We've all been there ... stranded in the middle of nowhere with a broken Jeep. If you haven't, you will be. Either that, or you have heard horror stories of people who've been stuck with nothing but bailing wire, some non-filtered Lucky Strikes, and a box of tampons.
When the Jeep does break, getting back is entirely dependant on your ingenuity and what random things you've brought with you as tools and/or spare parts.
We might not be the brightest bulbs in the box, but we sure can MacGyver a Jeep back together like no one's business. Follow along for some of our favorite trailside repairs, and give your ingenuity a shot in the, uh, arm.
Run bead locks, carry a fullsize...
Run bead locks, carry a fullsize spare, or go wheeling with someone who's got onboard air. The only way to reseat the bead of the tire on the trail is to wrap it with a ratchet strap as tightly as possible and hit it with enough air to reseat the bead. Clean as much mud, debris, and accumulated junk out of it before even attempting this fix. Be sure to release the strap as soon as it starts to fill with air.
With larger tires and abuse,...
With larger tires and abuse, the stock steering-box mount will usually give way long before a Model 800 Saginaw box breaks. We've lashed steering boxes and motor mounts back onto the frame and driven very carefully, but a better way to repair it involves a chain and some kind of onboard welder. If you don't have an onboard welder, just carry along some welding rod in a waterproof case and use a few batteries to weld the cracked area together. Bring along some chain for reinforcement purposes to get back to camp.