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College Build

2K views 15 replies 7 participants last post by  madflyer72 
#1 ·
So here is the deal, so currently I am a college student with no money. Sure I get money from the military but that is basically just enough to get by. I always wanted a Wrangler but my parents were optimistic because my neighbor had one who always got drunk and rolled it. So finally last summer before leaving for training at Ft. Knox, I got the ok to get a jeep. I found one at a dealer for $7000. It was a 2000 blue wrangler completely stock with a 2.5Lt engine (little did I know about the big 4.0) and it only had about 60000 miles on it.

So here it is the day I got it.





Next I put some sound in it. After working for Circuit City for a while in their Firedog department (car audio installation) I needed sound. Especially when i found out how loud it was driving in a soft top. So I put a new head unit in and some new speakers.





There are also kickers in the front but i forgot to take pics of them.

After coming back from Ft. Knox I started school again in Mankato, MN. After seeing the aftermath of what kind of winter Mankato has, the hunt began for a Hard top. Finally found one on craigslist for 600 bucks and was satisfied. The only down side was that It was in Madison, WI, my home town, which is about a 6 hour drive back....

Next came tires. I got some old 31x10.5x15 from my roommate which were completely bald but none the less had a better look. As soon as the down poor of snow came though, I quickly realized that I needed a new set. So my roommate showed me a site that sold retreaded tires. I did some research and found that Tredritetires.com looked legit and it was half the cost of a reg tire.

The day the tires got here....





I then got my rims powder coated black and got my tires installed by my friend.



It was about -5 degrees outside.

Next my brother drilled out a pool ball for my jeep and stuck it on my stickshift. Worked out pretty good. I also stuck a CB radio in there....its a long drive home to Mad town so its nice to talk to truckers and find out whats going on traffic wise.



Next, I went on to Rustys Offroad and ordered a air intake with a throttle body spacer. Its sounds pretty damn cool.




Other than that, I have taken off those stupid milk jugs off my bumpers and installed an aircraft seatbelt for the drivers side. I got it free from my friend who works at an airport and it is awesome. Got a hi-lift jack and soon to get a winch. Other than that, the jeep is pretty stock.

I have realized that my jeep is a money pit and it is killing my savings. I think the biggest problem is coming on to this forum and looking what you guys have done to your jeeps :2thumbsup:. My GF even complains that I love my jeep more than her...:shhh: but o well.

Future plans:

3in lift
Front bumper
winch
lockers
I am sure there will be a lot more.
 
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#3 ·
Jeep looks good!! Love the color!

With the 4cyl. and 4.10 gears I'd go with 33's and a 2.5" lift with a small body lift.
 
#4 ·
my dads (basically mine because I do all the damn work on it!) is also a 2000 4 banger 5spd.

my theory is that the 4.10 gearing makes the 4 cyl pretty even to the 6cyl 5spd with the 3.07 stock gearing. Maybe not in acceleration, but probably in top speed.

Ok anyways, I went with the Rough Country 2.5 inch lift. I think it rides great and it was only like $300 with a steering stabilizer. I also went with a daystar 1 inch body lift. really just got this because it replaces all the old rubber mounts with poly. BEST body lift you can buy by far, should be factory equipment.

I really wouldn't build it up much because it will never have enough power. You can run 33's, and be ok. but much bigger then that its just not worth it.
 
#5 ·
Thanks guys. I think 33's will be the biggest I go. I just didn't know if that size tire would make the jeep slow as hell. I mean it already is a ***** going up hills and down shifting 24/7. I will def check into the 2.5in lift as well as the body lift. Damn i got to stop putting goodies on this thing and pay it off lol
 
#6 ·
Jeep looks good bud - it's nice and clean, wish I could keep mine looking clean still. As far as tires and gears go 33s are doable with the 4cyl and 5 spd but wld be rough. 31s are really the biggest u would want to go without much power loss. I ran 33s with 3.07s for a year or so, it was fine just didn't have much of a crawl ratio Offroad and no 5th gear on the highway
 
#10 ·
idk if i would agree with that. my friend has a 4.0 wrangler that he took on the trails with me and it seemed as though he could just trudge through everything just fine. Going up the muddy inclines was the worst. I had it in 4H and he had it in like 4L. I mean I can't think of anything positive about the 4 banger. it has no power, it gets the same kind of gas milage and prob worse than the 4.0 now that i have over sized tires on my jeep.

I mean what are the positives for having a 4 banger?
 
#16 ·
Well the day has come to sell the jeep. Losing money on the deal but it is going to good hands. It's going to be a sad day to see it leave but I can't take two vehicles to Ft. Benning with me. I want to thank everyone here on Jeepforum for all the help that you have given me with my questions on my jeep. I am now the person that everyone comes to at my work with questions about jeep wranglers because of the information I have gained from this site. Hopefully the guy buying my jeep jumps on the site so you guys can help him as well.
 
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