Been waiting a long time to make a post like this. I drove a Suzuki Sidekick in high school and had a 2000 XJ for about 3 years in college. I'd spend hours on forums and supplier websites dreaming of what I'd do to increase the capability of both of those rigs, but never got around to it. Loved the XJ, and still wish I could have kept it, but unfortunately it had some rust, oil pressure and heating/cooling issues, and I didn't have the time or resources to fix them at the time so I sold it and got a full size truck. Never stopped spending time offroad/in the backcountry - but it's mostly been on snowmobiles and dirt bikes.
I've been eyeing LJ's pretty much since they came out - just haven't been able to justify the cost of a second vehicle, especially with the "rarity premium" you pay for the Wrangler Unlimited. Long story short - had some life changes this year, and after a bit of a mid-life crisis/YOLO moment on Facebook Marketplace I bought this clean, minimal rust, low miles (57,000 at purchase) LJ Rubicon a few weeks ago.
Phase one is just taking care of any issues and optimizing it for how it currently sits. It came with a 2 inch body lift and 33's that were old and cracked. They rubbed pretty bad, even just cruising around town so I went down to 32's (265/75/16). Previous owner hadn't done much in the way of maintenance, so in the last couple weeks I've changed spark plugs, serpentine belt and pulleys, added a thermostat (PO had removed it), changed diff/transfer case fluid, changed oil, head lights (the ones on it were the originals!), deep clean inside and out, etc.
I'm a sucker for a clean and quiet-ish interior so just ordered a BedRug Carpet system (right now it's just truck bed liner), hot heads liner on the top, getting the sub woofer working, stereo system sounding a little better, and seat covers. After that I'm going to drive it as is for a few months while a fix any other odds and ends that pop up, while a figure out what I want the actual "build" to be.
Right now I'm leaning toward tummy tuck, remove all or most of the body lift, add the 2.5 inch OME suspension lift and hopefully get 33's back under it without rubbing. I want to update the brakes to at least the Black Magic pads and possibly the full system. Bumpers front and rear, possibly a winch, and soft top for the summer. Not crazy or impressive by the standards of many builds I've been drooling over in this forum but it should be fine for the forest service/logging roads and the occasional Moab trip that will be 99% of the wheeling I plan to do.
Anyway - so stoked to have this thing, my wife has no clue what I'm talking about when I tell her all of the cool stuff this can do/will be able to do with some mods, so thanks for being a sounding board, haha.
Cruised up a dirt road behind my house the morning after I bought it, cracked tires and all:
I've been eyeing LJ's pretty much since they came out - just haven't been able to justify the cost of a second vehicle, especially with the "rarity premium" you pay for the Wrangler Unlimited. Long story short - had some life changes this year, and after a bit of a mid-life crisis/YOLO moment on Facebook Marketplace I bought this clean, minimal rust, low miles (57,000 at purchase) LJ Rubicon a few weeks ago.
Phase one is just taking care of any issues and optimizing it for how it currently sits. It came with a 2 inch body lift and 33's that were old and cracked. They rubbed pretty bad, even just cruising around town so I went down to 32's (265/75/16). Previous owner hadn't done much in the way of maintenance, so in the last couple weeks I've changed spark plugs, serpentine belt and pulleys, added a thermostat (PO had removed it), changed diff/transfer case fluid, changed oil, head lights (the ones on it were the originals!), deep clean inside and out, etc.
I'm a sucker for a clean and quiet-ish interior so just ordered a BedRug Carpet system (right now it's just truck bed liner), hot heads liner on the top, getting the sub woofer working, stereo system sounding a little better, and seat covers. After that I'm going to drive it as is for a few months while a fix any other odds and ends that pop up, while a figure out what I want the actual "build" to be.
Right now I'm leaning toward tummy tuck, remove all or most of the body lift, add the 2.5 inch OME suspension lift and hopefully get 33's back under it without rubbing. I want to update the brakes to at least the Black Magic pads and possibly the full system. Bumpers front and rear, possibly a winch, and soft top for the summer. Not crazy or impressive by the standards of many builds I've been drooling over in this forum but it should be fine for the forest service/logging roads and the occasional Moab trip that will be 99% of the wheeling I plan to do.
Anyway - so stoked to have this thing, my wife has no clue what I'm talking about when I tell her all of the cool stuff this can do/will be able to do with some mods, so thanks for being a sounding board, haha.
Cruised up a dirt road behind my house the morning after I bought it, cracked tires and all:
