How much money have you put into your TJ build?

A couple thousand so far, but I bought it less than a year ago. Probably another thousand or so in parts on order. And I'd say $3-4k more just to get the suspension, gears, tires and wheels sorted out.
 
InOmaha said:
It's actually a rather cheap car based hobby. Don't believe me? My brother in law paid $10,000 for the engine in his race car. Then started custom building the frame and body to put it in. Wiring, axles, brakes, fuel cell, and 16 tires later he gets run into a concrete wall on the first night with his "new" car. By the next week he had rebuilt the frame and body, put on new axles, and tossed the right side tires and rims for new. Every week he drives his RV and car to different tracks within a 300-400 mile radius and spends the weekend with entry fees and RV parking. After a season or two the motor is shot.

I bet he spends $30-40,000 a year on his hobby depending on if he blows an engine. I bet the local hobby stock guys who stay at the same track put in $5-10,000 a year.

If you ever see one of those racing guy's on the interstate pulling a car trailer with a 1980s POS truck or RV, feel sorry for him, his wife, and his kids. The shop is probably nicer than their house. They would be better off buying a $100,000 classic sports car. At least that will likely still be worth ~$100k at the end of 5 years.
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Easiest way to make a million dollars in racing is to start with two million...
 
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I'm cheap and taking my time. Also trying different setups to see what I like best for my purposes and use.

So far not including the vehicle price I'm at $1938 and that is with the purchase of the Winch. I know I will get past 3k once I do the skid plate and SYE, plus I am really liking these Mammoth wheels ;) Still need to find a good tire carrier and that means, tire carrier purchase, plus a fifth wheel and tire to match. OrFab is what I really want, but who knows
 
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B00mb00m said:
What she's saying is you should swap in an R2.8.
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I did!!

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Bought my 04 RME edition last July for 7k Canadian... I'm about $6k deep so far and see I've got about 6k more to go in my current plan...
I love my money pit and my supportive wife.
 
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B00mb00m said:
OMGOSH. Where's the build thread and how much was the motor swap itself?
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^This

I think if I were to sink money into, I mean real money not just PO repairs or maintenance, it will be a good motor swap for better than stock.
 
The motor was $9000. 5 weeks after I bought it they stayed selling for $7500

the axis kit was another 9k.
banks exhaust wanna Say $350
Auto meter gauges $990
Random stuff for wiring off of Amazon
Gonna say around $150
New flywheel and dual friction clutch $400
fluids
grinder wheels etc etc

I’m probably into just the engine swap for about $22k

added in the extras from my Jeep sitting for seven years trying to get a hemi swap, while managing multiple deployments to Afghanistan, training, life, and other army stuff. It all added up to me doing a lot of stuff at the same time.

but I did get a ton of miles on my credit card. Paid it off every month. Now to finish the Savvy tummy tuck
 
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Since buying my 06 TJR in March, I've dropped $3437 on mods/repairs. It's presently in the shop getting a regear to 5:38's, Saavy steering, UCF skids, Vanco brakes/rotors and a bunch of other stuff. Total estimate was $4635 so I'm all in @ $8072 so far. Money well spent IMO. This rig is a blast to wheel in.
 
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This Jeep of mine, as I promised to myself, is staying completely stock! I have kept the promise since I repaired it and that is the way it is going to be. Only maintenance... period :cool:
 
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Right around $24,500 to include the price of the rig when I bought her stock. Doesn't reflect the amount of Jeeps I've flipped in the past that allowed me to continue this horrible habit or the amount of time I've spent doing 90% of the work. 🙃
 
Chris said:
I decided to sit down today and add up all the money I've spend on mods for my TJ thus far. This is the number I came up with:

$17,286

Keep in mind the prices that I used to get this number are the absolute lowest prices I could find on all of the parts I bought, literally. Many of those prices included discount codes as well as lots of comparing prices on different sites (Amazon usually being the cheapest).

I'm also not factoring in shipping costs, which on some of the items were very expensive. Case in point, the shipping alone on the Vanco big brake kit was $100, and the shipping for the Rokmen skid plates was another $100. I speculate I've spend at least $1500 or more in shipping alone! Oh, and let's not forget the $1000 to install new gears!

The point I'm trying to make here is that building a capable Jeep with quality parts IS NOT cheap. Could I have done it for cheaper? Of course I could have. However, I'm using the best-of-the-best in terms of parts.

What gets me even more is that I've probably got at least another $5000 to dump into it.

Man... these things really are money pits!

Okay, so how much do you guys and gals think you've dumped into your TJ? I'm talking about mods, not maintenance or labor costs.
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:mad:
Chris

You Mother Fucker JK

I tried to forget but you made me go back through what I have spent to get from this to this, But I can it's more than 20K + the cost of the TJR 🤫

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