Jeff Adams has never been afraid to open the hood of a Jeep and get his hands greasy.

The Pinckney junior has devoted the past year to working on a ’99 Jeep Wrangler Sport.

He has given it new axles, a new front bumper, 36-inch tires, new rims and steering linkage.

His reason? Off-roading.

“I’ve driven it up walls and have come close to flipping it,” Adams said. “Most regular Jeeps could never make it in the places we go.”

Adams and his friends go off-roading almost every weekend at a 200-acre park in Harrison with woods, trails, mud holes, roads and valleys.

He even built an off-roading course in his hometown backyard out of 27 tons of boulders and rocks.

“I’ve climbed rocks at least four feet,” Adams said. “This Jeep has been so dirty, you couldn’t see the colors.”

Other off-roaders

Adams is one of a handful of students who regularly works on cars Thursday nights in the Engineering and Technology Building.

Jonesville senior Frank Weyer joins him and is working on a 2000 Dodge Dakota.

He plans on swapping the axles with one-ton axles from a truck so it will be better for off-roading.

Weyer said he was inspired after he saw what Adams did with his Jeep.

“I’ve been interested in cars since I was 10,” Weyer said. “When you work on cars, you know what went into it and, if something goes wrong, you can fix it yourself.”

Adams has obsessed over off-roading since he was in high school after his parents gave him a Jeep Grand Cherokee.

“Once I discovered off-roading, it was another way to get my blood rolling,” Adams said. “I’m kind of an adrenaline junkie.”

He has owned a total of three Jeeps and has built up every one.

Adams said Jeeps are the best vehicles people can buy for off-roading.

His girlfriend and Pinckney sophomore Elyse Kinker said Adams and his friends are obsessed with working on cars.

“Jeff knows everything there is to know about Jeeps,” she said. “Because of Jeff, I know more about Jeeps than any of my friends.”

E-mail the author: Joe Borlik