Project WJ: Main Page
Sold: December 13, 2011
Project WJ started out from space contraints with my past Jeep. I loved my Cherokee, but it was starting to show its age. It was pushing 100,000 miles and some rust spots were starting to form. My wife was driving a 2004 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo with a V8 and was looking to downsize to a little car. So after looking around, we bought her a 2010 Hyundai Elantra. I then took over the Grand Cherokee and put the XJ up for sale.
The Grand Cherokee was nice. It had around 75,000 miles on it (we owned it since 9,200 miles on it). It rides great, was roomy, and powerful. It seemed like a great replacement for the XJ. I started looking into options to build it up. I was looking at Old Man Emu suspension systems, ARB Bull Bars, and other fun stuff. The first purchase I made was the ARB Bull Bar and a Warn M8000 winch.
ARB Bull Bar on Jeep WJ
After getting the ARB Bull Bar and Warn winch on, I started looking into suspensions and bigger tires. The suspension was coming in at around $1,000, and five tires were coming in around $,1200. This is where I was having a problem. I didn’t want to put $2,000 into the WJ giving that it was pushing 80,000 and had a few small rust spots forming. I really wanted a built in navigation system and heated leather seats, both of which the WJ didn’t have. This started me looking at Jeep Wrangler Unlimiteds and Land Rovers.
Off-road Modifications
Other Modifications
- Husky Liners
- Garmin Nuvi 350 GPS
- Optima red top battery
- Sirius Satellite Radio
- Replace worn rear control arms
Plans that I had for the WJ:
Phase 1:
- ARB Bull Bar
- Warn M8000 Winch
- ARB OME WJ HD Coils
- ARM Trim Packers
- Bilstein 5100 Series Shocks
- JKS Adjustable Track Bar
- 31″ General Grabber AT2
- Possibily some sort of HID lights on the ARB
Status: Some parts installed, build up aborted.
Phase 2
- Viair 450H On-Board Air Compressor
- Viair 2.5 Gallon Air Tank
- Front or Rear Quick Connect Air Chuck
Phase 3
- Possibilty of some sort of roof rack
- If I do a roof rack, I would get some extra lighting
- Possibily upgrading the headlights to HID
- Remove the front bug guard and rain guards
- Remove the side steps, possibily replace them with rocker guards
- Blackout the wheels