Well, I was pretty much born into Jeeps. They have been around our family for years. At one point in my Great Grandfather’s life, after being the Sheriff of Gunnison County, he had a Willy’s Dealership in Colorado. The family had multiple Willy’s jeeps. I have seen pictures of me in jeeps when I was a baby and have fond memories of riding around in the Jeeps as a kid. I specifically remember being around 3 Willy’s Jeeps, all of which were 1948 CJ2A’s. My Grandparents had one, my Grandma’s brother and my Dad had the 3 jeeps. Both my parents were teachers and we would spend our entire summers at our family’s property in Gunnison (Vulcan), Colorado.
My dad was an auto shop teacher in Fremont, Ca. He came across a couple Buick V-6 motors and installed them on my dad’s and Grandparents Jeeps. The downsides were my Grandparents were products of the Great Depression and my Dad inherited all of their thriftiness, well, let’s get real, he was CHEAP! :yup: So the Jeep was never a show piece or built to be the best thing out there. The good thing was my even if it broke down on a trail; my dad would be able to get it going. My uncle used my grandma’s jeep as his high school car and did some stupid stuff with it.
From around 8 or 10 years old and into my college years, our family was so busy with sports and other obligations, the jeeps just sat and rotted. A little over 20 years ago, prior to my last year in college, I got a wild hair up my a** and I talked my dad and Grandma into rebuilding one jeep. My grandma gave us her jeep, so my dad and I tore them down to the frame and built one back, using the best of what we had, but still working on a very limited budget. Our plan was to go back to our property in Gunnison and spend a couple weeks doing a Jeep tour through, Ouray, Telluride, etc.. It was an awesome trip and one I will never forget.
Fast forward to a few years ago, my dad passed away and the jeep had been sitting at his property where he retired to in Oregon. The jeep probably hadn’t run in 15 years. My brother and I had a decision to make. Do either of us want the Jeep or just sell it. Well, I wasn’t going to give it away, but I would be willing to sell it, mainly because I do not have the time to rebuild it and it would sit for another 15 years until all my kids were out of the house. Nobody purchased it and then an opportunity came that I felt good about. The Company I work for is very involved with Ducks unlimited. Duck’s Unlimited Purchased the Jeep from me and they are going to rebuild it correctly and then raffle it off as a fundraiser. I thought that was cool, especially since one of my dad’s loves was duck hunting.
Heading to out for DU Rebuild.
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Part of my deal (with my wife) of selling the CJ2A Jeep, was that we would purchase a JKU for our family. It wasn’t a hard sale since she wanted one anyhow. Originally, this was going to be an extra vehicle that would be used to tow behind our motorhome and to go wheeling. We purchased a used 2008 and loved it. It was slightly modified and my wife fell in love with the jeep. She drove it a little over a year and since we said it was a second vehicle, we started looking for a newer nicer vehicle for her. The Jeep would then sit and I would be able to really start modifying the jeep to make it what I wanted.
Well, plans changed. We looked at all kinds of vehicles, but my wife kept saying, “But I really like driving the Jeep, I just really wished it had cruise control and auto windows.” So, we decided to purchase a new JKUR and sell the 2008. This really upset my 14 year old daughter; she was thinking she would get the 2008.
2008 that we sold.
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So that brings us to current day. We picked up a 2016 Mojave Sand JKUR.
Below Pics are from the Dealership with 13 miles on it.
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My wife goes by her nickname Murphy. Our Kids friends always call her Murph Murph. Since this is her Jeep, we decided to name it Murph Murph. License plate will be MRF MRF. My wife and I couldn’t be happier. She gets a nice Jeep and I get a clean slate. We are an avid outdoor family, we ride dirt bikes, boat, camp, hunt, fish, etc.. With the 3 kids and sports, these activities get harder and harder to do. The Jeep is nice because we can do a quick day or overnight camping get away. The plan for the first few years of its life is to be primarily a daily driver, taxing kids to school, getting groceries, and most importantly wheeling, but still has to be usable for my 5’2” wife.
For me it does have to be capable of doing some wheeling on well-known Trails like Black Bear, Imogene, Rubicon and the local trails around Fresno, such as Bald, Red Rock, Dusy (hopefully). Right now, I’m not the type of guy that wants to go out and push my rig to its limits, especially when is has my wife and kids in it. And my wife needs to be able to drive it so it can’t sit broken in the garage. If it makes sense to use a by-pass, I will. On trail runs, when there is a “play area” or an area with a specific challenge that can or can’t be done, I am usually the guy helping spot, winching or watching. I rather see others damage their rigs than see damage come to mine. :cheesy: Later down the road, when this is more of a second vehicle/toy, I may change and want to do more complicated stuff. Anyhow…………
Let the Build begin.
2016 JKUR
Mojave Sand
We would like to keep everything Mojave Sand Color and Black. Or like a Black and Tan :beer:…. :hmm:.… great drink…. Getting side tracked, back to build list :rock:
Below are three major stages. Along the way I will be adding/upgrading misc items that aren’t worth listing now, because I don’t know what they will be.
First Stage: Concentrating on protection/safety
- EVO Protek Skid System
- EVO Step Rock Sliders
- Crawler Conceptz Rocker Panel Covers
- Crawler Conceptz Ultra Series Front Bumper
- Crawler Conceptz Mid-Width Rear Bumper
- Crawler Conceptz Tire Carrier
- Crawler Conceptz High Lift Jack Mount
- Crawler Conceptz CB antenna mount
- Warn ZEON 10S
- Relocate license plate Frame to Center of Rear tire- Custom Bracket
- Poison Spyder license plate cover
I pulled the trigger on all the above items, because the 4th of July sale was awesome.
Second Stage: Lift and Tires
- 3” Lift- 95% sure will be EVO Enforcer, but still doing a little research.
- Shocks- Probably Ranch 9000’s
- 35” Tires
- Rims- Not sure, I keep going back and forth. Beadlocks or Just a nice wheel that has the wearable ring. I like the one that just came out, can’t think of its name…
- C Gussets on Rubi Dana 44
- Gearing on Automatic- Thinking 5.13? Need to finish researching this.
- Front Drive Shaft Replacement-not sure what brand
- I may truss and sleeve the Dana 44, I know, I know, it is not a true 44 and most say it is not worth it, but I’m undecided on it. The costs of sleeves are fairly minimal and it can’t hurt it. We will see when the time comes.
Third Stage: Going Big Wish list down the road a few years or more. Really depends how much we are out wheeling.
- Pro Rock 44 Front
- Pro Rock 60
- 37” Tires
- Coil Overs?
Hope you enjoy and any input on the Second Stage would be greatly appreciated. :standing wave:
