Advocate III
- 5,584
- First Name
- Michael
- Last Name
- Rose
- Member #
-
20990
- Ham/GMRS Callsign
- W7FSB
- Service Branch
- US ARMY Retired
The Beginning is the End is the Beginning (The continuing journey of the “Adventure Machine”)
It’s funny how things come full circle in so many ways.
In 1993 I was 13 years old dreaming of my first daily driver. I had a 1963 Ford F-150 that I was restoring that summer. One night when I got home from working on it out in the summer heat behind my dad’s automotive shop I plopped down in the recliner and opened up the cover to a hunting magazine. On the inside cover was a tri-page brochure for the “All New Dodge Ram” 2500 Cumins Diesel.
Ohh boy my heart started racing. I loved the lines, the interior ergonomic layout was perfect, the stance said I’m tough, but I can play well too. I must have read and reread that page a million times before flipping the pages and reading the articles.
Somewhere in the middle of the magazine was a picture of a 1993 Eddie Bauer Bronco sitting in a field with a pheasant hunter letting the dogs out the back tail gate. My heart started thumping again. I loved the look, but the cab was all business and no play.
Over the next few hours I remember flipping back and forth between the two advertisements and comparing my likes and dislikes...In the end, the Ram did it for me. When my dad got home that night I told my dad that when I was old enough to drive I would have a “New Ram”. I told him all the options I would want, what upgrades I would do, the whole 9 yards. My dad laughed at me and said “Son, you keep dreaming big like that, but you won’t ever be able to afford “The New Ram”.
Several years later I got a 85 Bronco II on a$10.00 Raffle ticket. While not a 93 Full Sized Bronco, or an Eddie Bouer Edition, it was Bronco like and gave me a lot of enjoyment on the trails and even two trips to the coast with two of my closest friends. Unfortunately the Bronco II ended up with a burnt out ignition coil, that I could never trace down the problem.
Several more years pass, several Jeeps, a Cadillac, 2 Muscle Cars, an ex wife with 2 kids, and a Ford Van, I married into my second Bronco II. This time a 1989 Green and Tan EB. My (now ex) wife and I had a lot of adventures in that Bronco as well, but it still wasn’t a “New Ram”, or a 5th Gen Bronco.
I thought I was a Jeep guy, so I kept searching for the perfect Jeep. 2 more XJ’s and then while looking for the “diamond in the rough” YJ, my (ex) wife found a “New 1995 Ram 1500”. It was Red and Silver, and full of cancer, but at only $1500, With less than 90k miles it was a “must” look at rig. I was in Afghanistan finishing up my second tour when she found the rig. I told her to look for rust along the frame, and in important places like the floor boards. When she went to look at it, the guy started it it for her, and it started so easily she handed him the cash along with an extra 50 to deliver it.
The next week she took it to the shop to get a look over and the oil changes... they did a few minor repairs and when she left the parking lot the gas tank fell out on the ground. Then a few months later I came home and found a broken spring pack... I ended up driving the pickup from Syracuse, New York to Joseph, Oregon. 3/4s of the truck is somewhere between the two points. I lost the muffler in Nebraska, rear brake line broke near Grand Junction, Colorado, and Inwas flies toning it by the time I made it to Utah.
The Army gave me a nice severance package when I got discharged. So when the money hit my bank account, I started looking up parts to fix Ol’ Red when a Blue and chrome “New Ram 2500” showed up on a car lot down the street from me. With a price tag of $6k, it was kind of hard for me to look away. Several test drives later I had a sound idea of a price that I felt the truck was worth... I shot them an offer of $4K. They laughed at me and I walked away. Two weeks later they called me up and wanted my $4K... I told them that now it was 3k because they waited so long. They immediately shot back a counter offer over the phone which I accepted... now I had 2 “New Dodge Rams” I built “Old” Blue into the perfect Overlanding truck and drove it every day until summer of 2019.
Spring of 2018 I wanted a trail rig, so I started looking at Jeeps again... I really wanted a YJ, but found a screening deal in a TJ. Well, that screening deal wasn’t so screaming... There was a factory TSB Recall that hadn’t been dealt with. The distributor drive gear was made out of bronze while the mating gear on the cam shaft was brass, which cause the cam shaft sensor to skip a beat and through a code. The code would trigger the limp home mode temporarily causing the Jeep to buck... I took the Jeep back to the dealership numerous times to get fixed, and each time they said their wasn’t a problem... just a problem with the way I drove. Well the last time I took it to the dealership in the way home I hit that limp home mode on a patch of black ice and ended up smashing all 4 corners of the Jeep. So back to the dealership I drove and I made them keep it until they fixed it. 4 months later they found the problem, and then off to the body shop to get paint and new wheels... after the new paint on the Jeep, I called the finance company and told them to come get it because it was a piece of junk and I could never trust it again.
So back to the hunt for a trail rig... I started looking at Suburbans and Excursions, when I found a basket case 1978 (the year I was born) Bronco. After looking at it I decided it was too much work, so I drove home empty handed. On the way home my wife (@KRose) found a 1989 Bronco EB for sale just 2 blocks from our house. I had her call the guy and we scheduled a meeting just a few minutes later.
The Bronco Was rough around the edges, but had great bones... the driver window was missing, the front seats were broken, and the rear end made a hellacious screaming sound. I offered $1000 and he took it... I limped it home and put it up on jack stands....
....to be continued...
It’s funny how things come full circle in so many ways.
In 1993 I was 13 years old dreaming of my first daily driver. I had a 1963 Ford F-150 that I was restoring that summer. One night when I got home from working on it out in the summer heat behind my dad’s automotive shop I plopped down in the recliner and opened up the cover to a hunting magazine. On the inside cover was a tri-page brochure for the “All New Dodge Ram” 2500 Cumins Diesel.
Ohh boy my heart started racing. I loved the lines, the interior ergonomic layout was perfect, the stance said I’m tough, but I can play well too. I must have read and reread that page a million times before flipping the pages and reading the articles.
Somewhere in the middle of the magazine was a picture of a 1993 Eddie Bauer Bronco sitting in a field with a pheasant hunter letting the dogs out the back tail gate. My heart started thumping again. I loved the look, but the cab was all business and no play.
Over the next few hours I remember flipping back and forth between the two advertisements and comparing my likes and dislikes...In the end, the Ram did it for me. When my dad got home that night I told my dad that when I was old enough to drive I would have a “New Ram”. I told him all the options I would want, what upgrades I would do, the whole 9 yards. My dad laughed at me and said “Son, you keep dreaming big like that, but you won’t ever be able to afford “The New Ram”.
Several years later I got a 85 Bronco II on a$10.00 Raffle ticket. While not a 93 Full Sized Bronco, or an Eddie Bouer Edition, it was Bronco like and gave me a lot of enjoyment on the trails and even two trips to the coast with two of my closest friends. Unfortunately the Bronco II ended up with a burnt out ignition coil, that I could never trace down the problem.
Several more years pass, several Jeeps, a Cadillac, 2 Muscle Cars, an ex wife with 2 kids, and a Ford Van, I married into my second Bronco II. This time a 1989 Green and Tan EB. My (now ex) wife and I had a lot of adventures in that Bronco as well, but it still wasn’t a “New Ram”, or a 5th Gen Bronco.
I thought I was a Jeep guy, so I kept searching for the perfect Jeep. 2 more XJ’s and then while looking for the “diamond in the rough” YJ, my (ex) wife found a “New 1995 Ram 1500”. It was Red and Silver, and full of cancer, but at only $1500, With less than 90k miles it was a “must” look at rig. I was in Afghanistan finishing up my second tour when she found the rig. I told her to look for rust along the frame, and in important places like the floor boards. When she went to look at it, the guy started it it for her, and it started so easily she handed him the cash along with an extra 50 to deliver it.
The next week she took it to the shop to get a look over and the oil changes... they did a few minor repairs and when she left the parking lot the gas tank fell out on the ground. Then a few months later I came home and found a broken spring pack... I ended up driving the pickup from Syracuse, New York to Joseph, Oregon. 3/4s of the truck is somewhere between the two points. I lost the muffler in Nebraska, rear brake line broke near Grand Junction, Colorado, and Inwas flies toning it by the time I made it to Utah.
The Army gave me a nice severance package when I got discharged. So when the money hit my bank account, I started looking up parts to fix Ol’ Red when a Blue and chrome “New Ram 2500” showed up on a car lot down the street from me. With a price tag of $6k, it was kind of hard for me to look away. Several test drives later I had a sound idea of a price that I felt the truck was worth... I shot them an offer of $4K. They laughed at me and I walked away. Two weeks later they called me up and wanted my $4K... I told them that now it was 3k because they waited so long. They immediately shot back a counter offer over the phone which I accepted... now I had 2 “New Dodge Rams” I built “Old” Blue into the perfect Overlanding truck and drove it every day until summer of 2019.
Spring of 2018 I wanted a trail rig, so I started looking at Jeeps again... I really wanted a YJ, but found a screening deal in a TJ. Well, that screening deal wasn’t so screaming... There was a factory TSB Recall that hadn’t been dealt with. The distributor drive gear was made out of bronze while the mating gear on the cam shaft was brass, which cause the cam shaft sensor to skip a beat and through a code. The code would trigger the limp home mode temporarily causing the Jeep to buck... I took the Jeep back to the dealership numerous times to get fixed, and each time they said their wasn’t a problem... just a problem with the way I drove. Well the last time I took it to the dealership in the way home I hit that limp home mode on a patch of black ice and ended up smashing all 4 corners of the Jeep. So back to the dealership I drove and I made them keep it until they fixed it. 4 months later they found the problem, and then off to the body shop to get paint and new wheels... after the new paint on the Jeep, I called the finance company and told them to come get it because it was a piece of junk and I could never trust it again.
So back to the hunt for a trail rig... I started looking at Suburbans and Excursions, when I found a basket case 1978 (the year I was born) Bronco. After looking at it I decided it was too much work, so I drove home empty handed. On the way home my wife (@KRose) found a 1989 Bronco EB for sale just 2 blocks from our house. I had her call the guy and we scheduled a meeting just a few minutes later.
The Bronco Was rough around the edges, but had great bones... the driver window was missing, the front seats were broken, and the rear end made a hellacious screaming sound. I offered $1000 and he took it... I limped it home and put it up on jack stands....
....to be continued...
