Alright guys I recently bought this jeep and the guy that had it obviously liked the chrome look. I'm torn between keeping the chrome look and switching to a black theme. I love the rims and plan to keep them for now...
I was debating taking out the chrome inserts on the grill and painting the headlight bezels black. Also want a new front bumper that would obviously be black. The bumper would be down the road, because I have to install a SYE first.
If it were my TJ I would just remove the chrome grill inserts and possibly consider reversing the tires so the white is inside to give it a little cleaner look. I like the wheels too.
A Jeep has a classic style and a beauty all its own. I've never understood the desire to dress it up like a pimp (yours isn't pimpish, just a bit of unnecessary chrome). It doesn't need any more chrome, these are Jeeps, not Harleys! Jerry's advice is excellent.
Like I told my son's girlfriend, a S. Calif blonde, 25 yr. old beauty, when she asked what I thought about a small tattoo she got of a flower just above her ankle..."Honey, a tattoo on you is like painting flames on a Ferrari, its just not not necessary."
I vote for removing the inserts. The wheels looks good to me. Leave the white letters out. You could always experiment with some plastidip on parts of your wheels just to see what they would look like.
I'm definitely keeping the wheels. I'm even having trouble trying to find another rim to have for my spare! I'm not sure if they quit making the or what.
Not exactly the same, but I went through something very similar on my '97 TJ.
I put on similar aluminum wheels (and 35's) when I bought it
I then scored a set of 36's super cheap, so I mounted them on some black steelies that I had to see what it would look/drive like
Long story short, I thought the black wheels looked terrible on the Jeep
I know black wheels are all the (current) rage, but I'm not a fan (and I have some on my current JK). They just don't make anything now that looks decent to my eye, and fits.
Long story short, I thought the black wheels looked terrible on the Jeep
I know black wheels are all the (current) rage, but I'm not a fan (and I have some on my current JK). They just don't make anything now that looks decent to my eye, and fits.
agree, when 1st got our 97 i put 2012 wheels on and they were already plasti-dipped black......looked good to me for a while but once i saw the newer wheels and then got a set, they are def not getting sprayed.
Remove the inserts and leave the wheels and tired but that's just me. Also painting the headlight bezels is easy and I need to do mine...weekend project yay!
Chrome or blacked out is the whatever the style is at the time... chrome was popular back in the CJ days and I doubt anyone would have said chrome was a blasphemy then. And a natural finish aluminum wheel is not chrome. I don't like too much chrome either but what I especially don't like is the current fad of everything being blacked out either. And I think that fad is dying out from having been overdone in the ghettos.
I didn't mean polished wheels, I meant Chrome everything like hinges, light bars, grille ect.
I picked up a Jeep for my kid and got rid of it all.
Actually it was polished stainless. They were cheap and half the thickness of OEM.
I had a new CJ back in the day. My first new vehicle ever. In 84' the only factory chrome was the door handles and wheel center caps on the white wagon wheels.
Agreed, the new "ghetto" flat black everything fad can go away now.
I don't think I noticed much change with the control arm swap. You might want to have someone help you with a steering test to see if you have any loose components. Also having them rock the Jeep back and forth, bounce it up and down while you are under it looking for loose components could help you find some issues. If everything looks tight I would skip swapping parts and look at shocks. I've heard good things about the Rancho 5000x shocks, but have no practical experience with them.
chrome fan here. black wheels look good on a black jeep but to me black wheels on about anything else looks like you were to cheap to by polished rims so just spray painted your old ones. now a black wheel does look good to me if it has some contrasting chrome on it. Like a bead lock rim ect. But you can have the plain black. But then I'm 60 and am a bit old school.
Same rims as me huh? I need a spare bc I can't find them anywhere.
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