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my wife and i currently have a new jetta and passat, both sedans, both kind of boring (at least both are MT). since we just had a baby, i can no longer own a motorcycle, so i've been considering other options for getting out on a nice day and enjoying a ride/drive. convertibles seemed to be a logical answer. i also am put off by sedans inability for hauling shit and therefore, something that could either fit shit inside of it or tow a trailer would be nice. i also wouldn't mind something w/ four wheel drive, as i'm not planning on buying snow tires for a car i'm leasing. some very light offroading would be fun too.
so, a jeep as a 3rd vehicle seems to answer all these problems. however, i thought i'd be able to find a 10 year old tj in decent shape for around $4k. however...i was way off. you can buy a 10 year old 5 series for about as much as you can expect to find a beat up no frills jeep of the same age. i'm bewildered by how these things command such insane resale (not to mention initial cost).
anyway, what should i be looking for/avoiding? are 4cyl's to be avoided at all cost? my budget is now looking more like 6k.
i've driven my cousin's 2 year old jeep, but i'm told the newer ones drive much more like cars. i'm planning on asking a friend at work to drive his, as i believe it's pretty much what i'm looking for and want to make sure i actually am interested.
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cjaama wrote:
my wife and i currently have a new jetta and passat, both sedans, both kind of boring (at least both are MT). since we just had a baby, i can no longer own a motorcycle, so i've been considering other options for getting out on a nice day and enjoying a ride/drive. convertibles seemed to be a logical answer. i also am put off by sedans inability for hauling shit and therefore, something that could either fit shit inside of it or tow a trailer would be nice. i also wouldn't mind something w/ four wheel drive, as i'm not planning on buying snow tires for a car i'm leasing. some very light offroading would be fun too.
so, a jeep as a 3rd vehicle seems to answer all these problems. however, i thought i'd be able to find a 10 year old tj in decent shape for around $4k. however...i was way off. you can buy a 10 year old 5 series for about as much as you can expect to find a beat up no frills jeep of the same age. i'm bewildered by how these things command such insane resale (not to mention initial cost).
anyway, what should i be looking for/avoiding? are 4cyl's to be avoided at all cost? my budget is now looking more like 6k.
i've driven my cousin's 2 year old jeep, but i'm told the newer ones drive much more like cars. i'm planning on asking a friend at work to drive his, as i believe it's pretty much what i'm looking for and want to make sure i actually am interested.
First off, I disagree on the bolded text, I've got 2 kids and I've gone through a number of bikes since they've come around. I actually bought a new bike within a couple months of each being born.
Regarding the TJ, they're pretty bulletproof but do command a premium. Avoid the 4 cylinder. If you want to wheel it, try to avoid the D35 rear. If you want to save money, check out XJ's (Cherokees), they have almost the same running gear for notably cheaper. Leaf sprung rear too so you can swap in a Ford 8.8 if you want with minimal effort. Not quite as cool as the pop top TJ's, but capable and comfy.
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The motorcycle thing is a personal choice that I'm not looking to discuss further in this thread.
So is this thing completely not worthy of a look?
http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/4068748931.html
I've always loved Cherokees and were it not for the priority of having an open air vehicle, I'd be looking for one.
Last edited by cjaama (2013-09-15 19:32:30)
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Typical rust and rot + 202k + 4 cylinder = $2k tops. I wouldn't bother. Also, doors can be removed from a Cherokee pretty easy .
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hyperboarder wrote:
cjaama wrote:
my wife and i currently have a new jetta and passat, both sedans, both kind of boring (at least both are MT). since we just had a baby, i can no longer own a motorcycle, so i've been considering other options for getting out on a nice day and enjoying a ride/drive. convertibles seemed to be a logical answer. i also am put off by sedans inability for hauling shit and therefore, something that could either fit shit inside of it or tow a trailer would be nice. i also wouldn't mind something w/ four wheel drive, as i'm not planning on buying snow tires for a car i'm leasing. some very light offroading would be fun too.
so, a jeep as a 3rd vehicle seems to answer all these problems. however, i thought i'd be able to find a 10 year old tj in decent shape for around $4k. however...i was way off. you can buy a 10 year old 5 series for about as much as you can expect to find a beat up no frills jeep of the same age. i'm bewildered by how these things command such insane resale (not to mention initial cost).
anyway, what should i be looking for/avoiding? are 4cyl's to be avoided at all cost? my budget is now looking more like 6k.
i've driven my cousin's 2 year old jeep, but i'm told the newer ones drive much more like cars. i'm planning on asking a friend at work to drive his, as i believe it's pretty much what i'm looking for and want to make sure i actually am interested.First off, I disagree on the bolded text, I've got 2 kids and I've gone through a number of bikes since they've come around. I actually bought a new bike within a couple months of each being born.
It's a personal choice. I also sold my bike after having kids. I don't know what riding conditions are like in Idaho, or even Albany for that matter, but here in North Jersey riding a motorcycle is not the safest of tasks. And the problem is typically never the rider, but the drivers around him, or other obstacles like deer. IMO, I'd rather my kids grow up having a father, so I'm not taking that chance. I'll likely pick another one up when they're in high school.
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i just test drove and 'bought' a jeep (guy didn't want a dime for a deposit). 1997 4cyl manual, one owner. it's got some body rust, but the frame's good. stupid decals need to go and the wheels need paint and some dye for the fenders. that's about it. i got it for $2k. i would have offered less, but i didn't want to insult him. i'm not sure how long he'll keep the listing up, but here it is:
http://albany.craigslist.org/cto/4090184662.html
i only drove it around his neighborhood, but it definitely wasn't totally gutless. highway i'm sure will be another story, but i don't plan on having it on the highway much.
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I had an '03 TJ with 31" tires, and the 4.0/5sp combo - it was completely gutless on the highway, but low gearing made it tolerable around town.
Good luck with the 4 cylinder.
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That fender rust is indeed normal. Not sure on the rest, you might try to take care of that. Anything on the frame can be addressed with POR-15.
Keep small tires on that thing and maybe check into regearing the axles if it's super shitty.
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so a couple weeks later, i'm still very happy with my purchase. i've only done some minor cosmetic stuff, painting the wheels, removing queer decals, heat gunning plastics back to black. the check engine light came on, which i believe is an o2 sensor, but other than that it runs well. it's a lot of fun just running around town in. i love having the windows out, i can't wait to take the top off next spring.
i did some light off-roading, which was a lot of fun and managed to tear off the rear/gas tank skid plate. here's a few before and after shots:
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Looks good, congrats
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Looks great, well done
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Looks great all cleaned up!
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slow at work, so i decided to update this thread a little. i still have the jeep and still love it, however there's not much outside of that to update. basically the only "mod" i did was swapping for some oem moabs with 31" wranglers. got them for a good price and improved the look of it from a chick jeep to at least a chick with a dick jeep.
as far as breaking things... i mentioned the last time i posted in this thread that i had torn off the rear skid while froading. i didn't realize that basically held the gas tank from falling out. about a week later i was doing some more light duty off roading and rolled back into a rock which jostled the tank free. luckily i was in a place where i could easily get towed out by a friend after ratchet strapping the tank back up. since then i've shied away from taking it offroad. aside from replacing the damaged rear guard (fuel lines also damaged as a result), i've only had to repair a broken brake line and replace the muffler. this summer i did however notice that my tub was rotted at the body mounts. i brought it to a fabricator who sectioned it out and repaired it and covered the underside with bedliner. i had put a coat of por15 on it, but did kind of a half assed job. this stuff is thick and should last a while.
it could use some cosmetic and mechanical things, but i try to keep the budget as close to zero as possible. love it in the summer and messing around in the snow.
sorry, this is an impromptu update, so these are some shitty pictures i had from my phone:
with the top off, my favorite way to roll and the reason i bought it
in winter/fall mode
we went to a street festival yesterday downtown. i always take the jeep to events like this and park in my favorite spot, up on this curb under the bridge. i came back and found two more parked with me. one of which rocking the same cheese shredders as ikbrown's charger.
here is a before shot of one of the body mounts, clearly rotted through. i'll have to remember to take an after shot.
family fun. can't do this on a motorcycle outside of india. i disguised my wife. sorry to disappoint you pervs.
Last edited by cjaama (2016-08-01 13:45:39)
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3 of the shocks are blown, so I think it's a good opportunity to put a cheap 2.5" lift on it. Can anyone tell me if I'll need anything more than what's included here?
https://www.amazon.com/Rough-Country-2- … try+2.5+tj
Also, I finally got around to taking the doors off after a few years of owning it. I had assumed that having half doors, it was just as good riding around like that, but it's way more fun with the doors off.
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Just Empty Every Pocket, or so a jeep-fanatic guy I know tells me.
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I ended up ordering a 2.5" lift. I was ready to install it myself, but then I blew a brake line and had the shop install the lift while they had it.
After lifting it some of the imperfections were closer to eye level. The bumpers and fender flares were looking pretty tired, so I hit them with some bed liner.
The drivers fender had rotted a hole through the top and there was a hole rotted through the rocker in front of the right rear wheel well. I ended up buying two aftermarket fenders off eBay for $150 shipped, bed lined those and put them on. Then removed as much rust from the rocker as possible, treated what was left and put a cheap pair of rock sliders on to cover up the hole in the rocker. Overall I think it looks pretty good for now.
Before:
After (I'll probably respray these)
Before:
After:
Final product:
Last edited by cjaama (2016-10-24 16:16:34)
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I miss my TJ.
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hyperboarder wrote:
I miss my TJ.
Was yours pretty stock or built?
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Yeah, that's exactly what I'd like to have. Awesome picture too!
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Thanks for the pictures. I spend hours on Instagram looking at built Jeeps swooning and fighting the urge to spend our children's tuition savings on parts.
The nice thing about my Jeep is, I could sell it at just about any point and get what I've put in or more. The shitty thing is that the same awesome Wrangler resale is prohibiting me from getting into a JK for a 3rd vehicle. I'm not really sure I want to get into a JK anyway, they don't seem nearly as dependable, especially the AT ones.
My wife wants an Unlimited as her next DD, but I'm pretty opposed to owning a vehicle that consumes that much gas as a DD.
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This should probably be in the "Post my Ride" section, but started out with me shopping for a Jeep and I never thought it was necessary to start a new thread.
Anyway, I just added rear corners and swapped my 31's for 33's.
And a before n' after shot
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Much better
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Looking good, cjaama.
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