jscusmcvet
Explorer
Fellow members here have put up with my vehicle wanderings over the last year plus. A long story but finally found my way into what I have lusted after since before I lost my 2003 Rubicon.
While my wife has always put up with my off road adventures and expenditures, she, or perhaps, we, have recently discovered the fun in "soft roading", that is exploring the dirt roads and "less than extreme" trails in our surrounding area. She is quite an outdoorswoman but does not like the stress ond jarring of the more aggressive trails and rocks of my... ahem... "youth". In a discussion just last weekend, we were talking about what was next for my 2001 Cherokee... and she asked what I really wanted to do. I told her that if all bets were off I would find a clean 2005 LJ Rubicon, 6 spd. soft top and build into my "perfect" vehicle.
Damn if she did not go out and find a 2005 with all the requested preferences, plus. We looked at it last week and picked it up.
Specs:
2005 LJ Rubicon
24,xxx miles
6 spd
soft and hard top (hard top going up for sale)
JKS discos
Big Daddy Offroad rear bumper and tire carrier
and a host of other little doodads.
So with no further blabbering, here she is:
You can see my handsome young man, already a jeeper at heart...
For the time being the build will be mild - staying on 31's, with a focus on armor and durability. Jeep needs to be my DD, our expo, softroading, offroading, trip taking, pop up pulling, work around the farm beast of a vehicle.
You also see that I have swapped out the rims and tires from my cherokee. I like these rims better and the BFG 31x10.50 KM2's are basically brand new. So far I love these tires. I have ordered seat risers (very much needed at my 5'6" height) and a trailer light harness.
Immediate, as funds allow, mods will be:
Front bumper - need some kind of brush guard as the work around the property entails bushwacking woods diving
Winch
Front, rear diff covers
Steering box skid
Radiator skid (again, the bushwacking)
Mounting the skids I have left over from my 2003 Rubi: Rock Crawler xfer case skid (1" improvement in clearance, no BL required), Skid Row Engine skid (these two bolt together to make a nice covered underside), Skid Row lower control arm skids (considering the necessity of these, but I have them, so?)
Even as I stay on 31's I am looking at lifts, zeroing in on OME, AEV due to their reputation at being able to go up just a bit with improved ride and a bit more clearance. Thinking 2 - 2.5" with better load carrying and towing stability... and well, just looks better. That would put my drivetrain at 3.5", which should not need a new driveshaft or other modifications. It should also allow some 33x10.50's later, as the "need" arises.
Always interested in your thoughts and input. Barring catastrophe, this will be the last purchase in a long while. Wish me luck.
John
While my wife has always put up with my off road adventures and expenditures, she, or perhaps, we, have recently discovered the fun in "soft roading", that is exploring the dirt roads and "less than extreme" trails in our surrounding area. She is quite an outdoorswoman but does not like the stress ond jarring of the more aggressive trails and rocks of my... ahem... "youth". In a discussion just last weekend, we were talking about what was next for my 2001 Cherokee... and she asked what I really wanted to do. I told her that if all bets were off I would find a clean 2005 LJ Rubicon, 6 spd. soft top and build into my "perfect" vehicle.
Damn if she did not go out and find a 2005 with all the requested preferences, plus. We looked at it last week and picked it up.
Specs:
2005 LJ Rubicon
24,xxx miles
6 spd
soft and hard top (hard top going up for sale)
JKS discos
Big Daddy Offroad rear bumper and tire carrier
and a host of other little doodads.
So with no further blabbering, here she is:
You can see my handsome young man, already a jeeper at heart...
For the time being the build will be mild - staying on 31's, with a focus on armor and durability. Jeep needs to be my DD, our expo, softroading, offroading, trip taking, pop up pulling, work around the farm beast of a vehicle.
You also see that I have swapped out the rims and tires from my cherokee. I like these rims better and the BFG 31x10.50 KM2's are basically brand new. So far I love these tires. I have ordered seat risers (very much needed at my 5'6" height) and a trailer light harness.
Immediate, as funds allow, mods will be:
Front bumper - need some kind of brush guard as the work around the property entails bushwacking woods diving
Winch
Front, rear diff covers
Steering box skid
Radiator skid (again, the bushwacking)
Mounting the skids I have left over from my 2003 Rubi: Rock Crawler xfer case skid (1" improvement in clearance, no BL required), Skid Row Engine skid (these two bolt together to make a nice covered underside), Skid Row lower control arm skids (considering the necessity of these, but I have them, so?)
Even as I stay on 31's I am looking at lifts, zeroing in on OME, AEV due to their reputation at being able to go up just a bit with improved ride and a bit more clearance. Thinking 2 - 2.5" with better load carrying and towing stability... and well, just looks better. That would put my drivetrain at 3.5", which should not need a new driveshaft or other modifications. It should also allow some 33x10.50's later, as the "need" arises.
Always interested in your thoughts and input. Barring catastrophe, this will be the last purchase in a long while. Wish me luck.
John
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