your first mj...............

[STERLING STINGER]

just curious, and ill bet itll get some good stories on how you guys found or got your first MJ.

 

HOW DID YOU GET, MEET YOUR FIRST MJ?

 

me. i was looking for a small plow truck about 2005 and found a 86 mj with a plow on it. bought it for $1300 with plow, 7 purchases and 2 kept mjs later, here i am!

(SHORT VERSION)

 

whadda do you got?

[Geonovast]

A guy I worked with at the time knew I wanted one, and told me about one he'd seen on the weekend. So later that I week I went to look at it. It was a 91, swb, 2wd 2.5/AX-4 Sportruck. 122k on the clock. Had NO options whatsoever, save an aftermarket moonroof.

 

Brought it home $2,000 later. Then I found CC, and realized I paid a bit too much. :doh: Oh well.

 

Now it's 4wd, AX-5, has a full gauge cluster, a slight front lift (4.0 coils), aftermarket cruise (didn't realize how easy a factory 91+ cruise was to install). Needs a new rear axle.. hopefully gonna get some better geared ones. Might need some major motor work.

 

Edit: pic for Pete

[kro10000]

My brothers roommate has a pristine 87 Eliminator, which made me always want one, but i was cursed with a dakota... This was about the fifth MJ i looked at and the stars aligned just right, paid $1200

[insanitize]

My sons friends aunt had an MJ (1986, 2.8, 2wd, 161500 miles) with expired papers she wanted gone. Said it didn't run and I could have it for free.

I went looked at it got it started and drove it home. took it camping the next weekend 270+ miles drove fine

That was about 2 weeks ago, right now it's stuck in one of my fields waiting for drier weather.

[89eliminator]

i have always liked MJs since i can remember, well i liked any Jeep/Dodge product as long as i can remember. i was 15 1/2 looking for my first truck. it was either going to be a MJ or dakota, whatever i could find first. it turned out to be a 88 sportruck with nothing for options, literally nothing. it even had 3.07s in an auto but it was pretty nice and i got it for $1000. then a year later i got my 89 eliminator and that pretty much started the whole thing.

[Unglar]

I had a '65 Mustang Fastback for several years that was very beat up. In '85 I bought a new Mustang LX, big mistake. By the Fall of 1986, I was extremely desperate to get out of the '85 POS. I went to the Jeep dealer and fell in love with the Comanche. I was so far under on the '85 I had to take out a down payment loan. $16,000 for the MJ, $4,500 to get out of the '85. It was Black 4x4 2.8 AT on the tree. I pulled out the Bench and installed leather buckets out of a scrapped camaro. I put Yokohama 30" tires on it for a Mud runnin competition and took 2nd place because I didn't know to put it in 4 low. In 4 low on the 2nd run I destroyed the competition.

In early '87 I transferred to Subic Bay, the wife couldn't find work and I had to sell the truck or starve, it was a tough choice. I sold the truck for $11,000 approximately 8 months after I bought it for $16,000. I still wake up at night crying....

 

But now when I wake up I can go out and sit in my '92 Eliminator and that helps! 8)

[dasbulliwagen]

About three years ago, I had been looking for a REALLY cheap truck to have for weekend projects and whatnot. Id been looking at old Fords hoping to find one under $1000. A few came up here and there but they always wanted more than I could pay or were too far gone to mess with. I had told everyone I knew that I was looking, and a friend told me about a buddy of his that was selling everything off and moving cross country and that he had an old Jeep truck. Id always liked them but never really considered them a possibility due to the rarity. I asked what he wanted for it and he told me $250 and that it had been sitting for about 4 years. I went to look at it, and it was a solid rust free MJ with 336,000 miles on it. I told my buddy Id take it and work on it to get it running and we'd meet his buddy to pay for it. When We met to buy the truck his buddy opened the hood, hooked up the battery, and started it! Boy was I suprised. It didnt run good at all, but was good enough for me to drive it home! He said that he went out there once a week and drove it around the block to keep all the fluids moving, but that over the years it was running worse and worse. It didnt take much for me to get it going good and now its basicall an almost daily driver. Oh yeah, he was the original owner too, all the receipts for the truck are in the glove box! The rest is history!

[streetjeep2.5]

Took notice of the MJ after wife and I saw our first XJ in 1984 at a dealership in Redmond, Oregon where wife's mother lives when moving from the Oregon Coast to Nebraska. Liked the XJ, but the 2.5 and 2.8 engine offerings left me thinking they would be underpowered. Then, in 1994, we bought a new one with the 4.0. Owned it until a month ago when at 260,000 we traded it in on a Patriot.

Don't really remember when I first took notice of the MJ, but while living in Milton Washington about 2002 I was seeing the need for a pickup as a second car, and spotted a rust free 247,000 mile 87 4x2 short box 2.5 4speed covered with green mossy slime and with wet interior because of windows down MJ in the back of a used car lot. Bought it for $500 and it's been mine ever since. It cleaned up just fine, has a rebuilt engine and hopefully will only leave my possession when because I'm too old to be safely driving any more I have to. I hope one of my kids or grandkids will take it over.

[possum]

I saved mine from being used in an employee demolition derby at the race shop I worked at. I traded a 84 Dodge full size in good shape for it. And then the sickness sat in and my pockets are perpetually empty.

[WBKrazy]

bought mine as a means to an end, it's my first mj and first jeep...back in the days of 5.00/gallon gas, my gf lived near boston, and me near providence... about 70 miles apart... and my driver at the time was a '91 fullsize bronco that got about 5 yards to the gallon.. i should have never done it, but i traded my good running 95 Ram 1500 2wd v6 5speed that got 18-19 mpg for the bronco, right before gas went skyhigh :headpop: so now i needed another commuter that got good mpg's.. did a craigslist search for cars up to $1000 looking for maybe a civic or corolla, and the only one that came up that looked like it hadn't been used as a prop in death race was the mj.. i figured being a 4cyl stick 2wd it should get decent mileage, so i went to look at it, and thus the addiction started :rotf: i called the guy on friday, and he said that someone was coming to look at it saturday morning at 11, so i said ok ill be there for 10.. looked it over, drove it and bought it... he was asking 900, and i almost paid it until i found the hole on the p-side floor on a second walkaround, after which i offered him 800 and he said ok. i gave him 600 and said i'd be back with a ride and the rest of the money the next day.. got there the next day and he says "you're lucky i'm a man of my word, the other kid came to look at it and offered me 1000, but i turned him down cause you already gave me the money" to which i responded "no, you're lucky you're a man of your word" :rotf:

[Pete M]

No photos guys? :fool:

 

Back in '97 I needed a DD and was torn between a truck and a Jeep. Then I learned that Jeep made a truck. :clapping: Sweet. But i couldn't find an MJ in my area in my price range that had everything I wanted. So I compromised and started looking for 2wds with the required 4.0/stick/AC. Found one in the classifieds needing some TLC, took it for a spin around the block and fell in love. With all the memory problems I have, I still remember that very first drive like it was yesterday. No wait, I don't remember much of yesterday. guess I remember it better than yesterday. :D

 

 

Here she is a few months later after some thorough customizing:

 

[Justin_k]

Well I started off with a cherokee and that started the jeep addiction.

Bought another cherokee for a 4x4 and rolled it :wall:

Started looking for a comanche and here i am now. It's a 4.0 BA10 ( now AX15) 4x4 '89 comanche pioneer 5'' lift, dana 44, 33's.

Traded for an olds '81 cutlass supreme with a blown motor and a '80 chevy truck with a rebuilt 350 (My equivalent of $600 :brows: )

[GreenF350]

My friends who I would go wheelin with all had cherokees, and I had a fullsize bronco. I kept noticing that the XJ's would go anywhere, but it wasn't until I drove one that I got hooked. At that point I decided needed a jeep, and remember deciding that day that if i did buy a jeep, I'd look for a comanche. Months went by and I wasn't really looking that hard, just from time to time. Well one day while I was working, I had to pick up a load of cars that were being sent to auction. Out of that load of cars, I was told 2 were cherokees as well as some other junk I can't remember. I literally loaded all the other cars, went to grab the second " Cherokee", and realized it was a comanche w/ a cap on it!! I peeked inside, saw 90k on the clock, and knew what I had to do. At that point I took it for a quick spin up the street, came back and asked the dealer how much he hoped it would pull in at auction. He told me he was hoping for around $600 :D I told him I refused to take it to auction........I was taking it home!! I gave him $100 deposit and came back with my trailer the following day. The funny thing was, after realizing I would now have and empty spot on the truck, he gave me another Cherokee ( this one was actually a cherokee ) to take its place.

Now I like to think that I saved this one from the crusher. Alot of the cheaper cars at that auction would be bought by local junk yards and parted/scrapped. So in a way, this one found me!

[Squeegy410]

this is a fun story :D My dad has an old friend who is losing his mind. He thought the reason he was going crazy was this black mold growing under his house, so her hired me and my dad to dig around his house and french drain it to redirect all the water away from his house. During this process we got to go look at all his stuff (the real reason hes going crazy, his dad left him alot of money when he died and hes losing his mind worrying about losing the money). he showed us all his tractors, all his trucks, everything. one was a beat up old 89 eliminator. I looked at it, thought it was cool because ide never seen a jeep pickup before, and fell in love with it when i figured out it was exactly the truck i wanted. It was a five speed, wich was a requirement, it was small with a strong moter and good gas mileage, and was very cool :thumbsup: i had recently graduated and saved some money due to that, and was minus a ride. i told dad to drop a hint about the mj. when the work was said and done we had traded part of the bill for a 40's model farm-all M, and he still didnt wanna sell his jeep. oh well i thought maybe he'll come off of it. once grass started growing back around his house he started feeling better and decided to sell all the crap he wasnt using, including his mj :yes: . I bought it from him. when i bought it i started it long enough to pull it on a trailor to bring it home. i had to replace all the radiator hoses and the reservoir among other things before it would be road worthy. I'm now in love with comanches :banana: :banana:

[Squeegy410]

I'm sure everyone can agree with this. one of the determining factors of buying an mj was because they are too cool to turn away from. i remember thinking "man jeeps are cool, but a jeep pickup, i can't pass this up" :D

[one_bad_MJ]

pict in my sig

 

had a xj i built sold it then wanted to build a MJ so i did, paid 1800 for it but it had no rust

200 for 33's and 10.00 for olive house paint at walmart.

 

 

now i have custom c channel bumpers

back diamond plate took box

bedliner

reverse "new trans"

more to come.

[mrsinister]

i traded in my 2005 GTO for it. yeah. i miss my old manche/ but i like my new one better.

i needed a winter beater and decided that i didnt feel like paying insurance anymore. 68 dollars every 6mos FTW!

[87Warrior]

For about 5 years I crunched the numbers on a Brute conversion for a TJ. The problem is they are very expensive, and you gain what? A neat looking Jeep with no practical value?

 

Fuel prices were high and I needed something other than my TJ to DD. Bought a Miata. Was fun but way to small to even go grocery shopping. So it was put on the market. I remembered that forgotten Jeep Truck I used to think was so cool as a kid. Heck, it should be as fuel efficient as an XJ.

 

 

Bought my 92 for WAY too much after only looking at one other rust bucket. That was 1 year ago. Now it sits in a barn in pieces while I continue to DD my TJ....

[streetjeep2.5]

"Oh mothers, tell your children, not to do what I have done!

Spend your life in love with a truck, down in MJ land!"

 

Wow! Quite a few got hooked by the XJ drug that then moved us to MJ fields forever!

[Squeegy410]

"Oh mothers, tell your children, not to do what I have done!

Spend your life in love with a truck, down in MJ land!"

 

Wow! Quite a few got hooked by the XJ drug that then moved us to MJ fields forever!

 

I didnt know the animals wrote songs about comanches... or the beatles :eek: :cheers:

[MJ is dead]

When I was 18, there was a 90 mj parked outside of the 4x4 shop we were trying to buy (we were trying to buy the shop, not the MJ) and I kinda checked it out. Told my brother to go on ahead, wanted to look at the Comanche (which was for sale)

 

It was lifted, sitting on 35" trxus STS's painted black with white XJ prerunner fenders on the front and had an ARB front bumper on it. It had started life as a 2wd 2.5. And had been converted to a 4.0 4x4. Needless to say I went to the bank that day and got turned down cuz I was just a dumb kid, but that MJ was always in the back of my mind.

 

Two months ago I sold my lifted 01 tacoma, strictly because I was tired of making payments. (I miss the hell out of that truck) but...I needed another DD, and wanted a truck or SUV, mostly cuz my ice fishing gear has problems fitting in anything else. :D

 

Found a black one sitting just up the road from me, paid a little too much at $1000, but maybe someday I'll have that MJ of my youth. Its already the right color! :D

[STERLING STINGER]

When I was 18, there was a 90 mj parked outside of the 4x4 shop we were trying to buy (we were trying to buy the shop, not the MJ) and I kinda checked it out. Told my brother to go on ahead, wanted to look at the Comanche (which was for sale)

 

It was lifted, sitting on 35" trxus STS's painted black with white XJ prerunner fenders on the front and had an ARB front bumper on it. It had started life as a 2wd 2.5. And had been converted to a 4.0 4x4. Needless to say I went to the bank that day and got turned down cuz I was just a dumb kid, but that MJ was always in the back of my mind.

 

Two months ago I sold my lifted 01 tacoma, strictly because I was tired of making payments. (I miss the hell out of that truck) but...I needed another DD, and wanted a truck or SUV, mostly cuz my ice fishing gear has problems fitting in anything else. :D

 

Found a black one sitting just up the road from me, paid a little too much at $1000, but maybe someday I'll have that MJ of my youth. Its already the right color! :D

nice....good luck!

[Xacto]

I bought my first house in April 89 and was driving a 69 Impala at the time. It was big, but not quite big enough for carrying all the supplies that go along with renovating a 76 year old house. After about 6 months of borrowing friend's trucks I decided I needed a pickup and started looking at what was available. Of all the trucks I looked at, the MJ was the one that impressed me the most. It looked and drove like a truck should when other trucks were starting to get more car-like.

 

I picked it up as an end of the year deal in Oct 89 and have been been enjoying it ever since. While the house is completed now, I'm still using it for all sorts of projects and for work.

 

[Silver88]

Saw my first one when I was in Germany. AMC military sales had an 86. Beautiful black one,V-6. Almost bought it, but it got sold while I was on leave. Ordered an 87 swb 4.0 4x4 off-road package. Added delete stripes later, canceled order due to dispute with Chrysler over price increase. Settled for an 88 for the 87 price plus a free metalic paint job.

Had an argument with a bridge abutment and lost, ended up in the middle of a divorce,

picked up an 89, had to sell the 88 for lack of a place to keep it :wall:

[beaterjeep]

I ended up with Baby on a whim. My mom's ex sister in law's ex husband had owned it, and she got it in the divorce, and didn't want it. She told me $600 and I could have it. Being only 16 at the time, I jumped at it, not even knowing what a Comanche was, just that I liked it. After I bought it, and put it in my mom's name as I was under 18, my mom started to liking it as well. In fact, my mom liked it so much that it took me until i was 20 to finally get the title from her! Throughout the years of owning Baby, I have taught a friend (that passed away in '04) how to drive manual with it, drove it through a creek with water up to the windshield (and it kept running too), and took it over a dirt jump. It is definitely THE vehicle I will never get rid of until the day I leave this earth; and when that happens, the next owner is already on this board. :clapping: