The Oatmobile!

First off, I would like to apologise for my recent hiatus of posting on the blog. I have had many things going on recently that has required me to put the blog on the back burner for a little while and for that I am sorry. Expect things to pick back up to their normal pace shortly!!


This post is introducing a new subject matter for this blog: Automobiles. In particular, the concept of the bug out vehicle. A bug out vehicle (in theory) is a vehicle that is suited to your environment that is able to go anywhere and do anything that is required of it in order to get you (and your loved ones) out of harm's way in the event of some sort of catastrophe, be it economic downfall, extreme weather, rioting, terrorism, zombies (if you subscribe to that mindset), etc... the list is never ending.

As of recent, when I have seen articles or pictures of bug out vehicles, they seem to be the newest model vehicles outfitted with the latest and greatest, most expensive aftermarket parts, 40 inch tires, gun mounts, air compressors, LED light bars etc. With all of these things combined, you are left with not only a purpose built vehicle, but one that is not suited for driving around on a daily basis. If you are the type of person with the income to support having purpose built vehicles like this then that is all fine and dandy, it is just not for me.

If you know me in real life you would know that I do not refer to my Jeep as a "bug out vehicle", instead I think that it is a semi-capable offroader (which will get more capable in subsequent posts). Building vehicles for off roading and for bugging out kind of go hand in hand so I wanted to start a series of posts showing the progress I make on my daily driven 1998 Jeep Cherokee known from here on out as the Oatmobile! As you know I am all about finding deals and saving money so I will be showing you many D.I.Y. projects and great components that will not break the bank throughout this build so stay tuned!


The Oatmobile;

The Oatmobile is a green 1998 Jeep Cherokee 4-door, 4.0L in line 6 cylinder, automatic (unfortunately) 4X4 with a tan interior. I picked it up about two years ago with about 125,000 miles on the clock and I got a great deal on it because it needed quite a bit of work. The front brush guard and Cragar Black D Window wheels were already on it when I purchased it, but all four tires were mismatched and two were worn down to the steel belts so that was the first order of business after getting the engine, transmission, and differentials running reliably. I purchased four Goodyear Wranglers and had them mounted and installed and over the last year they have been wearing evenly and riding smoothly, on and off road.

The suspension is all stock for now and with close to 160,000 miles on it as of the time of this writeup, it is showing its age and ready to be upgraded! Look for that in the upcoming months as well as some more projects!