so I went to my Jeep specialists today to...

[Vertisce]

Take the spare out, put in jumper cables, or vice grips, or radiator hose, or something more worth while. There are dozens of other things more likely to go wrong with the vehicle, given good maintenance has always been performed. My only point was, belts are pretty tough, and they have about 5 or 6 strong ropes in them. They ain't gonna break unless you are extremely negligent.

Who says I dont have all the rest of that in there too? OMG your right! That belt takes up like half a foot of space! Gotta get that out of there!

Seriously...you SAY that it will probably never happen but the fact is...nobody knows when it MIGHT happen. And when it does its better to be prepared than not. Thats like saying...you dont need a gun in your house because the chances of an armed robber or murderer breaking into your house at night is slim to none.

 

[Thumpersdriver]

Good Lord theres some Idiotic virus or something going around on here! I didnt bother reading the rest of this thread. Keep a spare belt AND radiator hoses in yer rig, with at least ONE full size spare tire, along with all the neccessary emergency EQ, ALWAYS!!! Change ALL yer fluids REGULARLY, the longest Ive ever let any fluid go in my ThumperXJ was 4000 miles, and THAT was just bugging the crap outta me... Your "Experts" Are idiots for even suggesting what they have. Almost only counts in Horseshoes and with Hand grenades, and some of you on here are really less smart than I originally gave you credit for. Id pity you, but I not given to feel sorry for stupidity and/or ignorance. The boots are on the tie rods to help retain the grease and keep particle contamination OUT! Replace them ASAP! Sheese! You guys! Just cant believe what Ive read here! What the hell went wrong with all of you?? When yer miles from anything and yer brand new or "Not too worn out" belt breaks, and rips a big hole in yer radiator hose, and at the same time you run over a sharp ass rock or tree that causes yer tire to slip its bead or puts a nice rip in the sidewall, you can get out, look at it, and yell to NO ONE but the birds and plants, "THIS ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS!!!" The few of you who offered this man sage advice, Im with you. The rest of you, INCLUDING the Jeep "SPECIALISTS" *Snicker* Here, have a clue, for FREE! And BOY am I glad I dont wheel with YOU!

 

[Rambo]

 

[old_man]

The reason to carry spare belts and sensors is that as soon as you carry a spare, you are guaranteed that the item will never fail.

 

[RenoHogHead]

If your belt is cracking just replace it and use the old one as a spare. I dont know what jackhill442 is thinking but dont listen when he says it wont break. Serpintine drive belts are really nice in that you only have one belt to replace....yet that in it self causes the big problem with it too. YOU ONLY HAVE ONE BELT TO RUN EVERYTHING!!!. If you dont even try to replace the belt do yourself a favor and by a replavement belt for a spare, go get yourself either a chiltons or haynes book and read how to change the belt just incase you ever have to. Once very easy way to practice changing the belt if you dont want to practice on your own rig........GO TO THE JUNK YARD AND GIVE IT A SHOT!!! At least if you screw something up you are still going to be able to drive to work in the morning!!!

 

[Vertisce]

Think of all the stuff that goes out if ONE belt...Oh...the ONLY belt breaks.

Power steering
Power breaks
AC
Water Pump

Right there suddenly losing your power steering and breaks is just asking for an accident on the freeway...losing your water pump would overheat your engine and god forbid the AC...we would all MELT!

 

[sgtmack]

Motor service manual recommendation for belts:

Widely spaced, small cracks are acceptable on ribbed serpentine belts. However, if you find three or more cracks within a 3-inch section of the belt, and/or if the cracks extend from the tips of the ribs to the belt body, the belt should be replaced. Ribbed belts should also be replaced if chunks of the ribs are missing or there's a buildup of belt material between the ribs. Particle buildup between the ribs is usually caused by inadequate belt tension, or by wobbling or misaligned pulleys.

I would recommend a trans service before 70,000. I recommend 30,000 if mostly city, 50,000 if mostly highway. When I do a service, I replace more than three quarts. Jeeps, and most others, get a flush. I want as much new fluid as I can get.

And if your tie rod boot is torn, replace it. Tie rods are a safety item. Do not take chances with your steering.

Just some observations from 18 years as a tech.

 

[Markos]

Originally posted by Vertisce:

Think of all the stuff that goes out if ONE belt...Oh...the ONLY belt breaks.

Power steering
Power breaks
AC
Water Pump

Right there suddenly losing your power steering and breaks is just asking for an accident on the freeway...losing your water pump would overheat your engine and god forbid the AC...we would all MELT!

FYI, you will overheat long before your battery dies or before you crash and burn in a ditch. Losing power steering isn't a big deal. I don't even run a power steering belt on my Jetta. It just feels like a stiff manual rack. Not to say that this is good for your power rack, but you won't crash into a ditch (especially on the highway).

Edit: I forgot to mention. I keep my spare power steering belt inside the little metal pad that my spare tire rests on. It fits in there nicely. Probably only applicable to folks that still have their spare in that location...

 

[Jackhill442]

what a genius vertisce is, power "breaks" are not run by the belt, and brakes is how it's spelled.

 

[theslacker]

Think of all the stuff that goes out if ONE belt...Oh...the ONLY belt breaks.

Power steering
Power breaks
AC
Water Pump

Right there suddenly losing your power steering and breaks is just asking for an accident on the freeway...losing your water pump would overheat your engine and god forbid the AC...we would all MELT!

Alternator
Fan

 

[spencer411]

Good Lord theres some Idiotic virus or something going around on here! I didnt bother reading the rest of this thread. Keep a spare belt AND radiator hoses in yer rig, with at least ONE full size spare tire, along with all the neccessary emergency EQ, ALWAYS!!! Change ALL yer fluids REGULARLY, the longest Ive ever let any fluid go in my ThumperXJ was 4000 miles, and THAT was just bugging the crap outta me... Your "Experts" Are idiots for even suggesting what they have. Almost only counts in Horseshoes and with Hand grenades, and some of you on here are really less smart than I originally gave you credit for. Id pity you, but I not given to feel sorry for stupidity and/or ignorance. The boots are on the tie rods to help retain the grease and keep particle contamination OUT! Replace them ASAP! Sheese! You guys! Just cant believe what Ive read here! What the hell went wrong with all of you?? When yer miles from anything and yer brand new or "Not too worn out" belt breaks, and rips a big hole in yer radiator hose, and at the same time you run over a sharp ass rock or tree that causes yer tire to slip its bead or puts a nice rip in the sidewall, you can get out, look at it, and yell to NO ONE but the birds and plants, "THIS ALMOST NEVER HAPPENS!!!" The few of you who offered this man sage advice, Im with you. The rest of you, INCLUDING the Jeep "SPECIALISTS" *Snicker* Here, have a clue, for FREE! And BOY am I glad I dont wheel with YOU!

bwaaaaaaaahahahahahaha

while I respect your "trying to help" I think your attitude is shitty. talkin bout "BOY am I glad I dont wheel with YOU"! well thanks for "helping". that was completely uncalled for. you dont know how long ive been wheeling. im fairly new to these specific maintenance procedures so dont come to me like that.

"the longest Ive ever let any fluid go in my ThumperXJ was 4000 miles"

this proves to me that your one of those guys that is constantly worried about something going wrong and waste your money on maintenance you dont need. and I say this because i know for a fact that your transmission fluid does not need to be changed that often. even the owners manual says so. if your changing it every 4000 then your wasting your money. sure its not BAD to do it that often, but there is def no need for it, no matter how hard you wheel. 10,000-15,000 maybe but ever 4000?

"and some of you on here are really less smart than I originally gave you credit for. Id pity you, but I not given to feel sorry for stupidity and/or ignorance."

this statement shows me that your either getting too old or a lil crazy. which is it?

seriously CALM DOWN!

 

[Dragline]

This should get good

 

[spencer411]

This should get good

I couldnt help it. dood was way outta line. talkin bout people he doesnt even know like that. not cool.

and I wanna state that the Jeep guys I went to did not say that "you def dont need to change your transmission fluid until the first 70,000 miles" it was more of a "weve known tons of people who dont change if for that long and I (one of the guys) personally dont change it that often" he said " I dont wanna take your money from you, but it is up to you, so if you want Ill change it" I took his word for it.

now I do think that he was was sayin this stuff cuz he honestly believes that it would be ok to go that long without a change, but I also trust everyone on here and think that Ill prolly just change it myself... provided it IS as easy as some of you have stated. just for peace of mind.

having said that, how many quarts will i need? and a pic of the drain plug would help, but if not ill find it.

and Im also planning on replacing the grease boots also for peace of mind. so where can I get these grease boots? and i assume I just take out the bolt, remove boot, replace boot and re-bolt?

 

[Dragline]

You don't want advice from me. My last post was about changing the Transmission fluid after 216,000 miles.

 

[jonnyxj]

I carry many different items as spares. I think that is good to be prepared and not to fall victim to some auto repair shop or a stealership while you are on the road. Most spare items fit very well under the back seat. With a simple tool set you can fix almost anything involving the spare parts that you carry. Being that I am going to school fulltime and working two part time jobs I just cant even afford to pay attention let alone pay someone else to do any maintainance on my jeep. I would just make sure that all the fluids are checked to see how clean they are. If they are dirty or burnt by all means change them asap, if they are not just top them off and change them a little later. As far as the belt goes I think that you should address that matter in a timely manner, you just dont want that thing to go out on you when you are in rush hour traffic or just going to get a little from your sweetie. Do you know what an ounce of prevention is worth?

 

[black93xj]

The boots i would change. The belt if fine with cracks on the ribed side. Its cracks on the smooth side that cause it to run a risk of breaking. Think about this if something freezes up and snaps the belt whats puting another belt on gona solve? Ya gona carry a compressor, water pump, idler, alt, and p.s. pump just in case? The tranny is fine to change but what the previous posts didn't tell you is that you should change the filter too. The mechanics sound like good guys, i worked at a garage before and we did the samething. The people don't think well hell I never have to fix that then.... no and just because you replace something doesn't mean crap. Ive put 3 powersteering pumps on in a row before we got a good one. My Girlfriend had a 91 cherokee with 190,000 miles on it and we never had to replace anything and it was fine. Sometimes you can go over board use some comon sense.

 

[mylt1]

Do you know what an ounce of prevention is worth?

pound of cure.

 

[spencer411]

all of you make good points and it is appreciated

my fluids were checked and in really good shape, but I will be changing the transmission fluid when i can get to a garage or it dries up a bit. it snowed about 5 inches here today.

anyway, does anyone know the part number for a new belt? and what about them grease boots? where to get? part number? any kind of trick to it or just taking the torn boots off and puttin new ones on?

thanks everybody

 

[jeepguy97]

The chances of that are so low, I would rather use the already paltry cargo space for many other things. Besides, turn off the A/C if it seizes, but it has a protection system built in to not run the clutch if it does. If a belt is properly installed, it will usually last 100,000 miles. With regular maintenance, a man will almost never become stranded, just give it a look every 3000 miles or so.

Great advice. :wierd: Never seen an AC compressor lock up and lock the pulley with it huh? I have always carried a spare belt in my heep (one that is for a non AC model should that be the problem). IF you don't have space for a belt I guess you can't fit a tow strap either?

 

[DDCxj]

Wow, crazy thread.

Anyway, if the tranny fluid doesn't look burnt at all and you aren't at the mileage that the book recommends, I would hold until atleast then, maybe even a little longer.

As for the tie rod ends, you can drive with the ripped boots, but if you do, Probably put greese in them every 2-3 weeks, but I wouldn't go every oil change. It would definetely be better to just have them replaced, especially when you live where it snows and and theres salt all over the roads.

And the belt, replace it. At the shop I work at, if the belt is cracked we replace it. We check them opn every car that comes in for an oil change and call up the customer if it's cracked. As someone said before, it could snap today or it could go 6 months, but if you decide to wait 6 months and it snaps tomorrow, I can garuntee you'll wish you replaced it.

BY the way, I WOULD keep an extra belt as a spare. We have cars towed in all the time because the belt snapped. The last time was a couple months ago. I had to tow in a guys car that works at night pumping gas for us. He had just replaced the belt about 3 or 4 months before that. Face it, if youre belt does break, you aren't going to be driving very far.