4 WD Four by Four

Buying used used 4x4 its fun and a bit tricky. Usually the person who have a plan to buy used 4x4 have also another plan in their mind: go to 4WD shop and looking for some additional accessories for the their 4WD.

Before you buy, take a little time for internet research, talk with your friend who have 4WD, then its good if you can decide what type 4WD that you want to buy. In this case its often someone want to buy a Jeep in their mind and back home with a Nissan Patrol.

If you serious about modification plan, consider your geographic area. In United States of course is a heaven for Jeep or Ford owners. In Aussie, jeep is minority and lack of available accessories, however its bunch and plenty supporting equipment for Toyota and Nissan. In Europe maybe you can looking for Land Rover.

There are some tips before you decide to purchase:
- Do a quick inspection for the exterior, looking for body damage, rust or maybe poor roof condition. Small dent and scratch is normal.
- Try to open and close all doors, make sure all doors can close properly. A poor door alignment is a sign that vehicle has a major crash previously.
- Open the engine hood, looks for any leaking from the engine, check for torn wire, check the fluids quality (engine oil, trans oil, brake oil, power steering oil).
- Check the radiator coolant, make sure there is no oil sign in the coolant.
- Go inside the car and inspect the interior, especially in the floor area. If the previous owner used this car for real off roading, there is always potential they used this car crossing a pond or river. A water could trap under the carpet and starting rust. Check all electrical instruments including air conditioning function.
- Turn on the engine, let it idle for a while. Inspect for any strange noise from the engine. If you look at for diesel engine 4WD, took a close hear near the injector pump. This pump is one of the main consideration, it is costly to repair.
-Engage the gear, and ask for test drive. If you inspect an automatic transmission car push the gear lever to every position (P, N, D, 3, 2, 1 etc), feel the engine pulling before you push the throttle.

That the above tips actually can use for any car, not only for for 4 WD. For the 4WD car you might need to inspect more like:

-After you check the gear in any position, then you should check the main 4WD facilities, the transfer case. In conventional 4WD is always using the second and smaller trans selection stick. In certain jeep there are 2H, N, 4H and 4L position. Try it all, if you are a beginner, ask the seller how to move the lever. Do it firmly without stop. Some times a “creeek” sound occur if you not move the lever firmly, its ok. After the selection engage try to move the car, make sure the gear still in its position, not pop to normal. The selection of transfer case position is vary from car to car. Some 4WD cars have no TC gear stick, the TC mode select by pushing a button. Do the same above procedure for push button 4WD like this.
- Now is time to crawling under the vehicle. Note: make sure the vehicle in save position. First check for oil leaking, its can be come from the engine, transmission, transfer case, front and rear axle, and sometimes come front high pressure hose for power steering or oil cooler. Minor leaking is not a major problem as long as the oil is always in the required volume.
- Go to front suspension system, this is the most complicated part to be inspect in 4WD vehicles. Check for the coil spring and shock absorber condition. Inspect for CV joint boot, this boot is easy to torn during off road driving.
- Check any scratch and dent, the muffler and catalytic converter is easy to dent, and the fuel tank is easy to scratch. Both indicators showing an extensive off road use.
- Look at tie rod and drag link boot, both parts are good indicator of maintenance frequency: degenerated boots and lube boggers show a great lack thereof.
- Gripped the driveshaft and rotated it side to side to check U-joint play in the yokes. It’s also a good idea to take a look at the U-joint straps or bolts to make sure that you won’t drop a driveshaft on the way home.
If you looking at RHD XJ Cherokee, inspect the steering rack – body connection, is. This steering rack house is proved to broke easily, reinforcement is mandatory.
- If the vehicle is equipped with suspension lift more than 1.5” , make sure it has all of the necessary equipment, such as transfer case drop-down or slip-yoke eliminator/short shaft kit and extended brake lines.
- Back to under engine hood, check the alternator, most of 4WD equipped with charge level meter, makes sure the charging level between 13-14 volt.