It was February of 2019 and COVID would be taking over everything. At the time, I was just interested in finally getting a Jeep Wrangler. I’d looked at Jeeps for years and read anything and everything I could about them.

• What year models had what quirks?
• What to look out for from a rust stand point?
• Where to look for dried mud on a super clean Jeep?

I had about as much book smarts as I could stand with no real world experience. This was the Jeep Wrangler I settled on:

My first Jeep was a 1997 Wrangler TJ and the amount of chrome accessories on this thing day 1 was amazing! You can even see the chrome headlight covers in that photo. That began my love affair with all things Jeep and my frustrations with all things Jeep. There is a reason they say “Just Empty Every Pocket” and that would happen a lot over the next 2 years.

Fast forward to June of 2022 and this is what the TJ looks like:

There were a lot of upgrades/changes/swaps made along the way. For the most part I tried to keep everything related to improving overall performance and usability of the TJ. I’ve run this Jeep on all kinds of adventures and had a blast along the way!

I’ve made a lot of upgrades to the TJ:

• Steering Stabilizer upgrade
• 2.5″ lift kit
• upgraded head unit
• 5.25″ speakers all around (yes these fit in the front console)
• fold down table on the tail gate
• rear bumper with tire carrier
• transmission rebuild (that one hurt)

All of this was just to make the most useful off-road vehicle I could. I just wanted awesome adventures! From looking for cool camping sites to just running around National Forests, the Jeep TJ was a great rig and it really set my off road passion on fire!