El Jeepe!

[agentorange76]

Howdy howdy! I figger its about time to introduce myself and my truck. I'm Will, I'm a geology major at NC State, I'm based out of Western NC, and this is El Jeepe! This will mainly be an adventure thread, as I've got the Jeep pretty dialed.



El Jeepe rolled off the assembly line in 2000 and was delivered to my dad. I basically grew up in the backseat of this thing road tripping up and down the east coast dragging around an 8ft coleman popup. I didn't really appreciate it until high school, and it took a 76 CJ5 to get me into cars, but I'm hooked now.



My dad passed the Jeep on to me as a graduation gift and I couldn't have been more stoked. Its not as fun as the CJ and extremely impractical as a college car, but I don't care, cause its rad and I have more irreplaceable memories in it than I can count. I started truck camping because I didn't have backpacking gear, and caught the wheelin bug looking for remote spots. Had a blast, did some dumb shit and calmed down a little when I got a bad batch of mud in the trans and janked up my starter. But I'm getting ahead of myself...



El Jeepe is so named partly for our unfortunate butchery of high school espanol, and partly after El Jefe, the Jeep that carried the legend himself from Tierra del Fuego to Prudhoe Bay. My goal with the build is pretty simple. I want to be able to drive cross country in the thing, get to remote destinations and use the truck as a base camp for adventure sports. "Why an open top jeep for that," you ask? That's not a very good vehicle for that." You're right. Its loud and it wanders around on the highway and the doors blow open in crosswinds. There's no place to carry kayaks, secure rock climbing gear or take friends to the grocery store. But can you take the roof off your Tacoma, the doors off your Landcruiser or fold the windshield down on your Discovery? I'm a Jeep guy because I grew up with them, but also because they make the last classic suv. Because they're fun. Really fun. And at the end of the day the compromises are worth it.



2000 Jeep Wrangler Sport, 4.0 5 speed
Aftermarket-
Suspension- 2" spacer budget boost with some cheapie skyjackers. $200 all in
Tires- 31x10.5 BFG KO2
Armor- Stock trans/transfer case, stock gas tank, steering box skid
Comms- Yaesu FTM100DR, Midland 1001lwx
Misc- Smittybuilt 9500lb winch, KC driving lights, Bestop Supertop, Hilift, Morryde tailgate hinges, trasharoo, custom shelf, swaybar disconnects
Future- Cruise control swap, roof rack (ugh)

I'm big into hiking, backpacking, kayaking, canoeing, mountain biking, and of course camping. I've got the whitewater kayaking and rock climbing bug bad too. Basically the Jeep is an adventure platform for getting outside, but if the road gets knarly this stud is more than capable of throwing down.



Follow along here, on instagram @pisgahoverland or on expedition portal https://www.expeditionportal.com/forum/threads/el-jeepe.160712/

 

[agentorange76]

I'm convinced this Jeep set me in my current direction. By middle school and high school I had lost touch with all the adventuring we did when I was a kid. I was big in the band scene and my brother was big into sports and we never got out out of the house like we used to. But junior year rolled around and I had the keys to a Wrangler and my buddy had an old Toyota pickup and by God we were gonna go use em. Found some really rad places and ate some questionable (read genius) improvements of smores. Did some dumb stuff in the mud, caved in a rocker panel on a buddy's truck and decided maybe we should take a chill pill on the wheeling. We had to get these trucks 5 hours to school and back after high school after all.



We kinda all rediscovered camping together. My friends had done it with scouts and me with my folks and had all kinda just stopped. Now we were out all the time, even if it was 15 degrees in the dead of winter in walmart 40 degree sleeping bags. We went snow wheelin, broke off giant icicles off the parkway tunnels, found really tall outcrops to, uh, let freedom ring from. We woke up to ice covered tents, rime ice, and lived off the Good Chef. Before we figured out we could catch trout that is. Our camping evolved. We'd go fishing, look for squirrels for dinner, hike a half million miles, bushwack for obscure markers that probably didn't exist.



Mostly though, we'd just talk trash on the CB and have a good time. Half the time we wouldn't even camp, we'd just go to Tennessee and shoot and crash at the cabin. High school sure was the glory years.

 

[MtnManAlex]

Cool Jeep! My wife is a Geology major at CU Boulder. We recently took our Jeep to Moab with the geology club. There were a couple of geologists with Wranglers out there. Whoever can drive to the most remote, difficult spots gets to find the coolest rocks! I’m a Jeep guy too. Maybe I can’t cruise at 80mph like my buddy’s 4Runner, but it took him twice as long navigating trails and he even bailed halfway through Fins and Things. What do you mean there’s no room for kayaks or other gear?

 

[agentorange76]

Thanks! can definitely get to some cool spots with it, which is a blessing and a curse. I'm always a lot more selective on foot cause I have to carry them all out haha. Tons of cool geology stuff coming soon!

The problem is I don't have a roof rack and I don't want to get one; I don't like how the cheaper ones look, even if I could afford one. None of the ones I've seen allow me to fold the windshield and drop the top. I live in an apartment at school, so I just stick my whitewater boat in the living room but I have nowhere to put my lake boat. At least not while keeping the inside of the truck dry. So I really need to get a rack to "permanently" carry boats up there the next couple of years. Maybe I can fab one up? I even thought about doing a full safari rack like the Expedition de las Americas Jeeps ran. I dig the expedition look but also the minimalist one.

 

[mylilpwny]

Thanks! can definitely get to some cool spots with it, which is a blessing and a curse. I'm always a lot more selective on foot cause I have to carry them all out haha. Tons of cool geology stuff coming soon!

The problem is I don't have a roof rack and I don't want to get one; I don't like how the cheaper ones look, even if I could afford one. None of the ones I've seen allow me to fold the windshield and drop the top. I live in an apartment at school, so I just stick my whitewater boat in the living room but I have nowhere to put my lake boat. At least not while keeping the inside of the truck dry. So I really need to get a rack to "permanently" carry boats up there the next couple of years. Maybe I can fab one up? I even thought about doing a full safari rack like the Expedition de las Americas Jeeps ran. I dig the expedition look but also the minimalist one.

View attachment 68837

Look into Iamjake's rack. I believe he built it himself but not sure. He regularly puts the windshield down.

 

[agentorange76]

Look into Iamjake's rack. I believe he built it himself but not sure. He regularly puts the windshield down.

Love that dude. He's got a garvin expedition rack he modified the bracket location to the lower windshield bolt location. Not a big fan of an $800 rack that I have to modify brackets on. Plus I'd have to drill holes in the rear tub. I really wish they hadn't discontinued the Congo cage......

 

[vegasjeepguy]

That is an awesome story about the history of your Jeep. I got my first Jeep (1999 Sahara) in 2000 when my son was two. I’d take him everywhere with me and some of his first words were “Jeeps are cool” with two thumbs up. Due to someone running a red light, I had to replace (or as I prefer to say, upgraded) it with my 2004 Rubicon. I, too, have great memories with all of the adventures over the years with my son who is now stationed in Italy with the Army. Thanks for reminding me of what’s important...and nice front plate.

 

[agentorange76]

That is an awesome story about the history of your Jeep. I got my first Jeep (1999 Sahara) in 2000 when my son was two. I’d take him everywhere with me and some of his first words were “Jeeps are cool” with two thumbs up. Due to someone running a red light, I had to replace (or as I prefer to say, upgraded) it with my 2004 Rubicon. I, too, have great memories with all of the adventures over the years with my son who is now stationed in Italy with the Army. Thanks for reminding me of what’s important...and nice front plate.

View attachment 68968

View attachment 68969

'Preciate in man, it's the memories that make it special. Thank your son for his service for me.

 

[agentorange76]

When I was in my wheelin phase I put some armor on El Jeepe. I was planning on going to NC State and knew Uwharrie was right down the road. I couldn't afford to put big tires and accompanying lift on it so I threw some armor at her. Looking back I should've gone with the stubbier sliders that fit in between the fenders so I didn't have to cut the flares. My first trip to Uwharrie I decided I didn't like beating my truck up and was perfectly happy crushing gravel and fun mountain 2 tracks. I found the overlanding community sometime around here. My buddy was moving back to NC, so I drove up to St. Louis to help him move back. We got pounded with an ice storm up there, but for some reason decided we were gonna take a few nights to camp and take the scenic route through Kentucky and the Red River Gorge area. My crappy 20 year old camping gear sure did wonders to keep me warm and the rain and ice out, plus the heater core on the truck was broken. It was a pretty miserable trip, but got me hooked on the long distance multi-day travel stuff.



I'm a gear junkie, so it sent the build in a new direction, one that I could actually afford and was multi-faceted. I started with an all new camp setup, one that was spacious and comfortable for vehicle based stuff but was light enough to backpack. On a college budget. This wasn't easy, and I still would like to add some gear to my arsenal, but overall I've got a pretty versatile setup and I'm so stoked about it.

Now I had to find somewhere to keep it, and it took me a full year to find a good solution to keep water and dust out of stuff (open Jeep probs) and pack it so I didn't have to unpack the truck to get to something I need. I built removable shelf out of 4/4" plywood and covered it with some cheap tan outdoor carpet that matched the interior for cheap at lowes. This shelf is a gamechanger and by far the most useful camping mod. I found some ballin rubbermaid totes at wally world for like 10 bucks a pop that are the actual perfect dimensions. They honestly couldn't fit more perfect. My 2 burner coleman, cast iron, pots/pans, propane, ect go in one, all sleeping gear and tent go in the other for short trips, or it turns into a pantry for extended stuff and the sleeping gear goes in some dry bags on the deck. The totes slide underneath and the bags, cooler, water and extra gas chill up top. Tools, recovery gear and compressor go under the shelf in the front. I finally found some tiedowns I like and will be putting those on when I get home.


This system works fantastic and doubles as a sleeping platform. Yep. In a TJ. Wally world snoozes for the win. Epic stuff coming.

 

[JCWages]

This thread ROCKS! Yeah I said it. I also make people listen to me recite the tale of Alice Algae and Freddy Fungus too.

Everyone should have a "Jeep" growing up. A vehicle that takes you wherever your heart desires in that search for, everything!

 

[gabe]

Awesome build, I love to see the many ways people come up with to deal with limited storage space. Keep up the awesome build.

 

[jasgwoods]

When I was in my wheelin phase I put some armor on El Jeepe. I was planning on going to NC State and knew Uwharrie was right down the road. I couldn't afford to put big tires and accompanying lift on it so I threw some armor at her. Looking back I should've gone with the stubbier sliders that fit in between the fenders so I didn't have to cut the flares. My first trip to Uwharrie I decided I didn't like beating my truck up and was perfectly happy crushing gravel and fun mountain 2 tracks. I found the overlanding community sometime around here. My buddy was moving back to NC, so I drove up to St. Louis to help him move back. We got pounded with an ice storm up there, but for some reason decided we were gonna take a few nights to camp and take the scenic route through Kentucky and the Red River Gorge area. My crappy 20 year old camping gear sure did wonders to keep me warm and the rain and ice out, plus the heater core on the truck was broken. It was a pretty miserable trip, but got me hooked on the long distance multi-day travel stuff.

View attachment 70403 View attachment 70406 View attachment 70407 View attachment 70408

I'm a gear junkie, so it sent the build in a new direction, one that I could actually afford and was multi-faceted. I started with an all new camp setup, one that was spacious and comfortable for vehicle based stuff but was light enough to backpack. On a college budget. This wasn't easy, and I still would like to add some gear to my arsenal, but overall I've got a pretty versatile setup and I'm so stoked about it.

Now I had to find somewhere to keep it, and it took me a full year to find a good solution to keep water and dust out of stuff (open Jeep probs) and pack it so I didn't have to unpack the truck to get to something I need. I built removable shelf out of 4/4" plywood and covered it with some cheap tan outdoor carpet that matched the interior for cheap at lowes. This shelf is a gamechanger and by far the most useful camping mod. I found some ballin rubbermaid totes at wally world for like 10 bucks a pop that are the actual perfect dimensions. They honestly couldn't fit more perfect. My 2 burner coleman, cast iron, pots/pans, propane, ect go in one, all sleeping gear and tent go in the other for short trips, or it turns into a pantry for extended stuff and the sleeping gear goes in some dry bags on the deck. The totes slide underneath and the bags, cooler, water and extra gas chill up top. Tools, recovery gear and compressor go under the shelf in the front. I finally found some tiedowns I like and will be putting those on when I get home.

View attachment 70404 View attachment 70405
This system works fantastic and doubles as a sleeping platform. Yep. In a TJ. Wally world snoozes for the win. Epic stuff coming.

Great thread agentorange76! I am in East TN. It sounds like you are familiar with some good off road camping spots in Western NC. I'd love to hear any recommendations you may have. My wife and I travel to Hot Springs and Asheville quite often and we love the area. I am a backpacker, but due to an injury I'm just getting into overlanding and looking for places to go. I'm just looking to get off the beaten path for now, nothing too technical. I don't have a winch or a lift just yet.