Posting here to introduce myself! In December '19 I gambled a little bit and bought an '05 LJ with a hard top, in the dark, with Louisiana plates, for relatively cheap. It was beat on, neglected, and a little rough, but I'm thinking for a short time because it's still pretty solid, and only had 61k miles on it. It has a Rubicon Express 3" lift, 1" body lift & 33" tires. Drivetrain is all stock. I haven't done much to it other than fluids, grease, and u-joints. Also did the ZJ steering upgrade, and oil pump drive. I have a Powertrax Lockrite to go in the front diff., and I'm doing the oil pan gasket & rear main seal for the 2nd time probably next week. (First time was last week, and I screwed something up.) My motivation and money allocated to the Jeep comes in waves since I also have a Harley, KTM dual sport, two project motorcycles, a 4wd quad, and a truck. Everything needs something, so it's a ridiculously slow progression, but it'll be trail worthy someday. If only somebody would've told me that it's cheaper to buy a rig already done!
