Basic Spare Parts Kit for an Expedition

Fuses + 12G Wire 25$

Axle U-Joint 20$

Serpentine Belt 30$

I don’t carry a full assortment. Most important fuses are :

- 2x 10Amp ( Ignition Switch, Horn, Headlamp, Compass)

- 2x 20Amp (12V Power Outlets, Heater, AC, Fuel Pump)

- 2x 30Amp (ABS Brakes)

- 2x 40Amp (Starter)

- 2x 60Amp (Ignition Draw, Radiator)

Stranded Wire (10ft 12-Gauge)

- A spool of wire is too heavy (100ft x 12-Gauge = 6 to 8 lbs.) I only carry the minimum.

- 12-gauge wire works for any purpose (lights, radiator, starter, etc.) because you can use larger wire than what you need, never the opposite.

- You can even use 12-gauge wire for the starter (40amp) under the condition that the wire is not longer than 7feet.

- If I need more wire, I can make the decision to disconnect other things (the LED light bar, for instance) and use the wire somewhere else

- Only use “stranded wire” or “marine-grade wire” because other types won’t handle the severe vibrations that come with driving off-road, and they will fail faster than you imagine.

- Spicer 5-1350X or 5-1310X U-Joint

- A U-joint is a weak point in order to protect other expensive drivetrain components if your Jeep is put under extreme off-road stress (like being stuck in deep mud). In the bush, you really prefer the inexpensive and easy-to-replace U-joint to take the hit and break.

- Is your front axle a factory Dana 30 or a Dana 44? Buy a compatible axle U-joint before you hit the trail.

- Once you receive your U-joint, watch a YouTube tutorial video about “How to replace an axle U-joint Wrangler JK.”There are hundreds of videos. Anybody with two hands, a brain, and the right trail tool kit can perform a U-joint repair.

- A tie rod (or steering rod) has a low profile. In remote areas, the tie rod is vulnerable to severe hits (half-buried boulders, tree stumps, heavy equipment parts, etc.). Seasoned off-roaders are used to carrying, repairing,and replacing a tie rod or its components. If you ever bend your steel tie rod, you can still use a hammer and try to straighten it. But breaking a tie rod end means that you are now stranded for good.

- Carrying a complete tie rod kit (instead of only the ends) would be nice, but 1) it’s too heavy (30 lbsto 40 lbs) 2) it’s too expensive ($200$ to $300 for a kit), and 3) you probably have no safe storage container for such an item anyway. For those reasons, you should consider carrying at least the tie rod ends.

- Ordinary people keep driving their vehicle for days (or even weeks) before going to an auto repair shop and have their squealing serpentine belt replaced. But driving off-road makes the belt wear out faster. Once you get damaged and uneven ribs, the belt starts to slip and squeal.

- No serpentine belt = no alternator, no power steering, and no engine cooling fan. You can still drive 100 or 200 meters at a time, turn the engine off, and wait for it to cool down. And repeat the maneuver as long as your battery delivers enough cranking amps to start the engine. You can expect to drive several miles before getting stranded for good (and now you have a drained battery too).

- It might be difficult to find a serpentine belt for a Jeep in remote communities, and the shipping cost may be prohibitive, especially if you have to rely on some bush pilot to bring the replacement belt to you.

- If you want to learn more about my favorite serpentine belt : Replacement Serpentine Belt Wrangler JK 2011 2012 2013 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018

- Another nightmare on the trail. This sensor tells the computer what position the engine is in. It can take a lot of abuse, but hardcore off-road wheelers know this sensor never lasts forever. What if this sensor begins to malfunction? To make a long story short: you will destroy vital parts of your engine in hours (or maybe less).

- Warning signs: 1) The check-engine light is on; 2) It feels hard to start the engine; 3) Backfires and engine is stalling frequently; 4) A lot of engine vibrations; 5) Abnormal speed fluctuations.

- What to do: pull over and turn off the engine as soon as you can.

- Installation: Replacing that little thing is probably the easiest repair you can perform in the wilderness. You only have to remove the bolt and plug in the new crankshaft position sensor beside the engine.

- I strongly believe that no lone Jeeper should start a journey without carrying a brand-new CPS.

- Driving through stray branches, fording a river, or crawling in deep mud exposes your brake lines. It’s common for weekend wheelers to snap a line. In any 4x4 Club, at least one guy is always carrying spare brake lines.

- Going down a steep trail with only three brakes is a roll-over hazard (or worse).

- A long-distance off-roader should carry a cheap pair of brake lines at all times.

- Front brake lines are more exposed than rear brake lines, but if you can afford it, you should carry rear lines as well.

- Weight: each pair weighs about 10 to 12 ounces, and they are easy to store.

- A tire repair kit or a spare tire is useless if your valve stem is leaking air, damaged or missing. A valve stem is the weakest part of any tire.

- It’s not easy to replace a broken valve stem on the trail without special tools, but you can still do it with patience and effort.

- Only $3 for a Crown Automotive spare wheel valve stem (or 10$ for a top-of-the-line Crown Automotive TPMS Valve Stem).

- Your Wrangler doesn’t shift 2WD–4H–4Low anymore if you break this little plastic bushing.

- This bushing acts as a buffer between the transfer case lever and the end of the shift cable. If you don’t have it in place, you can easily damage the transfer case beyond repair.

- Direct factory replacement.

- Easy fix.

- Now, let's get back to your off-road adventure.

- The transfer case is constantly rotating and allows you to switch from 2WD to 4WD. The gears and bearings are put under high stress and suffer a lot of vibrations while driving off-road. Hardcore 4x4 wheelers know that a sweating transfer case is “almost” normal.

- Remove the fill plug (you need a 10mm hex bit, price:$3) and refill the transfer case if it has been leaking or sweating.

Buy a 10 mm bit : Amazon.com (USA) Amazon.ca (Canada) Amazon.co.uk (UK)

- TC failure = Jeep won’t run (and expect expensive repairs).

- To the best of my knowledge (I'm not a pro mechanic), it can also be used as a MANUAL transmission fluid but only for a short period (in case of an emergency).

*I'm driving a manual transmission JK 2D but I know that 75% of my readers have an automatic transmission.

- Stops leaks fast in transmission, power steering and differential.

- If the leak comes from rubber seals or gaskets, you can mostly or totally stop it by adding this miracle fluid.

- Many leak problems are no easy fixes on the trail and require professional attention at an auto repair shop. Instead of carrying gallons of tranny, power steering, and differential fluids, I rely on this little 8oz bottle.

- The online reviews are amazing.

- Nobody would stop and perform an inspection to make sure that there’s no oil leaking. But once you notice a few drops of engine oil on the ground, it’s probably already too late. The volume of a drop of oil is about 0.5ml. Bleeding one drop every minute equals 300ml after 10 hours and 720ml after 24 hours. Have you been losing oil for more than 24 hours? Gosh. A minor leak can become a disaster for the engine.

- A Wrangler JK/JKU/JL contains about 5.7 liters of engine oil. But if the volume drops below 40%, the engine becomes hotter (engine oil is also a coolant), and several vital components are susceptible to increased wear (lack of lubricant).

- Personally, I would try to find and stop the leak BEFORE I add engine oil. Especially, if I can find the leak without having the engine running.

- Ask for an extra quart (946ml) of the same engine oil you are using the next time you get oil change service.

- Puncturing or breaking a brake line or damaging the seal of a caliper on the trail means losing brake fluid. And it may takes some time before the brake pedal becomes spongy (or even goes all the way to the floor when you press it).

- Less brake oil means less pressure for the pistons. So, even if you stop the leak quickly, you are losing braking power. You need to add brake fluid in the master cylinder.

- Driving with weak braking power in the remote wilderness is a very dangerous gamble.

- Brake fluid is really affordable ($8 to $12).

- Crossing flood waters, rivers, and muddy creeks repeatedly is the worst treatment for your brakes. It won’t necessarily be visible, but there will be some debris and foreign objects stuck between the calipers, pads, and rotors.

- Brake squealing noise is common on the trail. You need to clean your brake parts to prevent premature wear or abrupt reduction of performance.

- For only $9 you can clean your brakes about 10 times.

- I clean my brakes after every 10 water crossings.

- No brake unit disassembling required.

- Cleans, dries up moisture, and lubricates vital brake parts.

Fuel-Line and Fuel Tank Water Remover

- Most off-grid and remote communities have a gas station, but the fuel quality is often suspicious. Rain water–contaminated fuel is not a possibility but a guarantee.

- If your Jeep doesn’t start properly or hesitates when you want to accelerate, it’s probably because of water mixed with the fuel.

- Waiting for too long will force you to pay a mechanic to completely drain the tank.

- Iso-HEET or STP Water Remover get the water out of the tank and fuel line, and it removes impurities

- Yes, it’s only $6 (some gas stations sell it for $3.99).

Getting spare parts is a never ending struggle in the remote wilderness. Here is an abandoned excavator in the Klondike (Yukon, Canada).

Drag Link End $30

Radiator Hoses $30

Spark Plugs $15

GB70 Genius 5.5lbs.

- A jump starter that works even if your Jeep battery is completely dead. Most cheap jump starters only “boost” the cranking amps of a drained battery but can’t start the engine all by themselves. This unit will start your Wrangler even if there’s no battery connected.

- NOCO Genius GB70 can be considered a spare battery.

- Lightweight and easy to store.

- Less expensive than a second battery plus dual battery tray.

Upper & Lower Coolant Hoses

- Blowing off a radiator hose is pretty common during long-distance off-roading. You may think that Gorilla tape and some hose clamps will be enough to get your Jeep back to some auto parts store, but to get there, you will have to drive through a web of rugged backcountry roads and potholed trails. That rodeo is a recipe for disaster if you can’t stop the coolant from leaking/squirting. As far as I know, the most effective repair method is to replace the hose.

- The stop-and-go strategy puts the engine in danger because you can’t rely on the temperature gauge to know precisely when is the right moment to turn the engine off (and wait for everything to cool down). The needle indication is not analog. So, if the needle goes 3/4, it doesn’t mean it’s 75% hot. With a leaking radiator, 3/4 could actually mean 110% hot, and 4/4 could indicate it’s 250% hot! If you rely on that gauge, you can damage vital engine components in less than 60 seconds. It’s not a chance you want to take in the bush where tow truck service is nonexistent.

-Water? Add water to refill the coolant reservoir Overflow is OK if you follow these directions: 1) Use filtered water or spring water bottles; 2) Don’t try to start the engine if the outside temperature drops below 0 Celsius; 3) Make sure the hoses are not leaking water/remaining coolant anymore—the coolant pressure needs to be constant while you drive; 4) Drain the radiator and replace the anti-freeze as soon as you can because water has no corrosion-inhibiting properties. You shouldn’t drive more than 50km/35miles or two days with water

- Connects the steering rod to the drag link (at the pitman arm).

- Breaking the drag link happens occasionally on the trail, either because of wear or a collision with a heavy object, like a boulder or a tree trunk.

- Your Jeep is undriveable without a drag link end.

- Very easy to install on the trail.

- ACDelco 45A0920 fits factory steering rod.

- Quality spark plugs last for about 80,000km (50,000mi), but they wear faster during intense off-road driving.

- Spark plug failure equals higher fuel consumption, engine misfiring, and longer time to start the Jeep. Fuel in the non-firing cylinder will damage the catalytic converter if you keep driving for a long period.

- I like Denso (5356) IXUH22I Iridium Power Spark Plug, but it's more expensive than $6.

- 5/8 socket needed; otherwise, it’s practically impossible to remove a dead spark plug.

Performance Tool W38160 Socket Tool :

Amazon.com (USA) Amazon.ca (Canada) Amazon.co.uk (UK)