New Member - Thoughts

[TmacLX]

Hello,

I have been visiting this site for a few months now and figured I would join since I actually bought a 2006 LX about a week ago. So far so good. It's a 2006 with 65k miles and pretty clean service history. Picked it up for $26,100 which I thought was fair. Everything is in working order. It is replacing my 2013 Audi S4 which I will miss, but that car has become impractical for me. I no longer have a commute to work since I work from home and recently built a house off a dirt road so I felt like the S4 was getting too much abuse.

Anyway, here I am. Prior to this I have built up a few rigs, mainly Jeep Grand Cherokees. Still love the Grands but I needed something bigger.

After reading some posts here I have altered my initial plan of going all out on this build, at least from day 1. Here are my thoughts. I put them in order from most important to least

I have no commute other than dropping my son off at daycare for a few hours per day (10 miles round trip, all dirt roads). Annually with other trips and whatnot I will probably drive 8,000 miles per year max. This will be my DD. I should be able to take 1-2 decent trips per year and wheel it at least once per month around my area in Michigan.

The AHC is working fine so I plan on using that in lieu of a lift for as long as it's serviceable. Seems like a good mix of good driving manners and decent off road function.

Here is what I would like to do in the order I see being most beneficial. If anyone has some suggestions feel free to let me know.

I plan on running the largest tires I can, Cooper Discoverer ST/Maxx without any trimming or other work.
Ditch the running boards and get some type of sliders
Add some skid plates

down the line...

Lift - have to see how it preforms "as is" and decide what I want to change about it
Front bumper
Rear bumper
Perhaps a locker

That's it. Happy to have found this forum.

 

[spaber05]

Sounds like you found a solid new rig. I too moved from a fun car to an LC and even though I do miss carving the twisties every now and again, I have really enjoyed the long trips much more in this vehicle (even with double the mileage of the old car).

Looks like you have a solid plan for it and have thought through the modifications. I too am planning on utilizing the AHC until it ceases to function, I think too many rush to rip it out and replace it or neglect to flush it to really lengthen the lifespan.

Best of luck down the road, and if you ever hit a roadblock, just ask here, I've found this to be a wealth of information on our trucks and feel pretty confident I can tackle most anything that goes wrong with a little research.

 

[ponytl]

congrats on your purchase... my advice... keep it as it is... drive it... use it and be surprised just how useful it is stock... use it as you intend... and you will find what you need to do to suit your needs.... but do ditch the running boards... either use up the tires you have if they are good... or determine the value of them used if they are in pretty good shape... a good used set of tires here on craigslist can bring $300 which might make you want to go ahead and go for the ones you want... either way I think you will enjoy your truck