Saying Hi with my First Wrangler

Nightshade

Member
Joined
Sep 29, 2017
Messages
37
Location
Salem, OR, United States
New member from Salem, OR and a proud owner of this gal, a 1997 Sahara.
Driver Side Front.JPG


She is mostly stock but she does have some custom parts. The front bumper looks like it was designed for flat towing the vehicle as it has various electrical connections for hooking it up to the hitch and tow vehicle, as well as two pins to hook up the towbar bolted in the bumper. It also has a receiver for the winch it came with as seen here. The winch is a Warn x8000i.
Front.JPG


The interior
Interior Front.JPG
Interior Back.JPG

There is also a toggle switch for the winch inside.
Winch Switch.JPG


Custom bumper in the rear that the tire rack sways out. it also has a power connection for the winch that is tucked away behind the tire. So if it gets stuck (which I am sure it will) I can pull it out forwards or backwards.
Rear 2.JPG


The tires are brand new 31x10.5R15LT General Grabber AT2's mounted on black powder coated 15" wheels. One of the pleasant surprises, which she had many, was the Old Man Emu NitroShocks. The rest of the suspension as far as I can tell is stock.

IMG_0967.JPG


But I thought I would save the best for last, and this is what makes it totally awesome. When I purchased her the odometer read 30,444 miles.

When I inspected her at the dealership she was clean top to bottom. The only rust, which my mechanic found when he looked at it, was on the oil pan however he said that she was well taken care of. She has a new steering box, radiator, and ABS sensors.

She is not without issues though. She will need new coil spring isolators and bump stops for the front as they are cracked like a dry lake bed. The boots of the steering linkage are old and leaking grease, so the drag link and tie rod ends will need to be replaced as I do not know how long this has been going on. Sometimes it takes some effort to crank the engine over so it might be the fuel filter, throttle body, or clogged injectors. Other than that she looks great and runs great.
 
Oh wow... What a small world!

I live in Salem, Oregon as well (West Salem)! What are the chances?

That's a fine looking TJ you've got there, it looks very clean!
 
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New member from Salem, OR and a proud owner of this gal, a 1997 Sahara.

The tires are brand new 31x10.5R15LT General Grabber AT2's mounted on black powder coated 15" wheels. One of the pleasant surprises, which she had many, was the Old Man Emu NitroShocks. The rest of the suspension as far as I can tell is stock.

View attachment 22861

Chances are your TJ has an OME suspension also. There is more room in the fender wells than there would be if you had 31" tires on it with a stock suspension. If the shocks are OME, the springs are most likely OME also, judging from the photos, especially considering the heavier aftermarket bumpers and/or winch.
rear-2-jpg.jpg
 
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Chances are your TJ has an OME suspension also. There is more room in the fender wells than there would be if you had 31" tires on it with a stock suspension. If the shocks are OME, the springs are most likely OME also, judging from the photos, especially considering the heavier aftermarket bumpers and/or winch.

Unfortunately I cannot conform for sure if the springs are OME. Still I do agree with you that there is a strong chance the springs are not OEM. If you want I can take a picture of one of the springs and see what you think.
 
Measure the front coil spring from bottom of coil to top of coil. Stock springs sit at 12".
 
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Yeah the "blue wave" graphics look dorky. They have to be aftermarket.
A heat gun and some patience and they should peel off...Just be careful somebody hasn't painted the body and masked off around the sticker as it will leave a 'ridge' around where the sticker was.(if you run your fingers over the edge of the sticker you can feel a raised lip if that was done)
 
I don't mind the graphics. A lot of YJs and CJs had pronounced graphics. I think it gives the Jeep a nice retro look. If I ever get mine painted, I was thinking about adding some CJ esque graphics to mine. My wife does vinyl so it would be pretty easy.
 
I'm going to work on planning something for next Summer. We'll try to make it some sort of official "Jeep" get together at the coast. There's so many of us here in Oregon, it would really be cool idea.