How to Buy and Maintain a Used Jeep

Scott Carline • August 12, 2020

One of the best ways to become a Jeep owner while on a budget is buying a used one. While it’s important to do your research before buying any pre-owned car, investing in a used Jeep will take a little more legwork — especially if it has been on off-road adventures with its previous owner. 

Below are some great tips for buying and maintaining a pre-owned Jeep and getting the most out of your investment.

 

Buying a Used Jeep

Check these areas closely when looking to buy a used Jeep.

Undercarriage: The undercarriage and frame of a Jeep are the “bones” of the vehicle. Steer clear of rust or rot that could indicate bigger problems down the road. For off-roading Jeeps, check skid plates, which are installed to protect from hazards on the trail. Visible wear on skid plates means the vehicle was likely taken on lots of adventures and would indicate wear on the frame (and other parts) as well.

Tires: Jeep tires can be costly to replace, especially if they’re used for off-roading. Carefully check the tread and wear on the tires during an inspection: If the front tires are more worn than the back, they weren’t rotated properly or frequently enough. Uneven tread on all tires, either down the middle or on the edges, could be a sign of an alignment problem — which can’t be fixed by a simple rotation or tire replacement.

Rust: If you’re buying a Jeep from a local seller or dealer in the St. Louis area, expect to see a little rust from winter weather and salt treatments on the roads. However, off-roading vehicles that were exposed to the elements without being cared for properly will show large, extensive rust spots. If that rust spreads to the floorboards or door and window frames, you could have a bigger problem on your hands. 

 

 

Leaks: In any car, leaks can indicate issues with the engine, transmission, or other major systems. Check for puddles of oil or coolant under the Jeep, inspect the hoses for cracks, and start up the car to look for leaks as it’s running. This is especially important for Jeeps; all it takes is a particularly rocky off-roading trip to cause damage that will lead to hose leaks or engine cracks.

Modifications: This is probably the most important area to look at when buying a pre-owned Jeep. Because mods aren’t installed by the factory, it’s crucial to check that they were installed correctly — and if you don’t know what correct installation looks like, you should be having a professional check them out before making a purchase. Some mods are cosmetic, but many (like the suspension) impact the overall performance of the vehicle. If you’re new to the world of modded Jeeps altogether, it may be a good idea to buy one without any add-ons and learn as you go by working with a team of pro installers.

 

Maintaining a Used Jeep

Any car needs proper and regular maintenance to keep it on the road longer and running the way it should, and that’s no different for Jeeps. At the top of your to-do list should be regular oil changes; this process should also include changing out of the old oil filters too. You can DIY this maintenance task to save a little cash, but just ensure that you’re not waiting too long in between changes.

 

 

Other tasks that you can do yourself include changing out the wipers as they wear out, replace interior lights or upgrade to LED versions, clean and care for the interior and treat the leather to protect against fading or cracking, and keep the tires properly maintained.

Bigger jobs are best left to the professionals. Tire replacement and rotation require plenty of garage space and specialized tools that many owners don’t generally have on-hand. The same can be said for replacing brakes, belts, hoses, or other components of major systems. Modifications should definitely be installed by qualified and experienced professionals — getting this wrong could impact the value and performance of your Jeep.

There’s a reason Jeeps retain their value over the years, and the right research and maintenance can help you find and keep the right pre-owned vehicle. Get in touch with our Jeep experts during your search if you have questions, and don’t hesitate to bring your new-to-you Jeep to our shop when you’re ready to maintain or mod it out.

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Axleboy Custom Jeep Gladiator: TeraFlex Control Arms and Falcon Shocks

By Scott Carline • April 7, 2025
So we're back inside at Axleboy Offroad. We've got our 2020 Jeep Gladiator Sport S. This is still bone stock. I haven't made any modifications to it yet. We have ordered and been receiving a lot of the components from our supplier partner. They're going to end up on this Jeep Gladiator. One thing that's going to be probably the most dramatic cosmetically and performance and everything else from the outside, is the lift kit, and the wheels, and the suspension. Yeah. So right now behind us is bone stock. Let's talk about suspension first. Why don't you tell us what we have here from TeraFlex? Sure. So from TeraFlex, we're doing the adjustable alpine IR arms. IR stands for independent rotation. Now this is a really new product and it's amazing in the fact that it uses the bushing, so we're going to retain the same sound dampening and the same ride quality as we would when we're stock. But the inner sleeve that the bolt actually goes on... Okay. This is actually on a bearing. Okay. And it's a sealed bearing and unlike standard bushings where once the bolt clamps down, it's captive in the rubber and the rubber has to flex in order for this arm to move through its travel. The independent rotation allows free movement, no binding whatsoever, and this is huge in terms of ride quality, in terms of flex when you're off road or when you're on the RTI ramp at a Jeep show, or whatever it may be. We get the best of both worlds. We get the reliability of a good rubber bushing. We get the flexibility of a flex joint, but we don't have the parts that wear out or they get loose and make noise like the flex joints do. So it's kind of the best of both worlds. We expect that these bushings are going to last the vehicle's lifetime. This is a new product, this independent rotation bushing, been in testing and development for quite a while. We expect these to do amazing. What does installing an adjustable control arm do? What's the benefit for me as the Gladiator? Yeah, that's a great question. So we're going to lift it and we're going to raise the suspension. And the way that the geometry works, as we raise, this control arm is going to drop down further away. Now if you notice when this control arm swings down, it moves back. We actually lose some wheelbase when we lift it and it's just the nature of basic geometry. There's nothing we can do about that unless we put in an adjustable control arm. In this case, we can extend the length of this. We can recover our wheelbase, we can recover our alignment angles and our pinion angles as needed. So this gives us the ability to affectively adjust the front axle forward and backward. So we can make sure that the front axle is exactly where we want it. Exactly where we want it with the correct angle and the correct rotation. This is going to make the vehicle drive amazing. We're going to be able to keep caster where we want it, which is important because as we lift it caster drops out. Caster is the alignment angle that gives us stability going down the highway. We can roll it back in. Terrific. What else do we have here from TeraFlex? Well, we also have the new Falcon series three shocks. These are the brand new SP two shocks. Now I know in the past you and I have talked about how nice the Falcon shocks are because we have the quick adjust knobs. So we can turn this knob and we can go from soft ride to firm ride or tow, or if you're particularly picky like I know you are, you can go into setting number two, which gives you micro adjust on the small knob. You can literally dial in the ride as you drive. Now the SP two adds a new feature to it. Okay? It allows us to control the dampening, so this isn't as quick adjust or as easy, but what we can do, if you come in and say, "Dude, I am going to run down a gravel road and I'm going to run this thing hard." You can take the shock off and you can twist it, turn the bottom, and it goes into performance mode. Now this isn't going to be something you're changing in and out of every day. It's something you're probably going to do on install, but it gives you the ability to take the entire shock range and move it to more of a performance setting or to move it more to a comfort setting. Okay. So it just adds one more layer of adjustability to these shocks. These shocks are made up in Utah at the TeraFlex plant in the Falcon plant, handmade up there. Everything is amazing. We've been up on this line. It's the most spotless incredible thing you've ever seen. They've put a lot of time and development into this and these are definitely the best riding shock out there for the JK, and JL, and Gladiators. And it's going to look really cool. Oh yeah. How do you go wrong with all the big, all the billet, all the anodizing, the badging? They cut no corners on this thing at all. So I'm going to guess we've got a front and a back. Yeah. Yeah. So this will be the back. And so the importance with the back is... So it's a gladiator, right? So we're probably going to load it up with stuff, right? I mean, bicycles, kayaks, tent. So we're going to be taking weight in and out of it all the time. And that's really where the quick adjust knob is going to come in for us. So as you add that weight, all your shock dampening needs to change. It's easy now. Reach in there through the wheel-well, make a flip, and go. Going down the road or as a daily driver, what setting would I want to put it on? Well, I'll let you have it as far as a personal preference, but I know when I'm going down the road, just genuinely driving down the highway, I like a softer setting. I don't need to really feel the road. When we go to the firm settings, you're going to feel more input from the road. Now that's going to be great in certain situations. So if you're particularly driving sporty or driving heavy, you're going to want to have that road feel where you can feel the bumps and know what the vehicle is doing. With that, we're going to get a lot of roll control. So the vehicle is going to corner better and it will be able to handle the washboard gravel roads. Because I know like when you're out camping, you're driving down the- Gravel road. Yeah, yeah. You know how it is. You hit the bump and you bounce off the road, not with these, you move it to a firm setting and yeah, it's going to feel like you're zipping across the desert in a Baja race there. So really good stuff. Very adjustable, tunable to how you want it. So typically when you're off road or you're driving in let's say a spirited fashion, if you will, we're going to put them on firm. That's great. Well, thanks a lot to TeraFlex and to Axleboy Offroad. To learn more, you go to teraflex.com or visit us at axleboy.com.
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