help a newb. got a free JGC Laredo 4x4 2day runs great

[brobins75]

This is my first step into this world of off road, so i dont know much of anything! please bear with me, i learn quick.

Im a fairly handy guy and always seem to figure stuff out in due time, but im no professional mechanic. Ive always had new vehicles and never did any mods or improvements except electronics & car pc's. I do work on boat engines a lot, so i have some clue. but I always liked those lifted up mud trucks and the like (dont know proper terminology yet).

I got a free 93 jgc laredo 4x4 today! I had an ad on a classified website for a couple months asking for a free jeep, and it finally happened today. It runs great and feels strong. 4 wheel works fine. it has some minor cosmetic problems and the power windows dont work (off track in the down position), front bumper missing, busted headlight although it works-its kinda hanging there. But all in all its great for free.

A couple questions: i keep reading about zj or wj. how do i know what i have?

next, Im gonna need to do something about the bumper. What are my choices? I saw some for sale that looked like they replace the original bumper and look really rugged with brush guards & room for winches. Do these replace the original bumper? Id rather just go right for it and buy something like that instead of getting an oem bumper anyway.

Lifiting-- I really want to do this. I know practically nothing except it looks cool. hope thats not too lame! I see really cheap products called coil spacers, and some budget suspension kits for a few hundred bucks. I dont even know what a decent amount of lift is? I wanna go cheap for now, but I could swing a couple hundred bucks. Im not necessarily gonna do any serious off-road yet, I wanna play around first and decide if I wanna sink money into it later. What should I go with? I wanna put bigger tires on it too.

any other ideas or help would be appreciated. Thanks.

[TwistedCopper]

What paper did you put the ad in? I might have ask for a few things

YOu have a ZJ. You can clear 31" tires with a 2" LIFT (COIL SPACER OR SPRINGS WHATEVER YOU CAN AFFORD)

[pinaplebob]

Yes for the most parts...the rugged bumpers are out there you just have to search. There are a bunch of sites out there that will give you pretty much everything you need off of on site. When ordering the bumpers I would think about the idea of a winch, if you are planning on installing one in the future, you may as well get a bumper with the bracket to hold one as it will save you time and money in the long run. Installing them isn't bad, just a bunch of bolts and a couple of beers and possibly a friend.

I would go with what you can afford as far as a lift, like twisted said, coil spacers get the job done for the small $$. But you can get up into a grand for a full kit.

I would try a couple of sites in links, or just search... 4wd offroad, quadratech...are two of the sites i use but a lot of parts are cheaper if shop around. Also both sites will send out a free catalog, so sign up and list your jeep... I'm not a big fan of ebay as there is a lot of junk parts on there....so if you do find something on ebay be sure a check it out real good as i've been burned by one size fits all parts and what not.

good luch and congrats.