Some of you have read these posts from the other threads so bear with me while I get caught up. This is the drive home on purchase day and my first post about my search for it:
Hello. I've been lurking here for a few months, reading tons and asking questions. I must first say, Thank You, as this forum has helped me steer clear of potentially budget busting hidden rust buckets or rabbit hole mechanical nightmares. Patience while looking/searching for a TJ/LJ has certainly been the underlying theme, which is definitely, at least in my case, not easy to manage once I caught "Wrangler fever." I'm from Ohio, but traveled to Michigan, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Pennsylvania, Washington D.C., Iowa, and New Jersey in my quest to find the right one: too much moolah that could/should be better spent on mods.
While I was searching for a Rubicon, having test drove over 15, I fell in love with an LJR I saw and test drove, aside from its issues. This sent me down an LJR only path towards the end of my journey, which turned out to be a severely limited inventory. I was advised along the way to find a stock one so I didn't have to worry about dealing with the issues of owners past. The market of low-mileage, stock LJR's seemed to start at 18k and climb all the way to 30K+, certainly not something that was easily digested while struggling with what turned into an unhealthy "I have to have an LJR obsession."
Anyway, I plunged into the deep end of Wrangler mania head first, as evinced by my above list of visited states. It seemed as though, when I found the right one and traveled hundreds of miles, it was never "as listed or described." Either it was a mechanically-sound rust bucket or a rust-free mechanical basket case. "Rust free" as quoted by several salesmen/dealers and private parties, in addition to camera magic when taking photos, was certainly not representative of the true states that these TJs/LJs were/are in.
As I looked South and West, I would find one, only to find out that someone was already coming to buy it. I missed the boat several times. With this said, I realized that I could expand my supply by getting a TJ Rubicon or standard LJ (not that there is anything wrong with them), but I wanted what I wanted and wasn't going to settle as I have with several vehicles in my past, only to regret and wish I had not done so. Consequently, I started to get discouraged.
Then, two weeks ago, it appeared--a unicorn at what seemed to be an unbelievable price. $15K for a 2005 LJR automatic with 81K miles and a hard top! It had to have something wrong with it I thought, it's in New Jersey by God-rust galore for sure. Plus, it was already lifted and modded, but with what and how much I didn't know. But, I called anyway, not wanting to miss the boat again if it didn't. I talked to the salesman/owner who said it was rust free. I told him I would drop deposit on it and drive to NJ the following weekend. He said that he is a one-man show, small car dealer and didn't do deals over the phone. After a little imploring and tugging on his heartstrings by relaying my experiences on my search thus far, he reluctantly agreed to take a deposit over the phone. Feeling on the top of the world and yet again throwing caution to the wind, that weekend my nephew and I headed to NJ with boroscope and long arm magnet in hand.
When I got there, it definitely looked well taken care of, but those mods/lift had to be something cheap like Skyjacker. However, my under body inspection said otherwise. It had Fox 2.0 shocks, JKS quick disconnects, and Currie Correctlink steering. Hmmm, maybe I can work with this. Frame looked good as I started in the front and worked my way back...then, I saw it...rust, not a lot, but it made me question his claim of "rust free." Really? I pointed this out to him and he didn't say a word. It looked like surface rust but I wasn't going to assume. I took my boroscope out and connected it with my phone. Well, as far as I could tell, the inside looked pretty good, aside from having some sand in it. So, I said what the hell, all he can do is say no. So, I asked him if he had a screw driver and hammer so I could "see if it was just surface rust." He said sure. He even brought me an angle grinder with wire wheel and said, "go to town on it." So, I obliged and beat, scraped, and grinded on the frame with the tools at hand. I was able to get to bare metal underneath, so it seemed promising and I felt mostly satisfied. After attacking his frame, I said, If you can loosen and then retighten the skid plate bolts without them stripping, then we have a deal. At that point, I would feel confident that it does not suffer from frame rot. He went and got an impact wrench and loosed the bolts and then let me tighten them with a torque wrench. The deal was done; I was ready. I filled out paperwork and we drove back to Ohio fully ready to tell all here about my unicorn find.
Then...the tornadoes hit--13 in one night (2 F4's and 1 F3) here in Dayton, Ohio. Devastation and destruction for miles upon miles. This has consumed me for that past two weeks as I am a Daytonian (heartstrings and homeland) and a roofing contractor (profession and livlihood). So, I have been waiting to share my find with you. Tonight, while working on what seems to be an insurmountable amount of paperwork/contracts/claims/insurance bullshit, I decided I couldn't contain my excitement anymore and had to share, especially reading everyone else's new TJ/LJ stories. So...here it is.
There are some things I want to undo and a lot of things I want to do to it. This will be a challenging list to compile, as all will affect how each is done and in what order. I already drove to Michigan for a soft top and have replaced the headlights (my god the stock ones suck. better off with flash lights taped to the hood). Will begin build thread once I compile my list of to-dos. Thanks again for all your help and encouragement along my quest.
This is a photo on our way back from NJ--first of 2 stops for gas--my first run in with the LJ's efficient gas useage
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), replace all axle seals and ball joints. First brush with "while I'm in there syndrome."