Thanks for the reply. For sure I'm the best driver in the world.Ha ha. I have been around atvs and side by sides and dirt bikes for ever. I have a 4x4 f250 that I take off roading when I can. but other then mud you would not need 4x4. So I know the basics but I still need some time on the hard stuff. I know my way around motors and trucks and stuff but I'm no expert on fixing everything. I'm a plumber so I can weld and have most the tools I need to fix most things. my dad and brother are the car guys. They fix any thing I can't. I live in utah, so mountain trails will be the main place I go. Not to hard of stuff, I would take my truck, but I don't want to mess up a $45,000 truck's paint job. I would like to go to moab but if I go once or twice a year I will be lucky. I go there on my rzr every once in a while. I will go on some sand but not very much and I hate mud but if I run into some that's ok too. I need to start cheap and work my way up. I will have to hide most up grades from the war department i.e "wife" So if I can get some thing that runs and is pretty good I can add things later"under the radar" Thanks for all the help.This is a loaded question...full of several other hidden loaded questions
Need more info.
1) How experienced are you with the whole "offroad" thing?
I dont ever recommend someone jump right into a lifte, locked, and loaded rig for their breaking-in period. I firmly believe that everyone who is learning to wheel needs to do it with a semi-stock vehicle. Inexperienced drivers put in compromising situations with Jeeps sporting 38" tires, lockers, and horsepower is a recipe for disaster, failure, and death. So where do you stand.
2) What is your level of mechanical know-how?
Jeeps range from almost 70 years old to present. Typically, the older the Jeep, the more you better know your way around a garage. Likewise, offroading takes it's toll also and can get very expensive if you have to take it to a shop everytime something breaks. This question is also a determining factor in buying newer (and possibly more reliable) or buying older and sometimes much cheaper...with the good possibility of having to do several hours of wrenching to get it trail/road worthy. So where do you stand.
3) What sort of offroading do you have in mind? (mud, rocks, trails, sand)
This is also going to determine what you are looking for in a Jeep. A mildly built Jeep can be fun in all these areas whereas a purpose-built Jeep is more one dimensional. A Jeep built for mud will not perform the same as a rock crawler, and vice versa. So where do you stand.
Lastly, you mention a $5000 cap. You can pick up a moderately built older Jeep for that or you can purchase a newer Wrangler in more stock condition and build it to your liking. Again, the above questions need to be answered first.
Talk to us and let us know what your plans/background are.
I could have
yeah but then you wouldn't have got to have all of that fun gettin to know your cj in a more personal, up close kind of way. and they aren't as cool.
Always trying to spread the cheer. 
I don't even want to know, I have way to many hours in it.
bought 2 Rubi's and put money in the bank if I had been paying myself though.
Fixed.
The great part of owning a cj is that you know you can fix anything that can go wrong with it.
After all you already rebuilt it all once already.