An introduction....

I decided to start this blog to document the buildup of, and adventures with, my new Jeep.

Why would you care what I do with a Jeep?  Frankly, I don’t expect you to; this is primarily a means for me to share my thoughts, photos, and videos with my friends and family, but there are likely to be others out there who might appreciate a tidbit of info they stumble upon here.

Who am I?  You can consider me a first-time Wrangler owner although I am by no means a newbie: I’ve been around 4x4s since my folks bought an FJ60 in 1987; I bought my own first 4x4 in 1994; I went on to start my career in the 4 wheel drive off-road industry in 1996; my family and I have owned many different four wheel drive vehicles over the years:



1985 Toyota Land Cruiser
1987 Suzuki Samurai
1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.9 Limited
1992 Subaru SVX
1997 Suzuki X90
1986 Suzuki Samurai
1985 Toyota 4Runner
1995 Suzuki Sidekick
2008 Suzuki SX4
1973 Steyr-Daimler-Puch Pinzgauer 710M
1987 Suzuki Samurai
2004 Subaru Legacy Outback
1997 Geo Tracker


You can see that I have experienced the full range of 4x4s, from sports cars to hardcore rockcrawlers, and fuel-miser subcompacts to top-of-the-line luxury SUVs.  I’ve helped many friends build their own 4x4s, I’m an active member of many Internet forums, and I’ve advised and assisted the owners of hundreds of 4x4s as an employee of several different 4x4 companies.  My intent is to use every bit of my experience to build my own ultimate 4x4.

And now, I am the happy owner a 2010 Jeep Wrangler Rubicon Unlimited, 6-speed manual with 26,000 miles:

Of course my needs likely vary from everyone else’s, and while every vehicle and every modification has its benefits and compromises, I intend to make my Jeep perfectly suited for the trails, road trips, and daily driving duties that I demand from it.  It’s not going to be a monster truck or a ridiculously flashy show vehicle; it will be built to be fully Rubicon-capable, more comfortable and better handling on the street than stock, and above all, built on a budget.  Even the Jeep was bought used, but only because I found a fantastic deal that I couldn’t pass up; money saved on the purchase leaves more money for customization.  It’s easy to spec the ultimate vehicle when you have unlimited funds coming out of somebody else’s pocket; what you’ll see here is one humble person’s Jeep funded by his own paycheck.

And if I can do it, you can do it.

I will always appreciate any comments or questions from the readers.  I would like to think that my efforts here have helped someone else build the 4x4 of their dreams too!