I'm starting this thread today because I want to chronicle my build thread and get advice along the way, because I'm going to order a bunch of parts on Monday. I've had my jeep for about 2 years now and mostly what I've done has been cosmetic or required repairs. I'm about to begin making it a truly capable offroader! I will be detailing what I have done so far over the next few posts, then listing the parts I am planning on ordering in the next few days. I have been saving $$ for the past 7 months to make the next big stage of my build a reality. So without further ado, I present my build thread. Beware, for the first year I had it, I was thinking about what would look cool, not what would make a great off road vehicle. Please bear with me and forgive my rookie mistakes. A lot of the next planned build phase was informed heavily from gleaning advice from this forum, so in a way, many, many of you have contributed to what comes next. Thanks all!
I started my hunt for a TJ in March of 2020. My wife got a JK in 2018 and I just enjoyed the hell out of driving it. I wanted a jeep of my own on the cheap that I could turn wrenches on myself. Nothing fancy, but that I could improve my basic shadetree mechanic skills on as I improved the jeep. I was looking for a manual because I enjoy rowing gears around town. In April, I found a red (my favorite color... this wasn't a deciding factor, but was a plus) 97 TJ on Marketplace for $7800. It had 145k miles on it, but was the 4.0 with a Manual. He was the 3rd owner. I met the seller, and checked it over. Everything I knew th check for was in good shape for its age, but I was a week out from having the cash in hand. I would have haggled a bit and tried to get him down to about 7k, but I knew what the market was like so offered him full asking price if he would hold it for a week. He was a gentleman about it, and a week later I paid him and got the title. I didn't know much about TJs at that time, but looking back, knowing what I do now about my Jeep, I think it was a fair deal both ways.
The fist upgrade was a Smittybilt xrc 9500 winch. I mean, every Jeep needs a winch, right? So I bought a winch plate and mounted it up. Honestly, I may have just been throwing money at it without a plan, but I do like the winch. I've even used it effectively, so all in all, I'm happy with the purchase.
Next I realised it had an exhaust leak and determined from some looking around tha the exhaust manifold was cracked. I watched some YouTube videos, figured out how to replace it, and installed a new one in a day. That was one of the most ambitious mechanic projects I had tackled to date at that point. I did replace it with one from autozone, so knowing what I know now, I will likely be replacing it again in a few years with something better, when this one cracks.
Of course, I put a Amazon Special light bar on it! That's why this is the lights before lockers build. I didn't know what I was doing and so did some dumb shit out of order. But I honestly enjoy my light bar too. Is it super practical? Nah. Do I like how bright it is running around on forest roads in the evenings? Heck yeah.
I moved the side mirrors to the tub, thinking it would be nice to cruise around town with the doors off during the summer. It makes the mirrors hard to see, and I have only taken the doors off twice in 2 years, so I moved em back to their original locations. Plus the rough country mounts for the mirrors were kinda cheap.
I upgraded the stereo to a pioneer head and Fosgate speakers and wired it for Satellite radio. Gotta say, I love being able to listen to the radio no matter how far back in the wilderness I am.
I changed the water pump in the Santa Fe rodeo grounds when my wife called me when she was out in the jeep and told me that it was leaking fluid all over the place. Had to head over there and fix it right then, so it is an autozone water pump. It's been on there about 3k miles at this point with no problems yet though, so that's nice. I also bought a bikini top that I run in the summer from about May to September. I love it, but sure am glad I have a hard top for the winter.
Lastly, I have added the Jeep's name, Double Tough to the hood sides. I know some people think this is silly, and that's alright! I like it though. Problem is, I realise I need to build the Jeep better to make it worthy of the name.
Alright, that about covers the big stuff done so far. Next post will be pictures, followed by a post of upcoming planned mods!
Thanks for reading, everyone!
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