Greetings. I have a 1996 XJ, 2-door, 4.0 L HO, 5-speed manual transmission, 4WD. It has 167,000 miles on it. I'm planning to take it on a 5,000+ mile (one month) trip, beginning around October 1: Western NC to Maine, back down to NC, and then out to Arizona and ending up in Oregon. It will mostly be interstate highways and some rural, back roads; no off road travel (maybe some forest service roads).

The vehicle is currently working fine. New in the last year: battery, alternator, fan clutch, water pump, thermostat, thermostat housing, coolant flush, drive belt, fuel module (pump, sending unit, etc.), fuel filter, crankshaft position sensor, front rotors, right front caliper, brake pads, right front wheel hub/bearing assembly, and steering dampener/stabilizer.

What preventative maintenance, other than an oil change, would you recommend for this long of a trip? I was thinking maybe changing the gear oil in the differentials. (I don't have my shop manual with me right now, so I may not even be mentioning valid things.) I can't remember if you change fluid/oil in a manual transmission at certain intervals. Are there any small(ish) parts you would take with you? I'll have tools and can do most things. (I did all the work listed above.)

Any advice and suggestions would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

Sounds like you've got a good start.

I just did new multi-hole injectors on my 96 and noticed a nice bump in fuel economy over my worn-out stock injectors. Vendors on this forum sell them, check the classifieds. I did 12 hole, but most do 4 hole. Something to consider given the miles you're looking to rack up.

Good luck!

 

Sounds like a NICE trip!

I figure others will reply to your thread but to start things here you could just check the diffs and trans fluids to see what they look like. If they look clean just top them off if needed. Do the same with the power steering pump and master cylinder. I use a hand operated squirter (ex: like in a Windex bottle). The larger the tube the quicker it goes. Squirt until the reservoirs are empty and fill to full lines.

So if you know the brakes and running gear are good to go how about the steering components? Front end alignment?

One thing I'll mention that happened to me on a trip a few years back. I had my original factory upstream o2 sensor die. It cut my fuel mileage from ~21mpg to ~13mpg. Luckily both sensors came out fairly easy.

 

Double check the connections on all those sensors you redid, and the rest of them too. Get dielectric grease into the pin cylinders and some plastic safe silicone (Liquid Wrench makes one) onto the gaskets.

 

Since you did only one front hub bearing assembly, I would buy one and take as a spare. And take the tools to change one including something to break the nut loose and a torque wrench to snug it to 175 I believe.

I'm not gunna say change the one you didnt change because the new one could go out and you wont have a backup. Unless you wanted to change the old one out but keep it as a backup to take along.

Just something to consider

What kind of shape is your starter in? I thought mine was perfectly fine until all I got was a click one day. Troubleshooting all day led me to the starter so j bought one and realized my old starter cranked way slower than the new one(before it died)

Definitely take jumper cables, spare fluids, a spare serpentine belt, couple gallons of water, fuses, everything to change a flat tire, a good spare tire, and lots of tools. Maybe even a tire plug kit and a bike tire pump

 

Better a small compressor that plugs into the cigarette lighter socket than a bicycle pump. Ever try to inflate a car tire with a bicycle pump? It'll get too hot to hold before you're done.

 

Not to mention how hot you'd get. lol

 

Those were all good suggestions: Check/change ALL fluids first. Drive belt. Lube the driveshafts & U-joints.

Couple other things:
1) CPS (Crankshaft Position Sensor): Have you ever had it replaced? If not I would either consider having it changed or buy one and keep it in the glove box. That's the one electrical component which can leave you stranded on the side of the road with no warning. They DO seem to fail at least once in the lifetime of a Jeep it seems. My wife was stranded at a busy intersection once. But the replacement lived at least another 80k miles (and still going). So if you haven't changed it, you're running on borrowed time. Keep a spare so if it fails on a Sunday night, you can have a mechanic replace the one you have.

2) Rear diff?? If your XJ has the rear Dana 35, and it's never been looked at or worked on (unlikely), you might consider something there. These rear ends are a weak point on these Jeeps. If you see any 'wetness' at the driveshaft yoke, might not hurt to at the minimum have the seal replaced, and even better, replace the bearings on the pinion gear. I had one fail on a grand cherokee (again, my wife driving!!), pretty much in the course of about 5 miles it went she-bang! The pinion bearing gave out, broke the cage and everything got spalled up at that point. That was probably at about 230k miles though. If you don't have time to have the work done, just keep an eye on the rear pinion for any wetness when you get fuel. The chances of it failing in that 5k window are probably not that great.

3) Check water pump. See if you can wiggle up/down on the water pump front. Look at the bottom hole for any wetness. If there is even a micro-drop of wetness on the lower releif hole, replace it now. Not that hard to change.

Those are really the 3 main risk points I wouldn't want to have leave me on the side of the road. All other problems that could crop up are not likely to cause great pain. If the engine runs fine, I would avoid doing anything major electives like injectors, etc now b/c you don't want any install issues to work out while you're trying to enjoy your trip.

Most of all HAVE FUN!!! Let us know how it goes!

 

I have yes lol it took quite awhile but you gotta do what you gotta do. Little electric compressor didnt even cross my mind that is definitely the way to go.

 

A good while back I some how ended up with a foot operated pump an figured I'd put it in my "just in case" crate in the XJ. Luckily I tried to pump up a spare I had in the garage before I did. Not going to happen.

 

I don't know if I would carry a compressor, but up to you. They're bulky. I try not to take everything including the kitchen sink (then you're attractive to thieves). If you have a low tire, something's wrong, get it addressed before getting on the road ...probably ran over something or leaky bead. If it's low on the road, you have a spare. I've traveled all over the country for years and never needed a compressor (except to air-up after off-roading). Make sure your spare is up to snuff, you have a jack and wrench. But yeah, if you want a belt-and-suspenders approach, a compressor can't hurt.

 

I picked this up a couple years ago.

https://www.groupon.com/deals/gs-ant...r-jumper-cable

Think it cost me about $70. I wanted one and this one had a little more power then other ones they were selling at the time. Came in a nice case and thought the air compressor was a nice touch.
Truth be told never used the compressor and thinking it might burn out pretty quickly if you used it to pump up a completely flat tire.
But don't know for sure.
But as far as the jump box goes works great. I have jumped a few cars with it.
Came with both plug and power plug cables. Hold it's charge for better then 6 months. I know cause I charge it up every 6 months and it does not need much.
Plus have used a some Antec stuff in my computer and like their stuff. Even though I am thinking it is just rebranded.
Unfortunately they don't make them anymore but I am sure you can find something similar.

 

A small compressor isn't a bad idea, but I would stay away from the cigarette lighter powered ones. Try to find one that clamps to the battery, instead of trying to draw power through the fuse. I had a smaller compressor like that, and it ran for 20 minutes and only added a couple psi. If I were you, I would look into a viair compressor. I have a viair 440p that will pump up a tire real fast, but it is crazy expensive. I got my dad a viair 88p for christmas one year. Not as powerful as the 440, but he has used it at work a few times and it has never disappointed. If you are stuck on the side of the road, its better to get it done as quickly as possible.

If you want to suck out the fluid from your ps reservoir, try using a turkey baster with a bit of hose on the end of it. You can empty the reservoir pretty fast (and also get yelled at for raiding the kitchen utensils for a car project.) Buy a new one for the kitchen, and use the old one in the garage.

Take plenty of extra fluids, fuses, etc. Don't forget plenty of snacks and drinks. If you do get stuck, its better on a full stomach.

 

Thanks for all the suggestions and advice!