Chapter 1 - The Early Years
My TJ build story started decades ago, and very much continues through today...
Growing up, I had always wanted a Jeep, but the stars never aligned for me to get one. It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I got my first one when I had the means (i.e. $$$) and the need (i.e. I wanted to have a vehicle to take snowboarding).
I was living in Seattle at the time, and bought my Black Hardtop '97 TJ Sport 4.0L in 1999 with ~20,000 miles on it. It was totally stock, down to the original tires, and was in really good condition. I appreciated the simplicity and low tech nature of it. Power locks and windows? Heck no! Air conditioning? That's what taking the top off is for!
What I thought was a little unique was that is says "TJ" in big white letters on the side, not the typical "Wrangler" I usually saw (picture attached below). What I was told was that's how they make them for our Canadian friends up north. Apparently, they also pretty regularly make them with engine block heaters too because I have one of those too.
For the first few years, I kept things pretty stock. I drove it as my primary driver and really enjoyed it. I thought about doing some modifications to it, but really didn't know what I wanted, so I waited.
It wasn't until a few years later that I decided to make some tweaks to it. I still didn't really know where I ultimately wanted to go with it, so I did a few cosmetic things (e.g. new tube bumpers, rear light guards), a few engine tweaks to get some more HP and make it sound better (e.g. headers and exhaust), new shocks (but with no lift), and some practical things (e.g. new stereo, soft top). Ultimately, the changes made it look and sound a bit better so I was happy.
Chapter 2 - The Neglected Years
I drove my mostly stock Jeep for a few years more, and then I decided I needed a vehicle that could carry more people and stuff, and was a bit less rough around the edges, so I bought a GMC Yukon Denali. This became my daily driver for more than a decade. Some of the charm and simplicity of the Jeep gave way to the some of the nice features of my new car, and this put my Jeep in a very secondary position. It was paid for, and I still liked it, I just never drove it. Like for months at a time. And if I did, it would be a quick trip to the store or something just to keep it alive.
In hindsight, the two vehicles were very different and I should have used them differently. My loss. At least I wasn't foolish enough to go off roading in my Yukon. One other factor/excuse/rationalization was that I didn't really have other friends who had offroad vehicles so I just didn't do anything.
Chapter 3 - The Transition Years
In 2011 I moved to Colorado (near Denver), and that changed a number of things with my relationship with my Jeep. First off, it's way sunnier in Colorado than Seattle — about as opposite end of the spectrum as you can get. And as we all know, sunshine and Jeeps are like PB & J. What was also a difference for me was the closeness to the mountains and trails. The third thing was that I started working with a group of people who also had offroad vehicles and actually did stuff with them.
Now don't get me wrong, that didn't immediately kick me into gear, but it got me thinking. And it got me starting to take the Jeep out much more regularly to enjoy what Colorado has to offer. And, it also got me thinking — is it time to make some changes to my ~20 year old Jeep? To undo some of the past choices I made, and make some new improvements? Well, I wouldn't be writing this if the answer wasn't "Yes". I still consider myself to be an offroad newbie, but that's something time and effort can change. I also want to build fun memories for my kids and I, so I'm not looking for extreme danger. But I do want some fun, unique adventures. And I want my kids to really want to drive my TJ when they are old enough, because that means I did it cool enough for that tough crowd.
Chapter 4 - New Beginnings
The good news is that I am just at the beginning of these improvements. So I can record what I'm doing and how it's going as I evolve my TJ. I feel good to know there is an amazing community of folks online and IRL that can tell me "nice job" or "what were you thinking" or "here's how to do it".
The goals of my build is evolution, not revolution. I want to go back to basics a bit, including undoing some past style choices and return it closer to stock. Then I want to do some modest work to make it have some better offroad capabilities, but also be very civil on the road. I see how easy it is to drain your wallet on making changes. I want to be thoughtful and get good value and create good balance.
Ok, that's all to start. Future posts will give you insights into what I'm doing and how it's going. I'm relatively handy, but some of these things will be brand new to me. So if you see some panicked posts of "help!!", please give me a (virtual) pat on the back and help me along.
Stay tuned!
My TJ build story started decades ago, and very much continues through today...
Growing up, I had always wanted a Jeep, but the stars never aligned for me to get one. It wasn't until I was in my 20's that I got my first one when I had the means (i.e. $$$) and the need (i.e. I wanted to have a vehicle to take snowboarding).
I was living in Seattle at the time, and bought my Black Hardtop '97 TJ Sport 4.0L in 1999 with ~20,000 miles on it. It was totally stock, down to the original tires, and was in really good condition. I appreciated the simplicity and low tech nature of it. Power locks and windows? Heck no! Air conditioning? That's what taking the top off is for!
What I thought was a little unique was that is says "TJ" in big white letters on the side, not the typical "Wrangler" I usually saw (picture attached below). What I was told was that's how they make them for our Canadian friends up north. Apparently, they also pretty regularly make them with engine block heaters too because I have one of those too.
For the first few years, I kept things pretty stock. I drove it as my primary driver and really enjoyed it. I thought about doing some modifications to it, but really didn't know what I wanted, so I waited.
It wasn't until a few years later that I decided to make some tweaks to it. I still didn't really know where I ultimately wanted to go with it, so I did a few cosmetic things (e.g. new tube bumpers, rear light guards), a few engine tweaks to get some more HP and make it sound better (e.g. headers and exhaust), new shocks (but with no lift), and some practical things (e.g. new stereo, soft top). Ultimately, the changes made it look and sound a bit better so I was happy.
Chapter 2 - The Neglected Years
I drove my mostly stock Jeep for a few years more, and then I decided I needed a vehicle that could carry more people and stuff, and was a bit less rough around the edges, so I bought a GMC Yukon Denali. This became my daily driver for more than a decade. Some of the charm and simplicity of the Jeep gave way to the some of the nice features of my new car, and this put my Jeep in a very secondary position. It was paid for, and I still liked it, I just never drove it. Like for months at a time. And if I did, it would be a quick trip to the store or something just to keep it alive.
In hindsight, the two vehicles were very different and I should have used them differently. My loss. At least I wasn't foolish enough to go off roading in my Yukon. One other factor/excuse/rationalization was that I didn't really have other friends who had offroad vehicles so I just didn't do anything.
Chapter 3 - The Transition Years
In 2011 I moved to Colorado (near Denver), and that changed a number of things with my relationship with my Jeep. First off, it's way sunnier in Colorado than Seattle — about as opposite end of the spectrum as you can get. And as we all know, sunshine and Jeeps are like PB & J. What was also a difference for me was the closeness to the mountains and trails. The third thing was that I started working with a group of people who also had offroad vehicles and actually did stuff with them.
Now don't get me wrong, that didn't immediately kick me into gear, but it got me thinking. And it got me starting to take the Jeep out much more regularly to enjoy what Colorado has to offer. And, it also got me thinking — is it time to make some changes to my ~20 year old Jeep? To undo some of the past choices I made, and make some new improvements? Well, I wouldn't be writing this if the answer wasn't "Yes". I still consider myself to be an offroad newbie, but that's something time and effort can change. I also want to build fun memories for my kids and I, so I'm not looking for extreme danger. But I do want some fun, unique adventures. And I want my kids to really want to drive my TJ when they are old enough, because that means I did it cool enough for that tough crowd.
Chapter 4 - New Beginnings
The good news is that I am just at the beginning of these improvements. So I can record what I'm doing and how it's going as I evolve my TJ. I feel good to know there is an amazing community of folks online and IRL that can tell me "nice job" or "what were you thinking" or "here's how to do it".
The goals of my build is evolution, not revolution. I want to go back to basics a bit, including undoing some past style choices and return it closer to stock. Then I want to do some modest work to make it have some better offroad capabilities, but also be very civil on the road. I see how easy it is to drain your wallet on making changes. I want to be thoughtful and get good value and create good balance.
Ok, that's all to start. Future posts will give you insights into what I'm doing and how it's going. I'm relatively handy, but some of these things will be brand new to me. So if you see some panicked posts of "help!!", please give me a (virtual) pat on the back and help me along.
Stay tuned!