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Howl - The '92 Laredo


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So after many years of pining and wishing I had an XJ of my own, I finally managed to snag one. Well, really it's for my girlfriend to drive as her first actual car, but that's besides the point. :yes: For those wondering why the strange name choice, it came from a Miyazaki movie aptly named "Howl's Moving Castle". A cute reference from my girlfriend for her "problematic, but lovable truck".

 

Got a decent deal on it, pretty stock inside and out, save for the squat tires and lame rims. Oh, and the janky radio. I always manage to get trucks with cruddy radios.  :doh:

 

 

A 4.0 running like a... well, 4.0. Has 198k on the clock, but runs well, and with good oil pressure. The OBD1 diagnostics aren't throwing any codes, so everything seems to be good. Transmission shifts decently, but both definitely need a tune up in the near future.

 

 

Shiny emissions label. This thing had a pretty decent life living under a protected area, free from the harsh FL weather.

 

 

Interior; didn't know Maroon was still an option for the 92 models. Wouldn't you know it... I ran across a complete maroon interior last P&P run; shame I didn't grab anything from it.  :shake:

 

 

 

 

 

Plans are to get it tagged and insured. Tune up, along with a tranny flush and brake work are going to come later this weekend hopefully.

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Porno-rific Red interior!

I wish; it's the snazzy maroon interior with the stitched white and red door panels. Everything's there and pretty much been undisturbed from '92. Lucky me. :yes:

 

Those seats look comfy!

Yes, they are. The back bench feels as plush as my bed does!  :brows:

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There's a blue and silver Laredo that drives by most days before my first class. Makes me really, really want my truck back. These were always my favorite XJs. :thumbsup: What do you plan on replacing those god awful 90s catalog wheels with?

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There's a blue and silver Laredo that drives by most days before my first class. Makes me really, really want my truck back. These were always my favorite XJs. :thumbsup: What do you plan on replacing those god awful 90s catalog wheels with?

I got hooked on wanting a Cherokee due to a buddy of mine having one for about 5 years or so throughout high school. It was basically stock, rusty as sin, and ran like a scalded dog, but it never left us stranded on any of the excursions we used to take.

 

I was thinking of grabbing a set of "Lace" rims (silver with gold inserts" or possibly another set of Turbines. The GF wants the "Snowflake" type, but I don't even know if they came on XJs; I've only seen them on mid-90s ZJ's. :dunno:

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Update I should have made last week.

 

Got it tagged and insured. Gave it a full tune up (to the tune of around $180) and managed to break the thermostat housing. Not used to all the aluminum stuff on the 4.0 compared to the cast iron things on my 2.5.

 

Found out the PO ran the truck on straight water, so everything had a tint of brown inside... Got that sorted out. Going to be bypassing the heater core valve sometime soon; the OE one is still hanging in there somehow.

 

Oil was about as black as it gets, threw some Havoline 10-30 in there for her to run for a couple thousand miles before it gets changed again. Probably didn't help that the old filter was rusty either. Found out how bad the rear U-joints were (3 splines had the needle bearings completely gone), and swapped those out.

 

Her truck is definitely an oddball. It's one of the lucky 5% of all the 1992 trucks to be 2WD.

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  • 2 months later...

In the process of getting the GF's truck fixed up accordingly. Little nagging problems decided to show themselves. OBD is also throwing a oxy. sensor code, so that's next on the chopping block. 

 

Finally decided what I wanted to do with the nappy, old junk rims and BFG's she has on there now.

 

Going to order a set of 5 U.S. Wheel plain jane truck rims. Reminds me of the older AMC styled rims on the J / Wagoneer series. :thumbsup:

 

USW_70_white8spoke.jpg

Also decided on a decent LT tire I've been debating on for a while now. Wild Spirit Radial A/S's; found out I can get them decently cheap at the shop I work at, so that's always a plus. From what a co-worker of mine told me, they aren't too bad for what the GF wants to do.

 

IMG_0001-1092x726.JPG

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  • 6 months later...
  • 1 month later...

Please don't

Don't blow a gasket now; the GF decided she's going to take the turbines off my MJ and I'm going to scrap those cruddy catalog rims she has in exchange for something more my style.

 

 

I like it

Thanks Bo; seems more work goes into this thing than my own truck these days. Course, my truck only sees highway use now anyways.  :ack:

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white rims look pretty good on a white XJ. 

 

 

39937d1299428942t-white-rims-let-me-see-

Yup; saw a ZJ with these on a while back during one of my trips to the junkyard. Was definitely sold on them for a while until she decided she'd rather have the Turbines. 

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