www.iFourWinns.com

Hey Kmack
I just realized
you're the guy from Jeepforum
right?
the whole story came together, someone hit the '05, sadly they totalled it, then you got a white WK-2 Hemi!
Well the white one I found, (2021, $38K) I think someone tried to steal it or break in, I found scratches and dings all above the driver's door on the roof. So didn't buy that one. Still driving my old '07 which only has 123,000 on it. Mechanically it is in excellent shape, everything works, in the last year I did the AC evap, radiator and water pump. No noises, whines, etc. Problem is rust is starting in the rockers, it is a common problem up here in the north east, very damp climate and road salt in winter.
It isn't that bad yet, and it can be fixed with out too much trouble. I may do it when I get done with the other project, my old '98 Grand. That is even more rusted! It really needs help!

Good luck with the WK-II Hemi. They are very nice vehicles. I'm keeping my eyes open for one still.

While our climate is bad for vehicle rust and wood rot in boats, we have plenty of water, lol. Besides the tides, there is never a lack of boating areas, until it gets too cold (November).....
If I was more daring I could get in our FW, drive out thru Huntington Bay Long Island, drive across the Sound and wind up in Stamford, Ct in about 45 min.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Yep, that's me! The new WK2 has way more bells/whistles than I'm used to. And it does not have the air suspension on it!

Now...If I can just find a water spot big enough to drop our H180 into....

_________________
1999 180 Horizon OB Fisherman Pkg
2013 Grand Cherokee 4x4 w/ 5.7 Hemi
San Antonio, TX

Lol
we got plenty!
Long Island Sound (stretches from NY Harbor all the way to Montauk about 100 miles)
The Great South Bay, Fire Island, Jones Beach Island
My local boating areas are Northport Bay, Huntington Bay and Lloyd Harbor

Then we have nice Jeep trails on Fire Island and Jones Beach Island
but, it's NY, NY prices, NY winters, etc.

glad you didn't get the air suspension, it's nice when the Jeep is new but after a few years, it gets to be an expensive headache. And even though they brag about the Trailhawk being able to lift 2", it is stiff as all get out at that height. You'd be better off with a 2" Medium Duty OME spring and shock lift.
Check out the OEM prices for those air springs. Insane. There are aftermarket air springs though for less. I watched a vid of a guy who replaced the air springs with regular springs (I think he was in Texas as well) on you tube, it was NOT simple, or easy by any means.

I have a feeling I'm going to wind up with a Wrangler next. Wanting a more traditional Jeep, seperate frame and live axles...

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

^^ You had me until you said "winter"....

I grew up in deep, South TX...me and "winter" have a love/hate relationship.
I love to look at snow, but I hate to be out in the cold (less than 50*F)!

(Our high temp yesterday here in San Antonio was 96*F...we had a cold front blow thru! )

_________________
1999 180 Horizon OB Fisherman Pkg
2013 Grand Cherokee 4x4 w/ 5.7 Hemi
San Antonio, TX

Here's a little winter story for you....
so right before Christmas last year my WK will not go into gear, engine starts, runs, but won't go into gear. I hook up my scanner and it's giving me a low hydraulic pressure code. So I do some reading and find out that on the 545RFE the primary filter can clog, or the can filter can get loose either way you lose hydraulic pressure and trans won't go into gear. I decide to try to change the trans fluid in my driveway. Well it's 30* out. I just turned 67 years old! And I'm still doing this! Tried sucking out the fluid with my vacuum pump for the boat, too damn cold. So put a heat gun under the trans pan, that worked, got most of it out. Got the job done, didn't break any of those little 8mm bolts, started it up and wonder of wonders, it is fine again! But doing a trans oil change on your back, in 30 degree weather, not so fun!

Probably 20 years before that, my brother in law had a '94 Wrangler. He calls me and tells me something is wrong with his brakes. It is January in NY, it is 20 degrees out. Snow on the ground. He gets the Jeep home. I pull off a front wheel and what happened was the cheapskates at Jeep used this crappy composite rotor, steel hat welded to cast iron rotor. Well, the rust broke the hat loose from the rotor so no brakes. Had to take off the caliper, rotor just fell off, then to get the rusted on hat off. PB Blaster, sledge hammer etc. B-I-L gets a propane torch. I say...PB is flammable. He uses it any way and starts a little fire lol. Laughing like fools we dump snow on it. About an Hr later I got that damn hat off and installed a full cast iron rotor. Then did the other side. By then my hands were frozen.
Ah, life in NY in winter
My best friend moved to AZ when he retired, then a couple of years ago move to TX near Lake Nachadoches. Maybe one day I'll get out of here!!!!

But summer boating here is GREAT.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

So the temps here in TX finally cooled off enough for us to go camping again at Canyon Lake (highs in the upper 90's, but still a "feels Like" above 100). The water level is now listed as 18 feet low. The below photo link is looking across the cove from our campsite to the closed boat ramp. You can easily see where the water is supposed to be up to.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ADCreHdMJi2KdjZxPMi9IbOVeMg9Sr9G_M-dnD4jNNIG2xeXdmp6lTR7ZLyjGRxLdZUyXnl8IYud4yIov_xFFJK3Vep2kXNTFupdMAoufeumltmIXN6rKXiJ=w2400

This second photo link was taken looking back towards the main body of the lake, but from the bank about 8' down from conservation pool level.

https://lh3.googleusercontent.com/pw/ADCreHe8EAdMk6CSulqHjUCSXH3pj5A4XU7UKwesPB5yoShNCdgNhG_c5ehcdeStyHY3XLOiba_qjQWByXRMywAkAizXEZIlotkpxUORC0w9nNS2wCEbWNKh=w2400

There were not many boats out on the water since access is extremely limited. This has been a sad summer here in TX.

Hope everyone has been able to enjoy some quality boating time.

_________________
1999 180 Horizon OB Fisherman Pkg
2013 Grand Cherokee 4x4 w/ 5.7 Hemi
San Antonio, TX

Here's a couple of pix of our beach community on the north shore of Long Island NY:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/n6x0x8do5iy7n ... h.JPG?dl=0

https://www.dropbox.com/s/lat6n4fyprj4k ... ..jpg?dl=0

all salt water, 6' water depth swing from high to low tides, but mostly deep water where we are...

however, in NY in winter, the water can get kinda hard lol, from my back deck....
https://www.dropbox.com/s/53fv0k4nc8yz6 ... w.jpg?dl=0

so we always have water, but it's salt water, hard on trailers and I/Os, and vehicles as well due to winter...however, it has been a great boating area all these years.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Not much happening here (or on this site it seems), but we did finally make it out to our boat to check up on it this weekend. Call me a bad boat parent, but a string of seemingly coincidental issues throughout last year has meant that our boat has not ran since April of 2023, and has not seen water since October of 2022! Between lack of tow vehicles, low batteries, low lake levels, and soaring TX heat temps, we just haven't made it to water yet.

Knowing that she hasn't ran since last April, I trekked out to the boat storage this past Saturday to take a gander on her condition. She was dusty and waiting for me. Property owner had apparently lost power to the covered storage area (unknowingly) so the battery level again was low. I had planned to just run her on the muffs, if she'd start, but ultimately decided to bring her home for a little check-up. Had to put the batteries on a reconditioning cycle with the battery charger over night and that seemed to work just enough for cranking on Sunday morning. Around 8:30 am on Sunday, she cranked and fired right up! (Yes my neighbors love me!!!) Nothing like the smell of a 2-stroke in the morning!

We have a our first camping trip for April this coming weekend, but the lake levels are still dangerously low. Canyon Lake is down to almost 22 feet low (60% capacity) and there are only 2 ramps (out of 22) that are accessible and for a fee. Medina Lake is down almost 92 feet (2.9% capacity) and you can't even see water from where our boat storage is located (we typically have water access). We might have to head over to the electrical power plant reservoirs just to get the hull wet!

Hope every one that has water has a great Spring and Summer! Keep the outside hull wet and keep the inside hull dry...

_________________
1999 180 Horizon OB Fisherman Pkg
2013 Grand Cherokee 4x4 w/ 5.7 Hemi
San Antonio, TX

Well this winter all we had was RAIN, RAIN AND MORE RAIN! But no snow. Didn't need to fire up the old Toro 2 stroke snowblower (Ole Smokey). Time to get the Jeeps ready for beach season and the boat ready for another Long Island summer. On the '07 I am going to get the OEM rims re-finished, the winters here are tough on alloys, and I have a new set of Duratracs to go on soon.
Boat, needs some upgrades, I have to rebuild at least one trim cylinder, needs a new fuse box, and in the fall I want to do some other upgrades (steering helm unit and steering cable, both are original) and add a remote oil filter.
Here's a lil tidbit of information, I went to the Nassau County Boat show, 99% of the boats are outboards now. But Four Winns is way up market. The closest to what we have, a 20' boat, with a 150 Merc outboard, was $77,000. And they go up from there. I don't know who buys them at those prices, if I were spending that much I'd get a real salt water boat (Steiger Craft 21 Miami with a 200 hp outboard) a 10-12 year old one is still like $40k.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

Hope every one had a great Independence Day holiday.

We spent it out at our favorite campground on Canyon Lake, but with the water level currently at 24' low there are only 2 ramps still open (out of 22 total); one of those they are trying frantically to extend during the week (open on weekends only). The unfortunate thing is they are both "pay" ramps: one charges $20 to launch/park, is open 7am-1pm (gates close), and they have a "capacity limit" but won't list what that capacity is; the other is a large marina-owned ramp and they are charging $30 just to launch & you have to find parking elsewhere outside of their gates (parking is reserved for marina slip renters & restaurant patrons).

Needless to say, we did not take our boat. We have officially been "out of the water" now for 21 months! Central Texas is pretty dry right now, and we just missed getting any rain from Hurricane Beryl. Hopefully, we can get another one to come barreling into the middle of the state instead of running North up the coastline.

We may have to make a run to the coast (2.5 hrs away) and put her in the salt H2O just to get her wet!

_________________
1999 180 Horizon OB Fisherman Pkg
2013 Grand Cherokee 4x4 w/ 5.7 Hemi
San Antonio, TX

I got our boat out on the mooring about a month ago, I had to rebuild both trim cylinders and replace the pistons as well because the end mounts had corroded from 20+ years of salt water use. I have been buying spare parts from fresh water regions & have a whole spare transom assembly; trim cylinders etc. Boat’s been running fine I now have 7 years on the top end overhaul I did back in 2017. Still driving my old 2007 Grand Cherokee 5.7….

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II

As most everyone has seen, Texas has been getting quite a bit of rain in the last 3-4 days. Since Sunday night thru this morning, I've had almost 6.5" at my house and we're still forecasted for more rain throughout the week. Local lakes are already starting to see a rise, although it doesn't look to be enough to get them up to conservation pool levels.

Canyon Lake - has already come up 4.5" in the last 36 hours, which for a 6,700+ acre lake is not bad, but still has another 23+ feet to go. This should increase substantially more in the next few days as supply rivers have been cresting over their banks, but haven't yet pushed into the lake fully.

Medina Lake - has come up 5' in just the last 24 hours. A little less than half the size of Canyon Lake this is really good news, but she was 94' feet low so there's a lot of ground to cover.

This is all good news!

_________________
1999 180 Horizon OB Fisherman Pkg
2013 Grand Cherokee 4x4 w/ 5.7 Hemi
San Antonio, TX

Glad your water levels are getting replenished. For us here in Long Island it’s pretty much the same as always; never any shortage of water but you have to be prepared for the tides as a regular thing. High tide every 12 hrs; 6 hrs from high to low & water depth changes by approx 6 feet. I have 11/12 feet in my mooring spot this year at high so even at low I’m able to get in and out easily. On the other hand I know people who have about 7/8 feet at high so that limits them to about 3 hrs before & 3 hrs after high tide….that, and unlike the south shore of LI which is all sand, the north shore has rocky areas that you have to be aware of and which are on marine charts. The 2 worst ones are right near the 2 main lighthouses around here Huntington Harbor Light & the Eatons Neck Lighthouse.

_________________
88 Four Winns 200 Horizon
4.3 OMC Cobra-4bbl
2002 Walker Bay 10/2012 Suzuki 2.5
2008 Walker Bay 8

1998 Jeep Grand Cherokee 4.0/Selectrac
2007 Jeep Grand Cherokee 5.7 Hemi/Quadradrive II