Jeep TJ Wrangler
I bought my 1998 Jeep TJ (Wrangler) from Shaver Jeep in August, 2003. I bought it specifically for off-roading and some top-down summer driving.
Anyone who knows anything about off-roading knows that real Jeeps are built, not bought. What that means is that an off-road rig should be customized how you want it, not by someone else and then sold to you.
My Jeep was a bone-stock four-banger when I bought it. A CarFax report shows that I’m the 2nd owner and the first was a corporate lease, so it’s probably safe to assume that it was pretty well maintained and was never taken off-road. It’s still pretty much bone-stock but if you look underneath it now, it’s obvious that it’s seen some ‘action’.
Upgrades done and accessories added (so far):
- Tow hooks on the front
- Rear bumper replaced with one from Cross Enterprises
- Cobra CB w/4′ Firestick antenna
- Hi-Lift jack
- Bestop Safari Bikini (the summer top)
- Instatrunk
- 33×12.5″ BFG M/Ts (siped) on 15×8″ steel wheels
- 3.5″ Rubicon Express Super-Flex suspension lift & Rancho RS5000 shocks
- TracTech EZ-Locker (D30/Front)
- Kilby Enterprises steering box skid plate
- Gen-Right Crawler gas tank skid plate
Other planned upgrades include some skid plates, rocker protection, a Dana 44 rear axle, 4.88 gearing, front and rear lockers and a new front bumper/winch system. I’d also like to get either a rear or overhead rack. Jeeps don’t have a lot of room to begin with, and trying to get 4 people in there with all the necessary tools, camping gear, luggage and food is simply impossible.
Of course, nobody is ever done upgrading their Jeep. I’m convinced that Jeep really is an acronym for Just Empty Every Pocket. There are so many bolt-on upgrades available for Jeeps, you really can spend an unlimited amount of money on them. And then there’s custom upgrades…
My first (and so far, only) off-road “decoration” came in a the form of a dent on the left rear quarter panel, just below the gas tank filler and behind the fender flare. How it happened is somewhat unusual.
I was wheeling with some other members of On The Rocks, the 4WD club I belong to. I’d stopped to watch some of the better equipped Jeeps tackle an obstacle that my Jeep couldn’t handle. We watched them get through it and then got back in the Jeep to get moving again. As soon as I started forward, I heard a very loud noise that sounded like metal being crunched… Not good. I got out and discovered that there was a rock in between the inside of my fender and the tire!
When I stopped, I’d stopped with the gas tank on one side of the rock and my tire on the other. While I was watching the other Jeeps, my Jeep settled on the rock and it got wedged in pretty tight. When I started moving again, the rock was rolled up into the wheel well by the tire! As it rolled, it pulled the body panel forward, which caused the dent.
Some photos…
