So this is the story of how I got to own a truck I’ve wanted for years and one we all know - @KLF's 1987 X-Tra Cab. Going to get it was by far the craziest thing I’ve done in my life (so far) but have to say I absolutely loved every second of it. It was an awesome adventure and I really recommend it to anyone who’s thinking about buying a car out of state!
Here's Ken's build thread with the history of the truck:
My misc restoration ramblings/questions thread
About a month ago I was just browsing the classifieds and I saw that KLF had posted his truck for sale. I got really excited and looked at the ad and the first thing I saw was that it was sold which was pretty disappointing. I’ve always been in love with his truck so I was pretty bummed out that it sold. But I was curious as to why his post was relevant since it was over a year old, and well – I saw it was for sale again by @shellb!
I IMMEDIATELY messaged him and threw my 1991 Wrangler for sale on craigslist. Brett & I texted back and forth on the Toyota and after seeing some pictures and working out a deal, I agreed to buy it. I sold my Wrangler in three days to a guy right across the street from me. Now with the money to buy the truck I booked two one way tickets to Colorado from Arizona. One for me, and the other for my future co-pilot Kris (who doesn't know how to drive stick..)
Here are a couple pics from Brett:
And the sacrifice that was needed to make this all happen - my 1991 YJ.
Our flight was set to leave from Tucson at 6:40 and I was hoping to be in Denver by 9. I was so scared that I was going to wake up late for the flight that I set a ton of alarms. I was super excited about the truck so sure enough I woke up at 3:30 AM and spent the next hour looking at pictures and getting mentally ready for the 15 hours of driving ahead of me.
We got to the airport at about 5:30 and checked in. We boarded the plane on time and everything seemed to be going well. Well about halfway through the flight the captain came on and said that there was “an irregularity with one of the motors” and we had to land in Albuquerque…that was well really sketchy. I haven’t flown in years commercially and it definitely freaked me out. I had to be in Denver by 2 PM since I had to get to the bank to get cash out and after talking to Brett I was a little worried this wasn’t going to work out. We had no idea how long the delay was so Kris and I ate at ABQ and I had a nice double shot of whiskey at 8 AM to help calm my nerves – definitely did the trick!
Luckily the plane was back up within a couple hours and we were back in the air by 10 and on the ground in Denver by 11:30. I texted Brett to let him know we made it and he started heading out to the airport to pick us up. He took us back to his house and I looked over the truck and I fell in love. After a short test drive – I pulled the trigger. We went to the bank and I got the cash out, he gave me the title and then we met up with Kris at a local brewery.
I have to say I have never met another mudder and Brett is an awesome guy. It was an absolute pleasure getting to meet him and he was extremely accommodating and awesome to hang out with! He picked us up from the airport, bought us a beer, and let us use his plates to get home among many other things. Brett – it was awesome meeting you and thank you for everything!
So after a beer and a goodbye we hit the road in my new truck. The plan was to make it to Santa Fe from Denver and stay the night there. We decided we would go the scenic route down the 285 instead of taking the highway the whole way. We hit the road around 3 o’clock in the afternoon and drove through some beautiful country. Taking the scenic route was definitely worth it. We didn’t stop too much since we were leaving a little alter then we thought and we had a long day, but as we were going down this highway we saw a valley with snow tipped mountains in the background. We HAD to stop and take some pictures – so we did, and it was a lot colder than we thought. I wish someone could’ve seen us fumbling for our jackets as we were shivering. But my god were the pictures/view worth it.
We hadn’t eaten since the morning so we decided to stop and get Asian food in the little town of Fairplay around 5. The food was INSANELY good and fast and we were on the road within the hour. The next 4 hours consisted of us trying to stay awake (Kris fell asleep) and trying to get something to come on the radio. Out in the middle of nowhere we were changing radio stations every three minutes it felt like. We did stop and chug some redbulls, and between that and the adrenaline rush of thinking you’re going to run out of gas in the middle of New Mexico at night was enough to keep me up. We got into Santa Fe at 11:30, checked into the hotel and walked down the street to get a much needed beer. Santa Fe is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and a really neat town. Definitely gonna go back there sometime.
Woke up a little later then we would’ve liked, but ate a nice breakfast courtesy of the hotel and got on the road by 9. The valet brought us the truck and got out with a huge smile on his face. We decided since we weren’t able to go to Great Sands in Colorado that we were going to go to White Sands outside of Las Cruces, NM. To get there we had to go down some back roads and I can’t tell you how many abandoned towns we saw on the way. We got there at about 2 PM and wow it was much cooler than I thought! It looked like we were dropped in the middle of another planet. The sand was actually really dense and it was definitely worth the short detour. We had to be home that night since we both worked on Monday so we tried not to dawdle too long – but spent a good amount of time there and each bought souvenirs and ate a late dinner at a cute diner in Las Cruces.
The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful and was much better since I fixed the Bluetooth in the truck so we had some tunes! We got to see the beautiful sunset driving out of Las Cruces heading home.
We finally made it back to Tucson at 8 o’clock on Sunday night. I pulled the truck into the shop and unloaded all the spare parts that came with it. In total we had traveled almost 1000 miles. Unfortunately Kris didn’t know how to drive stick (and probably wouldn’t let him drive my baby even if he did) so I drove a total of 18 hours over two days. It was exhausting, but boy what an adventure and I loved every second of it. The truck drove absolutely fantastic, and to be honest much better than I ever could of thought. It really drives as nice as it looks and the quality of work Ken did on it will never cease to amaze me. I was able to pass people going 90+ in a 30 year old 4 cylinder Toyota. It was priceless watching people’s faces as we zoomed by. We got anywhere from 15-20 MPG the whole drive home and the only thing I did to it was top it off with oil when I bought it and put gas in it excessively (gas gauge doesn’t work). The trip was a total success and I really would recommend that if you have the time and are thinking about buying something out of state to fly there and drive it back. It was great being able to look the truck over and driving it home made me bond with it and really get to know it. Plus there’s a huge rush jumping in a vehicle you’ve just bought and driving it on a long trip home. Financially I’d say it was cheaper than shipping. With the hotel, two plane tickets, gas, food and beer the trip cost a little over $700. That’s MUCH cheaper than any shipping quote I could think of and you can’t beat the experience. It would definitely be cheaper if it was just me, and our hotel was a little bit more expensive since I wanted a valet and it was a Drury (SUPER fancy).
Here she is finally in my garage, a place I never thought she’d be:
And a recap of our 2 day journey:
The truck doesn’t need much work, but there are a few things I want to do with it. This won’t really be a build thread per-se, but more of a thread to document where and what I do with my pickup. If you actually read this entire novel, I really appreciate it and hope to share my future adventures with you guys!
Thanks again to Brett @shellb and Ken @KLF – you guys are awesome!
Here's Ken's build thread with the history of the truck:
My misc restoration ramblings/questions thread
About a month ago I was just browsing the classifieds and I saw that KLF had posted his truck for sale. I got really excited and looked at the ad and the first thing I saw was that it was sold which was pretty disappointing. I’ve always been in love with his truck so I was pretty bummed out that it sold. But I was curious as to why his post was relevant since it was over a year old, and well – I saw it was for sale again by @shellb!
I IMMEDIATELY messaged him and threw my 1991 Wrangler for sale on craigslist. Brett & I texted back and forth on the Toyota and after seeing some pictures and working out a deal, I agreed to buy it. I sold my Wrangler in three days to a guy right across the street from me. Now with the money to buy the truck I booked two one way tickets to Colorado from Arizona. One for me, and the other for my future co-pilot Kris (who doesn't know how to drive stick..)
Here are a couple pics from Brett:
And the sacrifice that was needed to make this all happen - my 1991 YJ.
Our flight was set to leave from Tucson at 6:40 and I was hoping to be in Denver by 9. I was so scared that I was going to wake up late for the flight that I set a ton of alarms. I was super excited about the truck so sure enough I woke up at 3:30 AM and spent the next hour looking at pictures and getting mentally ready for the 15 hours of driving ahead of me.
We got to the airport at about 5:30 and checked in. We boarded the plane on time and everything seemed to be going well. Well about halfway through the flight the captain came on and said that there was “an irregularity with one of the motors” and we had to land in Albuquerque…that was well really sketchy. I haven’t flown in years commercially and it definitely freaked me out. I had to be in Denver by 2 PM since I had to get to the bank to get cash out and after talking to Brett I was a little worried this wasn’t going to work out. We had no idea how long the delay was so Kris and I ate at ABQ and I had a nice double shot of whiskey at 8 AM to help calm my nerves – definitely did the trick!
Luckily the plane was back up within a couple hours and we were back in the air by 10 and on the ground in Denver by 11:30. I texted Brett to let him know we made it and he started heading out to the airport to pick us up. He took us back to his house and I looked over the truck and I fell in love. After a short test drive – I pulled the trigger. We went to the bank and I got the cash out, he gave me the title and then we met up with Kris at a local brewery.
I have to say I have never met another mudder and Brett is an awesome guy. It was an absolute pleasure getting to meet him and he was extremely accommodating and awesome to hang out with! He picked us up from the airport, bought us a beer, and let us use his plates to get home among many other things. Brett – it was awesome meeting you and thank you for everything!
So after a beer and a goodbye we hit the road in my new truck. The plan was to make it to Santa Fe from Denver and stay the night there. We decided we would go the scenic route down the 285 instead of taking the highway the whole way. We hit the road around 3 o’clock in the afternoon and drove through some beautiful country. Taking the scenic route was definitely worth it. We didn’t stop too much since we were leaving a little alter then we thought and we had a long day, but as we were going down this highway we saw a valley with snow tipped mountains in the background. We HAD to stop and take some pictures – so we did, and it was a lot colder than we thought. I wish someone could’ve seen us fumbling for our jackets as we were shivering. But my god were the pictures/view worth it.
We hadn’t eaten since the morning so we decided to stop and get Asian food in the little town of Fairplay around 5. The food was INSANELY good and fast and we were on the road within the hour. The next 4 hours consisted of us trying to stay awake (Kris fell asleep) and trying to get something to come on the radio. Out in the middle of nowhere we were changing radio stations every three minutes it felt like. We did stop and chug some redbulls, and between that and the adrenaline rush of thinking you’re going to run out of gas in the middle of New Mexico at night was enough to keep me up. We got into Santa Fe at 11:30, checked into the hotel and walked down the street to get a much needed beer. Santa Fe is absolutely BEAUTIFUL and a really neat town. Definitely gonna go back there sometime.
Woke up a little later then we would’ve liked, but ate a nice breakfast courtesy of the hotel and got on the road by 9. The valet brought us the truck and got out with a huge smile on his face. We decided since we weren’t able to go to Great Sands in Colorado that we were going to go to White Sands outside of Las Cruces, NM. To get there we had to go down some back roads and I can’t tell you how many abandoned towns we saw on the way. We got there at about 2 PM and wow it was much cooler than I thought! It looked like we were dropped in the middle of another planet. The sand was actually really dense and it was definitely worth the short detour. We had to be home that night since we both worked on Monday so we tried not to dawdle too long – but spent a good amount of time there and each bought souvenirs and ate a late dinner at a cute diner in Las Cruces.
The rest of the drive was pretty uneventful and was much better since I fixed the Bluetooth in the truck so we had some tunes! We got to see the beautiful sunset driving out of Las Cruces heading home.
We finally made it back to Tucson at 8 o’clock on Sunday night. I pulled the truck into the shop and unloaded all the spare parts that came with it. In total we had traveled almost 1000 miles. Unfortunately Kris didn’t know how to drive stick (and probably wouldn’t let him drive my baby even if he did) so I drove a total of 18 hours over two days. It was exhausting, but boy what an adventure and I loved every second of it. The truck drove absolutely fantastic, and to be honest much better than I ever could of thought. It really drives as nice as it looks and the quality of work Ken did on it will never cease to amaze me. I was able to pass people going 90+ in a 30 year old 4 cylinder Toyota. It was priceless watching people’s faces as we zoomed by. We got anywhere from 15-20 MPG the whole drive home and the only thing I did to it was top it off with oil when I bought it and put gas in it excessively (gas gauge doesn’t work). The trip was a total success and I really would recommend that if you have the time and are thinking about buying something out of state to fly there and drive it back. It was great being able to look the truck over and driving it home made me bond with it and really get to know it. Plus there’s a huge rush jumping in a vehicle you’ve just bought and driving it on a long trip home. Financially I’d say it was cheaper than shipping. With the hotel, two plane tickets, gas, food and beer the trip cost a little over $700. That’s MUCH cheaper than any shipping quote I could think of and you can’t beat the experience. It would definitely be cheaper if it was just me, and our hotel was a little bit more expensive since I wanted a valet and it was a Drury (SUPER fancy).
Here she is finally in my garage, a place I never thought she’d be:
And a recap of our 2 day journey:
The truck doesn’t need much work, but there are a few things I want to do with it. This won’t really be a build thread per-se, but more of a thread to document where and what I do with my pickup. If you actually read this entire novel, I really appreciate it and hope to share my future adventures with you guys!
Thanks again to Brett @shellb and Ken @KLF – you guys are awesome!
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