I thought it would be best to start with a little introduction to and background on how I got into 4-wheel drive adventure. My name is Steven, at the time of writing I’m 32 years young, and from central North Carolina.
My passion for the outdoors, camping, and adventure started when I was young. The picture above is my sister and I on our first family camping trip as children. I was cold chillin’ in that old school chair. After tent camping my family ended up buying a series of travel trailers, ever bigger as our needs changed.
Fast forward many years until I was in my 20s. Up until this point my automotive interested had been mostly focused on Japanese sports cars. I woke up one morning and made a social media post about being interested in buying something 4-wheel drive. It was a complete impulse move but it ended up being a life-changing moment. My friend Nathan responded letting me know he had the XJ above that he’d be interested in selling. We struck up a deal and this XJ Cherokee with 232k hard miles, a rattling engine, and some home-made rock sliders was all mine.
He included some taller height coil springs, a new add a leaf kit, and some extended shackles with the jeep. After I did some research, and spent as little money as possible, it was time to modify the jeep.
Using the coil springs, AAL, and shackles that came with the Jeep, my friend Wes and I installed it all with a set of control arm drop brackets and stock control arms. The coil springs ended up being taller than anticipated, but it’s all good.
After fitting the new (and used) suspension parts, and some 32×11.50 mud tires on 15×8 steelies, some friends and I met at a local spot to grab a bite. This was the 1st time I’d driven on the new suspension and tires. The Jeep was missing the sway bar when I got it, it was much more noticeable on the new suspension.
Before we modified the suspension on my Jeep, Wes bought this really clean ’96 XJ, and lifted it 3 inches, on 31×10.50s. This was the first time either of us took our new Jeeps offroad.
After many day trips to the Uwharrie National Forest for trail riding, I had the idea that we should try camping to go along with 4-wheeling. My friends Rob, Roscoe, and I camped at Uwharrie for the first time. Rob slept in his Jeep, Roscoe and I used ground tents. After this, I became hooked on 4-wheel drive adventure travel.