rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Well, my fiance loves jeeps and after our trip to Cali a couple of months ago where we rented one and drove 2000 miles in it I decided that would be the next project.
Did my research and didn't want a JK...JL are too pricey...YJ is carb'd and leaf spring and TJ was the last to get the inline 6 AMC motor I was after so that was the focus.

I went back and forth with a local private dealership with a 200K mile one...the guy blew me off the night I was coming to bring J to test drive it...2 hours wasted driving up
and the guy didn't show. Normally it would have ended there but I was working in that area again a few days later and got to drive it myself. We went back together and drove
it and she loved it...was about to to make a deal and the buy upped the price by $500 claiming he had another guy that wired him a deposit while her and I were discussing. I
didn't like being pushed around so I walked on the deal but regretted it after because it was a good deal for a clean one owner FL Jeep. Oh well, hindsight. And in reality if the
guy hadn't been a dick to begin with I wouldn't have doubted his motives and tactics.

Anyway...the search continued...I saw that the market for 97-06 MANUAL and 4.0L 4x4 was strong...like, super strong. I guess getting the reputation as the last real Jeep bumped
resale on them. Saw another one locally and it turned out to be a scam. Then I went to see this one and it was at first sight. 143K miles...Citron Pearl which was a rare color.
Previous owner supposedly bought it for his kid and did it up with lift kit and sound system and wheels and tires and magnaflow exhaust...had receipts for everything totaling like 12K
in upgrades. It's been repainted but it's the original color...has a little surface rust here and there as it's a clean title/carfax Massachusetts Jeep...it needs a little TLC and some finish
work but that's what I love to do anyway.

Our first night out...J gets out of work and we drive 30 miles from home to watch the sunset...I do a little donut in the dirt and let her take over...she takes us down an embankment and
we lose clutch. Fucking hydraulic line pops off the master cylinder (composite master and over time the pressure cracked the line retention)...lucky for us a Jeep dude was there with
his buddy and they towed us onto the road and gave us a push...just enough to sneak it into first...then third...then no stopping the whole way home.

I anticipate fun times ahead...as I was told...the older Jeeps especially are floaty and rough and creaky...and at first you're like what in the fuck is this...but after driving 3 of them and feeling
what way I can say that after the first 10 miles...you start to find your happy place and you really soak in that you're riding in a rugged piece of history. This is gonna be fun and it's nothing
like any of the other vehicles I own. The Yukon and Honda shadow are on the chopping block now while I put some focus into this.











WHORE! New one is all metal





Mandatory Grocery Parking LOT CRAWLER shot

TylerT

iTrader: (1)

J ... your car rotation never ceases to amaze me.

SamDoe1

Copycat!

Congrats on the new purchase! Look into a hard top hoist for your garage, makes taking that top off much easier!

Make sure you start by addressing the suspension before anything else. Worn bushings, ball joints, and other parts could result in a lot of issues like death wobble. Jeep mods are addicting but address the suspension before anything else.

Edit: @00TL-P3.2, now you pretty much have to get one...

kurtatx

Weirdo

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Brother, you know it! Twinsies!
I knew it had to be TJ...4.0!
They put a rough country lift on it...thinking it might be 4"...I need to do the CV driveshaft and I think
the motor and trans mounts are fuckin original and perished. From there I'll do alignment and balance although it goes down
the road okay at 65mph...Steering definitely needs to be tightened and the ac is not cooling well. Projects!
Other than that I'm looking into selling the hard top and getting a soft top...rugged interior carpet...the list goes on.
Truth be told I hate buying someones project because I have to reverse engineer and uninstall anything weird or
extraneous but there are a lot of upgrades I would have been too cheap to do on it. It's had the maintenance done...
a little oil on the pan but for $30 I can get the felpro pan gasket AND the 2 piece rear main seal. Fuckin American!


You fuckin know it, broseph...love you too!

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I think the kids approved...

BreezyTL

iTrader: (8)

Clean lookin Heep! What are your plans for it if any?

Yumcha

Congrats!

But, dayum...you have cars as often as I change windshields.

00TL-P3.2

Love the color, you definitely have a nice palette in the garage, between the S2k, S4 & TJ.
I'd have to get either a JKU or JLU, need 4 doors.
The Jeep fever is strong.

ttribe

Hahahaha! Another vehicle?! Looking forward to the updates.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

After having a black car for so long I think I took for granted just how much I care about a visually appealing color...
I LOVE the Yellow on the S2000 and the Volcano Red and the Citron Pearl now...in a sea of bland cars in my work parking lot I can spot mine from
2 miles away!

My plans really are to just button it up and clean it up and tighten it up...I look forward to getting to the know the car better.
Didn't expect to have to on our first trip out in it but I guess I'd rather that happen when we are together than if she took the Jeep
on her own.

Aman

Congrats! Looks like plenty of fun for the family.

Is this technically replacing something or not really?

SamDoe1

Check the front track bar bushings for sure. If this thing is still running the stock track bar with huge tires, it's time to swap it out. Also go through and just torque down all the bolts to spec and mark with a paint pen to make sure they don't loosen up in time. The flexible suspension is great at somethings and terrible at others...and it's terrible at keeping things torqued down.

Soft tops are cool but they don't keep heat (not an issue for you) or AC (big issue for you) very well. Since this is a toy for you, it probably doesn't matter much.

The mod bug for Jeeps is hardcore...especially because parts are cheap.

Oh and big piece of advice...don't shift gears if the trans is in the water. Water on clutch plates is bad.

Midnight Mystery

It's definitely in your color! Congratulations!



Time to re-do that Yukon drift avitar in this baby!



Now put THIS on it!

1StGenCL

Dude this is so much better than that last one, congrats. Also, just pull the carpet and bed line it. I've been living the doors free life but I put them on for the 'hurricane' and it smells little funky inside.

1StGenCL

Also, @97BlackAckCL; ask him how it feels.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

God I wish I had read this advice yesterday before heading out...
I actually do think I kept it in 1st 4 Hi the entire time but lord did I get a good whiff of what my clutch smells like after pulling a Jeep filled with people through muck and
abandoned and trashed car parts.

Track bar upgrade, got it...the rough country lift as far as I can tell is silver and included springs, shocks, longer sway end links and the damper for the stabilizer bar.
From what I can tell having laid under there yesterday...it looks good...I can see where little bs repairs were made and touched up...but the structure is solid as looks the suspension.
I was wondering if maybe i'm getting a ton of play in the pitman setup...the good thing about these Jeeps is everything is right fucking there...so easy to work on. And parts are CHEAP!

Biggest complaint right now is vibration under load until over 30mph but I'm almost positive it's the motor and trans mounts that appear to be original. Previous owner(s)
were typical take to a shop and get it 80% done and call it good enough. Loose relays...rats nest wiring to clean up...I suspect AC high pressure schrader valve leak...just ordered
new cores and a lost freon line clip they replaced with tie wraps (tomato). Oh the fun things you discover in the first few days of ownership. With that said...the engine purs fucking quietly...
smooth...had new oil and distributor cap, plugs and wires done...exhaust is a custom magnaflow weld job (direct onto header) that I'm praying isn't blocking me from getting the oil pan out for a gasket swap (
2 piece rear main seal is supposedly doable with just the oil pan off, I'll do that too). Sound system is a Polk audio Component set in the sound bar and a nice little sub/amp out back...

I'm missing the hardware for a soft top because mine came as a hard top from factory judging from the oem defrost and wiper switches and lack of any soft top hardware...I'm devising a way to pull it off using the oak tree in front of the house and a series of bullshit from the dumpster in the work yard. MacGruber.

I don't want no hard top for summer and theft...but I may do a bikini top under it for light rain etc.

Any thoughts on this stuff...
I originally saw it on TRUCK U and thought maybe it's better than just rhino lining it because they say noise and heat come through.
https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...KIKX0DER&psc=1

LOL...it's a 5 Speed! Ironically that Yukon spot is where we went yesterday...although it looks different now...
they actually closed the gate to enter there and I just got lucky I remembered where we came out of onto the main road.
It was overgrown but I plunged through it.


Dude, I have had so many moments doubting myself...shoulda coulda woulda...
should I have bought the fully frame off restored blue one? Still had 300K on the Carfax even if the engine was refreshed...and then it
was a color I didn't LOVE. I think if that guy had painted it this color or teal or something I love I would have probably been inclined to make that
happen. Funny how you start off with a budget in mind and really the market and reality of what level of piece of shit you'll get at the bottom of your
budget makes you realize not to be penny wise or pound foolish.
There was a VERY clean looking Sahara with 72K miles that I thought would go for a ton more money...looked pristine and aside from wheels looked stock.
If I hadn't bought this one first I probably would have taken my chances on that one...similar money and super clean but then I'd have to dump 5K into it
to make it look like this one. Plus, when I looked closely at the Sahara frame pics I could tell they spray painted rust which makes it UBER hard to trust
the real condition when they hide behind "take a close look at pictures for everything" which covers the seller's ass. I decided after the Caddy I wasn't
handing over cash on any car until I had touched it for myself.

Anyway...yesterday I figured out why people have a dedicated mud vehicle with bed liner...lol...it sucks to clean!

After work I needed a berm to park the jeep on an incline to use the gravity and pedal tap method to finish bleeding the clutch line

Gotta love Teens! She made the face on purpose

This was ambitious...in the Yukon and the work truck I had chosen to skip this area

CCColtsicehockey

J you are trying to challenge that thread of 63 cars in 35 years it seems. Sad he left and never updates that anymore.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Funny you even mention that, my friend...
my close work buddy today made me count what number I'm on...he just shakes his head when I tell him I bought another one.
I'm at 19 if you count the motorcycle.

00TL-P3.2

10, for me if I'm not counting the Flex & the Buick Century that I drove for 1 day. Otherwise, 12. Plus what I'm calling 0.5 for the Indian in my garage. Possession being 9/10 the law, or something like that.

EvilVirus

iTrader: (8)

Nice Jeep

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

LOL...
I'm trying to lower my count, not boost it!

00TL-P3.2

Found a new-old-stock 2018 JLU 2.0T for almost $20k off sticker. A new $48k JLU for $28k? May need to take the wife to have a look.
Neighbor works for the dealer also, but they have 2 locations in Houston, not sure if he can get me any further hook-up on it....

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Would you even need more of a hook up than that?

SamDoe1

Send me a link. I might trade mine in for that one lol.

00TL-P3.2

I'll take what I can get.

It's a Sahara 2.0T, pretty loaded. LED lighting pkg, hard top with headliner, upgraded infotainment & 2.0T
But, at $28k, could probably drive it & sell later for profit or break-even with how well they hold value.

SamDoe1

There's gotta be a catch on that one, no way someone is selling a new Jeep for less than a used one. If true , you should buy that and immediately flip it for profit. My guess is that it's worth ~$40k on the used market with a normal MSRP of $48k.

00TL-P3.2

Possible.
I think it assumes you qualify for all possible discounts & rebates to get to that price.

They've got an '18 JLUR 2.0T listed at $32k with an MSRP of $56k.
Looks like all their '18 JLUs have some deep 'discounts' shown.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Do what Sam said except interject a 6 month gap where you go have some fun and tastefully modify it and then sell it and get your money
back plus some fun experiences.
the way

SamDoe1

I find this incredibly hard to believe lol. What's the dealership?

There's no way that they are doing $22k worth of discounts for a vehicle that sells like hotcakes, especially in Sahara trim.

If nothing else, you should just lease it at this price point, it would be damn near free or they'd have to pay you to take it.

00TL-P3.2

Dealer is Mac Haik DCJ in N Houston

https://www.machaikdcj.com/new-vehic...ear%5B%5D=2018

6 of 9 '18 JLUs with deep discounts.

SamDoe1

I don't know man, this falls firmly into too good to be true territory. My guess is that there are tons of incentives and what not that you won't qualify for.

00TL-P3.2

Likely.
Going to get my wife to ask our neighbor about it (she's friends with the neighbor whose husband is a sales mgr at that dealer).

Midnight Mystery

How many of those were in the past 3 years?

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

I think 3 or 4.

1StGenCL

I was just reading that the JL has the most new previous model year vehicles of any vehicle, on dealer lots. Apparently, the JL was selling really, really well but things have started to level off and now dealers are in a rough spot. That being said, that deal seems to good to be true but go get it.

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Not like you'll regret buying that.

SamDoe1

Pretty sure it has everything to do with how much these things cost. For the price of a loaded JLU, you can get a decently well equipped X3, GLC, etc that drive a lot better and have the badge to go along with it. Everyone that was willing to pay for a JLU has probably already bought one when they first came out, now they are just sitting. Until Jeep addresses the price concerns, they will continue to sit. Even the old JK was $50k for a loaded Rubicon, the JL is past $60k.

Majofo

Why am I not surprised
J confirms it drives like shit, broke down and stranded him
Yet he's already got a pair of balls
In his mouth (his happy place)
Whore

rockstar143

iTrader: (6)

Jofo, I love you bro.
I wouldn't even have wanted balls in my mouth if it wasn't for you.
Yeah, I like the abuse...I actually look forward to driving this heap!
Got a few things buttoned up already on it...figuring in the next few months
I'll get it fully sorted. Main thing is the lady loves it...she took it to run
some errands yesterday. Impressive considering she has almost no
experience with a manual and the Jeep is hard as fuck to drive smoothly.