Wow i was just at martin dodge today and ok ill look at my schedule tomorrow when i go in and ill figure something out
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El Cheapo Jeep WJ Build-ish.
- Thread starter Vertigo
- Start date
Were you here for service or sales? My office is in the Mitsubishi building, but I work for corporate these days. I did work for Dodge for about 6 months prior.
So, it's been awhile since I updated, so here's what's happened. For a few weeks...not a thing. Then, a pair of WJ trade-ins came in, and they were used up turds, and I decided to pillage them like the good pirate I used to be. One was a Limited, with 300k miles, but the AC worked. So, Friday afternoon myself and one of the techs plundered the compressor, a line and the condenser from it, and VOILA! A/C in my old turd. Co-workers and friends question my logic on why I'm building it the way I am, and the short answer is: comfort. I like the exterior to be rugged, but I want the inside as cushy as possible. I'm nearing 40, I don't really want plastic rail buggy seats any longer. I want heated leather, and climate controls. Yes, it's mainly a trail rig, or expedition travel, but I am no longer a Viking.
I let myself get tackle too many things at once, and I didn't focus. I wanted to wire up the big light bar, and was unhappy with switch placement for the fog lights. I did a little searching, and found fog light harness and plugs just tethered to the inside of the front bumper of my Jeep. All of a sudden, I HAD to have the factory switch to clean up the quick hack job I did when I wired the lights the first time. Once that became my obsession, I pulled the multi-function switch from the other jeep, and swapped it into mine. Still had no power to the light plugs. Crap! After an ALLDATA search, I found that I was missing a relay. I literally had to pull the lower dash apart of two Jeeps to get a stinking relay, but once complete, I felt way more satisfied with how the lights were wired. It gets a lighted indication on the instrument panel, which for whatever trivial reason, makes me happy.
Got a pre-wired harness from Amazon, so that was only a matter of routing the wiring, and securing two wires to the light bar, and plugging it in. All in all, very easy. The results are amazing. The cheap 50" bar I had on my Wrangler pales in comparison to this Rigid Industries 40" on the GC. Good Lord, my lady saw me coming two miles down my road. I'm hoping to get to test it in the dirt this week, so pics and videos to come.
I let myself get tackle too many things at once, and I didn't focus. I wanted to wire up the big light bar, and was unhappy with switch placement for the fog lights. I did a little searching, and found fog light harness and plugs just tethered to the inside of the front bumper of my Jeep. All of a sudden, I HAD to have the factory switch to clean up the quick hack job I did when I wired the lights the first time. Once that became my obsession, I pulled the multi-function switch from the other jeep, and swapped it into mine. Still had no power to the light plugs. Crap! After an ALLDATA search, I found that I was missing a relay. I literally had to pull the lower dash apart of two Jeeps to get a stinking relay, but once complete, I felt way more satisfied with how the lights were wired. It gets a lighted indication on the instrument panel, which for whatever trivial reason, makes me happy.
Got a pre-wired harness from Amazon, so that was only a matter of routing the wiring, and securing two wires to the light bar, and plugging it in. All in all, very easy. The results are amazing. The cheap 50" bar I had on my Wrangler pales in comparison to this Rigid Industries 40" on the GC. Good Lord, my lady saw me coming two miles down my road. I'm hoping to get to test it in the dirt this week, so pics and videos to come.
Would you possibly be interested in going to land between the lakes this weekend i was thinking about taking my wife down to the bison reserve and then running some of the forest service roads
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Yea its two hours and yea saturday and sunday but if you wanna go somewhere more local id be ok with it as long as my trucks out of theshop
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Do I have your truck here? My only concern is, I leave here every Saturday and go back to the frigid North until Tuesday. I have two cars here, so no worries, but a more local spot would be a better idea until I properly shake this thing down. It's not seen dirt yet since being back together. Closest it's done was curb climbing in downtown Nashville this morning.
Yea just brought it in today stupid manifold bolts. But yea im off friday and saturday and im down to go wherever youd want
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It's actually finished, but they don't want to release it until morning, because they want to crank it over nd make sure they're good to go after a few heat cycles. I'll have the Service Advisor call when she's ready to release it. She said your pads are about done.
Yea they gave me a call and told me im ordering new ones tonight thanks though man. And if you need a vehicle to go wheeling with let me know and ill be down
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Going to pick the truck up this morning thanks for checking up on it man and ill keep an out for your jeep
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I realize it’s been awhile since I have updated this thread. Finally got a chance to test the WJ out. Random meeting with the Bowling Green Jeep Owners Club led to a night ride at a place near Mammoth Cave called Blue Holler Off Road Park. The pics aren’t great since it was dark, but I’ll post some anyway.
Recently the family and I have been taking day trips to Mammoth Cave to hike, or mountain bike, so I happened across this Off Road Park, during a trip on an unpaved road.
I was last to arrive since it was a Saturday, and I left work late. The group graciously waited for me, and proceeded to clown me for my lack of tire size and recovery points. All we did was air down my A/Ts to 15 psi, and open a beer.
I had the lowest COG, smallest tire, and the only one without mud terrains. Mind you, my WJ is more for overlanding, not the mud, or rocks. It’s more of a Swiss Army knife to me, I’d like it to be capable in all areas without a single focus. With that being said, it does need recovery points, and I do need to mount my winch.
As we fell into line behind our guide, I was second to last, with a very large LJ Wrangler behind me that looked quite capable of getting me out of stuff I didn’t like.
About 1/4 mile down into the Holler, the trail went up at a steep incline with soupy mud and deep ruts. I was still in high range and got caught up. I switched to low, backed it down and applied some throttle, letting the V8 handle it. The chatter on the CB was amusing. Long story short, every time we stopped, someone else would comment that they couldn’t believe I made it that far. By the end of the night the little WJ was called a billy goat, as it went everywhere that the Rubicon’s with 40” mud tires went. Experience and line choice were crucial. At the end of the night I was asked to come back with them. Most were amazed that my sway bars were still connected. All in all, the cheap WJ performed flawlessly, tackling multiple terrains, and giving me confidence that I can take my family into situations most wouldn’t dare, so my children can experience things that most wont. $80k Rubicon build? No thanks. I’ll take my $1500 WJ for the win, Alex.
Recently the family and I have been taking day trips to Mammoth Cave to hike, or mountain bike, so I happened across this Off Road Park, during a trip on an unpaved road.
I was last to arrive since it was a Saturday, and I left work late. The group graciously waited for me, and proceeded to clown me for my lack of tire size and recovery points. All we did was air down my A/Ts to 15 psi, and open a beer.
I had the lowest COG, smallest tire, and the only one without mud terrains. Mind you, my WJ is more for overlanding, not the mud, or rocks. It’s more of a Swiss Army knife to me, I’d like it to be capable in all areas without a single focus. With that being said, it does need recovery points, and I do need to mount my winch.
As we fell into line behind our guide, I was second to last, with a very large LJ Wrangler behind me that looked quite capable of getting me out of stuff I didn’t like.
About 1/4 mile down into the Holler, the trail went up at a steep incline with soupy mud and deep ruts. I was still in high range and got caught up. I switched to low, backed it down and applied some throttle, letting the V8 handle it. The chatter on the CB was amusing. Long story short, every time we stopped, someone else would comment that they couldn’t believe I made it that far. By the end of the night the little WJ was called a billy goat, as it went everywhere that the Rubicon’s with 40” mud tires went. Experience and line choice were crucial. At the end of the night I was asked to come back with them. Most were amazed that my sway bars were still connected. All in all, the cheap WJ performed flawlessly, tackling multiple terrains, and giving me confidence that I can take my family into situations most wouldn’t dare, so my children can experience things that most wont. $80k Rubicon build? No thanks. I’ll take my $1500 WJ for the win, Alex.
