n_csmith

Hey I am moving to the UK in April, well i should say i am PCS'ing to the UK i am getting re-stationed to RAF Lakenheath and was just curious about the area if anyone on here is from the area and could would be willing to give me the skinny on everything. I am super excited to learn about the culture and see everything. I haven't decided if i want to buy another cherokee when i get there or not..especially since the wife wants me to "grow up" out of offroading. well looking forward to talking to all of you.

DaFox

Hello fela

That's the opposite end of the country to me but welcome none the less.
I don't think you'll take too long to adjust, just remember - everything is more expensive and the bar tenders don't expect to be tipped.

XJs are 10 a penny and can be picked up for less than £1000 with LPG conversion which is what I would look for as it's about the only way to afford to run one over here.

If you ever get sent over to RAF Valley for training; pop me a PM and I'll show you some of our local offroad tracks (FYI we call them green lanes)

Morat

Lakenheath eh? sounds fun Welcome to the UK.
Just make sure you get used to RHD before you leave the base!!!

Bustedknuckle

RAF Lakenheath, now theres a throwback. My old man was stationed there almost 30 years ago. GB is a blast man, I used to go every summer. Huge XJ following over there as well.

n_csmith

right on thats good to hear, i still don't understand this LPG thing and where i would go to fill the tank..do they just have stations to fill it at every fuel station?

rustcollector

LPG stands for Liquified Petroleum Gas. It is a derivative of heating gas that is stored as a liquid under high pressure. A bit like butane/propane that is used for camping etc.
A converted vehicle will retain the normal fuel tank and have an additional LPG tank fitted. You start and warm up the engine on unleaded fuel then switch over to LPG via a dash mounted electronic switch that activates solenoids to start the LPG flow and stop the unleaded flow.
Not every fuel station has LPG. Probably more like 1 station in 5 has LPG.
Some agricultural suppliers sell LPG as well. The area around Lakenheath is quite rural so suppliers will be quite sparse.
I am in the southwest of the UK (Somerset) and you will be southeast. But the UK is smalle than you think. Florida is bigger in square miles than England! So you are only about 200 miles from some good offroading in Somerset, Devon and Wales.
The main thing you will notice is that there are quite a few cheaper Cherokees for sale. Anything from $1000 upwards.
The one Cherokee that we get here but you didn't get is the diesel powered version. Lots of low down torque and a stick shift 5 speed gearbox. I run mine on pure vegetable cooking oil. Much cheaper! Unleaded fuel here is just over $8 a gallon at the moment!
Not many cool parts for the Cherokee here either. Bring some with you or pay huge postage costs for shipping from the States. Imagine the cost of posting a winch bumper from the US !
Have fun and contact a few of us owners here in the UK and we can get out and have some fun.

Morat

One tip if you're looking for LPG stations is to get a TomTom GPS and download the LPG overlay. It'll let you search for your nearest LPG equipped petrol station.

LPG isn't compulsory by any means and it is still very much a minority thing in the UK but it does knock your fuel cost down from about £1.20 a litre to around 69p.

rustcollector

Or you could buy a Diesel Cherokee like my 99 XJ and just run it on vegetable oil. Theres a filling station on every street! Every supermarket is a fuel station. When we had the fuel strikes here, I just filled up with veggie oil and drove on!

n_csmith

dang guys just read this and sold my xj...might just have to buy another one while i am there. probably lift it on a short arm keep the stock stuff and switch it back to stock before i move and bring everything back to the states and upgrade to a long arm lift.

DaFox

Sorry. not been on here in a while.
There is a little XJ following over here but if ur serious about wheeling here then the serious wheelers mostly use Defender90's and frown uppon us XJ drivers because we have to fairly extensively modify our XJ's to come anywhere close to what they can do from stock.
You'll pay 4 times the price for a beat-up one but you won't lose a penny on it when you come to sell it. Parts are much cheeper and easier to get hold of but the only downside is they're real basic inside as the design hasn't changed since the 50's.
All the best with the move

n_csmith

Why thank you luckily the military moves all my household goods, I have seen those defender 90's on autotrader and ebay not sure what i think about them. I guess we will see where i go once i get there..kinda leaning towards getting a subaru wagon turbo!

Grasshoppa

sup man im at mildenhall...jeeps are cheap here...i got mine for 450 pounds which is like 700 bucks! they have a few trails that me and my buddy found that the forestry dont mind us going down because there "public roads" that are just dirt. theres also places to go off roading but have to pay and they usually offer free recovery. its pretty good over there though. i dont mind it. not all jeeps gone to the LPG thing mines still regular 87. theres also a **** ton of junk yards by us so when **** hits the fan you got options and dont have to get brand new parts. LMK if you got any questions. when do you get here?

n_csmith

I will be there in April, yeah i kinda was hoping to hear there are lots of junkyards around us not gonna lie. I can't decide which way to go honestly, it will either be a cherokee or a subaru impreza, i know both of them pretty well when it comes to mechanics. I know the subby a little better because i have had the motor completly torn down, where as i haven't with jeep. either way have completly decided yet depends on what i can find and the price. ill shoot you a PM when i get there! we can meet up sometime and go wheelin if i get a jeep!

Grasshoppa

if the subaru isnt new, im sure you will actually be able to get both. there are 4 junk yards near us...ill tell you about some of them as far as who is good and who isnt in the PM or when you get here. if you wanna start lookin at cars over here go to www.pistonheads.com id use the exchange rate of like 1.75 because it changes everyday. but theres also one junk yard here that has a little car lot, thats where i got the cherokee from and about to get my wifes car there for like 350 pounds. cheap man...especially with cola being 400+ right now.

n_csmith

right on man thats just the type of lot i am looking for, we are brining our mini van with us, but are shipping it in route so i will need somewhere to buy a cheap car, and depending on the car it may be the only one i buy while i am there. I will hit you up when we get in, it will be nice to be able to meet up with another married couple/jeep enthusiast.