A Boring Back Story

~skip to install

A revelation somehow came upon me while I was driving my non-AC'd 1976 GMC that I'd inherited from my grandfather:  I've been practically driving the same truck since I was 9 years old back on his farm in Louisiana.  Sure I'd kept it up to a degree, dropping in a nice new shiny engine, a tranny, getting it repainted, etc., but the upkeep was wearing on me, and let's just say it really only attracted an older male crowd, so I decided to pass it on to someone who would appreciate it more.

But that meant I had to do the unthinkable and decide on a new vehicle.  So what does a highly Jeep-involved person like I do?  The coolness factor of a (lifted) Jeep can't be beat- driving down the street or trail, sans top or doors, leg out, waving to the other Wranglerites as they pass.  But we have plenty of Jeeps, and I knew secretly inside I couldn't put it on the rocks like my compadres.  Besides, I have fun doing what I do for our outfit and if I was caravanning, who would spot or take the pics?  So I had to figure out another type of vehicle based not on anything like mileage, safety factors, handling, but on sheer looks.  I finally decided on a 2003 Nissan Xterra for the looks, lines, and liftabilty that I desired.

I was able to get the color and 4x4 that I wanted here in Phoenix from a lovely lady named Rose, who left my X smelling pertty for a long time after.  And I was able to sell my truck to a way awesome Christian guy and his dad too.  I immediately knew I liked him when he asked if I got the idea for my FYRPRUF license from the Pillar song.  No one's put two and two together that far and some people would just ask if I was a fireman or sold asbestos.  He and his dad, a retired pastor, were extremely excited about the truck and their plans on what to do to it.  The day before I got their check, I had a guy stop me on the street and yell, "Where are the signs?!?"  It took forever for me to figure out he was asking about the For Sale's I used to have in the windows.  I told him I had already sold it to a father son team and he was like "Phew. I was worried you sold it to someone else. Jake's meeting you tomorrow."  He didn't get that the father/son wasn't in relation to him.  When I told him he let loose a storm of "oh-no's" and expletives even grabbing at his head repeatedly which I watched in fascinated wonder.  Anyway, he offered more for the truck, but somehow it wasn't about money to me.  Silly as it sounds, I wanted the truck to have a good home and I knew the other two could do that and appreciated it more.

So that's the back story, hope you're still with me, because we're about to say goodbye to stock forever, starting with the silly trinkets like mudflaps, pontoon steps and move right along into getting this baby off the van humping ground.

-You'll notice from the install pics, the first thing I did was get rid of the fugly "plus-sign" rims and replace them with some off a supercharged X.