It all started back in October. I was bored, working from home, not looking forward to a winter stuck at the house with no projects to keep me busy. Anyway, it was a slow day at work when I came across a yellow 2004 LJ for $9,000. For Idaho that's a steal, most go for at least $14,000 or more depending on the shape.
Well I called the guy and asked if I could take a look. The next day I met him at his apartment and right away I could tell this jeep had been used, but I figured if the price was right I could make it work. I really wanted my daughter to have a jeep of her own to drive. We took the jeep for a ride and right away I started noticing things that were wrong or broken. I started to make a mental note and started to figure out what it would cost me to fix, knowing I'd be doing the work myself. Just a few examples: There was body damage on the passenger side, the brake lights didn't work (the one above the spare tire did though). The radio didn't work, he said it was a blown fuse, I suspected he was hiding the check engine light instead (he was). The front driver's tired was so bald, wires were popping through, the other tires were all good though. I thought really bad alignment, still not sure what happened here (more on that later). All the carpet had been removed and there was no back seat. Turned out he had only had it to use for the past 3 months it was his dad's and he was using it as a daily driver, which just didn't work given its overall shape.
After the drive and I inspected it some more, I decide, what the hell, I'll low ball and see what happens. In short, he accepted the offer, and I met him at his dad's house to finalize the deal. The title was in his dad's name so technically I was buying it from him.
Got the jeep home, took a couple of pictures of it with Hailee, and pulled it in the garage to do a deep dive. Here's the punch list. I keep track of all of this on a whiteboard in my shop, I add things to it as they come up.
I'll add more pictures to the post as I work on it. I have more on my phone but need to upload them to my pc to edit first.
A few odd things to note. The front driver's side tire was bald, but the other 3 didn't show much wear. I figured bad alignment, but when I put the stock tires on, I found that the jeep drove perfectly straight, with no shimmy or health wobble. Ball joints all check out fine also. There is some play in the steering, but that will get taken care of when I do the lift and upgrade the steering components at the same time. Another thing is the missing carpet. The rear seat had been removed, early on, the dad had stored it in his barn. this meant the seat, was dusty and covered in bird shit. I power washed it and it came out fairly clean. The guy had owned this jeep from day one. In fact, he had recently bought himself a new 2018, which is why he had given this one to his son...
Well I called the guy and asked if I could take a look. The next day I met him at his apartment and right away I could tell this jeep had been used, but I figured if the price was right I could make it work. I really wanted my daughter to have a jeep of her own to drive. We took the jeep for a ride and right away I started noticing things that were wrong or broken. I started to make a mental note and started to figure out what it would cost me to fix, knowing I'd be doing the work myself. Just a few examples: There was body damage on the passenger side, the brake lights didn't work (the one above the spare tire did though). The radio didn't work, he said it was a blown fuse, I suspected he was hiding the check engine light instead (he was). The front driver's tired was so bald, wires were popping through, the other tires were all good though. I thought really bad alignment, still not sure what happened here (more on that later). All the carpet had been removed and there was no back seat. Turned out he had only had it to use for the past 3 months it was his dad's and he was using it as a daily driver, which just didn't work given its overall shape.
After the drive and I inspected it some more, I decide, what the hell, I'll low ball and see what happens. In short, he accepted the offer, and I met him at his dad's house to finalize the deal. The title was in his dad's name so technically I was buying it from him.
Got the jeep home, took a couple of pictures of it with Hailee, and pulled it in the garage to do a deep dive. Here's the punch list. I keep track of all of this on a whiteboard in my shop, I add things to it as they come up.
Valve cover gasket and all that goes along with that
Oil panRear main seal
heater core
New tires (need 5) — found a good semi-used set on craigslistOil pan gasketRear brake lightsRemove rusted side stepsRemove dump light barRemove bent front push barFix broken bolt from removing light bar
Heat treat wheel fenders, this is temporary until I replace them with new bushwacker fenderspull off the dump plastic side pieces on the front and rear bumpers both will get replaced laterIgnition actuator (which broke at the exact time I put the start back on after changing the oil pan gasket and rear main seal)Replace missing side bolts holding dash onTroubleshoot code for bad O2 sensor (turned out the cats had been replaced last year, 02 sensor was dirty, cleaned and light hasn't come back after 300 miles)- Front brake pads and rotors
- Rear brake pads and rotors
- Replace fuel pump (need to verify it's the problem....)
- Transmission pan gasket, small leak
- Heater controls might need replaced, fan speed works, but only blows out of defrost.
Drivers side door handleCarpet- New headlights (jeep headlights are very dim)
Bracket for holding the hood rod in place (it was broken and was annoying)- Under Hood light
Rear tailgate, from where the dad had backed it into his tongue of his boat trailer and bent it up badRear defroster cablesAll the bolts for the hardtop- Ignition lock (key can be removed in any position)
- Seat covers, or have redone (my stepdad owns an upholstery business)
- broken console lid ordered a cap if I don't like it will see if I can't get an OEM one off of eBay or carparts
- Fog lights
- tap out dents in hood, of can't fix replace with a louvered insert.
- Remove tint on side windows, it is coming off anyways
- Cover up the side body damage with rock sliders.
- Install angry grill JUST KIDDING I PERSONALLY CAN'T STAND THEM
I'll add more pictures to the post as I work on it. I have more on my phone but need to upload them to my pc to edit first.
A few odd things to note. The front driver's side tire was bald, but the other 3 didn't show much wear. I figured bad alignment, but when I put the stock tires on, I found that the jeep drove perfectly straight, with no shimmy or health wobble. Ball joints all check out fine also. There is some play in the steering, but that will get taken care of when I do the lift and upgrade the steering components at the same time. Another thing is the missing carpet. The rear seat had been removed, early on, the dad had stored it in his barn. this meant the seat, was dusty and covered in bird shit. I power washed it and it came out fairly clean. The guy had owned this jeep from day one. In fact, he had recently bought himself a new 2018, which is why he had given this one to his son...
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