After nearly 20 years since I sold my '78 CJ-7 in high school I finally got back into the Jeep world in the early spring of 2017. It was a stock, rusty, hard top Jeep from Michigan that had started life as a Canadian.
At 6'5" tall, it wasn't long before I wanted to lift it so I didn't feel like I was sitting down into a sports car. So it got a 3.25" rough country lift, 15" steel soft 8 knockoffs, and LT33x12.50R15 Falken A/T3W shoes(5 star review for sure).
Next I gave my UPS driver a workout, ordering barricade front and rear HD bumpers, with tire carrier, and a barricade 9500lb winch. After that, came the side bars with step, because my rather short wife could not get into it after the lift.
It wasn't long before I realized that I wanted some lights. Still a fan of the old round KC look, but also looking for LED lighting quality, I found a cheap set of lights from Amazon. I figured at around $30 for the pair, they wouldn't be much loss if they only lasted a year. They've actually been great.
Still running around with 3.07 gearing, a Dana 35 and open diffs, I was really getting worried about my plans to hit Moab next spring. That came to a head when my front axle started having issues(u-joints etc.) I found an unbelievable deal on a sleeved high pinion dana 30, in 4.10 gearing, with an ARB air locker, HD u-joints, and HD brakes. It had been built but never installed.
At the same time I found a dana 44 out of a Rubicon for a decent price. Being in the midst of too many projects, and only being a mediocre redneck weekend wrencher, I took it to Allpro Auto and off-road, in Lansing Michigan. They really know their stuff. Allpro installed my axles, replaced the Rubi locker with an ARB, and installed an ARB compressor. This also included an SYE, custom double cardan driveshaft, and new exhaust.
I also asked them to inspect for problems, because I knew I had been putting several off for too long. The front track bar was junk, and the rear wasn't even connected to the axle, but rather just hung loose from the frame mount.
So Allpro replaced my track bars and control arms with rusty's adjustables all around.
Now this Jeep drives better than it ever has. It has done some off-road trails in Michigan, the off-road course that Monroe Jeep offered for the Toledo Jeep Fest, as well as a go topless day poker run, and the Toledo Jeep fest parade/Jeep show.
I have plans in the next couple of weeks to get back on Michigan trails, and to the silver lake sand dunes. Also have plans for fins'n'things, hell's revenge, and top of the world in moab, come spring 2019
At 6'5" tall, it wasn't long before I wanted to lift it so I didn't feel like I was sitting down into a sports car. So it got a 3.25" rough country lift, 15" steel soft 8 knockoffs, and LT33x12.50R15 Falken A/T3W shoes(5 star review for sure).
Next I gave my UPS driver a workout, ordering barricade front and rear HD bumpers, with tire carrier, and a barricade 9500lb winch. After that, came the side bars with step, because my rather short wife could not get into it after the lift.
It wasn't long before I realized that I wanted some lights. Still a fan of the old round KC look, but also looking for LED lighting quality, I found a cheap set of lights from Amazon. I figured at around $30 for the pair, they wouldn't be much loss if they only lasted a year. They've actually been great.
Still running around with 3.07 gearing, a Dana 35 and open diffs, I was really getting worried about my plans to hit Moab next spring. That came to a head when my front axle started having issues(u-joints etc.) I found an unbelievable deal on a sleeved high pinion dana 30, in 4.10 gearing, with an ARB air locker, HD u-joints, and HD brakes. It had been built but never installed.
At the same time I found a dana 44 out of a Rubicon for a decent price. Being in the midst of too many projects, and only being a mediocre redneck weekend wrencher, I took it to Allpro Auto and off-road, in Lansing Michigan. They really know their stuff. Allpro installed my axles, replaced the Rubi locker with an ARB, and installed an ARB compressor. This also included an SYE, custom double cardan driveshaft, and new exhaust.
I also asked them to inspect for problems, because I knew I had been putting several off for too long. The front track bar was junk, and the rear wasn't even connected to the axle, but rather just hung loose from the frame mount.
So Allpro replaced my track bars and control arms with rusty's adjustables all around.
Now this Jeep drives better than it ever has. It has done some off-road trails in Michigan, the off-road course that Monroe Jeep offered for the Toledo Jeep Fest, as well as a go topless day poker run, and the Toledo Jeep fest parade/Jeep show.
I have plans in the next couple of weeks to get back on Michigan trails, and to the silver lake sand dunes. Also have plans for fins'n'things, hell's revenge, and top of the world in moab, come spring 2019