Ddays
Hooked
Big Wave from Darlington, Pa. 45 miles NW of Pittsburgh
So, been a Jeep fan for the better part of 35 years now. Got the bug that long ago from my best buddy in high school whose family was a bunch of Jeep fanatics. We routinely tried to kill ourselves every chance we got either in his Commando, CJ-5, Cherokee, or Wagoneers on his farm or any other venue where we could prove to ourselves that we were bullet-proof. Never could manage to justify a Jeep purchase over the years in between raising a family and not having any extra dough.
I finally managed to make the plunge in May of ’14 due in large part to the illness and passing of my father. He was diagnosed with the big ‘C’ word in late ’13 and was told that it was terminal. This was on top of my mother passing from the same goddam affliction in 2011. With his encouragement, in between overseeing his care and the running of my business, I would steal 15 minutes here and there and plan my build. Honestly, without this very small diversion, I don’t know how I would have made it through with my sanity. So in a way my build was a very small tribute to two very great people, my mother and father, as well as a big middle finger to fucking cancer. Excuse me for the profanity, but those two words seem to complement each other very well. Fucking cancer. Kinda rolls off the tongue.
So after the unfortunate passing of my Dad, I decided to go ahead and make the purchase of a Plain Jane 2014 JKU Sport. Only options I ordered were a hard top and the towing package. Armed with the Christmas catalogs the big box guys send out every quarter, I had my list of shit and I made my parts purchases. Hell, all of the parts in those catalogs were top of the line, right? Why else would they be in those big color catalogs? Big box lift, big box winch, big box bumpers, big box everything. Threw all of the parts on my rig and honestly, had an ok time. Wheeled moderately, had some fun and never broke anything.
The big revelation came this past June when I saw some videos on Wayalife. It was the Moab series that did me in. I watched those over and over and over and over. I didn’t mean for this ‘wave’ to turn into some overly heavy shit, but, damn man, those videos did me in. I am hooked.
I made reservations at a hotel in Moab for next 4th of July an hour later that same night on Travelocity. That’s my youngest daughters’ birthday and she’s as big an off road nut as I am. The wife has no choice other than to tag along – LOL - she almost threw up when I showed her the Black Bear Road scenes on the JK Experience video!
So because of this damn site my build has turned into a re-build. My rig was originally done as a good looking ride that I could do some wheeling with. Now I am re-building her as fully capable with the best parts I can find. I refuse to compromise and if I am unsure of a part, off it goes. When I get to Moab next year, she’ll be ready and better equipped than I will be able to take advantage of. That’s OK, we’ll figure it out together. Rubicon is the year after, and who knows what's next after that! This site has been a tremendous resource. Thanks to all that take the time to offer their insight, opinions, expertise, and irreverence. The passion on this site is the greatest. I hope I am able to contribute anything of value. Below is the starting point of my rebuild. I’ll start a build thread as I get my photos lined up.
So, been a Jeep fan for the better part of 35 years now. Got the bug that long ago from my best buddy in high school whose family was a bunch of Jeep fanatics. We routinely tried to kill ourselves every chance we got either in his Commando, CJ-5, Cherokee, or Wagoneers on his farm or any other venue where we could prove to ourselves that we were bullet-proof. Never could manage to justify a Jeep purchase over the years in between raising a family and not having any extra dough.
I finally managed to make the plunge in May of ’14 due in large part to the illness and passing of my father. He was diagnosed with the big ‘C’ word in late ’13 and was told that it was terminal. This was on top of my mother passing from the same goddam affliction in 2011. With his encouragement, in between overseeing his care and the running of my business, I would steal 15 minutes here and there and plan my build. Honestly, without this very small diversion, I don’t know how I would have made it through with my sanity. So in a way my build was a very small tribute to two very great people, my mother and father, as well as a big middle finger to fucking cancer. Excuse me for the profanity, but those two words seem to complement each other very well. Fucking cancer. Kinda rolls off the tongue.
So after the unfortunate passing of my Dad, I decided to go ahead and make the purchase of a Plain Jane 2014 JKU Sport. Only options I ordered were a hard top and the towing package. Armed with the Christmas catalogs the big box guys send out every quarter, I had my list of shit and I made my parts purchases. Hell, all of the parts in those catalogs were top of the line, right? Why else would they be in those big color catalogs? Big box lift, big box winch, big box bumpers, big box everything. Threw all of the parts on my rig and honestly, had an ok time. Wheeled moderately, had some fun and never broke anything.
The big revelation came this past June when I saw some videos on Wayalife. It was the Moab series that did me in. I watched those over and over and over and over. I didn’t mean for this ‘wave’ to turn into some overly heavy shit, but, damn man, those videos did me in. I am hooked.
I made reservations at a hotel in Moab for next 4th of July an hour later that same night on Travelocity. That’s my youngest daughters’ birthday and she’s as big an off road nut as I am. The wife has no choice other than to tag along – LOL - she almost threw up when I showed her the Black Bear Road scenes on the JK Experience video!
So because of this damn site my build has turned into a re-build. My rig was originally done as a good looking ride that I could do some wheeling with. Now I am re-building her as fully capable with the best parts I can find. I refuse to compromise and if I am unsure of a part, off it goes. When I get to Moab next year, she’ll be ready and better equipped than I will be able to take advantage of. That’s OK, we’ll figure it out together. Rubicon is the year after, and who knows what's next after that! This site has been a tremendous resource. Thanks to all that take the time to offer their insight, opinions, expertise, and irreverence. The passion on this site is the greatest. I hope I am able to contribute anything of value. Below is the starting point of my rebuild. I’ll start a build thread as I get my photos lined up.
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