Thursday, February 24, 2011

A man and his jeep

This is completely off topic but its one thing that is dear to my heart lol. So here is the story...
I driving a piece of crap 1982 Chevy Celebrity. This thing left me stranded more then a few times. Seemed it had a appetite for alternator belts. I wish I would of stuck with my 1985 Ford Tempo, except for the rust (yah who would of thought a Ford could rust lmao) the thing was a tank and never left me stranded once! Anyways I decided to start looking for another vehicle. I had driven by this car lot a few times and noticed a 1987 Jeep Yj. So after hours I stopped in and had a look over (I hate going during business hours and dealing with pushy sales men. It was a decent price and they offered guaranteed financing! This was good cause up to then I did not have any credit behind me. So I talked to my buddy that weekend and he gave me some tips for driving standard as id never driven stick before. I took his moms VW a few rounds around the mall. So Monday came and him and I went over to the lot and talked. We got to take it out for a test drive which was interesting, after a few stalls we were on our way. It felt a little weird everything seemed so tiny in it lol. But I liked it! So the deal was made, financing approved and at that time a crazy rate! The next day my dad drive me down to the lot to pick it up. It was a little icy out. After getting the keys and the handshake I went to drive off, burning the clutch and spinning the tires lol. My dads words to the sales man was "he'll be back next week for a new vehicle lol" So I got home, was an interesting drive. It took a day or so with alot of driving and I got the hang of it. I now prefer standard over automatic lol.
Who ever had traded it in had a add-a-leaf lift on it which raised in about 2 inches. So when the spring came I took a little drive thru the Simcoe County forest behind my house at the time and then I was truly hooked! A couple of years later my other friend and his then gf traded in her toyota 2wd p-up for a jeep. And then it was the two of us with friends hitting the trails every Sunday. I then installed a 4 inch lift and 31inch tires....so I could get stuck deeper in the bush lol. Ive have my share of stucks, my first was out in Coldwater. Me and a buddy were coming back from the auto flea market at Burls Creek and decided to take the back roads, which then led into a snowmobile trail. Which then lef to alot of sloppy clay which does not go well with almost bald tires. We ended up walking out of the trail and knocking on a door to get a ride home. My jeep was stuck there over a week. It was alot of digging to get it out. The next big stuck was up in Port Severn were the left front spring hit a rock coming up a hill resulting in cracking the bellhousing on the transmission and snapping the leaf spring. Again I had to leave my Jeep out there and all pile in my friends jeep. We went back the next weekend and managed to get it out to the road to have it towed home. I have now added a 2" body lift and 35 inch mud tires. I haven't been out on the trails now for a few years, due to money and such. But am really hoping to get back into the jeeping community. As of now my jeep sits in my garage awaiting a new body, thanks to Canada and all the salt they put on the roads. The rust demons have claimed it.
Like the say JEEP stands for Just Empty Every Pocket !
Here is a few pics of the life of the jeep ending in what it looks like right now sitting in my garage

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