Overland The Third. ARB WJ inside!

[Root Moose]

I wouldn't get discouraged about the way you have built the Jeep. It's more symptomatic of where you went this trip.

This past summer I used my Jeep to tow our tent trailer to NL and back (I'm an hour west of Ottawa). Massively overbuilt for the highway portion but the banging around we did exploring old logging roads and shipwrecks made me appreciate the way the Jeep is built - even if it was still mostly overbuilt.

The building is part of the hobby so enjoy it. It's fun/enjoyable to have good equipment. Some people build for the sake of the build and others to have extra capacity to ensure success no matter what they encounter. I'd say you are in a good spot for the latter scenario.

 

[Ranger Steve]

Take it into the woods again and you will be happy

 

[Lecoq]

Replaced the fuel filter last night and what a difference that made. Like driving a new Jeep again. I've given lots of thought to the purpose and build direction of the Jeep. I think I'll just address the things I don't like about it first and then make a game plan for which way the build will go. It's hard to look past all the work and effort already put into this vehicle.

 

[stioc]

I agree with your reflection and why I have been resisting the bumpers and winch even though I have most of the parts sitting in the garage. With the amount of gear and people I carry on our family trips the truck is already over loaded and beyond the factorry GVWR.

I have a sedan for daily driving or road trips that don't involve off roading, however, after my experience trying to visit a ghost town along the way or pulling off for a picnic on a dirt road in a sports sedan with 35 series rubber band tires isn't practical either. So I've been convincing the gf that she needs a Subaru with a skybox it'll make a great road tripping family car. For all the hard stuff we'd take the 14mpg gas guzzling beast.

 

[Lecoq]

I know what you mean. My Jeep averages around 12 MPG when loaded up with all the gear and family in it. I might look into a daily driver but I'm not sure the cost of depreciation, maintenance and insurance on another vehicle is worth it.

 

[Root Moose]

12 mpg sounds excessive... That's what I got with the 4.0 in the XJ towing the small house behind us.

 

[Ranger Steve]

I know what you mean. My Jeep averages around 12 MPG when loaded up with all the gear and family in it. I might look into a daily driver but I'm not sure the cost of depreciation, maintenance and insurance on another vehicle is worth it.

It probably won't equal out. At least not for a very long time. Especially with the upfront cost of a DD.

 

[Lecoq]

I hardly get 400 kms on a 75 Litre tank. On board computer says 20L/100 kms so it's not far off.

 

[Lecoq]

It probably won't equal out. At least not for a very long time. Especially with the upfront cost of a DD.

Yeah, that's what I thought. Even a cheap DD at $3-4K is going to be at least $50 a month in insurance and who knows what maintenance will be like.

 

[Ranger Steve]

3-4k buys a lot of gas too! Lol

 

[stioc]

Well, yeah but I couldn't be happier having a separate DD. It's reliable, under warranty (for now), whisper quiet, has a great stereo, all the modern doodad features like blue tooth, backup camera etc all built-in it, way more comfortable, zippy in traffic, 34MPG etc. Allows me to work on my truck and leave it on jack stands for weeks if I have to etc. There's a lot of value associated with that, to me. Moreso than the gas/MPGs it also saves my oldish truck for the real adventures that it's built for, why waste it on the pavement after all the blood, sweat and tears I put into it. Then again, it also depends on what stage you are in in your life, if I was doing very little DD or was single or just a couple I might have a single car- and I did in those years. Out of approx 20 cars/trucks I've owned, only two were brand new including my current DD because I fully plan to drive it into the ground over the next 15-20 years. At my age, I see things a little more from the comfort/convenience perspective rather than strictly dollars and cents even though I'm the frugal type. Just my 2 cents.

 

[Ranger Steve]

I'm also not one to talk. The wife has the 2014 prius plug in lease lol. I have my chevy crew cab long bed 2500 work truck so my jeep is just for fun.

It's a tough decision and ne you will make eventually. It took me many jeeps and other vehicles to get to this point. The 2.5 year old. A teenager and wife and I the new DD car is good for it.

 

[Lecoq]

There's no doubt that a DD would be nice. Unfortunately I'm the type of person that gets bored easily and ends up changing cars or modifying them to keep things fresh, can't change the wife

I'm also planning on building a new house in the next year or two. So that takes buying a nice new DD out of the equation. Not interested in car payments at this point until the new house is built and the current one sold.

I might just suck it up for now and dump more gas into the Jeep while it's CHEAP haha.

 

[Ranger Steve]

There's no doubt that a DD would be nice. Unfortunately I'm the type of person that gets bored easily and ends up changing cars or modifying them to keep things fresh, can't change the wife

I'm also planning on building a new house in the next year or two. So that takes buying a nice new DD out of the equation. Not interested in car payments at this point until the new house is built and the current one sold.

I might just suck it up for now and dump more gas into the Jeep while it's CHEAP haha.

Sounds like gas it is! Lol

 

[Lecoq]

Not much new to report at this time. Life has been getting in the way of enjoying the Jeep so far this year. Got a few little things I'm looking to add when I get a chance and I'd like to take it out to stretch it's legs sooner than later.