Rubi SoHo
Well-Known Member
- Thread starter
- #1
So I’m a recent returner to Jeep, this JL is my second one I’ve owned. I sold the first one about 16yrs ago, which was a huge mistake. I still miss that thing, and with a 14yo boy, I kinda wish I had it so I could restore it with him and pass it on.
I’ll tell you about mine:
My first Jeep was a 1985 CJ7, I bought it in 2001, when it was 19yrs old. I looked around for weeks to find a good one, and after seeing jeep after jeep after jeep that had been heavily modified and that had too high a price tag, I found an older retired couple looking to sell theirs. It had been immaculately cared for, not a speck of rust. It had 131k miles on it, and ran like a champ when I test drove it. 4 speed manual, manually locking hubs, no leaks, it was as good a find as I would see. Color was a deep maroon-red, with gold stripes along the rocker panels. 31” tires. The couple wanted $3500 for it which I gladly paid.
I didn’t even make it home from the purchase before it started acting up though. Suddenly couldn’t hold idle. I ended up discovering that the cat was closing up, I replaced that and everything was great again. It never gave me problems after that until I destroyed the motor.
I drove it for another 3.5years, managed to get it to 190k miles in that time. I looked for any excuse to get it off road. My friend bought an XJ around the same time, and we got into all sorts of trouble. I remember once we drove up over the top of south mountain in Draper, Utah. There are homes there now, but back then it was just trails. It had rained and we felt like it was a good time to see how far in we could make it. We got up over the top, and we’re coming down the south side when my friend slipped off the trail. I tried to strap up to him and pull him back up on, but got pulled off myself. We ended up hiking down to town, covered in mud. We were walking through this affluent neighborhood, and a guy was in his garage and saw us covered in mud to the knees. Asked us what was up and we told him we got our jeeps stuck. He let us come in, use the phone to call for a ride, and told us to come back the next day and he’d like to help us out. We did so, and turns out he had some very built TJ’s that had just gotten back from the shop after Jeep Safari. He drove us back up there, and winched both of us back up onto the trail and we made it down from there.
I ended up wheeling all sorts of remote roads in the high-Uintas, and all over Utah’s west desert. Never made it to Moab somehow in the CJ.
Then I met my wife, and got married. Ended up overheating the jeep right after our honeymoon because of a cracked radiator that I had been trying to limp by with using JB weld while planning the last few days before the wedding. I was headed into work, running late, had a plan to swap the radiator after work that day, but it got too hot and wrecked the head gasket. I towed it home, rebuilt the engine, and parked it for the most part after that. Sold it once we were expecting our first for $5000, this time with a rebuilt engine, 3.5 years and 60k miles older.
After that, I bought sedans, then a 3 row Pathfinder as the family grew. Went to college, then medical school and residency. More recently I’ve been riding MTB, driving Subaru’s, spending 4-5 weekends in Moab every summer and enjoying being a bit settled for the first time in a while.
Used car values being what they are, I felt it was time to cash in the Subaru and get a Jeep again. Was able to put a sizable down payment on it, and nearly bought this one in cash. It’s a JLUR-XR, and I’m thrilled with it so far. I love the interior’s nod to the CJ I started with. So glad to be back in a Jeep again, and can’t wait to get back to Moab this spring.
Let’s hear about your first Jeep!
I’ll tell you about mine:
My first Jeep was a 1985 CJ7, I bought it in 2001, when it was 19yrs old. I looked around for weeks to find a good one, and after seeing jeep after jeep after jeep that had been heavily modified and that had too high a price tag, I found an older retired couple looking to sell theirs. It had been immaculately cared for, not a speck of rust. It had 131k miles on it, and ran like a champ when I test drove it. 4 speed manual, manually locking hubs, no leaks, it was as good a find as I would see. Color was a deep maroon-red, with gold stripes along the rocker panels. 31” tires. The couple wanted $3500 for it which I gladly paid.
I didn’t even make it home from the purchase before it started acting up though. Suddenly couldn’t hold idle. I ended up discovering that the cat was closing up, I replaced that and everything was great again. It never gave me problems after that until I destroyed the motor.
I drove it for another 3.5years, managed to get it to 190k miles in that time. I looked for any excuse to get it off road. My friend bought an XJ around the same time, and we got into all sorts of trouble. I remember once we drove up over the top of south mountain in Draper, Utah. There are homes there now, but back then it was just trails. It had rained and we felt like it was a good time to see how far in we could make it. We got up over the top, and we’re coming down the south side when my friend slipped off the trail. I tried to strap up to him and pull him back up on, but got pulled off myself. We ended up hiking down to town, covered in mud. We were walking through this affluent neighborhood, and a guy was in his garage and saw us covered in mud to the knees. Asked us what was up and we told him we got our jeeps stuck. He let us come in, use the phone to call for a ride, and told us to come back the next day and he’d like to help us out. We did so, and turns out he had some very built TJ’s that had just gotten back from the shop after Jeep Safari. He drove us back up there, and winched both of us back up onto the trail and we made it down from there.
I ended up wheeling all sorts of remote roads in the high-Uintas, and all over Utah’s west desert. Never made it to Moab somehow in the CJ.
Then I met my wife, and got married. Ended up overheating the jeep right after our honeymoon because of a cracked radiator that I had been trying to limp by with using JB weld while planning the last few days before the wedding. I was headed into work, running late, had a plan to swap the radiator after work that day, but it got too hot and wrecked the head gasket. I towed it home, rebuilt the engine, and parked it for the most part after that. Sold it once we were expecting our first for $5000, this time with a rebuilt engine, 3.5 years and 60k miles older.
After that, I bought sedans, then a 3 row Pathfinder as the family grew. Went to college, then medical school and residency. More recently I’ve been riding MTB, driving Subaru’s, spending 4-5 weekends in Moab every summer and enjoying being a bit settled for the first time in a while.
Used car values being what they are, I felt it was time to cash in the Subaru and get a Jeep again. Was able to put a sizable down payment on it, and nearly bought this one in cash. It’s a JLUR-XR, and I’m thrilled with it so far. I love the interior’s nod to the CJ I started with. So glad to be back in a Jeep again, and can’t wait to get back to Moab this spring.
Let’s hear about your first Jeep!
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