Your original wheeler. Do you still have it?

Do you still have your original wheeler?

  • Yes

  • No

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Had too many, vehicle ADD. Only one I regret getting rid of was my 85 Xtra cab after I pulled a modified version of @Jody Treadway (no divorce, just pure boredom) and hacked it completely apart for no good reason. It was magical on 36's and Toy axles and a fucking big dumb drive by braille stunt machine on 42's and tons. Should have just kept it, thrown a big boy drivetrain in it and wailed on it til it fell apart.
 
@jeepinmatt made me realize that a tj on 36s is all I've really ever needed. I'm too deep now to turn back. I'm hoping my new 79 cherokee cheif can fill that void.
 
jeepinmatt said:
Glad I could help? :D
I'm looking forward to a couple years from now when jeepinmatt junior wants me to drive him around in mine. Right now it's a hard thing to justify keeping, but it's paid for, insurance is cheap, and if I don't drive it then there's no fuel or Tire cost.
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It's a heirloom. You have to keep it.
 
One thing I think I learned early on from this page was that whole 'you'll be happier on 36's' discussion. And I've always been one for function, if I couldn't use the vehicle anywhere else but the trail, it didn't make sense to me. Probably the main reason I'll never go more extreme than an 'expedition' style rig. Pareto principle I suppose...if it can get me through 80% of the mud, 80% of the rocks, 80%of the trails and be DD'd 80% of the time...that's what I'm after. That's the driving force behind my current 79 Bronco build...SD tons, 40's, low CoG, 500hp, 14mpg...and maybe coil overs/4 link if I get fancy.
 
Yes! Bought my 97 tj with 6k..wheeled it stock. Then started modding it. Wheeled alot of places and have alot of memories. Then, I sold it to a member on here. That was a sad day. Kept in contact with the buyer for 9 years.
One day he called and asked if I wanted it back. So, last summer, I went and bought it back. Been having it fixed up for the past year. Lots of new parts. Been a slow process, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I will be back on the trails very soon.
 
My first wheeler was also my first vehicle when I turned 15 in 2005. 1978 CJ 7, still have it today and hope to never have to sale it. It's always been my project and I have learned to do many things out of a desire to modify and fix it myself. I'm torn now whether or not I really want to swap the tons I have for it under it, or leave it as a more road worthy vehicle I can hop in and head down the road.
 
This is what I started with. I bet some of y'all will know the rig, it came from toyotadad in Winston Salem. No, I don't have it anymore.
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First one was my 84 FS Bronco, I miss it. It was bone stock on 31's w a 300 I6. Green with a tan top. The very first trip out to URE it chugged along behind some guys on 4wheelers and I caught the bug. Sold it to buy my first Wrangler not knowing what a great platform I already had.
 
I do not have my first wheeler. It was a 73 CJ5 that I bought when I was about 17 (1991). The previous owner had been T-boned by a lady and it crushed the tub a bit in the driver front and rolled it over. I got it cheap and fixed it up. I never got around to painting it. It was just primered all over. I ended up selling it about a year or so later. I have good memories of working on it and wheeling it. No regrets on selling it though.

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drkelly said:
I do not have my first wheeler. It was a 73 CJ5 that I bought when I was about 17 (1991). The previous owner had been T-boned by a lady and it crushed the tub a bit in the driver front and rolled it over. I got it cheap and fixed it up. I never got around to painting it. It was just primered all over. I ended up selling it about a year or so later. I have good memories of working on it and wheeling it. No regrets on selling it though.

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drkelly rocking the MAGA hat before 2016. what else do you know that we aren't aware of yet?
 
McCracken said:
drkelly rocking the MAGA hat before 2016. what else do you know that we aren't aware of yet?
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I'm pretty sure that was my 'Miller High Life' hat. I am going to have to try and find a front view picture of me with that hat from that same time frame in my life now, LOL.
 
Yes!
Well, sort of. Technically my first 4x4 was a 90 XJ I got in HS. Had that thing 8 years. I didn't really "wheel" it, just through a couple mud holes, off in teh woods camping etc. We finally parted ways when an old man had a stroke coming off the interstate, blacked oout and T-boned the car it was parked beside, crushing the XJ between a Cougar and an GMC pickup. Talk about random!

First REAL wheeler was the 89 4Runner, which I still have. It grew a little and only got mildly beaten, then when 4x4Cross and ECORS came around that started the spiral.
Last real adventure in it was the ECORS finale in '11. It's sitting in the garage right now w/ no front end or suspension, halfway through a long-travel upgrade. I'll be driving it by Spring for sure!
(yeah I've said that for 4 years now but this time I mean it! Really!)
 
easleycrawler said:
This is what I started with. I bet some of y'all will know the rig, it came from toyotadad in Winston Salem. No, I don't have it anymore.View attachment 240599
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That truck brings back some memories. ToyotaDad got it from gtrobb when he sold out. Unbreakable, myself and others spent a lot of time wrenching and bending tube on that thing over the years. Its had about 3728436 different beds on it. :lol: I'll never forget blowing my shit up at Harlan and riding in it with Grant the rest of the weekend. He had already eaten a full set of birfs that weekend thanks to kersploding both at one time in miraculous fashion. We were ECORS'ing down the main trail past Creampuff when POW something else let go and the steering locked up. We just looked at each other and started laughing so hard we were crying figuring it was another birf or the front axle just finally said "Im done". It had ripped the shock mount off the frame on one side and fallen in between the tie rod and drag link.
 
Jody Treadway said:
Found another back when it was purple. Bottom of Helicopter Pad looking up
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I thought I remembered that Jeep being purple. It was a nice rig. That was before I knew diddly about 4wheeling.

I've never really had a wheeler, but the 4wds I have had I haven't kept. The ZJ I have now is the longest I've had the same 4wd. It won't be a true wheeler anytime soon. [emoji20]I lacks the funds.
 
I too have had vehicle ADD over the years.

my first was a84 Nissan 720. was a POS but fun. Then the cycle started:
ZJ on 31s. I had a blast in it, but was totaled on the street.
97 Dodge 1500 on 33s
84 K5 on 35s
93 XJ on 35s
74 CJ5 on 33s
78 J10 on 38s
78 CJ5 on 38s
75 bronco on halftons & 36s then tons & 42s
toyota buggy on 38s
sidekick on 30s, now building tons & 40s

Had I not been a teenager, I would have bought the ZJ back from insurance and tubed it out. Other wise, the 75 bronco on 36s or 42s or toyota buggy I wish I had back. Ive got plenty of more rigs Id love to build, but really want a street rig back.
 
I still have mine. It's a junk ass '86.5 Nissan Hardbody that started as the typical 4 cyl 5 spd on 31's I bought in Jan of '98. A couple blown head gaskets and motors later, I built a V6 and put it in around '03. DD'd it for couple years. A bad weekend a URE started the SAS after a buddy bought a house with a shop and offered me a bay. I built my own front axle using Nissan and D44 parts, SAS'd using 5" XJ rear lift springs form BDS, built square tube front shaft, and rocked it that way till fall of '15 ( ~8 yrs). It is currently waiting on me to finish the 3 link I started WAAAYYYYY too long ago. I did switch out to Super Duty tons, about 6 months ago, so I'll blame that on being behind. Definitely keeping/making it street friendly/legal, hopefully on 40's. May have to DD it again one day.....
 
Ok, let me take this a step further. Do you have your original wheeler because you're a cheap ass or because you really like it? Mine's a mixture of both. I don't have the time or money at this point in my life to start another build. Plus, the next build will definitely need more seats but that's another story. I also like the fact that you don't see a lot of FSJs out there. I've seen J-trucks but not many Cherokees.
 
As stated earlier, my first vehicle was a 79 J10 when I was 15. Hit a lot of mud holes and power line trails. I thought it was a beast with a 360 and quadratrac on 32s. Then came college and I needed something more fuel friendly. 84 S10 blazer and a 94 Exploder came next. Then I got my first yota. 89 reg cab 4cyl 5 speed. Deployed to Iraq and started doing research. Got home and did the SAS and a rear lockright on 35s. Stock gears, stock trans. Wheeled it lightly for a couple years then wanted a 4Runner cause the truck just wasn't street friendly with no tow rig. Kept the runner on IFS with 35s and a locker in the rear with 456 gears and 4.7 low range gears. Thought the family would like to trail ride but that never happened. Really missed having a bed on a trail rig but loved the extra space inside. Then the planning started on my current rig. Reg cab frame with an extra cab and front bobbed bed. Locked f/r on 35s with 5.29s and dual cases. Still on IFS. Mostly only sees the road now as a summer/snow DD.
 
Mine because I like it, bigger and stronger than the jeep, does whatever I ask it to, surprises the shit out of anyone that's never wheeled with one.
 
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