Cherokee addict from Minnesota
08-14-2014, 05:40 PM
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Cherokee addict from Minnesota
Just wanted to say hi to everyone and that I'm happy to be a part of this forum.
I've always loved Jeeps. When I was little my Dad had a Red 1984 Cherokee Chief and he talks about how I always wanted to have it when I was old enough to drive. He traded that in for a 1990 Suburban. His next Jeep was a stock Green 1997 Grand Cherokee. We went on a couple Colorado Camp Jeep trips with that in the late 90's and it held up well compared to more modified vehicles that were on the same trails. Shortly after that he bought a 1976 CJ5 V8. That one didn't run so well and we never really did any major offroading but it was a blast to ride around in. He traded his 97 Grand in for a 00 Grand and then I believe a 04 Grand, both of which he put 2'' budget boosts on.
My brother bought a new 2000 Yellow TJ and right away threw on a 3'' lift, bigger tires and lockers. He offroaded that a little bit but since it was new he was really careful with it. We took a couple offroad trips to the Iron Range in MN and the 00' TJ and the 00' Grand both did awesome. When I turned 17 I bought a used 01' Maroon Cherokee limited with only 17K on it. I drove that until 2011 when I fell asleep at the wheel and totaled it with 180K on it. My Dad then found a 99' Red Cherokee Sport with only 60K on it and with the insurance money I got, I basically flipped my 01' for the 99' even. I call that a good deal.
I'm still driving that 99' and it's now got 108K on it and I take super good care of it. It's that Red Cherokee I always wanted as a kid and I dread the day I have to get rid of it, or heaven forbid have an accident. I offroad it lightly but basically baby it so I can put 300K on it. When I got that one I needed new tires and it was fall so I wanted to experiment with snow tires, especially living in Minnesota. I was hooked and sold on snow tires. That spring I bought an extra set of wheels and some Duratracs. I'm halfways sold on the duratracs, I like them but they are horrible on ice and not great in the snow (in my experience). They were a little bigger than stock (235 instead of 225) and rubbed on my flares. Eventually after a few speed bumps and potholes the rear flares broke off, I lost one of them on the freeway.
I drove it around looking like crap without rear flares for another 9-10 months and decided to throw on a 2'' budget boost and get a new set of black flares. It looks great now (but a little weird in the winter with my smaller 225 tires). I've been maintaining the fluids as necessary, oil changes every 3K on the dot and tire rotations on the dot. I've installed new shocks and my next maintenance is replacing the spark plugs/wires. I had one issue with it last Summer that 3 shops couldn't diagnose and I brought it to our friend Dan from Burnsville Offroad who fixed it before he left for South Dakota. Other than that the only issues I've had are window related. My right passenger window gears broke right when I got the vehicle so that was and expensive fix from Park Jeep. My left Window got a rock the size of a bowling ball throw through it parked downtown for a Twins game and someone stole a few things out of my Jeep. I've had that replaced. Now I have an issue with that left drivers window not rolling down at all, the automatic window does not even work on the left side but the others are all fine. I really wish I had manual windows like my brother has on his TJ. That will need to be fixed at some point too.
My brother lives in Baltimore and had a Honda Civic for a while for city driving but has since gotten rid of that. He's got his Jeep parked in storage for when he moves out of the city.
I look forward to posting about repairs, sharing some photos (which I'll do soon on this same thread) and sharing Jeep stories.
My Dad also had a 1985 Toyota SR5 extended cab that was a beast! We miss that truck as much as we miss all of our Jeeps! Honestly, I wasn't too big on his 00' and 04' Grands (I like the older body style). I HATE the new Jeeps. My friend has a 11' Grand and we got it stuck in the snow during a snowboard trip and the automatic traction control was inhibiting our progress of getting unstuck. Other than that, I think the new body styles are disgusting, the Jeeps seem to have gotten huge, and don't get me started on the new Cherokees. I love a dumbed down small SUV that is tough as nails. I don't want to drive a computer, I get enough screen time at work. The Cherokee is the perfect vehicle for me and if I could drive it for the rest of my life I would only drive that car. People fantasize about what they'd do if they won the lottery. I'd buy about 5 good condition 99-01 Cherokees and just store them so I don't ever have to drive a computer.
Happy to be here!
I've always loved Jeeps. When I was little my Dad had a Red 1984 Cherokee Chief and he talks about how I always wanted to have it when I was old enough to drive. He traded that in for a 1990 Suburban. His next Jeep was a stock Green 1997 Grand Cherokee. We went on a couple Colorado Camp Jeep trips with that in the late 90's and it held up well compared to more modified vehicles that were on the same trails. Shortly after that he bought a 1976 CJ5 V8. That one didn't run so well and we never really did any major offroading but it was a blast to ride around in. He traded his 97 Grand in for a 00 Grand and then I believe a 04 Grand, both of which he put 2'' budget boosts on.
My brother bought a new 2000 Yellow TJ and right away threw on a 3'' lift, bigger tires and lockers. He offroaded that a little bit but since it was new he was really careful with it. We took a couple offroad trips to the Iron Range in MN and the 00' TJ and the 00' Grand both did awesome. When I turned 17 I bought a used 01' Maroon Cherokee limited with only 17K on it. I drove that until 2011 when I fell asleep at the wheel and totaled it with 180K on it. My Dad then found a 99' Red Cherokee Sport with only 60K on it and with the insurance money I got, I basically flipped my 01' for the 99' even. I call that a good deal.
I'm still driving that 99' and it's now got 108K on it and I take super good care of it. It's that Red Cherokee I always wanted as a kid and I dread the day I have to get rid of it, or heaven forbid have an accident. I offroad it lightly but basically baby it so I can put 300K on it. When I got that one I needed new tires and it was fall so I wanted to experiment with snow tires, especially living in Minnesota. I was hooked and sold on snow tires. That spring I bought an extra set of wheels and some Duratracs. I'm halfways sold on the duratracs, I like them but they are horrible on ice and not great in the snow (in my experience). They were a little bigger than stock (235 instead of 225) and rubbed on my flares. Eventually after a few speed bumps and potholes the rear flares broke off, I lost one of them on the freeway.
I drove it around looking like crap without rear flares for another 9-10 months and decided to throw on a 2'' budget boost and get a new set of black flares. It looks great now (but a little weird in the winter with my smaller 225 tires). I've been maintaining the fluids as necessary, oil changes every 3K on the dot and tire rotations on the dot. I've installed new shocks and my next maintenance is replacing the spark plugs/wires. I had one issue with it last Summer that 3 shops couldn't diagnose and I brought it to our friend Dan from Burnsville Offroad who fixed it before he left for South Dakota. Other than that the only issues I've had are window related. My right passenger window gears broke right when I got the vehicle so that was and expensive fix from Park Jeep. My left Window got a rock the size of a bowling ball throw through it parked downtown for a Twins game and someone stole a few things out of my Jeep. I've had that replaced. Now I have an issue with that left drivers window not rolling down at all, the automatic window does not even work on the left side but the others are all fine. I really wish I had manual windows like my brother has on his TJ. That will need to be fixed at some point too.
My brother lives in Baltimore and had a Honda Civic for a while for city driving but has since gotten rid of that. He's got his Jeep parked in storage for when he moves out of the city.
I look forward to posting about repairs, sharing some photos (which I'll do soon on this same thread) and sharing Jeep stories.
My Dad also had a 1985 Toyota SR5 extended cab that was a beast! We miss that truck as much as we miss all of our Jeeps! Honestly, I wasn't too big on his 00' and 04' Grands (I like the older body style). I HATE the new Jeeps. My friend has a 11' Grand and we got it stuck in the snow during a snowboard trip and the automatic traction control was inhibiting our progress of getting unstuck. Other than that, I think the new body styles are disgusting, the Jeeps seem to have gotten huge, and don't get me started on the new Cherokees. I love a dumbed down small SUV that is tough as nails. I don't want to drive a computer, I get enough screen time at work. The Cherokee is the perfect vehicle for me and if I could drive it for the rest of my life I would only drive that car. People fantasize about what they'd do if they won the lottery. I'd buy about 5 good condition 99-01 Cherokees and just store them so I don't ever have to drive a computer.
Happy to be here!
08-14-2014, 08:48 PM
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I'm in the Twin Cities, just a little east. Originally from Minneapolis but liking my open spaces now. I posted some photos of my Jeep throughout the process, check them out and let me know what you think! Where are you at?
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