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If MJs didn't exist


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What would be your go to vehicle if the Jeep MJ/XJ platform was never created?

 

My choice would be the 1973-1987(1991) Chevy and GMC squarebody pickups.

 

PS, can you all tell that online school isn't very exciting? I only come on here once I am done with my classwork.

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28 minutes ago, Pete M said:

I test drove one of those the day before I test drove my first MJ.  I could have lived a way different life if that particular chevy was in better shape  :dunno: 

I've never driven one, but we had them as plow trucks when I was little. I think they are a great looking truck.

 

16 minutes ago, MiNi Beast said:

j20 be my pick. fullsize jeep love. 

Those are cool too.

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Probably Ford Rangers, or another similar small truck.

 

The only reason I am part of the Jeep community is that it's what my grandparents bought new in October of 1991. They were in the market for a small truck, and the Jeep dealer is what was open, and a stripped down automatic '91 Sportruck with A/C is what they bought. Once grand-dad died, grandmother drove the truck as her every day vehicle. Grandmother had a heart attack in 2002, and the truck was passed down to my parents at that time. The original fuel pump quit in 2003, so it was parked until I revived it in 2012. In 2016 I took leave of my senses and bought another one because the '91 resembled a reliable, functional vehicle a little bit too much to be called a project.

 

If the Comanche didn't exist, I would probably have some other small domestic pickup. Assuming all of the same major story beats happened the same way, nothing else really would change. Generally speaking, I don't form sentimental attachments to objects. My vehicles are the one exception I allow.

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5 minutes ago, Minuit said:

Probably Ford Rangers, or another similar small truck.

 

The only reason I am part of the Jeep community is that it's what my grandparents bought new in October of 1991. They were in the market for a small truck, and the Jeep dealer is what was open, and a stripped down automatic '91 Sportruck with A/C is what they bought. Once grand-dad died, grandmother drove the truck as her every day vehicle. Grandmother had a heart attack in 2002, and the truck was passed down to my parents at that time. The original fuel pump quit in 2003, so it was parked until I revived it in 2012. In 2016 I took leave of my senses and bought another one because the '91 resembled a reliable, functional vehicle a little bit too much to be called a project.

 

If the Comanche didn't exist, I would probably have some other small domestic pickup. Assuming all of the same major story beats happened the same way, nothing else really would change. Generally speaking, I don't form sentimental attachments to objects. My vehicles are the one exception I allow.

That is a cool story.

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re: Dakota.....I know they have weaknesses (ball joints anyone?:laugh:) but I just like their styling.  2000-era DC electronics be damned (I DD an '02 KJ, I know of what I speak).  My brother had a 2nd gen (2003-4 maybe), 4.7L 5-speed crew cab.  I got it up to 105 mph the first time he let me drive it, and I still had 5th gear to go yet.  I just lifted the pedal and coasted back down to the speed limit.  Didn't tow anything with it, but hauled a crap-ton of stuff just fine.  Was a beast in the winter/snow too, with the right tires.  He traded it on a Silverado eventually.

 

I just like the styling of the 2nd/3rd generations.  Heck, I worked with a guy a lifetime ago that drove a 1st gen (87 IIRC).  Plain Jane, cargo mat/bench seat.  I'd even take one of them to bang around in as a utility vehicle.

 

Plus, it was what killed off the MJ line.  Never shoulda happened IMHO.

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^^^^ or that, yeah.  Little older, with a 300 CID and a 5 speed.  

 

My buddy saw one of those on C-list last year local-ish to me for $1500:crazy:.  By the time he texted me and I called about it, it was sold.

 

 

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1 hour ago, NHMJXJ said:

This.

 

Incredibly Clean '96 Ford F-150 Is the 9th Gen of Our Dreams

This is the last year (1996) before they went to the Heritage bodyand rounded the body out.  Ick.  :sad2:

 

I've had cars, vans and trucks and save the good ol'MJ, this would be my 'go to'.  

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My first vehicle was a 1995 Dakota, 2WD, manual transmission, 4 cylinder engine. I flogged that thing daily for ~10 years and ~130,000 miles. Multiple times I ran it out of oil because I was an idiot kid. I also ignored the temp gauge when it would start climbing. Instead of fixing the problem I got really good at switching the truck off while driving and coasting for ~1 mile, popping the clutch, and going again. Usually that was enough for it to cool down some. It never got washed or cleaned and somehow stayed rust free. That poor thing took me all the way through the end of highschool, college, and my first year at a 'real job'.

 

It hauled so much stuff. Several times I loaded up enough OSB or cement board that I had to slam the brakes to bring my front tires down enough to steer. Yeah, I know. I blame it on being a dumbass kid. Its amazing I'm still alive . . . 

 

The head gasket blew and I sold it for $500. I regret that every single time I think about it. I would love to have that truck back.

 

Ironically the head gasket blew out LITERALLY on the way back from buying my first Comanche. So it was a seamless transition from Dakota to MJ. However, it still hurts me.

 

So to finally answer your original question: I would definitely have some type of Dodge truck, most likely a first gen Dakota. However the 76-79 Dodge Warlocks are awesome.

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That’s tough to say. Jeeps weren’t really a thing in my family, or any other 4wd for that matter. I bought my first MJ as my first vehicle when I needed one to move myself to school. The MJ was the most interesting thing I found at the time, not in small part because it still had a valid safety inspection from when the PO first registered it not quite 11 months earlier, and I only had a week to get whatever I bought registered (and safetied) before I needed to move. I think I may have been interested in an XJ at the time which had me looking at Jeeps, but I don’t really remember what all I was cross-shopping. The MJ was only the second vehicle I looked at. The first was a very brown ~1980 Firebird with the most godawful teal screaming chicken on the hood, that needed more than a few things beyond what I thought was reasonable to address within a week. I’m pretty confident there’d be some major differences in my life had I got that Firebird instead... to think that a Comanche was the “responsible” choice.

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