What does it take to own a TJ?

[hardtailpan]

Not a handy person, no tools, no garage
Low Mileage good OEM condition , pay$$$, leave it alone

Handy, tools, garage, resourceful person
mileage is irrelevant but great overall body & frame condition. Try to avoid bubba modified

In the end, comes down to skills, resourcefulness, & willingness to learn and get dirty. Frame & body you want solid. Motors are replaceable as are most things.

Yup, last one i bought was 200k with a leaky 32rh and a blown motor....BUT it was from inland florida and the frame and body are mint, not to mention it was cheap! I couldn't care less about the mechanicals as long as I don't have to do rust repair. I won't touch a rusty or even a "repaired" frame TJ. Once they get rotted frames, they're no good to me unless I plan on doing a frame off. ....and yes, I can weld well enough to fix a frame and I have a buddy that welds for a living and could make a frame if he wanted to. He won't touch em' either once the frames are rotted.

 

[CreepinDeth]

Yup, last one i bought was 200k with a leaky 32rh and a blown motor....BUT it was from inland florida and the frame and body are mint,

Same, mine was from inland Florida with a super clean body and 250K 4.0L & 5 sp
Not even carpeted and the interior was no rust either.

Only $3,000 and I drove it home 1400 miles to Chicago with my wife & kids behind me.
I took a Huuuuuuge chance, and this things strong as hell (But 70-80mph gutless)
Only really needed a new suspension & interior overhaul & new fender flares

I anticipate throwing a different motor in it regardless before my 9 year old reaches 16 and its given to him.
I kinda like the idea of a turbo 4.0L

 

[hardtailpan]

Same, mine was from inland Florida with a super clean body and 250K 4.0L & 5 sp
Not even carpeted and the interior was no rust either.

Only $3,000 and I drove it home 1400 miles to Chicago with my wife & kids behind me.
I took a Huuuuuuge chance, and this things strong as hell and only really needed a new suspension & interior overhaul & new fender flares

That's awesome!
Mine had no carpet either, floorboards show no rust, same as everything else. Some sun fading on the paint, but that's it. Mine was $3400. I could've drove it with the rapping motor and it surely would've made it but I trailered it instead. I've sourced a motor for it and a transmission core I'll rebuild. it's an Apex and the drivers pumpkin orange seat is shredded which is too bad. I haven't had time to touch her, but she's sitting in my barn patiently waiting her turn. This one i'll keep, it's just too hard to find non-rusty TJs in Massachusetts.

 

[CreepinDeth]

This one i'll keep, it's just too hard to find non-rusty TJs in Massachusetts.

Yeah I've been to Boston (Ayer actually) when I was stationed at Fort Devens for Crypto school many years ago.
It's definitely a snow blizzardy area that's waaaaaay worse then Chicago. Id always shop out of state for used vehicles.

 

[Frankm]

Jeep guys kinda like Harley guys… either you love them or you don’t.

 

[hardtailpan]

Yeah I've been to Boston (Ayer actually) when I was stationed at Fort Devens for Crypto school many years ago.
It's definitely a snow blizzardy area that's waaaaaay worse then Chicago. Id always shop out of state for used vehicles.

Yeah, I own both and they definitely fit well together. Both have a cult like following and both are like tractors lol.

Edit: woops! wrong post to reply to! but yeah, lots of salt here eats vehicles like crazy!

 

[Jack72]

I think most TJ owners, regardless of how they modify or don’t modify them, have a few basic similarities.:

They want to do things on their own and not just pay someone to do it for them and the TJ is a great platform for that.

They want to learn which relates to the previous attribute.

They typically have a love of the outdoors to some degree.

They’re usually sensory oriented to some degree. Meaning, they love that they can feel the road and their surroundings more in a Jeep than they can in most other vehicles. Particularly when the top and doors are removed.

 

[AndyG]

These posts are just awesome. About every thought or feeling I’ve had has been mentioned.

These ain’t for everybody, but we ain’t everybody.

Really appreciate the posts gang.

 

[Danarch]

Realize it is a Jeep, they are just a different vehicle. Don’t by a Jeep expecting it to be something else. Respect it for what it is, take care of it, don’t just ignore things. Try to understand if you change something how that may impact something else.

Enjoy doing things yourself.
As others have said patience.
Yup a garage is very helpful, couldn’t image trying to roll a floor jack around on gravel or crawling around on it. As it is I’ve got pad I lay on.

 

[WestCoastDan]

Jeep guys kinda like Harley guys… either you love them or you don’t.

That's a fact!
I'm in the middle of a rebuild on my 2007 FLHTCU right now.

Friday was upper fork can replacement and front rotor upgrade.

Yesterday was rocker box removal.

Reassembly begins this week.

 

[AndyG]

That's a fact!
I'm in the middle of a rebuild on my 2007 FLHTCU right now.

Friday was upper fork can replacement and front rotor upgrade.
View attachment 451358
Yesterday was rocker box removal.
View attachment 451359

Reassembly begins this week.

I’m just down the road from the Wheels through Time motorcycle museum, Maggie Valley. Bikes are everywhere.

 

[JasterMereel42]

My answer may vary at times ….these things are like Legos for adults and a lot of what sounds like toil really is something to look forward to and just a fun break from life’s daily grind.

Love to hear from you guys…..

As someone that is also into Legos, this really sold me about Jeeps and being willing to do the majority of the work myself.

Before about 2 months ago, I never even changed the oil in my other cars. I replaced headlights, bulbs, fuses, and stuff, but not even an oil change. I got my 00 TJ and so far I have replaced the water pump, t-stat, radiator, transmission oil pan, front & rear diff fluids, PS fluid, radio, and a few other things. I also sit behind a computer all day for work so I never get my hands dirty.

Going to work on the Jeep truly is the highlight of my week right now.

 

[JasterMereel42]

Depends. Start with a reasonably low mile stock tj, keep it stock and there isn’t really a whole lot required vs any other vehicle. I suppose a higher tolerance to wind noise…

My TJ was going to get a lot of upgrades. The PO did a lift on it and that's about it. I'm doing minor things such as switching out the headlights and putting in a stereo system. Other than that, I've decided to not really do too much to it and keep it fairly stock. I'll do some minor to moderate offroading, but I have no aspirations to make a rock crawler rig.

 

[hear]

As someone that is also into Legos, this really sold me about Jeeps and being willing to do the majority of the work myself.

Before about 2 months ago, I never even changed the oil in my other cars. I replaced headlights, bulbs, fuses, and stuff, but not even an oil change. I got my 00 TJ and so far I have replaced the water pump, t-stat, radiator, transmission oil pan, front & rear diff fluids, PS fluid, radio, and a few other things. I also sit behind a computer all day for work so I never get my hands dirty.

Going to work on the Jeep truly is the highlight of my week right now.

I had several older vehicles (66 Mustang, 73 Scout, 79 CJ7) and while I did some stuff on them I never got in very deep. And on the rare chance I tried something more advanced, it went sideways and caused the thing to sit in the garage, broken, for a year or more. Like when I tried to upgrade the distributor on my Mustang. Popped the old one out, went to drop the Pertronix unit in...wouldn't fully seat. Old one wouldn't seat either. And that's how it sat for probably 18 months. I eventually solved it, but was again scared to touch it further. Plus with a nice older mustang the odds of me de-valuing it were pretty significant.

I've only had my TJ for going on 3 years, but there isn't really any project I won't attempt (other than body work or any sort of rust repair). Just takes a little courage and a lot of YouTubing.

 

[bucky]

Cold Air Intake- to get a massive HP boost.
Angry Bird grill- to look really assume driving it.
Cheap oil and filter- because it really does not matter what you use.
Lots of Metalcloak parts- because they are the best.
Amazon Prime account- so you can buy those sweet Made In China parts shipped for free.
Local mall- so you have somewhere to drive your sweet ride and look assume.

At least that is what I’ve gleaned from following this forum.
NOT!

 

[Nickgsjeep]

@hear and I chatted about this on another thread.

I can envision answers like…

- a trust fund

- a big set of tools

- a shop

- patience of Job

My take is you need to get over perfectionism, not be easily bummed out about a check engine light, be a persistent problem solver, understand the axle/steering design geometry, be willing to tackle your own mechanic work when needed (like when the shop that said they knew how doesn’t) and ultimately know how to sort out the myths from the truths about what works on these and what doesn’t. For that you get immense satisfaction and super fun ride that can take you most anywhere.

A person like this in 1978 was called “Dad” or “Uncle Jimmy “. In other words a normal guy back then. And if you were a kid around them, it rubbed off.

My answer may vary at times ….these things are like Legos for adults and a lot of what sounds like toil really is something to look forward to and just a fun break from life’s daily grind.

Love to hear from you guys…..

@AndyG I love ya man but I think I’ll have to disagree with only a small part of your post. Otherwise I’m with you on a lot of the other stuff. It takes all kinds of special folks to own TJs.

But I do think you can appreciate and approach a TJ no matter how old or abused with a vision and an attitude of perfectionism. There are a few people on here with an eye and a mind for what works and looks right (I understand this is subjective) and can have a dirty old TJ driving and looking better than it did out of the box.

Where I am going with this is that I think there is a place for a healthy amount of perfectionism for the TJ owner who doesn’t settle for less

As for the rest I think you’re right on the money.

 

[KennethS]

Cold Air Intake- to get a massive HP boost.
Angry Bird grill- to look really assume driving it.
Cheap oil and filter- because it really does not matter what you use.
Lots of Metalcloak parts- because they are the best.
Amazon Prime account- so you can buy those sweet Made In China parts shipped for free.
Local mall- so you have somewhere to drive your sweet ride and look assume.

At least that is what I’ve gleaned from following this forum.
NOT!

Reminds me of a Jeep for sale ad I saw years ago.
Totally modded Jeep, lifted, big mud tires, winch, skid plates, rocker guards, swing out tire carrier, front and rear lockers, NEVER BEEN OFFROAD.
In Scottsdale, AZ.
And never been offroad.
WTF

 

[97JadeTJ]

ADD and OCD help…

 

[AndyG]

@AndyG I love ya man but I think I’ll have to disagree with only a small part of your post. Otherwise I’m with you on a lot of the other stuff. It takes all kinds of special folks to own TJs.

But I do think you can appreciate and approach a TJ no matter how old or abused with a vision and an attitude of perfectionism. There are a few people on here with an eye and a mind for what works and looks right (I understand this is subjective) and can have a dirty old TJ driving and looking better than it did out of the box.

Where I am going with this is that I think there is a place for a healthy amount of perfectionism for the TJ owner who doesn’t settle for less

As for the rest I think you’re right on the money.

If anyone on here has the right to say that you do - we love what you can do with one.

I was thinking mostly of the guy who just can’t tolerate a single leak, noise, scratch or thinks he can drive it endlessly and it just magically performs flawlessly, forever.

Maybe a better term I could have used was to have realistic expectations. Then you can move on to making it what you want it to be.

Which brings me to another point….that journey of transformation is so rewarding.
Then owning and enjoying that same Jeep is a great experience. It’s truly your own.

 

[AndyG]

ADD and OCD help…

And some AC/DC.