bigreen505
Expedition Leader
After a long search for a new truck complicated by some unexpected financial issues and generally feeling like Goldilocks (this one's too big, this one's too small), and detailed at length here , I bought a '99 Trooper with 115,000 miles. Engine was rebuilt at 90,000 and OME 919 springs, Ranch 9000x shocks and 285/75 R16 Futura Dakota tires were added about 70,000 mi. Overall, I have hopes of it being a good, long lasting and reliable addition to the family.
Mods completed or in progress:
Mods on deck (collecting parts, prices, etc. -- working on but not actually started). Hope to be completed by the end of August 2006.
I will probably replace tires early winter with 265/75 R16, though not really sure what, possibly a BFG AT. I've been told BFG has new molds and the tires are round again.
After those are completed a refrigerator, communication and GPS are next on the list, followed by lockers and on board air of some type. Beyond that I need some travel time to see what it is lacking.
Mods completed or in progress:
- Basic maintenance including hunting down a couple intermitent problems, fixing a couple broken parts and tracking down and fixing a couple pretty big leaks.
- Torsion bar de-crank. The T-bars were cranked pretty high, probably higher than necessary, mostly for looks. I'm hoping to recover some up-travel here.
- Superwinch manual hubs
Mods on deck (collecting parts, prices, etc. -- working on but not actually started). Hope to be completed by the end of August 2006.
- Ball joint flip along with new ball joints and possibly upgraded tie rods from Independent 4x
- E-code headligts from Daniel Stern
- Cibie Super Oscar auxiliary lighting from same supplier
- Storage -- not exactly sure what this will look like, but probably a shelf about wheel well height that will cover the back, but still leave one back seat. I will probably remove the large section of the rear seat at the same time as it looks like it can come and go easily. The shelf will house drawers or storage bins underneath, but still have plenty of room for other gear and dogs on top.
I will probably replace tires early winter with 265/75 R16, though not really sure what, possibly a BFG AT. I've been told BFG has new molds and the tires are round again.
After those are completed a refrigerator, communication and GPS are next on the list, followed by lockers and on board air of some type. Beyond that I need some travel time to see what it is lacking.
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