Got a TJ! (Oh, and also Merry Christmas!)

theflyingdrew

theflyingdrew

New Member
Joined
Dec 24, 2016
Messages
5
Location
Port Orange, FL, United States
Hello people! Feliz Navidad!

I recently made a switch to a 2000 Jeep Wrangler TJ and am overly excited to see that there is this huge support forum to help out! My budget is small for now but hopefully I can start upgrading little by little. I attached some pictures of her below. Feel free to throw in some suggestions. I'm doing my best to read up and do my research before diving into the money pit! Looking to get into some offroad in the future.

Thanks in advance.

~Drew

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Nice jeep although I think you may have paid a little too much if that was the buying price.

First thing I'd do is start changing all the fluids (easy to do), do a full tune-up, and then inspect the drivetrain/steering. That jeep is going on 17 years old so refreshing the steering/suspension would be a wise thing to do before installing some new tires. Every jeep I buy ends up with new steering parts, ball joints, and bushings (where needed) before anything else happens. Just a peace of mind.

Painting those fender flares would make the jeep look many times better. ;)
 
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Welcome to the world of TJs, it truly is an addiction.

First thing I would do is paint those fender flares black or get some new ones. The faded black plastic makes it look old. After that I would save up some money and get a decent lift and some bigger tires.

Looking good so far though!
 
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Yup. The front bumper caps gotta go! And while you're painting the flares, do the license plate holder at the same time. All those being brought back to black make a huge difference in upgrading the Jeep's appearance.
 
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I agree with getting rid of the bumper caps! I ditched mine and installed the factory replacement plastic end plates for a nice clean look. If you're interested, the MOPAR part #'s are 55078138AA for the front and 55078139AA for the rear and the cost is about $50 (CDN) for the set of 4. The mounting holes line up with the original bumper caps and use the same hardware.

Bumper End Cap - Front.jpg


Bumper End Cap - Rear.jpg
 
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PCO6 said:
I agree with getting rid of the bumper caps! I ditched mine and installed the factory replacement plastic end plates for a nice clean look. If you're interested, the MOPAR part #'s are 55078138AA for the front and 55078139AA for the rear and the cost is about $50 (CDN) for the set of 4. The mounting holes line up with the original bumper caps and use the same hardware.
Click to expand...
I like those I will look into them
 
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PCO6 said:
I agree with getting rid of the bumper caps! I ditched mine and installed the factory replacement plastic end plates for a nice clean look. If you're interested, the MOPAR part #'s are 55078138AA for the front and 55078139AA for the rear and the cost is about $50 (CDN) for the set of 4. The mounting holes line up with the original bumper caps and use the same hardware.
Click to expand...

Thanks a lot for the part numbers and the help, @PCO6 !
 
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theflyingdrew said:
Thanks a lot for the part numbers and the help, @PCO6 !
Click to expand...

Welcome! I did the same thing. Bought the end caps and the bolts off eBay. My original bolts disappeared after the milk jugs were removed from the ends of the bumpers. I also agree that painting the fender flares black again makes a huge improvement. Plus it's dirt cheap to do.
 
If you remove the bumper caps, save the metal clips that the bolts thread into. If they are in decent shape you can reuse them with the new flat caps. I kept the the rear stock bulbs because they don't really stick out, and they cover that open end of the cross member.
 
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