My first Jeep—2003 TJR Inca Gold

Richyrich

Richyrich

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Supporting Member
Joined
Jan 31, 2021
Messages
25
Location
Los Angeles
1st time jeep owner!
no leaks or rust. Seems to be mostly stock with 99,600 miles.
would love to hear everyone’s thoughts and what they think I should do to it

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Nice looking Jeep. Looks clean! I see you're in LA, so you probably don't need to worry about Rust. First thing you should do is boring stuff. Maintenance, top to bottom. Fluids, Spark Plugs, Air cleaner, Brakes, Brake fluid, Coolant, Transmission fluid, etc. Its got a 100k miles of who knows what kind of maintenance. So, anything that is a "wear" component should be inspected and replaced if its not up to snuff.

Next, Drive it. What do you want to do with it? Beach cruiser? Rock Crawler, Mall Crawler? No wrong answers...but decide what YOU want to do with it, don't let others talk you into spending 10k plus to run 35" tires if you don't intend on taking it to play in the rocks. If you just want a daily driver...a rubicon on 31's is a sexy machine. The proportions are just about perfect. If you want bigger tires for looks...you don't need to spend a whole bunch of money on the latest and greatest from Savvy, Currie, Metalcloak, Clayton, RockKrawler, etc. Something like a BDS, Zone, or Pro-Comp lift will be sufficient. Pay attention to shock choices. They, along with making sure you don't have hard parts hitting other hard parts, will go the furthest toward creating a good ride.
 
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Mike_H said:
Nice looking Jeep. Looks clean! I see you're in LA, so you probably don't need to worry about Rust. First thing you should do is boring stuff. Maintenance, top to bottom. Fluids, Spark Plugs, Air cleaner, Brakes, Brake fluid, Coolant, Transmission fluid, etc. Its got a 100k miles of who knows what kind of maintenance. So, anything that is a "wear" component should be inspected and replaced if its not up to snuff.

Next, Drive it. What do you want to do with it? Beach cruiser? Rock Crawler, Mall Crawler? No wrong answers...but decide what YOU want to do with it, don't let others talk you into spending 10k plus to run 35" tires if you don't intend on taking it to play in the rocks. If you just want a daily driver...a rubicon on 31's is a sexy machine. The proportions are just about perfect. If you want bigger tires for looks...you don't need to spend a whole bunch of money on the latest and greatest from Savvy, Currie, Metalcloak, Clayton, RockKrawler, etc. Something like a BDS, Zone, or Pro-Comp lift will be sufficient. Pay attention to shock choices. They, along with making sure you don't have hard parts hitting other hard parts, will go the furthest toward creating a good ride.
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Thank you. This is all great info.
it will be used as a daily driver (I don’t drive much in general) and some off- roading. I don’t want to be crawling over any big rocks or anything, but want to have a capable vehicle on a trail.
 
Starrs said:
Leave it alone. Don’t mess with how the designers created it. Just drive it and enjoy it.
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Honestly this was my initial thought when buying it and might be the way I go.
Only thing I’ve really thought about was maybe trying to get a couple more inches of ground clearance so I don’t damage anything off road
 
welcome and congrats

 
Raise it up an inch or two, get a matching spare, remove the rear receiver hitch and drive it. Lots of people, myself included, modify them only to discover that they are the most fun to drive when near stock. Plus, your wallet will thank you.

Once you get a feel for whether owning a Jeep is for you, you can then add bumpers, to improve approach and departure angles, and skids (Gas tank and transfer case/oil pan, to protect the belly. One important thing to keep in mind is that clean unmodified TJs, especially Rubicons, draw more attention and maintain value better than modified Jeeps!

Oh yes, almost forgot, awesome find and welcome!
 
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Richyrich said:
Thank you. This is all great info.
it will be used as a daily driver (I don’t drive much in general) and some off- roading. I don’t want to be crawling over any big rocks or anything, but want to have a capable vehicle on a trail.
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Some H&R springs, 31's and Good Shocks and you'll have a Very capable vehicle off road and it will drive really nice.
 
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Man, she's a beaut! :love: I wouldn't do anything to it right away, except get a matching spare. See how you end up using it and what you actually need. Keep that gem!
 
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Welcome from Michigan. I’m new here too, interested in theses posts because Im still trying to figure out what I want to do with my TJ. So far I’ve only put new wheels with 31” tires. That is a great looking Rubicon.
 
Michigan TJ said:
Welcome from Michigan. I’m new here too, interested in theses posts because Im still trying to figure out what I want to do with my TJ. So far I’ve only put new wheels with 31” tires. That is a great looking Rubicon.
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good to hear from a fellow newbie! Sounds like we might end up with a similar setup. What tires did you end up going with for the 31's?
 
I went with Cooper Discoverer AT3 XLT. I’ve had Coopers for years on my trucks and really like them. The XLT has a fairly aggressive tread and road noise isn’t bad. Ive seen a lot of off road vehicles with BFG KO2. Good choice also from what I’ve read.
 
Michigan TJ said:
Mike, can you tell a newbie about H&R springs? Also, what do you consider good shocks? Thanks
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H&R springs are designed to provide just a little bit of lift. H&R is more of a sports car brand, but some guys have run then on their jeeps with great success. I think they net about an inch of lift. You can get them from tire rack.

Good shocks are a bit subjective. A lot of guys run Rancho 5000x. I've not used them, so I can't comment from personal experience, but they are well regarded. I run Bilstein 5100's currently. They are a good shock. Well controlled, but they are a bit stiff on high frequency, small impact type events. Think expansion joints, tar snakes, cracks. Not the best shock for Michigan roads. I don't mind mine, but I will be changing them out soon... Probably for ranchos until I can afford to buy some tuned foxes.

Fox performance series is supposed to be pretty good, but again, I've not run them, so can't speak from personal experience.

The ultimate is a set of rebuildable, tuned shocks. King, Fox, Radflo, etc. You're looking at $1200+ for those.
 
Mike_H said:
H&R springs are designed to provide just a little bit of lift. H&R is more of a sports car brand, but some guys have run then on their jeeps with great success. I think they net about an inch of lift. You can get them from tire rack.

Good shocks are a bit subjective. A lot of guys run Rancho 5000x. I've not used them, so I can't comment from personal experience, but they are well regarded. I run Bilstein 5100's currently. They are a good shock. Well controlled, but they are a bit stiff on high frequency, small impact type events. Think expansion joints, tar snakes, cracks. Not the best shock for Michigan roads. I don't mind mine, but I will be changing them out soon... Probably for ranchos until I can afford to buy some tuned foxes.

Fox performance series is supposed to be pretty good, but again, I've not run them, so can't speak from personal experience.

The ultimate is a set of rebuildable, tuned shocks. King, Fox, Radflo, etc. You're looking at $1200+ for those.
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Thanks for that info. Guess I’ll be searching websites and looking at these. I do have Rancho shocks on my Chevy Trail Boss, and I like them, so they seem to be a good choice. Tuned shocks are out for me at that cost.
 
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