2000 TJ inheritance - fun

[shadowfax]

Hi
My father-in-law, who is 94, can't drive any more and he gave me his loved 2000 Jeep Wrangler. Pretty beat up actually, but it was his pride and joy and he loved driving around in it. I am theming it some to Jurassic Park. Has a snow plow, and I may use it for that. I have a long driveway, but very busy road on a hill at the end of the driveway so I am not sure how well plowing will go. Currently I use a snowblower and it works well.

Anyway - need to do reading as the jeep has the 2.4L and is terribly under-powered in my opinion. Also has heater issues that I will be working on.
Looking forward to this new toy.

 

[Chris]

That's a heck of a nice thing for him to give you that!

You're right, the 2.4 is underpowered. If you want to keep the 2.4 engine the best way to build the 4-cylinders (and any TJ for that matter) is to keep them as light as possible. Don't go above 31" tires, get rid of that heavy steel rear bumper, go with lighter wheels and tires, and always opt for aluminum whenever you can (i.e. bumpers, skid plates, etc.). A soft top and half doors will also decrease weight substantially. Believe me when I say you'll notice a big difference once you lose all that weight from the vehicle too.

Welcome to the forum as well!

 

[Potomus Pete]

Nice that your Father In Law likes you that much....Nice color

 

[Danarch]

Welcome, great deal. Guess in the spirit of loosing weight maybe a softop?

 

[JMT]

You could always regear too, and get rid of the nerf bars. Anything to help the 4 angry squirrels! Selling the hardtop, full doors and bumpers would help fund everything else.

 

[machoheadgames]

Getting rid of those tires and going back to stock size would help quite a bit. Or, you could regear to 4.88. Those appear to be 31's. If they're bigger than 5.13 actually would probably be more appropriate.

Just so you know, 2000 had the 2.5L. 2003+ 4 cylinder became a newer DOHC 2.4L.

 

[OHFIVETJ]

Welcome to the group from the Island of Long, My name is Johnny & i'm a JEEPAHOLIC