It’s been a little while since I’ve posted, and something grave has happened. I’ve sold my 2013 JK. It’s ok though, it’s made way for a new project. My new DD and weekend wheeler is a 2005 Wrangler Unlimited, or LJ as theyre known in the community. There’s a long story here, but I’ll just say that the 2013 was a very nice vehicle, and I’m sad to see it go, but the burden of the LJ is much lighter, and with some recent family changes, it just makes more sense. On the bright side, it should make for a more interesting project, as I may actually have some money to spend on upgrades!
Expect to see some articles showing up as i get the LJ ready for the trails, my first planned trip is going to be this spring. With any luck I’ll have new tires, and maybe an AntiRock by then. This jeep is still my daily driver, so as I was doing with the JK, the LJ will remain as close to stock height as I can stand. I have some good ideas on how to make this jeep a capable wheeler, without sacraficing too much in road manners, comfort, and fuel economy.
I haven’t grabbed all that many pictures of it, but here are a few from right after I brought it home.
Nifty seat upholstery.
I’ve been driving it for a little over a month now, it’s getting about 14-15mpg, which is a tad lower than I expected. The JK was getting close to 20, so that’s sort of a hit, but, what can you do, it’s a Wrangler after all.
It’s needed some work, and still needs some. I spent a lot of time the week I brought it home fixing some little things. One of the sway bar links was broken, replaced that and the dealer reimbursed me. The brakes need to be replaced, that’ll happen this weekend, i just picked up all new rotors and pads. The sub in the 6-speaker system was rattling all to hell, I found that the screen had come loose, so I fixed that. It still needs wheel bearings in the front end, and maybe u-joints while I’m at it.
Tax refund time is going to get me some new tires, and maybe a Currie Anti-Rock. It’s got some no-name 31×10.50 AT’s on it, havent decided what to get yet, might just go with some more AT’s, or maybe some MT’s, who knows. I need something with a decent sidewall. Found that out the hard way last year at AOAA.
I’d love to see if I can throw some metalcloak fenders on the front and rear, and clear 33’s on stock suspension. We’ll see how that pans out.
So, stay tuned for what should turn out to be a decent weekend wheeler/daily driver project!