I noticed that several Dopers have mentioned that he/she/it drives a Jeep.
Post the year, model (including 2-letter designation), manufacturer[sup]1[/sup], basic specs, and list of modifications to your Jeep here. Links to pics are good too.
Example (mine): 1984 AMC Grand Wagoneer (SJ)
AMC 360 V8, TC727 auto, NP229, D44 front/AMC20 rear axles
30x9.5" tires, 2" dual exhaust w/glasspacks, K&N, waiting on a 4v carb
[sup]1[/sup]–Extra points if it’s a Willys, lose a point if it has that little Chrysler pentastar logo anywhere on it.
…but it is so beautiful I took some pictures of it. He has a 1955 Willys. I don’t know all the specs on it but it is like driving a school bus. I put up some pictures here.
1999 Jeep Cherokee Sport (Daimler-Chrysler)
4-door
“Deep amythist” (really, dark metallic purple) exterior, dark grey interior
4.0 straight-six
Automatic (unfortunately) transmission
Yakima bars on top with “Load-Warrior” basket with the 18" extension
Type III hitch w/ball
Hooks on the front
Works well in the mud, but the stock Goodyear tyres are a little slippery off-road. There’s a nice… uh, “shortcut road”… between Sierra Hwy and Boquet Canyon Rd.
I used to have a 1948 Willy’s CJ-2A (CA Lic. “CJ 2 EH” – get it?) that was a blast to drive around. I was an idiot to sell it. Best memory: I was going to go into a gully and come up the other side. A passenger thought I was crazy and literally bailed. Of course I made it safely up the other side. The guy who jumped twisted his ankle.
1997 Jeep Wrangler Sport (TJ)
Dark Blue w/Grey interior. 4.0 liter 6 cylinder w/5 spd
a/c, c/c, am/fm/cd, soundbar, hardtop, full hard
doors, heavy-duty suspension, heavy-duty electrical system, 19 gallon fuel tank, front tow-hooks,
30 inch tire package w/alumimum wheels, full size spare tire, rear-window defroster w/wiper, rear seat.
Intermittant wipers, center console, halagen headlights. Dana 44 rear-axle. Husky Liners for front and rear seats.
Factory rear seat. Viper alarm.
Upgrades:Tomken Machine steering box skid-plate,
rocker sliders, rear-bumper w/gas canand hi-lift jack carrier, and gas tank skid-plate.
Also have the Rubicon rack for the Tomken Machine bumper.
(All of above is Tomken Machine)
Mopar Oilpan skid-plate, and Moab offroad
swaybar disconnects.
Engine: Turbo-City High-flow air tube
with K&N air filter, high-flow throttle
body, adjustable map sensor. (all Turbo-City)
Jacobs Electronics Spark-plug wires.
Exhaust: Random Technology High-flow
catalytic converter and Borla StainlessSteel exhaust.
Axles: 4.10 gears with Front True-Trak and
rear Factory Trak-lok.
The Selec-trac (NP229) manual sez to drive it in 4wd 10 miles a month to keep it lubed. (It’s fulltime viscous-coupled in 4hi, BTW) Friday it rained a little, and since I had just repaired the vacuum lines (d@mn vacuum disconnect axle!), I thought hey, why not Ever have the feeling you just aren’t going anywhere? I gave it a little gas coming off a red light, and smoked all 4 tires…backed off the gas, tried it again–no foward movement, just slowly sliding sideways. I finally came to a complete stop, eased down on the gas, and got moving, though it did chirp 'em on the 2-3 shift. (guess this means I need wider tires, eh? :D)
She sure didn’t have ‘soccer mom’ written on her when I drove her up out of that ditch…
A nice lift kit made all the difference in the world, both in functionality and appearance. But I agree with you guys there–the most recent (1999-2000?) Grand Cherokees look like mini-vans.
You’re right. The “older” design (like your 1997) did look like a Jeep. When I was shopping for the Cherokee I looked at the 1999 Grands. I liked the engine, and I liked the cargo area (with the spare out of the way). But I didn’t care for the exterior styling.
My Cherokee holds its own off-highway, but I’m not convinced it would be a good choice if I wanted to ride over boulders. I’ll leave that to CJ-5s & -7s, Willys, and Toyota FJ40s. Since I won’t have to worry about torquing a spare-tyre gate, I’m thinking of getting one, and replaceing the interior spare with a CD changer. Any idea how much a spare gate costs? I never seem to be able to get to 4-WD Parts.
I’ve taken this Jeep thru the worst snow, ice and nasty weather, from MT to the Sierra Nevs and it has ever let me down. We even made it thru that “nasty” snow storm here in Raleigh last winter.
I remember watching Channel 5’s (Raleigh) news coverage of this. One of the most memorable camera shots showed a Jeep Wrangler hauling a Ford Explorer out of a deep snow drift.
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!
I wish Daimler-Chrysler/Jeep would use that in their ad campaign!
Snow… You know I love it. Skiing in it, throwing it, driving in it… But I’m planning to move up north sometime in January. A friend offered to drive the Jeep, while I drive the truck. Although he has more recent experience than I in the snow, he has no experience with 4WD (or any off-road, for that matter). I don’t relish the idea of having the Jeep driven by someone else, and having to drive a laden U-Haul/Ryder over the Siskiyous in the snow! And that little hill between Yreka and Medford is a pain.
I have a 1998 Jeep Wrangler Sport and love it. I had a Cherokee before that, but it basically died, so I moved on.
It has a soft top which is fun in the summer, but the winter is a different story. Put Hella fog lights on it, rock guards on all the lights. I got a radiator cover which looks kinda weird. I also have a bug shield on it, because I can’t stand the amount of bugs which kill themselves on the windshield. I was going to lift it, but didn’t quite have the money and am still debating whether it’s a good idea. I also have a bikini top for it which is cool.
The one crappy thing is that I’m going to college in Boston and can’t park it at school, so it’s sitting in my parent’s garage at home while I live in Boston. I’m still making payments and until I can live off campus, that’s what I have to deal with. Oh well.
