What do you do with your CJ?

[Hedgehog]

When I was younger I thought that everybody did things and thought exactly the same way I did about the basic principles of life or living. Then I joined the military and learned a thing or two about regional beliefs. Believe me the folks in far upstate New York (my life experience) see things far differently form those in the mountains of Kentucky. Following this theme, the folks up in Main use and think of their CJ's far differently from the folks down in the desert South West.

So, the question, "What do you do with your CJ (..... or any Jeep for that matter)?" Is yours a play thing, is it a work horse, what do you use it for, is your CJ a practical vehicle, is your rig a mud bug, a beach sand crawler, a rolling stereo ....... what ever. I think it would be interesting to see not only how people think of their CJ's, but how they use them.

 

[Lumpy Grits]

Mine is a toy, daily driver, trail slave and sometimes a 'sand-flea'.

LG

 

[Hedgehog]

My CJ is a firm ground rig. Being in the desert southwest mud is not much of an option and water is nearly impossible to find. I need a vehicle that is decent in high day time temperatures, sand washes (dry river beds) and can handle over the road duties equally well.

So, it's set up with mildly wide tires, street gears for long miles on the interstate, a relatively big engine(AMC 360), a winch, extra gas and water, tools, recovery points front and rear, receiver hitch front and rear, a bikini top with hinges for doors, hood vents, a mild protection sport bar/roll cage, when appropriate lots of guns .

 

[Woolyworm]

Nice question HH! Mine is a DD in the summer, hot rod convertible coast cruiser with its peppy AMC 304 , fishing hole finder, back roads explorer, steep western Maine mountain crawler / bumper, wet rocky tote road central Maine grinder, partridge heater hunter in the Fall, garage work therapy session.

I love my Jeep!


Wooly

 

[Lumpy Grits]

WW-I'm really like'n that satin desert tan.


LG

 

[Torxhead]

A toy for my love of the great outdoors.

 

[PaRenegade]

I'd just like to state that, those who do things and think differently than me.... are wrong!

Interesting question since mine hasn't been used for close to 4 years now. In the past mine kind of changed over the years. From being a daily driver and taken everywhere, pavement, dirt, mud, sand, snow, year round use. To then a secondary vehicle for hunting or cruising in the mountains and very little wheelin', to a vehicle that got used maybe every 2 to 3 weeks if that.
Now that I've done my resto-mod (not quite done yet) it is going to be pretty much a new vehicle for the most part. I was planning on having it done for this summer and putting it in it's first show-n-shine event due to it's condition before I start using it and getting it dirty and/or scratched from tight trails. But as much time and effort as I've put into it we'll have to see if I'm gun shy. But the plan is to use it as the off road vehicle it is and as I always have. I did outgrow mud decades ago so that's still a no go. And these shows can be fun if they're not too far to drive it to but we'll have to see how it runs and rides. Time will tell, but it will not be a trailer or show queen or mall crawler, that I can guarantee!

 

[hondo]

daily driver rock crawler backwoods transportation farm jeep, soon to be hunting rig. and a temporary work truck.

 

[Hedgehog]

Are there special conditions or weather considerations that you set your CJ up to deal with. For instance, cold winter weather and dealing with snow, do you have special tires that are geared for snowy conditions, do you have a snow plow. Or Louisiana, you guys have very different conditions with all the swamps to deal with. Then there are the guys that live in the deserts or the rocky mountains or the very wet/cold/heavily forested/big foot inhabited north west. I imagine there are everyday considerations each region deals with that never cross the minds of people in other areas. For instance someone might say that they NEVER run wide tires on their CJ's and someone else that wouldn't have tires that anyone would consider thin. In reality thing tires can be far better in snow, they dig down to the hard stuff to find traction where a wide flotation tire would do nothing bet get you stuck. But in relatively bottomless sand thin tires get you stuck and wide tires keep you going. So, to get a better understanding, how and why do you set your CJ up the way you do?

 

[Woolyworm]

Most of our trails in Maine are granite boulders or out crops mixed with loamy or clay soil. Lots of water in Maine but we tend to avoid lots of mud but the trails usually have a fair amount in them. I run 34x10.5 bias ply swampers with the tread cut for the most difficult of our trails but also have a set of 33x12.50 BFG ATs that I run on most everything else with quite good results. I've got narrow track axles and a 3" lift trying to stay light, low, and narrow. Most all of our trails are old twich trails and quite narrow. The old flatties do quite well here. I have a AMC 304 with good power for wheel speed and a T-18 with the 6.3 granny for low speed stuff. Our trails require a mix of slow speed momentum and/or bumping to get up and over stuff - often due to water making the granite slick. This combo along with lots of trees tight in the trail can make for a fair amount of rubbing - that's why I have flat paint - it's easy to touch up!


Wooly

 

[Neuner]

I use to have an XJ while I was out in the West and in the Midwest. It was my DD and I used it to take overland style trips to explore and out to remote locations. Circumstances at that time made me sell. When the time came, I looked for something with a similar intent but also as a cool convertible. Unfortunately it was in Texas where there aren't many unpaved areas to wander without the possibility of getting shot so it's turned into a DD'r that keeps me calm after a tough day and during rush hour.

When it's sometimes hard to justify the time or expense of keeping it, I look to it as a life saver that has potentially kept me out of the road-raged, tailgating, texting, soccer-mom, highly accident prone lanes of traffic and allowed me to return to my family safely and sanely.

It feels funny when people ask where I wheel it and I have to say that I don't. I'm an explorer type of offroader and not one to go wallow around in a mud pit like a pig at the small local OVR park. Really longing to have open land around me once again. Oh well. Maybe someday I can at least make the long drive to Big Bend.

 

[Hedgehog]

I like the idea of using my CJ to travel on "overland style trips to explore and out to remote locations". One of the things I haven't done, but it appeals to me more and more all the time is to get a metal detector, a guide book and go exploring for old plane crashes and western battle fields. I don't really want to use the metal detector to find and take stuff away from historic sites, I would like to just find something related to the event, a bullet, shell casing, aircraft pieces, things like that. Find'em, look at 'em, maybe take a few pictures and leave then where they were. That would be fun, at least for a little while.

 

[IOPort51]

I guess I have reached a place in my life where a 4 door PU with AC and buckets with a killer stereo is important to me. The CJ sets, for the most part waiting for the next adventure. Not a big fan of mud, I can see the fascination but once you start climbing rocks I guess your thought processes change a bit. I will be spending more time at the ranch so I would say it may get a bit more highway time than usual

My CJ can drive Black bear pass or take a lady out to dinner ( have even met a few in it) and pretty much everything in between Life changes and the jeep seems to be able to adapt.

 

[HackFabrication]

So, the question, "What do you do with your CJ?"

It has replaced my boat as the abyss to drop money into....

 

[IOPort51]

It has replaced my boat as the abyss to drop money into....

I have learned not to dwell on this part.

 

[Neuner]

It has replaced my boat as the abyss to drop money into....

I was just going to comment on something similar but the opposite. Only problem is that I now have both.

 

[IOPort51]

I was just going to comment on something similar but the opposite. Only problem is that I now have both.

On the upside, there is enough water in the lake (for the first time in 5 or 6 years) to use the boat ramp. I may even use mine this year.

 

[jdcaples]

What do I do with my CJ?

I drive it on asphalt.
I drive it on dirt.
I maintain it in the driveway
jobs are brief or kurt.​

What does my CJ do for me?

It reminds me of simpler times.
No computers to check.
It transmits the feeling of the ground
No matter what the deck​

My CJ is a means of practical transportation and - like shaving with a double edge safety razor, 1904-type technology - my CJ is a means of keeping me smiling in a world full of people that only seem to smile as long as they have the latest-n-greatest disposable fad.

-Jon

 

[hdgapeach]

It has replaced my boat as the abyss to drop money into....

'Bout the same as I was fixin' to post! The CJ used to be the solution to the problem of having too much excess cash lying around .

For the time being, that designation has been delegated to the '68 C10. If I ever manage to get done with that one, the Harleys are next on the list.

If I can get a couple of the HDs done and gone, it'll be the same problem starting over again; Too much cash in the way! Then the cycle starts over - Put dollars in the CJ so I don't give off the impression that I actually have a few dollars extra.

Gotta zero out that bottom line any way you can!!

 

[Hedgehog]

Had to make a decision, keep the shovel head or get a hunting vehicle. The Shovelhead went on down the road and the CJ replaced it. Unlike most of you, I'm hoping to just drive the CJ when it's done and the day is coming when it will be done. .... It has to be done! About all I'm missing for big parts is a T-18 Transmission and I more or less have one of those waiting for me to drop some money down on it.