade broke. This wouldn't have been a big deal 'cept the the inside door latch was already broken and I hadn't gotten around to attending to it yet. This time my procrastination antics put my tail in a sling. The only way to get at the latch was taking the inner door panel off and that can't be done with the soft skin portion of the door in place. I was reduced to climbing in and out of the soft skin window while I pondered the situation.

I finally found a source for the soft skin frames and ordered a pair. Today was the day I got the sawzall out and cut the soft skin frame off. I was then able to pop off the inner door panel. Now. I can get the door open by manipulating the rods inside the door by hand until I can repair the latches.

  It's the end of a melancholy week. Last Saturday, old time car buddy, Anthony Messuri, passed away unexpectedly. I used to tell Anthony that following his '51 Merc leadsled up I-95 was like being in the wake of a big sports fisherman. My friend, Gato, was also finishing up moving his shop, GTO Auto Repair. out of our complex. He gave me a Craftsman tool cart and a homemade detailing cart he no longer had use for. I think I can put the tool cart to good use. The good news is that he will only be about a half mile away at his new digs. I got into the beer of the day, Florida Beer Company Sweet Stout, much too early to get much work done. It, too, was bittersweet.

April 16^th 2016 I finally got the correct outside door latch for Renegade's half door. I had mistakenly ordered the latch for the full size door first time around. This happens often with the Jeep and I am building up an inventory of spare parts.

 The old latch came out and the new one went in easily enough since I had the correct torx screw bit for the job. The new latch even had a new plastic rod retainer on it so I won't have to go in search of another obscure part. I'm not finished yet. I still have to get the inside latch working as well as the key lock. 

June 29^th 2016 Good luck and bad luck on the way in to the Krash Lab this morning. I was running late and it was already daylight. That's good. About half way there, the right front tire on Renegade came apart. That's bad. Traffic was still light and I was able to pull over to a fairly safe spot. That's good. I was not going fast so the tire disintegration did not tear up Renegade's fiberglass fender. That's real good. It was the passenger side tire so my ass was not hangin' out in traffic as I changed it. That's good. Was able to get the spare on and back on my way in about twenty minutes. That's good.

July 20^th 2016 More good luck and bad luck. Driving to the Shop from the Krash Lab a week ago Sunday evening, Renegade started sounding worse and worse. The failing power steering pump (I think), that had been exhibiting a whine for some time now, also started ticking like a playing card in a bicycle spoke. Steering has been stiff for a few weeks as well. That's bad. The last three blocks also had serpentine belt screeching and nasty metal clunking that I could not identify but I did make it to the shop parking lot. That's good. Once again all my vehicles are down for the count. That's bad. The Enterprise rental place is a five minute walk from the BillyBob Shop and I was able to rent a Fiat 500 junebug econobox in short order on Monday morning. That's good. Nice little car but I'm puzzled by the 140 MPH speedo.

July 21^st 2016 Procuring the parts for Renegade's repairs are SNAFU. This happens often with the Jeep for unknown reasons. I don't like working on the Jeep much and Renegade knows this it seems. My policy with Renegade, when something breaks, is to use performance replacements. This is to reward the hot rodder in me with something shiny for my efforts. This time I ordered a PSC Motorsports High Performance Steering Pump Kit from Quadratec and a 1998 Dodge Durango Steering Gear Box (direct bolt in replacement for the stock Jeep steering gear) from RockAuto and Redline Power Steering Fluid thru Amazon. All these items were ordered with expedited shipping. The next day when I noticed no movement on the Quadratec order, I logged in to discover it had been backordered. Arrugh! Went back to RockAuto and ordered a standard power steering pump kit with hoses. As of today, I have the stock steering pump, stock hoses, Durango steering gear box, the steering pump fluid and a steering pump pulley tool. The stock hoses arrived separately in a later shipment. Ironically, the backordered steering pump has hoses. Like I said: SNAFU.  

July 25^th 2016 Timing is everything. When I had all the parts and tools assembled for the Renegade's steering repair, I got notification from Quadratec that the backordered performance steering pump kit was shipping but . . . there was a problem with the credit card. SNAFU again! Called Quadratec and got that straightened out and the pump kit was finally on it's way. During the ride to the Krash Lab a couple of days back. a "Generic Warning Light" lit up on the rental Fiat 500 dash. Ay, Caramba! Murphy is aware of my procrastination and he is beating me like a rented mule for it.

Well, just damn! The performance steering pump kit arrived with only 2 pages of cryptic instructions that are not application specific and I couldn't find any more detailed info on either the Quadratec or the PSC Motorsports websites. This is gonna require some DPM thinking and I don't have the time for that. Guess I'll install the stock replacement pump for now to get Renegade back on the road.

March 1^st 2017 Renegade has sat in front of the BillyBob Shop for over seven months now. I anticipate electrical and fuel problems to go along with the broken steering. Pulled the Jeep battery and brought it into the shop. Voltmeter reading was 5.42 volts. Battery chargers won't charge an Optima  battery lower than about nine volts.  I tossed a battery a few years ago for this reason. Then I learned a trick. If you attach the low battery to a fully charged battery in parallel and connect the charger the the good battery, it will charge the low battery. When the low battery reading comes up enough, you can disconnect them from each other and top them off in the usual manner. Beer of the day was Mendocino Brewing Company's Red Tail Amber Ale. It didn't agree with me.

July 18^th 2017 Dayum! Time flies. It's been two years since the last Renegade episode was posted. Renegade waits forlornly in the shop parking lot for me to get back to him. I decided it's past time to post an update due to an e-mail I got from another Renegade owner, Riemer Faber. He was nice enuf to write and send me some pics of his Renegade so I thought I would bring things up to the present and send him a link. Lord knows when I'll get back to workin' on the Jeep again.

< Back to IntroMore to come. Stay tuned. >

You can email me at  webmaster@laroke.com

Issued Tuesday July 17, 2017

copyright © 1996-2017 Larry Robert Kephart all rights reserved