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How To Avoid Your 4x4 From Breaking Down In The Desert


Frederic

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Really good post @Frederic always ensuring to check up on your 4x4 is essential to safe driving. I do have a question though; since I got the hurricane shocks and doing daily offroading they do squeak, never thought it was an issue. maybe I should go back to AM.Wrangler to get them lubricated or something?

 

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1 minute ago, Benjamin said:

Really good post @Frederic always ensuring to check up on your 4x4 is essential to safe driving. I do have a question though; since I got the hurricane shocks and doing daily offroading they do squeak, never thought it was an issue. maybe I should go back to AM.Wrangler to get them lubricated or something?

 

Hi @Benjaminyes you might want to get that checked out, but on the other hand i had exactly the same issue when i got my Rancho shocks installed. The squeak came from the mounting bushes that somehow needed to settle a bit. The noise dissapeared after 2-3 drives on its own.

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"Go as far as you can see; once you get there, you'll be able to see further."

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@Frederic thank you for it. Especially for the post drive checkups, personally i didn't realise how this part is important. Appreciate your complex overview and advices.

Edited by Jaro Tuzinsky
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An amazing and insightful post as always. Nothing less to be expected from you @Frederic!

2 hours ago, Frederic said:

Underneath the car and your parking spot. Have a look underneath the 4x4 itself. If you see lots of sand sticking in some area nearby the transmission, this means you have an oil leak somewhere.

This is an important point that I learned when I was just starting out. When you're driving in wet sand (post rain) areas. Sand also sticks to the under chassis - axles, transmission, sump guards etc. Hence, when you've done about 4 to 5 drives, it's a good thing to also get your under-chassis pressure washed to remove any sand that's caked on. In my case, it was so thick that kerosene had to be used to loosen the grime and re-primed.

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4 hours ago, Benjamin said:

since I got the hurricane shocks and doing daily offroading they do squeak, never thought it was an issue. maybe I should go back to AM.Wrangler to get them lubricated or something?

squeaking is mostly bushings, not related to the shocks... though the top part and lower part have eyelet bushings to bolt onto the frames. If your shock bushings are metal, use PTFE spray to lubricate the top & bottom eyelets first before going back to the installer.

Another source of squeaking is Upper Control Arm balljoints, this is easy to check by lifting the car up and slowly lowering it down. Or in absence of high jacks / lift machine, by standing on the front bumper and bouncing it up & down 😂 

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3 hours ago, munkybizness said:

Hence, when you've done about 4 to 5 drives, it's a good thing to also get your under-chassis pressure washed to remove any sand that's caked on. 

Actually best practice is to go to manual car wash after every last drive of the day (so if you drive both Saturday & Sunday you should wash the underbody Sat night & Sun night). I asked my mechanic why I had to replace 2 steering pumps within 6 months and 1 steering rack within a year and he said both parts were cemented with hard-dried-sand and told me I must have forgotten to wash the underchassis for a long time 😂

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8 hours ago, Frederic said:

Suspensions squeaks or rattling noises means you'll need to take it to the mechanic to get it inspected.

This would mean i have to get my mechanic for all my drives as a passenger!

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