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10/05/2009
Since I bought the Jeep I’ve learned a thing or two
about wheeling. Oh sure, there are a lot of technical
issues to run down. Not least among them is the
selection of tire. Size does matter!
The size of the tire you want to run will practically
dictate what axle, differential gearing and minimum
lift height you will have to have. The fun thing is
that within any given set-up there are still a lot of
options to pick from to meet the needed spec’s.. Are
you happy with body lift or do you want spring lift?
Will you need long arm or short arm, or perhaps you’re
running leaf springs and only need taller shackles.
The list can get rather long!
All that is rather satisfying to our inner nerd, but
hey, there’s more. Next you get to enjoy ‘Christmas in
July’ when the boxes of ordered parts arrive by UPS!
Then it’s off to the garage and the self esteem
builder. There is nothing as truly satisfying as
finishing a build. Even if you needed a prefab kit and
step by step instructions to get’er done, it doesn’t
matter once the thing is finished! You have the
satisfaction of knowing, “I did it myself!” And
driving it down the road or out on the trail is proof
of a job well done.
Then there is the ultimate high. The superior reward
of wheeling with a group that comes when one guy or
another needs you to drive up/around/through whatever
has him stuck and throw him a tow strap. Yep… all that
time and money pays off in huge self esteem strokes
when you can go and do what others can’t.
But until I get there, I’ll have to settle for the
little things. What I call the Barbie-doll effect.
I’ve never owned a vehicle that had as many dress-up
options as a Barbie-doll until I bought the Jeep. Now
I can run topless, soft topped, safari topped, bikini
topped or hard topped. I can run with no doors, half
doors, tube doors or full doors. I can swap bumpers,
fenders, roll bars, seats, or opt for various styles of
grill and hood that have come down through the years.
I can dress it up with options such as off road lights,
rock lights, top carriers, spare tire racks and perches
for additional gear. I can adorn it with shovels,
jacks and spare gas cans. I can justify 2 way radios,
GPS locators and various other high-end electronics. A
Jeep has more dress-up options than a Barbie has
clothes!
How cool is that!
It may be built on an assymbly line like every other
car out there, but after a few mod's I'll never have
the problem of getting my Jeep confused with someone
else's. It is uniquely mine!...
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