El Pato
New member
Hello Fellow Jeepers,
My name is Mike and I've been an off roader my whole life, starting on dirt bikes as a kid, then moving up to 4 wheels as I got older. During the years of having little kids (3 daughters), we had a Dodge Ramcharger as our trail rig, plus an assortment of ATV's. When the kids started growing up, my wife and I began searching for our first Jeep. I knew I wanted a TJ, it had be a manual transmission with low miles, and any color but yellow. My buddy has a yellow one and I had been giving him crap about it for years. We call his TJ "Palm Springs". We searched for a couple months and came across our 2000 TJ out in Elko, Nevada, about 3 years ago. It had 41,000 miles on it and was all stock. Unfortunately it was yellow but I couldn't pass up the deal. It was so cheap it allowed me to step up my build. When we got it home, I started calling it the Ugly Duckling, since it was yellow. That led to a friend calling it El Pato (The Duck) which has stuck ever since.
I began ordering parts and tore the suspension and axles down, I changed out the front axle for a Dana 30hp and it already had a Dana 44 in the rear. I added ARB's front and rear, 4:88's, upgraded shafts, and sleeves/gussets to the 30hp. I added a Rubicon Express 5.5 LA lift with the Tri-Link rear arms and a SYE. I few other odds and ends finished it up and it has been a fantastic rig. It has great street manners yet gets across the Rubicon trouble free. One trip even included running down to Tierra Del Sol's Desert Safari, total miles was near 1300 with almost 150 of that on trails. Now my two oldest daughters have TJ's of their own. My oldest has an 05' that is built exactly like mine but with a Dana 44 front. Her Jeep is named Beefy. She also spent quite a bit more on accessories. My middle daughter has a 98' TJ, 3 inch lift on 33's, everything else is stock. We call it "Snowflake" but it ran the Rubicon and did well.
Our off road life has really been a great bonding agent with my family. We have some great friends and are part of a little club based out of SoCal called Throttle Therapy Off Road Club. The highlight for me was this last August, the girls and I went up to the Rubicon for 2 nights. The girls wheeled their Jeeps flawlessly and we had a great time. So many trips and memories have been made over the years. I guess you could say, it's a way of life for us.
-Mike
Our Jeeps on the Rubicon last August....
My name is Mike and I've been an off roader my whole life, starting on dirt bikes as a kid, then moving up to 4 wheels as I got older. During the years of having little kids (3 daughters), we had a Dodge Ramcharger as our trail rig, plus an assortment of ATV's. When the kids started growing up, my wife and I began searching for our first Jeep. I knew I wanted a TJ, it had be a manual transmission with low miles, and any color but yellow. My buddy has a yellow one and I had been giving him crap about it for years. We call his TJ "Palm Springs". We searched for a couple months and came across our 2000 TJ out in Elko, Nevada, about 3 years ago. It had 41,000 miles on it and was all stock. Unfortunately it was yellow but I couldn't pass up the deal. It was so cheap it allowed me to step up my build. When we got it home, I started calling it the Ugly Duckling, since it was yellow. That led to a friend calling it El Pato (The Duck) which has stuck ever since.
I began ordering parts and tore the suspension and axles down, I changed out the front axle for a Dana 30hp and it already had a Dana 44 in the rear. I added ARB's front and rear, 4:88's, upgraded shafts, and sleeves/gussets to the 30hp. I added a Rubicon Express 5.5 LA lift with the Tri-Link rear arms and a SYE. I few other odds and ends finished it up and it has been a fantastic rig. It has great street manners yet gets across the Rubicon trouble free. One trip even included running down to Tierra Del Sol's Desert Safari, total miles was near 1300 with almost 150 of that on trails. Now my two oldest daughters have TJ's of their own. My oldest has an 05' that is built exactly like mine but with a Dana 44 front. Her Jeep is named Beefy. She also spent quite a bit more on accessories. My middle daughter has a 98' TJ, 3 inch lift on 33's, everything else is stock. We call it "Snowflake" but it ran the Rubicon and did well.
Our off road life has really been a great bonding agent with my family. We have some great friends and are part of a little club based out of SoCal called Throttle Therapy Off Road Club. The highlight for me was this last August, the girls and I went up to the Rubicon for 2 nights. The girls wheeled their Jeeps flawlessly and we had a great time. So many trips and memories have been made over the years. I guess you could say, it's a way of life for us.
-Mike
Our Jeeps on the Rubicon last August....
nice introduction
