There is nothing cooler than taking your kid to elementary school in warm weather with the top and doors removed from your tricked out Jeep Wrangler. Kids and teachers will ignore BMW’s, Mercedes and Jaguars while your offspring climbs down from his seat in the open air. There are after-market modifications that will give your Wrangler a little extra cachet. It might even work with teenagers.
An urban definition of ‘Cool’
Cool means universally accepted, relaxed, unhurried, competent, controlled and stylish. It can never seem forced or done for the sake of appearances. A clean Jeep Wrangler isn’t cool. A banged up Jeep Wrangler full of dings and dents from countless rocks run into in the outback is always automatically cool.
Snorkel
Snorkels feed air to the fuel/air mixture intake system from a higher point in the car. A snorkel leading from the air intake to an opening above the windshield shows that you often have to ford streams more than four feet deep or join caravans of dust producing vehicles as you cross wide, nasty deserts. Usually the snorkel will lead from the air filter to the top of the windshield.
Winch
A winch improves your Wrangler’s cool rating. The winch attaches to the frame and sits on top of the Jeep’s front bumper and lets you pull your own or someone else’s vehicle out of steel-sucking mud pits and quicksand. The winch consists of a spool of cable and an electric motor powered by the Wrangler’s electrical system.
Brush Guards
Mammoth Brush Guards on the front of the Jeep keep, not just brush, but anything big and hard from hitting the headlights or front fascia. They’re made of thick steel. Get the kind that extends all the way across the front of the Jeep.
Bikini Top
No, the bikini top has nothing to do with ladies swimwear. Sitting in the sun in your Jeep gets hot. A bikini top stretches between the roll bar and the windshield and provides shade for the driver and front seat passenger.
Lift kit and really big tires
Lift kits raise the body of the Wrangler up to four inches higher. Wrangler owners install lift kits in order to use bigger tires and increase off-road capabilities. A simple kit consists of spacers between the axles and the leaf springs, extended shocks and coil spring/strut spacers. A more sophisticated kit may contain replacement control arms and trailing arms and custom four-link systems. It may be necessary to modify the drive shaft, brake lines and steering geometry and handling on regular roads may be reduced. With a lift kit, you can fit tires as big as 39×14.50-17.
Finally, real dirt and mud from somewhere most people wouldn’t go without a guide. Dents are a plus, as long as they didn’t come from a parking lot encounter. So is an expression that says you always drive your Jeep and that you don’t have a Toyota Camry parked in the garage. Even better is a spouse in the passenger seat who looks like they totally approve of your choice of rides.
You can find a bargain on Jeep Wranglers in any used car lot on klosters.com.au. Why aren’t you driving one right now?
