New to Dover Air Force Base

Good morning Delaware.

My name is Patrick and my wife and I moved to Dover AFB last January. Previously from Minnesota, we're both outdoor adventurers and we get a high from offroading. My wife has the Jeep bug BAAAD, she's owned three Cherokees in 5 years. Her first XJ was a red 4 door '96 with a 4.0L and automatic. We lifted it while in college with a Rusty's short arm 4.5" kit and wheeled it with 33's for the longest time. Unfortunately we sold it just before we moved here to cut down on how many vehicles we brought to Dover. Once we got here we found another XJ in PA for $400 with a knocking 4.0L and began rebuilding that engine into a 4.7L stroker. It was an '89 and the RENIX fuel injection system was a mess to work with IMO, so we sold it and found a '98 XJ with the same knocking problem and a blown head gasket. A few months later we had the engine swap completed and the 4.7L stroker was dyno'd at 197rwhp and 299.7rwtq! The '98 XJ is still rocking the stock suspension until later this summer when we'll build a 4" long arm lift into the suspension and trim the fenders for 35's. I already have matching 6-lug Dana 44's with limited slips and 4.30 gears for it, so the D30 and Chry 8.25" will be pulled.

My main wheeling truck is a '96 Sonoma. Once formerly a 4.3L V6, automatic, 2wd... is now a 5.7L LS1 that I built a 4L65E for, manual NP241 transfer case and 3/4 ton axles from an F250. Dana 44 front, Dana 60 rear just strong enough to hold up to 37x12.50 Nitto Trail Grapplers. The 6ft bed took a beating one year in MN and was converted to a partial roll cage and flat bed housing dual AGM batteries and a 24gal fuel cell where the spare tire once was. This has been my money pit for almost 10 years. I built a custom winch bumper for the front out of 2" and 1.5" DOM, and plated the bumper with 0.200" bullet proof tank armor. You know...for when the zombies start shooting back. It houses my 12k pound winch, power steering and tranny coolers.

Anyways, we're going to be stationed here for a few more years so I hope to meet a bunch of you and I look forward to finding out about more DE wheeling trips. Feel free to hit me up if you need any assistance with roll cage fabrication or need any PCM tuned with HPTuners. I work the 7-3:30 as an IT guy in Dover so normally my afternoons and weekends are free to off-road projects and tuning.

-Patrick

Quote from Kuntryboy816

Welcome to Delaware! There's a bunch of great people on this forum. Looking forward to meeting you and the wife. Your truck sounds pretty awesome so post up some pics!!

You have a pretty good place to work on both of y'alls rigs since DAFB has that hobby shop/garage! I'm still trying to get my brother and cousin to get me into the shop down there some day. They are both in the Delaware Air National Guard. My cousin is a welder/fabricator yet I've been waiting for over a year for him to weld up my front bumper mounts.

Hey Jeremy,

The base does have a hobby shop but I only go there when I need a lift/alignment rack or it's just too darn cold to work in the driveway lol. The prices for DIY service there are a little more than I'm willing to pay since I can do 95% of the same stuff out of my garage.

If you ever end up making it to the Dover coffee meets I've heard about, I'd be glad to look at your welding needs. I accept payments in the form of Jack Daniels.

Thanks for the welcome's.

PLEASE PM me when we figure out the dates and times/locations of the coffee shop meets. I'd be glad to go.