Why did you build your XJ?
 

So just curious, why did you build your Cherokee? Me personally, I enjoy the outdoors, rock climbing (the actual sport, not the jeep sport), hiking and camping. I'm building my rig to get me deep in the woods to the point I'm ready to take off on foot. What about you guys?

i built mine cuz it was cheap and more room than my wrangler and way better offroad

Almost the same reasons as yours. Shooting, camping, just offloading trips. Anything to get me outdoors.

Have a nice truck for my daily driver so I wanted an offroad rig so I don't destroy my nice truck. A few of my buddies have off-roaders (blazers, jeeps, etc) and I wanted to join in on the fun. Building mine to be extremely capable offroad but also able to drive a few hours to and from a trail head. Half the fun for me is fab work and building the jeep, it keeps me busy.

I didn't choose the jeep life. Jeep life choose me.

Wanted enough room to be able to throw the wife the kids and the dog into and go out. Of course the wife, one kid and the dog figured out that they don't like it, so from there it was a low cost highly capable platform to just keep building on. With 35's on an HP 30 and 8.25, I keep up with my friends in TJ/LJ/JK configs running 37's for a fraction of the cost.

at first i only wanted a slight lift to change the stock look, but i rear ended another car and ended up using that as an excuse to get a new bumper and then cut fenders (because the flares ripped off during the accident), and with all that came the need for bigger tires and eventually a higher lift :)

Never meant to-
it all started so innocently, then I started hangin' with the wrong crowd

Because when I was 2 my dad bought a 2dr 5speed XJ and drove it up until last year, I am 19 now. I have always wanted a 2dr 5 speed and now I am building my dream.

My dads the day we sold it.
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Mine currently
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My dad bought the 99 new. I am 44 and had borrowed it off and on over the years. I took over ownership in 2013 when it needed more work than he wanted to put into it (230,000 miles). This past month I got around to lifting it so I am close to having it the way I always pictured it.

I have had a 98 and a 00 XJ but they ended up going to my twin girls when they started driving.

As she sits now.

I was looking for a replacement for our RZR that we could use year around in comfort with heat and air plus better off road performance. Sold the RZR on craigslist in 3 days to a kid for $8300 and that bought a few XJ parts.

I bought a 1990 4 dr. Laredo new in 1990. I wanted a 2 dr. but with our first son on the way, and another that followed, the 4 dr. made better sense. They're both grown up now and that XJ Is long gone ... but I now have a 2 dr.!

http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/p...ictureid=63759

Wanted a 4 door 4WD but did not want to pay a fortune for it to take friends and family 4 wheeling. Also the surplus of parts, both JY and aftermarket, and it seems to be timeless in the body style with my plans being for a very slow build. There should be a warning with these station wagons that they are addicting. The more I drive it the better I like it.

I had some family come in from Georgia and even tho the XJ is bone stock, I let a Georgia born and bred kin drive it on some semi technical 4 low trails and he had a smile from ear to ear.

I was bored and figured I needed something to spend money on...:)

I built my first one because Walmart sold me 31" tires saying that the were the same size as the stock ones. (I knew nothing about vehicles at the time) So I looked into a lift to clear my $700 in tires and started learning from there. My current project is to be able to go camping, road trip, and wheel with.

A. I wanted a project
B. To kill it offroad
C. To have a *****in' daily driver

What it looked like when I brought it home in April of 2011

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What it looks like now:

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Taking it on its first major excursion this Saturday since the last round of upgrades...so second trip for the stroker, but first for the 3 link and all the goodies...going to see the Manson Family ranch in Death Valley...pics will be coming...