What was your first Jeep?
- Thread starter MoGas
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Cummins_expo
Adventurer
I was fresh out of Boot Camp with money to burn. Grabbed a local Thrifty Nickle and found what I thought was the deal of the century.
77 cj7 with a small block 350, Super Swampers, and a 4" lift. All this for $1,000.00, Grabbed a ride with one of my buddies to Salida CO. Arrived at the guy's house and said okay let's make a deal and I will drive it home. He laughed, and I followed him to his to his barn. The jeep was there alright, but his ad failed to mention that it was all a pile of parts. The tub is sitting here, the frame is there, and the engine is on a stand.
He knocked a 100 of the price and said we could use his barn to put it all back together. Took about a month of weekends, but I finally had a jeep that usually ran.
77 cj7 with a small block 350, Super Swampers, and a 4" lift. All this for $1,000.00, Grabbed a ride with one of my buddies to Salida CO. Arrived at the guy's house and said okay let's make a deal and I will drive it home. He laughed, and I followed him to his to his barn. The jeep was there alright, but his ad failed to mention that it was all a pile of parts. The tub is sitting here, the frame is there, and the engine is on a stand.
He knocked a 100 of the price and said we could use his barn to put it all back together. Took about a month of weekends, but I finally had a jeep that usually ran.
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montechie
Active member
An '88 Red/Gray XJ with the 4.0 I bought for $3500 (late 90s) and it had 250K+ miles on it. Actually drove beautifully and took me all over camping, skiing, exploring the PNW and four seasons, still regret getting rid of it. Ran great, but had a string of worn out parts, at the time I didn't realize how cheap or easy it was to replace/upgrade parts on them vs most other vehicles and sold it at 320kish+ miles.
ThundahBeagle
Well-known member
Always loved the CJ jeeps from before they were called Wranglers. But li ke a Subaru, I have liked but never owned. Until I was looking for an XJ but found a good deal on a W
99 WJ 2nd gen Grand Cherokee. Drove it to the mountains, lakes, kayaking, camping. Work. Needed work so I upgraded whatever I touched. It was cool for a while, then I bought my GMC Sierra and it sat. And sat...
99 WJ 2nd gen Grand Cherokee. Drove it to the mountains, lakes, kayaking, camping. Work. Needed work so I upgraded whatever I touched. It was cool for a while, then I bought my GMC Sierra and it sat. And sat...
alanymarce
Well-known member
Cherokee XJ. Bought in Texas, taken to Europe and covered 175,000 km before I sold it.
This is my first and so far only one. My dream WJ. Here in Poland, it's a popular model. It's within reach for most working people. Besides, it seems to me to be more versatile than the Wrangler. Its size, for example, makes it great for trips. At first, it was hard for me to get used to the "sway" of the body, but now I wouldn't trade it back for my old Corolla
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deserteagle56
Adventurer
Got you guys all beat...here's my "first" Jeep, back about 1950. Family (lots of cousins) getting ready to go for a ride. This was a genuine ex-military unit my family got ahold of somehow. Sure wish I had that thing today!
My first (and only) Jeep is a 1997 Wrangler TJ with the ubiquitous and horribly under powered 2.5 4 cylinder and the 5 speed. I bought it in 2012 after my junior year of high school and I still have it. It has seen countless wheeling trips and I have made so many memories with it. The next iteration of it is going to involve a 5.2 magnum swap and a TJ-6 conversion which I’ll be starting soon.
ThundahBeagle
Well-known member
I liked my '99 WJ, maybe more than I would have liked a Wrangler. As you said, more versatile. Easier to drive on-highway. A real roof I could put kayak racks on. More seating, more cargo.
when the suspension needed work, I put in "Iron Rock Off-Road" springs of 2 inch lift, ProComp 9000 series shocks, new spring perch isolators from Crown Automotive and new Moog antisway bars. That body roll was under control! Next I discovered death wobble and replaced the entire tie rod, end to end, and an entire new drag link, both also from Crown. Finished off with some Wrangler wheels with tires. It was good. All told it sat about 3 inches higher.
Same engine as the Wrangler, so things were easy to work on. I had changed out the CV axles, water pump, fuel rail in the engine bay, starter.
One odd thing was the triangle shaped upper control arm in the back. That was different but even now there is still support for it. If I hadn't let it sit so long, it could still be a great adventure-mobile. I'm sorry I ended up letting it go.
