Help my make my rock rig streetable

[Giffer]

i used to DD im YJ. around 200 km, so about 125 miles and the fuel was killing me. about 28 dollars a day. so i swallowed my pride and brought a $400 94 ford aspire. the thing was purple. so the next week i painted it flat black and now i smile everytime i fill it up. 20L get me around 500 km. so around 30 a week from 30 a day. and i dont owe anything on it.

[OU812]

I’m all for driving a $hitty car. I once drove a $100 1985 Volkswagen Golf diesel because it got 45MPG. BUT, if you are planning on putting clients in your car you might think twice.

[Roger]

Nathan - A hard top makes all the difference in the world for a daily driver. I put one on my CJ and it cut the noise in half. I did not notice any difference in gas milage. I drive 70 mi a day.

I also have BFG AT's and they work really well and are quiet.

You may want to make Max an offer for his hard top. I'll bet he never puts it back on his Jeep

I think you will be traumatized if you buy some crappy little car. You'll be going from that cool dude in the Jeep to the Geek!

[brokenujoint]

KEEP YOUR JEEP TRAIL WORTHY AND PARK IT... GET A LITTLE CAR.. I got a little 2003 toyota echo.. let me tell you brother!.. Easy as pie to drive. you'd be SUPER suprised how fast they are and they get about 40 mpg. i dont care what you do to your jeep, you wont get over 1/2 of that. i drive about 250 miles a wk and i spend very little on gas. the car has 125,000 miles in 5 yrs and it hasnt even complained one. aside from a little echo, you could buy a new yaris ( a new version of the echo) or get a camry or something. toyota cars go FOREVER.

you've put to much into you jeep and just daily driving it will wear it out pretty fast. if you alter your obsession to conform to the recession, you will only get more depression.

[nwoods]

]If you alter your obsession to conform to the recession, you will only get more depression.

I hear you!

[VVjeepfreak]

I can understand your pain of what to do. I drive my YJ from VV to Fontana and have been kicking around getting a car(ugh) to drive. The problem is I hate driving a small car. Also when the I15 backs up in the pass I take the fire roads home (eat ya heart out honda civic)

Looking at the cost of down sizing your LJ why not use the money to buy a older model XJ? Its the best of both worlds, granted not quite the milege of a car but has to be better than the LJ plus still driving a jeep. Some of the XJ'ers should be able to give some insite on what kind of milege. Just my :2:

[Giffer]

kinda on the same line as VVjeepfreak about buying another xj or something. what about a older TJ with the 2.5?? hey hurricane what do you get for fuel milage on yours?? cant be to bad. my brothers 01 XJ gets around 800 km a tank. thats a bone stock "nicely" driven 4.0.

[The-Hurricane]

my 2.5L 00 tj with 235's and a cold air intake got around 550K to the tank, 50 dollar fill. now with the 31's on it it gets around 420K to the tank... still not too shabby

[Lawrence]

I can't imagine driving it the way it is now. Way too noisy

Getting a hardtop would help somewhat but I would not consider it to be the solution. Get used to the noise, it is a TJ/LJ after all. For one it adds weight to your rig (see point below) and it is a matter of sucking less in the noise department instead of having a quiet ride.

horrible gas mileage

Don't expect it to get much better. TJs/LJs are not known for their mpg prowess in stock form, and now your lugging much more weight around with big tires and heavy add-ons. Like most modded Jeeps, it has become an overweight pig. If still running the stock gears, a gear swap would help somewhat and would give you your power back.

generally poor ride (that might just be normal though, I have no idea).

That can be improved without changing a thing. Mine rode like crap when I bought it, even with long arms. A friend helped me "tune" the suspension, and without changing a single component (pitman arm excluded) the ride greatly improved. I then went on to do some more mods to make it a plush ride.

If it were my rig, I would lighten it and go to 33 ATs (BFGs or Nittos). You'll still be able to do everything you were doing on 35s, you'll just have to pay a little more attention to you lines. ATs will also give you a better ride, cut down on the road noise, and they rule in pretty much every department, including snow. Another thing I would do is keep those shocks and add the Rancho in-cab controller. I have them and dialing the ride on the fly is, well, fly. Lastly, I would change the seats. Many may disagree but I find them very uncomfortable when it them for a long period of time.

Jeep is a third car that only sees trail duty...

I could sugar coat it and blow smoke up your buttocks, but truthfully if those 3 items are bothering you right now, you will not be happy with it as a DD and I would consider the following options:

1) Keep the LR3 and sell the LJ altogether.
2) Sell the LR3, Keep the LJ as a trail rig, get a small econobox as a DD.

Option 2 allows you to wheel your heart out on the weekends knowing that if you break something, you can still go to work on Monday.

[The-Hurricane]

.
2) Sell the LR3, Keep the LJ as a trail rig, get a small econobox as a DD.

Option 2 allows you to wheel your heart out on the weekends knowing that if you break something, you can still go to work on Monday.

Agreed!!! there have been many a time out wheelin when all i have been worried about is getting to work on monday instead of having fun! and mud doesnt break stuff nearly as easyily as big honkin boulders!

[Dukes69]

There's no use in trying to make the Jeep into a car. It doesn't work. Both Tammy and I used to DD our TJs. But when we started driving for work it ceased to be fun. The Jeep is going to get 12 mpg, period. The ride is going to suck and it'll always be noisy.

We just bought a 2000 VW Jetta Diesel, that gets 45 MPG, because I drive 140 round trip everyday. They can typically be had for around $5000. You just have to weight whether or not it's worth it to you. $5000 is about a years worth of gas if you drive 25k or more. Diesel is now the same as regular or cheaper.

Jeeps are toys, not daily drivers.

[Materdaddy]

Jeeps are toys, not daily drivers.

They can be both if you only drive 11 miles one way to work, never pick up clients, and have no other option!

[OU812]

I DD my YJ. My other option is the 53 Chevy pickup, but the Jeep is much more reliable. I just sold a little Corolla that could have been my daily. But when I added up the insurance and maintenance I couldn't justify the fuel savings.

[Lellow_Sub]

Ok Nathan, ya got my Hard top but did you make it home? You were looking mighty cramped in there when you left my house! How's the HT working for ya and are you and the family coming up to HDR next week?

*Cheers*

-Derek
On The Rocks

[nwoods]

LOL, yeah I made it home, and then straight over to the Chiropractor :-)

The HT worked out great. My wife drove to Sedona last weekend solo in the Jeep, and did it in comfort. The HT massively reduced road noise and increased the effectiveness of the A/C system, and improved the audio system as well, so she was a happy camper, um, literally!

We've come a long way. Our first drive in the Jeep was from Corona to Yorba Linda, and it was a white knuckle terrifying trip. We've slowly sorted out the spring/shock combo, had various tire alignments, rotations, and multiple balance sessions done, tightened up numerous bolts and fittings, and now with the HT, the Jeep is almost downright civil to drive.

Thanks!