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Before reading your comment, I could see the Florida in the trees! Sweet set-up!
Post Pic's of your Jeep
- Thread starter jwhutch
- Start date
echo7tango
Road tripping, overlanding
Hello OBW, goodbye Jeep…
Unfortunately my beloved diesel Grand Cherokee died in Moab UT, while I was at home near San Francisco. A shop had it and they were fixing a broken head gasket. When it overheated they think one of the connecting rods bent when it overheated. When they fixed the head gasket, it ran for a few miles but then the engine seized.
So, alas, she is dead. We had a decent run with her, 10 years and 200,000 miles, but with that diesel engine I was hoping to get over 500,000 miles out of it. Damn! So long, beloved JGC, and thank you. You were a good ship.
So I’ve now replaced her with an OBW, a 2024 Subaru Outback Wilderness, and she is our new overlanding ship. I’ve put 4,000 miles on her in her first month, a shakedown cruise and sea trials from San Francisco to the North Rim Grand Canyon to Monument Valley to Moab UT to retrieve my rack and gear from my diesel GC, and back home. I’m falling in love all over again, and I’ll loving to peppy and fuel efficient 2.4L turbo engine.
I put larger tires on her, a strong trail tire, BFG KO2s. With those I have a full 10” of ground clearance. More than the GC has! (But the GC has the air suspension so it could go higher)
So I know this is a thread to post Jeep pics, and I’ll post the last of my Jeep pics but I’ll also include some OBW pics, and thank you for permitting me to do so.
All y’all with your Jeeps, keep on Jeeping strong! My 2014 GC was my first Jeep, and I’d always wanted one ever since driving the old M151s during my Marine Corps years long ago.
Keep exploring! I’ll see y’all out there on the roads and trails!
Added: I just posted over on the Subaru owners thread, I’m a Subi newbie…➜ https://bit.ly/48f4ARf
Unfortunately my beloved diesel Grand Cherokee died in Moab UT, while I was at home near San Francisco. A shop had it and they were fixing a broken head gasket. When it overheated they think one of the connecting rods bent when it overheated. When they fixed the head gasket, it ran for a few miles but then the engine seized.
So, alas, she is dead. We had a decent run with her, 10 years and 200,000 miles, but with that diesel engine I was hoping to get over 500,000 miles out of it. Damn! So long, beloved JGC, and thank you. You were a good ship.
So I’ve now replaced her with an OBW, a 2024 Subaru Outback Wilderness, and she is our new overlanding ship. I’ve put 4,000 miles on her in her first month, a shakedown cruise and sea trials from San Francisco to the North Rim Grand Canyon to Monument Valley to Moab UT to retrieve my rack and gear from my diesel GC, and back home. I’m falling in love all over again, and I’ll loving to peppy and fuel efficient 2.4L turbo engine.
I put larger tires on her, a strong trail tire, BFG KO2s. With those I have a full 10” of ground clearance. More than the GC has! (But the GC has the air suspension so it could go higher)
So I know this is a thread to post Jeep pics, and I’ll post the last of my Jeep pics but I’ll also include some OBW pics, and thank you for permitting me to do so.
All y’all with your Jeeps, keep on Jeeping strong! My 2014 GC was my first Jeep, and I’d always wanted one ever since driving the old M151s during my Marine Corps years long ago.
Keep exploring! I’ll see y’all out there on the roads and trails!
Added: I just posted over on the Subaru owners thread, I’m a Subi newbie…➜ https://bit.ly/48f4ARf
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RealTruck
Supporting Sponsor / Approved Vendor
That's a good, long life for a Grand Cherokee! My very first car was a 1997 Grand Cherokee Limited, and it was also white. This was in 2009, and if memory serves me, it had well over 100K miles on it- the previous owner did lots of traveling. I wish I knew what I had when I had it!
Enjoy your new OBW!
craig333
Expedition Leader
The newest addition to my collection.
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Jeep TJ - Craig Ruth
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Jeep TJ - Craig Ruth
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Garyindiane
New member
Nice 2 door!
PCO6
Adventurer
I sleep in the back of my XJ too and find it quite comfortable. I go in head first from the passenger's side. I had a 4 dr. years ago and liked it. I wasn't sure about camping with a 2 dr. but it's been great. I think I prefer it.
I built a tire carrier since taking this pic. It freed up a lot of room in the cargo area.
I made screened vents for both windows which has been a help too.
Battle
Member
Awesome! I really like the window vents. Did you build those out of ABS plastic and door screen? I've been wanting to do something similar. For that last trip, I just put AVS window visors on and kept the windows cracked (crank windows rock!).
I don't remember why I picked the driver side to sleep on, but I did haha! I made a little plywood platform so the floor could be completely flat behind the front seats, which is where my head and pillow went. I'm only 5'7" so I fit perfectly inside.
I'm sure you did this mod too but perhaps the biggest luxury I've added to this whole setup was a way of opening the back hatch from the inside. Absolute game-changer.
PCO6
Adventurer
Yes, I used ABS for the window vents, 2 sheets glued together with window screen in between. I also used fence trellis pieces from Home Depot to attach them to the top of the windows. I roll the windows down to about half way, place the parts on and then roll them up. I made rain gutters for the tops out of 1" aluminum angle and ABS. The screens work with or without the gutters. In total there is 85 sq. inches of window screen. I store the screens and a curtain in a pie iron bag and only take them when needed.
I picked the passenger's side for the simple reason that I don't like moving my driver's seat forward to climb in. I'm sure it's all in my head but I'm never convinced that I reset it properly and I end up fidgeting with for the first 5 miles or so. lol. I have an awning attached to my driver's side and it might make more sense to use that side so I should try it. I'm the same size as you and I find it very comfortable to sleep in. With the passenger's seat all the way forward I can sit up to get dressed and put my shoes on fairly well.
My rear seats are out and I've made a flat cargo deck. I made a fridge slider that I can mount on either side. I figured I'll move things around this season and when I'm happy I'll spray the deck with Raptor Liner.
One thing I have not done is make a interior hatch latch opener and a handle. I'm curious to see how you did yours.
Battle
Member
At the moment, it's pretty crude honestly. I just have a metal wire wrapped around and zip-tied to to the latch mechanism that leads up to the top of the hatch panel. I then just grabbed whatever I had that could serve as a handle to pull up on the latch... which is a heater hose t at the moment haha.
Here's a quick video of it working: https://photos.app.goo.gl/rsVdWkXpWrpSLmza7
I really agonized over this and trying to make it "right" - I was going to buy a door handle for a first generation Tacoma and mold it into the back hatch and have linkages to to the hatch mechanism... and then I just did this for literally free as I had the stuff laying around haha. It works great for now and I'll probably never change it unless it breaks.
PCO6
Adventurer
That works great! It's been a while since I've had the hatch panel off and I didn't pay much attention to the latch when did. It looks like it's pretty simple to add an interior release. Funny thing is that I have a small piece of tape there to assist when backing up my XJ to hitch up a trailer. A handle would work just as well. I'll start looking for a handle now that I know how it works. Mine is a 1989 and it doesn't have an interior handle for closing the hatch so I'll have to come up with something for that too. Thanks.
jeep_n_co
New member
It's been many years since I have posted here, and I am not even sure I have the same jeep as my last post. Anyway, here is my current rig as it sits today.
I recently added some mounting plates to hold Packouts to my rear storage platform (the two compartments open up for storage).
Here is my Lifetime Tent Trailer that I modified to fit matching 38" rims/tires (this is before I powder-coated all the rims gold).
What the trailer looks like when the tent is up.
The top deck of the Lifetime Tent Trailer can be used to haul a single ATV, but we typically use it just for camping supplies. This is a typical load out when traveling.
Anyway, we are considering making the trip out to Overland Expo West this month and doing the festival camping. Anyone else planning a trip out from the Denver Metro area?
I recently added some mounting plates to hold Packouts to my rear storage platform (the two compartments open up for storage).
Here is my Lifetime Tent Trailer that I modified to fit matching 38" rims/tires (this is before I powder-coated all the rims gold).
What the trailer looks like when the tent is up.
The top deck of the Lifetime Tent Trailer can be used to haul a single ATV, but we typically use it just for camping supplies. This is a typical load out when traveling.
Anyway, we are considering making the trip out to Overland Expo West this month and doing the festival camping. Anyone else planning a trip out from the Denver Metro area?