A Jeep Wrangler JL 3.6L DIY oil change, tire rotation and brake inspection are regular maintenance tasks that any Jeep Wrangler JL owner, with the 3.6L engine, can perform themselves, and save a lot of money every year by doing so. The CheaperJeeperTV Jeep Wrangler Maintenance Schedule videoand article illustrates this, and highlights other possible DIY maintenance items that can also be done by the keen Jeep owner. This article below will quickly outline the basic steps on how to perform these routine maintenance tasks, for those considering the significant savings potential. The significant savings and the pride that comes from looking after your own jeep make it worth it.
DISCLAIMER: Any and all content provided on this site and YouTube channel is Cheaper JeeperTV’s opinion and for educational and discussion purposes only. Seek a professional’s advice where appropriate for your vehicle.
Cost Breakdown Illustrating Savings from the DIY 8k Maintenance Service
An FCA certified dealer will charge $167 for the every 8,000 kilometer( 5,000 miles) maintenance service. As stated, this is essentially an oil change, tire rotation and brake inspection. You can do this work easily yourself for ~$41(CDN) in total, just by buying the oil and filter on sale, and doing the labour yourself. That is a savings of $126. If you drive ~ 24,000km (15,000 miles) per year, that would mean three 8,000 km services, so you would be saving over $378 (CDN) in one year, which would be $3,780 over a 10 year period of ownership. That’s a significant amount of money left over for you to buy…maybe something for your Jeep?
The next series of articles will describe the steps involved in the performance of this regular 8k service.
PART 2 of 3:
The Jeep Wrangler JL DIY Tire Rotation Instructions (Also as seen on CheaperJeeperTV)
Materials required to do a DIY Jeep Wrangler tire rotation.
There will be no parts required and the torque wrench specs will be 130 foot pounds for the Lugnuts
A Description of Different Possible Tire Rotation Patterns
Let’s discuss the different possible tire rotation procedures. Firstly, as you see in the diagram below of an overhead view of a Jeep Wrangler, it has five tires, but some cars have four tires or in the case of the Jeep, some owners only rotate four tires.
RWD 4 Tire Rotation Pattern
In a four tire rotation, you would follow the pattern illustrated in the image below. Illustrated in this image is that the two rear tires are the drive tires, and when you’re rotating in a four wheel pattern to drive tires are moved up to the front. The two front tires are then moved in a criss cross pattern to the rear wheel locations.
4WD 5 Tire Rotation Pattern
The following image illustrates the 5 wheel rotation pattern,which is common for a vehicle such as the Jeep Wrangler. The process begins with the removal of the spare, and one simply needs to follow the pattern identified by the red numbers in the image. The fifth and final step is to remove the driver’s front wheel and place it in the location for the spare.
Directional Tire Rotation Pattern
Also on the market are tires that are referred to as directional tires. These tires have a special tread pattern optimized to direct water and slush away from underneath the tires. They are marked with a directional arrow on the side wall to facilitate proper mounting upon the rims. The arrow must point towards the forward direction of movement of the vehicle for the tires to function properly.
Thus, directional tires with the arrow pointing forward on the passenger side rims would be meant to spin clockwise, and the directional tires with the arrow pointing forward on the driver’s side rims would be meant to spin counter clockwise.
Given this requirement, a spare cannot be used during a tire rotation process, and the mounted tires must remain on the same side of the vehicle. Thus the rotation pattern for directional tires would simply be from front to back, and back to front tires.
Begin the Process of Tire Rotation
Once you have determined which rotation pattern meets your needs, you can begin the process by following the tire removal and installation pattern in the appropriate diagram . I recommend the use of a floor jack, heavy duty jack stands, and the tools listed above to do the tire rotation on your vehicle, as it will make things go a lot smoother than using the scissor jack and tire removal tools provided with the Jeep.
Safety
Follow safety precautions such as engaging the emergency break and using wheel chocks to keep the Jeep stable and free from moving.
Raising the Jeep
Placing the Floor Jack under the axle or frame rail are secure locations from which to begin raising the Jeep
Removing the Tires
Before completely raising the tires off the ground, it is recommended that you use a breaker bar to loosen the lug nuts, otherwise the tires may spin when you attempt to do this.
Once the tires are removed, this would be a good time to inspect the ware pattern of your breaks, which is covered in the DIY Brake Inspection Article and Video.
Installing the tires
When you reinstall the tires to their new locations, evenly tighten the lug nuts in a star pattern, tightening them to 130 ft lbs with your torque wrench.
Once you have completed the installation of your tires, you have successfully rotated the tires on your Jeep, prolonged their wear, and saved some money. Perhaps to buy something more for your Jeep? Congratulations.