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Having
owned and off-roaded a 1980 Jeep CJ-7 with a monster 5.9ltr V8 engine for
several years I realised that no matter how much time or money
I spent she was never going to be 100% reliable. One of
the biggest problems of owning a make of vehicle that was
never officially imported into the country is spares availability.
More often than I care to remember I'd be waiting weeks for a
part to arrive from the States to complete what should have
been a simple roadside repair.
So it was
time for a change, but to what. First and foremost
it had to be readably available with the full support of a
dealer parts network. It then had to be a capable off-roader, automatic and reasonably comfortable on long
runs. Oh, and it had to be cheap!
At the time
Wranglers (YJ's) were still bone shakers
and unless highly modified didn't perform
as well as my old CJ. I also fancied a
hardtop and heater for a change. Probably the cheapest
and most freely available was the Range Rover Classic but this
really needs to be Bobtailed to get the best from it. My
second choice was the 4.0ltr Jeep Cherokee. Prices had
dropped following the launch of the Grand Cherokee - it was
just a case of finding one with a reasonable mileage.
I struck
lucky and found a 1993 model with a genuine 31k miles on
her. It had been owned by a builder who hadn't cleaned
it since the day he took delivery and this was had a major
impact on
the price. But hay, I'm going to use
it for an off-roader !
As I did not have to rely on this vehicle for my
daily transport I decided that we could build her with long range off-roading in
mind. Ideally, I want to be able to drive 100 plus miles in comfort and at
reasonable speeds, off-road all day and then back again without suffering from
kidney failure.
Current specs;
Front Suspension
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Rubicon Express upper and
lower control arms
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Rubicon Express 3
1/2" front springs
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Rubicon Express anti roll
bar quick disconnects
-
Teraflex 2" spacers
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Extended stainless steel
braided brake lines
Rear
Suspension
Wheels
and Tyres
Body Work
-
Covered in stickers to
protect paintwork and save washing
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Summit Rock-Rails to
protect sills
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Custom 3"x 1/4"
steel tube rear bumper with tyre carrier (onboard air tanks)
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Custom 3"x 1/4"
steel tube front bumper with Surrey
Off-road winch box
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Warn 8000i winch
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Factory tow hook brackets
(re-enforced)
-
Safari Snorkel &
K&N Filter
Future Plans
If any ones interested
I've put together separate pages on the
following items
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