How far can you modify/change a Jeep before it ceases to be a Jeep? This question comes to mind every time I pick up a magazine or browse the web. Jeep people(Jeepers?) are a die-hard, loyal bunch. They believe that the Jeep, in it’s many forms, is the #1 off-road vehicle in the world. All other makes are fighting for a distant second. We’ve all read the bumper sticker, It’s a Jeep thing you wouldn’t understand. They’ll tell you that a stock Jeep can run all over a Ford, Chevy, etc. And when you add big tires and a locker it becomes unstoppable. But every truck, even a Jeep, has it’s weaknesses. So you upgrade your axleshafts, install some body armor and head back to the dirt. The rocks get bigger and your stock axles are starting to break so much that you spend more time on the side of the trail than you do on it. What do you do?
This is a common problem to every 4x4 owner who likes to wheel. So when is a Jeep not a Jeep? Look at these specs and you tell me.
1998 Jeep TJ
39" Boggers/ 15x12 beadlocks
Dana 60 front axle, Detroit locker, 4.56 gears
14-Bolt rear, Detroit locker, 4.56 gears
homemade four-link, coilover suspension
350 fuel-injected small-block Chevy/turbo 350 trans
Atlas transfercase
Fully caged, tube rear frame, stretched wheelbase, bobbed body
Now I would kill to own a truck with specs like that. It’s big, beefy and probably very capable. But what happened to the Jeep? Sure the front half of the frame is still sorta factory. Same goes for the body. But with the exception of the four-link, coilover suspension you just put a Jeep body on full-size one-ton Chevy truck running gear! Can you call this a Jeep because that’s what it says on the title? Shouldn’t it be called a Cheep? Or a Jeevy?
I see more and more of this type of Jeep in the magazines and on the trails. Mainly because it works. Not everybody needs this much truck or can even afford this much truck. A mild lift and some lockers will do wonders on even the most basic of rigs. But my when I hear people repeat the mantra, only in a Jeep I have to wonder. Is it really a Jeep? Or are they just fooling themselves?
Randy Curran
