June 2011 Jeep Shots

Needs Stickers
Adam Hopkins of Plainwell, Michigan, actually sent the pictures of his ’07 Wrangler in to us in hopes of showing us how it was in need of some shiny new Jp magazine stickers. Little did he know that we reserve the right to misappropriate pictures as we see fit. His Unlimited gets a bump in the power department thanks to a K&N air filter and a Magnaflow exhaust. A set of 255/75R17 Goodyear Silent Armor tires work great for the daily commute and are beefy enough to handle off-road use. A B&M Supercooler keeps the automatic transmission cool for when the Jeep gets pressed into duty towing the camper out to Silver Lakes.

Pickle Driver
This ’74 CJ-5 belongs to Josh Masquelier of Ouray, Colorado, and was captured negotiating The Pickle in Moab, Utah. Locomotion comes from a 350ci Chevy V-8 bolted to an SM465 and Dana 20 stuffed with 2.46:1 Bronco gears. The front Dana 30 and rear Dana 44 both have 3.73 gears. The Jeep puts power to the ground thanks to some Goodyear MT/R tires wrapped around chrome steel rims. The rocker guards extend all the way back to the frame. A custom roll cage protects the occupants, and steel corners protect the body tub from any damage.

Dry Unlimited
This ’08 Unlimited Wrangler Sahara hails from Hesperia, California, and is shown here at Hump and Bump in the Nevada desert. Bryan Maloney decided he needed more oomph, so he is now running a turbo with an intercooler on the stock engine. The stock transmission is still in place, but the T-case was tossed in favor of an Atlas II. The front and rear suspension lift is custom and clears the 42-inch tires. Dynatrac ProRock 60s handle the power with aplomb.

Half Chief
This ’79 Cherokee has been chopped and bobbed and has a custom roll cage and bumpers. Jaime Sepulveda of El Paso, Texas, is the proud owner, and this shot was captured as he was driving it down Big Jim in Las Cruces, New Mexico. It has an AMC 360ci V-8 bolted to a T-18 and NP208. These push power out to a front GM Dana 60 and rear Corporate 14-bolt with 4.10 gears.

On Road
While we are an off-road-oriented magazine, we appreciate cool when we find it. This ’49 CJ-2A has oodles of cool, but with its low stance we don’t think it will be going off-road anytime soon. Dave Curtis of Holly, Michigan, is the owner and the Jeep still runs the 134ci L-head engine. The transmission and T-case are stock and Dave modified the stock Willy axles to provide drop and relocated the front axle past the front of the frame. A set of NDT tires and olive drab paint give the former civilian a military look. Fighting stars adorn both sides of the Jeep, and one was actually cut into the hood as well.

New Yawker
Eddie P from NY is kind of tight-lipped with his personal information, but he did tell us that he used 3-inch-lift Black Diamond leaf springs front and rear to clear the 32-inch-tall Super Swampers. The front Dana 30 and rear AMC 20 axles were regeared with 4.10s to help spin the bigger tires. A Detroit Locker in the rear keeps the Jeep moving forward even in the muck. This ’82 CJ-7 has the stock 258ci inline-six but the 20 miles of vacuum junk smog spaghetti is gone thanks to a Mopar multiport fuel injection system. The factory T-5 and Dana 300 still handle the gear-splitting duties.

Zed-J
We like poking fun at the way our neighbors in the great white north say some things. This time, Phil Wilson of Hamilton, Ontario, Canada, did it for us in the title of his email Zed-J. This ’98 Grand Cherokee Laredo isn’t the high-zoot 5.9L model but rather the anvil-reliable 4.0L-powered one. An NP242 T-case is the perfect choice for road conditions up there and a 3-inch Skyjacker lift with Rancho RS9000 shocks gives a good ride and better-than-stock capability. A Staangs Fab front track bar teams with JKS quicker disconnects, Rusty’s Off Road steering linkage, and an Old Man Emu steering stabilizer to keep the 31x10.50R15 Mickey Thompson MTZs under control.

Off-Road Cruiser
This ’79 Wagoneer belongs to Katelyn O’Donnell of Cathedral City, California. She tells us it has been a long road to make it the off-road cruiser she knew it could be, and that there is still a long way to go. She tells us that the carb was shot when she got it, the wipers didn’t work, there was a leaking fuel line, rusty exhaust, and more. She got most of that stuff tackled and the 360ci V-8, TH400 transmission, and Quadra-Trac T-case send power to the front and rear Dana 44s spinning 31-inch BFG All Terrains. Katelyn also ditched the rust-brown paint and crappy wood-grain appliqu for some semi-gloss black and a pink stripe where the wood grain used to be.

Pancakes
This ’98 Wrangler belongs to Ryan Trela of Windsor, Massachusetts, and is nicknamed Pancakes thanks to a bet. He bet a friend that whoever’s Jeep ended up in the crusher first the other had to name his Jeep Pancakes. Pancakes has a 4-inch Skyjacker lift that clears a set of 33-inch-tall Super Swamper TSLs. There is an 8,000-pound Mile Marker winch on the front bumper, a custom rear bumper, and a half-cab conversion.

Amish XJ
This shot was taken in western Pennsylvania, and while Kyler Rigby doesn’t tell us where he is from, we assume it is near where the picture was taken. This ’00 XJ has 4 inches of lift and runs 31x10.50R15 tires on Cragar Soft 8 rims. A front Dana 30 and rear Dana 35 with a Lock-Right locker take the power from the 4.0L with no problems. The AW4 is stock, but the NP231 was modified with a slip yoke eliminator kit from PORC. Heavy-duty front and rear bumpers are home-built units, and the front has a Smittybilt XRC 8.0 winch.