Hello Jeepers,
After lurking on here for the past couple of months during my search for a relatively stock 6 speed manual LJ, I've learned a lot and can only hope to continue. I learned to drive stick in my dad's Scrambler in high school/college. I've always wanted one of my own and being familiar with the ride of a long wheelbase vs. the short, not to mention the extra legroom I definitely knew I wanted to find an LJ. After a couple months long search and education, I finally pulled the trigger on a good looking 1-owner 2006 6MT LJ with 128k miles. It's not a Rubicon, but it will do!
History: It was made in the Mexico plant and according to the CarFax it spent it's first 4 years in Tampa and then apparently moved to Newark, NJ with it's original owner. 1 accident in 2009 where it took minor front end damage, no airbag deployment and the Jeep drove away (no surprise there but there was no trace of the damage in the front end from what I can tell and all body panels are numbers matching). It appears to be well taken care of. The interior is very clean and stock. Usually the state of an interior can tell you a lot about how a vehicle was taken care of (at least that's what my dad taught me!) and I'm hoping this is the case here.
It doesn't appear to have much, if any frame rust; see the pictures and let me know if I need to go digging further, I tried to label the pics as best I could...I know the dealer personally that I bought it from, but he gets these at auction and I don't trust that whoever had it before him wouldn't balk at doing a cover up job! I've reached inside of the holes in the frame rails and it feels smooth as glass, no bubbling anywhere from what I can tell. I've taken a ball-pean hammer to the control arm mounts and didn't notice any give.
I don't doubt that it was exposed to salt air in Florida and then road salt in NY/NJ. I'm no expert, but I looked through a lot of pics on here and comparatively speaking, this one looked good so I jumped on it.
It runs great aside from a slight and intermittent misfire/stumble at idle. I'm going to replace the crank and cam shaft position sensors with OEM Mopar units in the hope that it clears it up. Otherwise I guess I'll be digging into the OPDA and looking at the cam gears. At 128k I would imagine other things could need some attention. But I knew this going into it.
The dealer I bought it from replaced the transmission due to a failing 2nd gear synchro in the original, put another unit in that had 78k miles on it and it shifts like butter. Clutch feels great. Engine runs strong at speed and the new General Grabber AT2's ride smooth. It appears to have recently updated shocks/struts.
That being said, if I get the approval from you guru's on the frame.....I would like to do a 1.25" solid aluminum body lift +/- MML paired with a 2.5" OME spring kit and Rancho rs5000x shocks. I haven't decided if I want to keep the Ravines or get some black 8-hole 15" steelies when I pick up some 32's or 33's. I would apreciateeedback on this setup as a daily driver through the suburbs and into the city with weekend expedition/minor trail use. Thoughts on this would be much appreciated. I'm hoping to do most of this work on my own given I'm pretty handy and have worked on my BMW's in the past.
Stay tuned for updates, I'm looking forward to being part of the community!
After lurking on here for the past couple of months during my search for a relatively stock 6 speed manual LJ, I've learned a lot and can only hope to continue. I learned to drive stick in my dad's Scrambler in high school/college. I've always wanted one of my own and being familiar with the ride of a long wheelbase vs. the short, not to mention the extra legroom I definitely knew I wanted to find an LJ. After a couple months long search and education, I finally pulled the trigger on a good looking 1-owner 2006 6MT LJ with 128k miles. It's not a Rubicon, but it will do!
History: It was made in the Mexico plant and according to the CarFax it spent it's first 4 years in Tampa and then apparently moved to Newark, NJ with it's original owner. 1 accident in 2009 where it took minor front end damage, no airbag deployment and the Jeep drove away (no surprise there but there was no trace of the damage in the front end from what I can tell and all body panels are numbers matching). It appears to be well taken care of. The interior is very clean and stock. Usually the state of an interior can tell you a lot about how a vehicle was taken care of (at least that's what my dad taught me!) and I'm hoping this is the case here.
It doesn't appear to have much, if any frame rust; see the pictures and let me know if I need to go digging further, I tried to label the pics as best I could...I know the dealer personally that I bought it from, but he gets these at auction and I don't trust that whoever had it before him wouldn't balk at doing a cover up job! I've reached inside of the holes in the frame rails and it feels smooth as glass, no bubbling anywhere from what I can tell. I've taken a ball-pean hammer to the control arm mounts and didn't notice any give.
I don't doubt that it was exposed to salt air in Florida and then road salt in NY/NJ. I'm no expert, but I looked through a lot of pics on here and comparatively speaking, this one looked good so I jumped on it.
It runs great aside from a slight and intermittent misfire/stumble at idle. I'm going to replace the crank and cam shaft position sensors with OEM Mopar units in the hope that it clears it up. Otherwise I guess I'll be digging into the OPDA and looking at the cam gears. At 128k I would imagine other things could need some attention. But I knew this going into it.
The dealer I bought it from replaced the transmission due to a failing 2nd gear synchro in the original, put another unit in that had 78k miles on it and it shifts like butter. Clutch feels great. Engine runs strong at speed and the new General Grabber AT2's ride smooth. It appears to have recently updated shocks/struts.
That being said, if I get the approval from you guru's on the frame.....I would like to do a 1.25" solid aluminum body lift +/- MML paired with a 2.5" OME spring kit and Rancho rs5000x shocks. I haven't decided if I want to keep the Ravines or get some black 8-hole 15" steelies when I pick up some 32's or 33's. I would apreciateeedback on this setup as a daily driver through the suburbs and into the city with weekend expedition/minor trail use. Thoughts on this would be much appreciated. I'm hoping to do most of this work on my own given I'm pretty handy and have worked on my BMW's in the past.
Stay tuned for updates, I'm looking forward to being part of the community!
