Last night we took the plunge and bought our Jeep for Mudbug Adventures. We bought a 2008 Jeep Wrangler X. We decided the easiest way to share all the details was in a video. You'll also find more information below the video.
The plan had been to buy closer towards the end of the year but this was just too good of a deal to pass. Scott found the while browsing the internet earlier in the week. We have always believed that when things are meant to happen things will fall into place. Well, they certainly did with this Jeep purchase. Carrick's Autos in Plano made buying the Jeep such an easy process. We did the application online, Patrick called me back within the hour to confirm a few things and set up a time for us to go by for a test drive. Just as soon as Scott got home we drove over. About an hour and a half later we were leaving with our Jeep.
The Jeeps Body
As you can tell the Jeep is a two-door. We wanted a 4 door but those are too long for us to navigate into the back yard where we are parking it. So it has to be a 2 door for now. Right now the only one riding around with us will be Twinkie. Since she likes to sit in the passenger's lap I don't think she'll mind if there's less room in the back.
It is a Soft top and we had wanted a hardtop but again it wasn't one of those things that either of us were set on. The soft top is in really good shape so that's a plus.
The Bumpers
The front bumper is a Barricade. It is extremely well built. There is no winch at this time but well add one eventually. The rear bumper is a Smittybilt XRC bumper. It has the separate swing arm for the spare tire so it is not mounted on the back door of the jeep. This will prevent sagging from the weight of a larger spare that often happens when using or even upgrading the stock tire carrier attached to the tail gate hinges.
The Transmission
The jeep is, unfortunately, a standard/manual transmission. This was really the only disappointing thing for me. Scott knows how to drive one but I don't, yet. Scott taught me how to ride a motorcycle so I have no fear I'll be driving the jeep soon. I could have held out of an automatic but in the end, I was ready to start jeeping. For those wondering Scott was incredibly patient while teaching me to ride and I have no fears about his ability to teach me to drive a manual transmission.
I'm sure at some point in our lessons the GoPro will make an appearance so keep an eye out for those videos if you've always wondered what it's like for a husband to teach his wife to drive.
The Lift
The jeep has a 2.5" spacer lift. A spacer lift is an economical way to level your Jeep or give it a small lift. Using polyurethane spacers between the coil springs and the spring perch to give you the desired lift. Spacer lifts are a great way to modify your Jeep to fit slightly larger tires and give some additional ground clearance.
It's one of the first things we'll probably upgrade.
The Wheels
The wheels are Mickey Thompson Signature Series black wheels. I know very little about them so I'm going to copy and paste the manufacturer info. "Introducing the M/T® Signature Series Wheels For Jeep Enthusiasts. This is a very special limited edition version of the world's best selling wheel for Jeep's. Only 640 Jeeps in the world will have this classic wheel because there will be only one production run of the new Mickey Thompson limited-edition Signature Series wheel! This stunning aluminum wheel offers Mickey Thompson's popular Classic II styling with a beautiful painted and clear coated satin black finish, a new black center cap with the Mickey Thompson logo, and an authentic Mickey Thompson signature badge"
The Tires
The tires on the jeep are LT285 / 70R17mud tire and do show some signs of dry rot but nothing severe. It is probably one of the first big expenses we will have. We plan to go with a more all-terrain tire. All-terrain tires will be more practical for the majority of what we plan to do. They will also get better gas mileage.
LED Lights
LED lights were a bonus! They were something we knew we would want to add if the jeep we bought didn't come with them. Thankfully this jeep is full of LED lights including some fun LED color lights on the fender wells.
We hope you enjoyed seeing our new jeep let us know in the comments section what you think.