Late Intro

Post by **MtnManMatt** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 12:34 am

Howdy yall!

Names Matt and even though I registered on here bout a week ago and was at the first meeting last Sunday, I figured I'd throw some pics and info up just for the record and whatnot.

This is my second year here at Tech as an Architecture major (oh ye, makes finding time for wrenching just marvelous)... I come from an iddy-biddy little town called Big Stone Gap in extreme Southwest Virginia. If you've been to Harlan, you've likely passed through it. I grew up drivin an old farm use CJ-7 around, but didn't really get addicted to wheelin til I got my license at 16. Been wheelin around Wise County and slowly buildin my TJ and experience up ever since. Although I've always been pretty close to Kentucky and Harlan County, I didn't really get over to Evarts until this past summer, and I have to admit, ridin in a nice legal place with marked and rated trails makes a nice switch from constantly lookin over your shoulder and dodgin haul trucks and other hazards that go with "less-than-legal" strip-mine wheelin. Theres plenty of legal stuff on private land too, but ya gotta know the right folks.

As far as my rig goes, she's an '03 TJ Sport on 35's that (for now) has to be my DD and carry me up and down 81. Once I'm able to get another vehicle to be my DD/haul rig though (maybe an old Jeep pick-up?), I'd like to turn the TJ into an off-road only Jeep.

Didn't really know anywhere/anyone to wheel with around here last year, so I'm lookin forward to wheelin/hangin with yall!

Post by **KOTABAD** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:34 am

Very nice looking jeep. Looking forward to see it on the trails. Love the roof rack and front bumber they make it look so much beefier!

Post by **Mr.WJ** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 9:58 am

Looking good! I was talking to you for awhile at the meeting too! I posted up here to! Check it out!

Post by **LBrook** » Fri Sep 02, 2011 10:04 am

Awesome TJ man. I really like the cab lights you have on the front windshield. What brand are they? Plus, how are the BFG AT's treatin you? I've been thinking about them for when I go up to 35s next spring.

Post by **MtnManMatt** » Mon Sep 05, 2011 1:38 am

Thanks ya'll! I've put a lotta work into her. And Snobrdrkid07, I did. Nice Cherokee. Gotta get that Rubicon down here man! And let's see LBrook... The cab lights I just picked up locally as one of my many cheap little extra projects to keep me busy and from spendin money to do somethin more major. They're PM Peterson Piranha marker lights and I actually got them at Walmart. Most other marker lights I found at other places were to wide to comfortably fit between the windshield weather stripping and the top of the windshield on a TJ. They come individually and its pretty easy to just run the wires through, solder them up, and hide the wires behind the molding on the inside of the windshield (some of the earlier TJs must not have the molding though, because by '98 didn't). And they're sealed LED, so hopefully I shouldn't have to worry about replacing them much, if at all. And the BFG A/T's? They're an awesome tire if you're rig is also your daily driver. My TJ originally had BFG A/T's on it when I bought it and I rarely had any issues with them. I ran them til they were practically bald and was still amazed at what they would do. When I replaced them, I went to 33" Pro Comp M/T's since I was doing a lot of mud then and had heard they wear decently for a mud tire. They wore a little more quickly than I though however, and it killed me to think what drivin up and down 81 would do to them when I started at Tech, so after I added the Gen-Right tube fenders and had more space, I got the 35" BFG A/T's. My plan was, use the larger A/T's for highway, street, and light/mid-duty wheeling (less wear for pavement, but aggressive enough for casual off-roading/poor road conditions) and switch to the smaller M/T's for heavier-duty stuff (more aggressive tread, and smaller in order to keep from breaking an axle as I have a bit of broken-axle-phopia with the stock axles). However, due to my spontaneous wheeling urges and often being too lazy to switch tire sets, I've ended up in rougher situations than I planned to be in with the BFG's, still, they've only continued to impress. I've rarely been in a situation when the BFG's have been the limiting factor and so far, they've worn well on the street, so I'd have to say they're a great all-around tire. Sorry if this is a little more or less than ya wanted LBrook. It's tricky to describe tire performance and I can't really give wear per mile info as my odometer hasn't worked since it was submerged :/

Post by **Matt612** » Tue Sep 06, 2011 6:40 pm

Nice Tj man. Those flat fenders look great, what brand are they?

Post by **MtnManMatt** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 4:04 pm

Thanks man. And they're Gen-Right. I was sick of the plastic flares crackin from light tree branch whacks and cold winters, so when I rolled the rig on its side about a year ago and squashed the two on the passenger side, I just went ahead and got the Gen-Rights. They've got em with no flare, 3" flare and 6" flare. I got the 6" in attempt to cut down on some of the mud splatter, but as you can see from some of the pics above, that didn't really happen, haha.

Post by **BadAssEddie** » Thu Sep 08, 2011 5:06 pm

Welcome!