Straight Steering
Anyone who has ever bashed a rock with their tie rod, then had to drive home hundreds of miles with the tires pointed toward each other knows it's better to upgrade to heavier steering linkages than to waste a perfectly good set of tires. We knew Big Daddy Offroad built its heavy-duty tie rod and drag link assemblies for both narrow- and wide-track Dana 30 axles, so we asked them to build a set for our Dana 27 with Advance Adapters' power steering conversion. Our conversion kit uses 1971 Jeepster-sourced 22 1/2-inch long tie rod and 35 1/2-inch long drag link. Big Daddy knocked out the parts in no time.
At under $200 for the set, we were floored with the quality of the components. Built from extra-heavy-wall tubing with machined ends and jam nuts for the tie rod ends, the parts fit like original and look great thanks to their powdercoated finish. The whole install took less than 10 minutes and really offers peace of mind for the wheeler who drives his junk to the trail.
Thumper Bumper
We needed a rear bumper with a receiver hitch if we planned on using our Warn M6000 SDP winch for a rear pull. Precious few companies make anything bolt-on for 1955-1971 or 1973-1975 CJs, so we were stoked to find Cross Enterprises' bolt-on rear bumper for early Jeeps. The bumper has a submerged and reinforced receiver hitch, sturdy 3/16-wall construction, and bolts to the factory rear crossmember using the supplied hardware and reinforcement brackets. The company also offers an optional tire carrier and trail rack for use with its bumper, but we opted for the regular version. We also asked that the bumper not be powdercoated since we didn't have a rear crossmember and would need to weld it straight to the frame.
With a combination of our Miller Spectrum 625 plasma cutter, seven grinding discs, and three saber saw blades, we cut off the old 80-pound channel steel monster and welded our nice, new 35-pound Cross Enterprises piece straight to the framerials. We were extremely pleased with the quality and price of the bumper.
Air Time
Unless you're running bead lock wheels, and sometimes even if you are, a source of on-board air for inflating punctured tires and reseating tire beads should be one of the first modifications you make to your trail rig. We like the simplicity, performance, and reliability of Advanced Air Systems' Powertank, so we dutifully mounted a 10-pound Powertank behind the driver's seat. We used the company's steel mounting bracket (PN PB10), and stowed the heavy-duty tire inflator and gauge (PN TIG60CO) in our tool box. We've been able to get several wheeling trips out of a single 10-pound charge of CO2 with 35- or 37-inch tires, so our tank should last a good long while with little 31s. Check out Part 2 to see if we needed to use it.