We bought this truck in May of 1998 for $1400, with 163,000 miles on
it. I intended to buy this truck to haul lumber and stone for our yard;
it is just as good at hauling kids to the beach for vacations, so it has
become Karen's daily-driver. It has needed a lot of little things (mainly
electrical), and some big things including rebuilding the engine to stock
specifications, except for the addition of an Edelbrock
Performer-Plus camshaft, at 165,000 miles. I upgraded the ignition
system with an MSD-6A box and an MSD adjustable timing controller.
The
exhaust is a stock-style 2½" single-exhaust system using Walker
pipes, but with a Random
Technology #902501 Super High Flow catalytic converter and a Flowmaster
#52571 Big-Block II 70-series muffler. The original converter was plugged
up badly, resulting in miserable performance; the new high-flow converter
and muffler certainly add power, especially on the highway. While the Flowmaster
model I used was their quietest model, and is definitely quieter than their
30, 40 or 50-series mufflers, it certainly isn't as silent as the factory-issue
unit. It's definitely rumbly, especially around town at 30mph, but on the
highway it simply blends into the road and wind-noise, so I don't think
I'll have any resonance headaches. I'd like to thank T-Byrne
Motorsports for ordering up the Random Technology catalytic converter
for me, and Muffler House of Delray Fl. [800-276-6399] for having the Flowmaster
muffler in stock when everybody else was quoting me a 3-week wait. Both
the converter and the muffler are perfect replacements for the stock pieces,
so I didn't have to resort to adapters or expand any pipes to get everything
to fit; they make for a perfect bolt-on emissions-legal high flow exhaust
system for the relatively low-rpms that this engine sees.
The
body is solid, but required some touch-ups of rust spots and the repair
of a dent in the right-rear corner above the taillight. The white paint
makes it easy to blend in the repairs and to touch up the scrapes that
happen on the trails through the forests. The typical frame rust has been
repaired by Auto Rust Technicians
in Cranston, RI, who are in the process of developing a frame rust-repair
kit for the full-size Jeeps, and I replaced the gas-tank skidplate with
a rust-free one shipped to my by J&W
Jeep in California. I've upgraded from a set of Gabriel
Pro-Ryder LT shocks, to a set of Rancho RS9000 5-way adjustable shocks,
set on "1" up front and "2" in back for street driving. I replaced the
no-name M+S P235/75-15 whitewall tires with a set of Pirelli
Scorpion A/T tires. While 31"x10.5" tires would fit (with some possible
interference, depending on articulation and how the tolerances stack up),
I went with 30"x9.5"-size tires which don't interfere with anything under
any conditions.
Link to our truck on the IFSJA web-site, where we have old pictures of our GW. |
Specifications: |
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