What was your biggest mod mistake

Hi all,

I suppose we've all done it--you know, spend bucks on a modification we thought made sense at the time, only to discover later that it was...ahem...a really dumb thing to do. I know it might be embarrassing, but I was wondering what everyone else has done to their Jeeps that in retrospect wasn't such a good idea. For me, it was adding an additional leaf to the rear springs. For reasons that escape me now, I really thought an additional leaf would let me haul much heavier loads without the box riding on the axle. Wrong, and a waste of money.

Erik
88 Comanche

It has to be the Slick Tires!



hinkley

"SUPER" 35 kit. much happier with the 8.8

My worst mod was wheeling with Richard Gauthier (Goatman).

He's a bad influence.....

CRASH

P.S. And using a tire with the Interco name on the side. Thank god that only lasted two years.

excellent topic!

I swear, there is not bandwidth available for me to relate all the monkey-ass things I've done over the years, yet each mistake was paramount to arriving where I am now.

rolling my first jeep was the best thing that ever happened. I dumped some parts from that and great energy into the glass tub cj-6. Everything about that rig was a mistake, but I gained a TON of real wrenchin and fabbing experience.

It is a long process, and there are no short cuts....none. No amount of web wheeling or bookmarking tech write-ups can fast-track you to the same place making mistakes and learning from those mistakes takes you.

Anyone who doesn't have a long list of these is either afraid to admit them, or hasn't learned anything. I know I am speaking in general terms, and you may be interested in specifics, but like I said, my list is too long.

Putting rubberized undercoating under the body. I'm not sure it's considered a mod, but it sure was a mistake to add. I'm going to try the herculiner since the rubber undercoating is letting water through and rusting some parts. It's a pain trying to remove. A big mistake!

$300 bucks on a Jacobs ignition.

Spending money twice!! Not holding out for the part you REALLY
want hoping the part you bought would work............just to
replace it later..........cuz, that other part s*cked!!

$300 bucks on a Jacobs ignition.

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OH DEAR GAWD. I almost forgot about that one.

I also fell victim to their advertising. What a jackass I was.

CRASH

The snorkel, I think, tops them all. Finally took it off and sold it,now I've got a big friggin' hole in my fender where it used to be,along with the bolt holes where it was mounted.

A distant second would be waiting until the week before a big trail ride,then trying to build my winch bumper without any forward planning:anon: I *thought* that I'd just be burning precious time by planning it out,and just decided to "go with the flow". It looks like a$$,but it works. I'll be rebuilding it very soon (with a game plan this time )!

Buying anything pre-made that can be easily made with a welder, and some patience. Screw drop brackets too, and front TJ flares.

CRASH said:

OH DEAR GAWD. I almost forgot about that one.

I also fell victim to their advertising. What a jackass I was.

CRASH

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Yeah, they got me too :anon:

How about "inchitis"

5 lifts,4 sets of tires,4 sets of shocks,3 sets of rims,2 trackbars,3 sets of control arms!!! Ive only got 17k miles on it!!!!

I wasted 1/2 a Saturday designing, welding, grinding, shaping a bracket to mount a small form factor driving/fog light on my pitman arm. I figured it would be cool for the light beam to turn when I turned the steering wheel. Should have noticed that the pitman arm goes the opposite direction from the tires :anon:

Should have noticed that the pitman arm goes the opposite direction from the tires

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Now that is some funny shiat!

CRASH

Paying someone to install an ARB in my 35C 'cause I fell for the advertising, and tried to save a buckShould have called Currie 1st, oh well....3 grand down the hole.
KC lites would be the next one....cheap rusty pieces of crap.

Having rear leafs rebent cause i was to cheap to buy new ones.


a bunch more.

Rev

Original Equipment Mopar ALUMINUM NERF BARS :laugh2: :laugh2: :laugh2:

I thought, my what a great deal, clearance priced for only $86.

One good wheeling trip later and I knew they had to be replaced.

I think I would have done better with the old style curb feelers that my parents had on their 1970 Ford Econoline Van!

I have since seen the light and replaced them with AJ's rock rails.

Kevin

LMFAO I have a long list...not just including Jeeps mind ya...

I think the butchery started back when I could toddle well enough to escape adult supervision for more than 30 seconds.

I recall that 24" Schwinn Varsity 10 speed frame/ fork is a BAD platform to start a BMX chassis, and those old Bernz-o-Matic torch kits (with the oxy pellets) aren't near as good as oxy/acety.

From the early MJ Jeeping days... don't rock your Jeep off the jackstands onto your only good jack, and don't be very far under it if you do.

Brazing a cracked stubshaft yoke ear is a waste of gas and time.

Mounting hydro shocks with the can up makes for a bouncy ride.

That's just a glimpse into the 'process' angle... but I've been pretty lucky with making good investments in parts/accesories, and them working as expected...But:

I bent the crap out of GRNT's old Draw-Tite front receiver hitch...LOL lasted maybe 4 hours at Tellico. Spent about that much time installing it and then removing it/trying to straighten the mounts back out. $100 / 8 = $12.50 per hour of enjoyment. With careful use, It was a beefy alternative to tow hooks, but I ain't careful.

Tera revolver shackles were a PITA to install, didn't do a thing for my XJ, and were a worse PITA to remove a few months later. I won them for maybe $20 in tix and then sold them for $75 IIRC, so it wasn't all that bad a learnin thing.

Buying a rockkrawler lift!!!


But at least I learned the lesson "If you want it done right...do it yourself!" And some help from friends.

My biggest mistake was buying the junk in my sig and replacing just about everything, then buying the Tornado shit, maxing my credit cards(rebuild engine, swap axles, tranny, TC, doors) and being in debt.

ravi