# Jeep questions



## Joel B.

Thinking about getting a Jeep for a "summer fun" vehicle and back-up plow truck for driveways.

Dealer thought a 7' Boss would be a good set-up, any thoughts?

Also, how well does a Jeep back-drag? Are the blades put on Jeeps heavy enough to back-drag or do they just "float" up on top of the snow?

Manual or automatic? I know an automatic will be a lot better for plowing and off-road but the truck will be used for personal use/fun 90% of the time and I really like the thought of a manual for that. So do I suffer through a little plowing with a manual to enjoy the "non-plowing" time with a manual or "suffer" through non-plowing time with an auto to enjoy the little time plowing with an auto?

Thank you,

Joel B.


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## kstt

I believe that Chysler recommends NOT plowing with the auto trans. Besides......some vehicles should not even be available with auto trans.......'Vettes are one, (real) Jeeps are another. Get the 5-speed. Shifting while plowing is no big deal.


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## Detroitdan

I'm looking at a couple Jeeps right now, oddly enough both are autos. I much prefer the stick in a vehicle like a Jeep, but I would like to use it as a backup plow rig, so maybe an auto wouldn't be bad. Any idea which tranny an 87 Wrangler would have? Is it the 727 or something smaller. Why wouldn't you be able to plow with it? As long as its got a cooler and a temp gauge I don't see why you couldn't.


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## yzf1000_rider

well mine was a stick and going down the highway with 31 inch tall tires was a real pain in rear. so i decided to fix it a little bit now its a 350 fuel injected. bored over 30 with a 488 lift cam forged pistons and set up to run on a little bit of nitrous next summer with an automatic overdrive trans as soon as i can talk the wife into it iam going to put a blade on it for some res. work. and its also fun in the mud.


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## ppandr

Go with the 5 speed and a fuel injected, 91 or newer motor, 4 or 6 cyl. Both the 4 an 6 are fine to plow with, but on the highway the 4 dogs with bigger tires. As for the backdragging...the Jeeps will allow you to plow in ways you can not with a fullsize truck, so backdagging will be greatly reduced.


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## Luppy

In my Jeep manual it says they don't recommend plowing
with the 4 cyl automatic transmission combo. 
A 6 cyl with an automatic is fine. Just add a transmission
oil cooler and you're good to go.
I plowed with a 78' CJ 6 cyl automatic for ten years. 
Now I've got a manual tranny TJ. It does a good job but
if I do a few dozen driveways I tend to get cramps in
my right leg. Won't be an issue if you won't be doing
a whole lot of plowing.
Backdragging with a small plow isn't so great.
I put a few hundred lbs of bagged sand in the back
to give it a little more weight during the winter.


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## NH-ROB

I plowed my personal driveway with an 82 cj7 with an auto and it worked great. I had the 258 I6 but power was not the best (it had terrible gearing). The auto tranny they use in the yj is the same tf999 very similar to the tf727 I think they might still use the same one today.
I will be plowing with a 99 tj sport this year with the 5 speed manual shift. I gave it a small try last week and it is going to take some getting used to. Every time I would stop to back up I kept reaching at the steering column for the auto shifter. 
Robbie


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## Detroitdan

hey Luppy, your 78 must have had the GM tranny and Quadratrac, right? I'm looking at one now, wondering if theres anything to watch out for. I'm not a big fan of full-time 4wd or Jeeps with autos, but I love CJs and this one is pretty cool for a decent price. Any idea what gears I should expect to find? It looks like it might have a bigger rear end in it too, I don't know what they used back then, or if the Q-T actually got different axles. If I buy it I want to put at 33s on it, so gearing would be important.


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## Luppy

Yes my 78 did have the quadratrac
and a TH400 tranny.
I never bothered to find out
what gears it had in it
though. 
I know mine had a ton of
low end grunt, more so
than my current TJ.
Maybe the owner will be
able to tell you what gears it
has.
My CJ was a workhorse but
it did go through the front u joints
quicker than normal due to 
plowing driveways. My route
had 45 driveways.
I also remember having problems
with the 4wd system, particularly
the vacuum portion of it that
you mentioned.


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## Donny O.

the QT/auto I had used the TH400 also(they also used a chrysler TF727 and i think the 904) the gears that came with it were 4:10's. and i want to say the axles were AMC20's, or soemthing 20.....no D35, or D44's back then i guess.


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## bryanj23

yzf1000_rider;336742 said:


> well mine was a stick and going down the highway with 31 inch tall tires was a real pain in rear. so i decided to fix it a little bit now its a 350 fuel injected. bored over 30 with a 488 lift cam forged pistons and set up to run on a little bit of nitrous next summer with an automatic overdrive trans as soon as i can talk the wife into it iam going to put a blade on it for some res. work. and its also fun in the mud.


Did you get a kit for that swap, or do it yourself?


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## yzf1000_rider

the only thing i bought was the engine mounts they were 80.00 everything else came from the doner truck. i pulled the computer harness out and mated it to the chrysler harness and everything works like factory.


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## addicted

Joel B.;336457 said:


> Thinking about getting a Jeep for a "summer fun" vehicle and back-up plow truck for driveways.
> 
> Dealer thought a 7' Boss would be a good set-up, any thoughts?
> 
> Also, how well does a Jeep back-drag? Are the blades put on Jeeps heavy enough to back-drag or do they just "float" up on top of the snow?
> 
> Manual or automatic? I know an automatic will be a lot better for plowing and off-road but the truck will be used for personal use/fun 90% of the time and I really like the thought of a manual for that. So do I suffer through a little plowing with a manual to enjoy the "non-plowing" time with a manual or "suffer" through non-plowing time with an auto to enjoy the little time plowing with an auto?
> 
> Thank you,
> 
> Joel B.


Check out the snoway's. There plows are pretty light, and they have hydraulic downpressure, making the blade act like a 500 lb plow at the touch of a button, but without the durden of hauling around 500 lbs.

A 4 cyl can plow, but the 6 is preferred.

Auto or stick is personal preference.


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## Detroitdan

Blizzard makes a nice light plow for Jeeps, but I think I might go along with Addicted on this one, a nice light lexan Snoway with down pressure would be hard to beat.


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## Joel B.

Luppy;336922 said:


> In my Jeep manual it says they don't recommend plowing
> with the 4 cyl automatic transmission combo.
> A 6 cyl with an automatic is fine. Just add a transmission
> oil cooler and you're good to go.
> I plowed with a 78' CJ 6 cyl automatic for ten years.
> Now I've got a manual tranny TJ. It does a good job but
> if I do a few dozen driveways I tend to get cramps in
> my right leg. Won't be an issue if you won't be doing
> a whole lot of plowing.
> Backdragging with a small plow isn't so great.
> I put a few hundred lbs of bagged sand in the back
> to give it a little more weight during the winter.


When/if you back drag, does the plow tend to float up over the top of the snow? I'm running a 2500HD w/ 8' Western poly and it floats sometimes, I'm worried that the lighter plow on a wrangler would be useless for back dragging.

You get cramps in your right leg while using a manual trans, I would think your left leg would get the workout???

Thanks,

Joel B.


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## fernalddude

This cj-5 was a beast like riding a motor with 4 wheels and a seat straped on. Back then they had a full size plows to add not the light plows of today it had 13 leafs to hold any weight put on it was great ride. But now days with the lite front ends they wont handle the load unless you beef it up but still love the Jeep's ..


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## theplowmeister

My $0.02 worth

To put my $0.02 in perspective 
I plow Driveways, 60 to 106 of them currently (if we get any snow it will be) 76 driveways.
I've plowed with an F150, I purchased a Jeep for backup... then switched to jeeps (since 1988).

I have plowed with 4 different Jeep Wranglers 3 manual transmissions and 1 auto. Hated the auto! It was like driving with a big rubber band for a drive line, step on the gas harder and harder then suddenly it would shoot free. I do extensive off roading with my jeeps and only use manual tranys ( the outs Jeep was strictly a plow jeep) All my plows have been fisher 7 1/2 RD plows, you add air shocks up front to help with the weight. on the YJ's the shocks from a 1985 ford thunderberd fit the front of the Jeep. As for down pressure I found the front end of the Jeep too light to start with IE the plow can push the front of the Jeep around. So taking weight off the front wheels and putting it on the plow sounds like it would make it even easier for the blade to push the jeep.
I added ~ 400# of ballest to the rear


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## Joel B.

Plowmeister:

How much does the 71/2' Fisher weigh? Do you ever back drag with your Wranglers? Does the plow stay down pretty well or does it tend to float up on top of the snow?

All manual Jeeps...your left leg must be huge!! Seriously, how does your left leg hold up?

Thanks,

Joel B.


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## Joel B.

Couple more questions.

I've heard the soft top is a nightmare to get up and down...true? 

I've also hear that Jeeps are cold in the winter. I realize they might be with a soft top but what about with a hard top, still cold?

Joel B.


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## Donny O.

the top on my cj was not that big of a pain to put up and down....most of the time was spent snapping around the bottom, but you can get them with a rail instead of buttons. the top on my TJ problaby took me 20 minutes the first time to get it on then once i got the hang of it then it would take less than 5 min to put on...and that was also cuz I had to remove 2 bolts that hold it on cuz I had a light bar and it would not jsut fold up and down which would have saved a nother minute or so.

as for heat I had only a soft top on my CJ5 and it was far from being sealed good with gaps around the door and such....not to mention holes in the floor board and what not so it was real drafty but the heater was able to keep up jsut fine. 10 degrees outside i could ride around ina t-shirt....never did jsut saying it kept it that warm. my tj with the hard top on in winter was very warm in there as well. never drove it in the cold with the soft top but it was sealed far better than the top on my cj so I don't see that as being much colder than the hard top. there is less insulation but I think the heater could keep up.


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## theplowmeister

Joel
Fisher says that my plow weighs 630# add ~ 40# for a backdrag and 40# for a cutting edge so round it out to 700#. Doing driveways means I back drag almost all of my driveways. A backdrag edge helps a LOT I made mine so it has the same angle as the cutting edge, that angle helps hold it down. if you get to much snow on the back side any plow will lift, the blade is curved the wrong way when backdraging and that will lift it. The soft top? what year Jeep you looking at? The Cj is completely different animal from the YJ witch is completely different from the TJ. the TJ soft top is easy to do. Trying to do any soft top in freezing weather is going to be tuffer if not imposable. As for heat the CJ sucked the YJ was good the TJ is great.


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## Joel B.

theplowmeister;349990 said:


> Joel
> Fisher says that my plow weighs 630# add ~ 40# for a backdrag and 40# for a cutting edge so round it out to 700#. Doing driveways means I back drag almost all of my driveways. A backdrag edge helps a LOT I made mine so it has the same angle as the cutting edge, that angle helps hold it down. if you get to much snow on the back side any plow will lift, the blade is curved the wrong way when backdraging and that will lift it. The soft top? what year Jeep you looking at? The Cj is completely different animal from the YJ witch is completely different from the TJ. the TJ soft top is easy to do. Trying to do any soft top in freezing weather is going to be tuffer if not imposable. As for heat the CJ sucked the YJ was good the TJ is great.


I'm not even sure what year yet, still in the "thinking" stage. Probably 2000 or newer.

Cany you explain the difference between the CJ, TJ, and YJ?

Thanks


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## Donny O.

cjs were pretty much anything up til about 85 then chrysler bought the jeep brand from AMC and redesigned a bit and came out with the YJ(square headlights) til 95 then 97 on was a tj. you got it...no 96 jeep wranglers were made instead it was an early release 97. the big change with the TJ was the coil suspention instead of leaf springs....along with the usual model change stuff....body tweaks(back to round headlights), interior change, etc. 98 was the first year of cruise control and half way through 98 they added a on/off switch for the passenger airbag.

the reason i mentione the shape of the headlights is jeep entusiasts were not happy about chrysler changing their beloved CJ so much and specialy to the square headlights so they used that as an excuse to say they werent real jeeps.....cuz 'real jeeps have round headlights'. so what was funny is when the TJ came out adn went back to round headlights that saying changed to 'real jeeps have leaf springs'. but i think over the past 10 years the coil springs have more than proven themselves very capable off road!! oh then when the liberty came out the jeep guys were like real jeeps have live axles.....libertys have independant i believe.


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## theplowmeister

CJ 5 very short wheelbase CJ7 same wheelbase as YJ and TJ
CJ7 leaf spring, very bouncy ride very directinoly unstable (no track bars) at 60 MPH it is a constant work out trying to keep it going strate. 
frame is weak made of C Chanel

YJ leaf spring, not as bouncy, the spring leafs are wider. has Track bars, Frame is Box tubing. 1991 and later YJ are fuel infected (the best thing for offroading since 4 wheel drive) The 6 Cyl are bulletproof. Gobs of low end torque

TJ AHHHHH Box frame, coil springs, much smoother ride, better articulation for offroad, engine is still bulletproof. Gobs of low end torque

there are many differences each generation was a new Jeep they lerned from and improved on each model.


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