lol, been there, done that....
I wanted a truck (or a sports car or Jeep Wrangler) for my first vehicle. Sports car got a hard NO. All the Wranglers around here at the time were out of my price range even for used. I ended up with a truck (the 2000 Ranger in my siggy), brand new and made payments on my own. I too got the song and dance about breaking things by going off-road. And I ventured off the beaten path enough times to find out that I liked it enough that I needed a 4x4. I had thought about lowering my Ranger for awhile, but since I often used the truck as a truck (hauling/towing), lowering just seemed like a bad idea. So it stayed relatively close to stock.
But I was laying in wait and learning what I could about working on trucks. I was 19 when I bought my second truck, without bothering to notify my parents. I talked a friend of the family into letting me keep the truck at his place and helping me work on it, then I conned my best friend into helping me go fetch my new toy and tow it back behind my Ranger. And thus, I aquired "Sh!tbrick," my 1988 Bronco II for $340. I fixed it up enough to be inspected and driveable, then much to my gf's dismay at the time, I insisted on driving it around (it ticked, lol). My parents had a fit when they found out I had it, and when the engine ate a couple valves, they tried to force me to sell it. Yea, years later it still decorates the driveway, lol.
By then I had gained a good bit of knowledge for working on trucks, and proceeded to purchase my choptop. A 2wd that the previous owner (and former TRS member) cracked a head on the motor. $160 and I towed it home. Well, actually to the family friend's place, lol. When dad found out, he was a bit upset, and I calmly informed him that he should be glad I decided I liked working on trucks and going off-roading instead of embracing the passion my dad had when he was my age. (He bought a souped-up Roadrunner and hid it at a friend's house and used it to race around, then he later got a sport bike and would fly around on that too.) Dad grumbled for awhile then started pointing out Bronco IIs for sale....
So then I came across a member on TRS selling his 86 BII for $240. I bought it for parts and it's axles now reside under my choptop. My parents were upset for a little while over that one as well, but when I had finally got my choptop put together and driveable and brought it home from the friend's place, there was no real complaints.
Then I bought an 89 Bronco II Eddie Bauer from a junkyard for $250 with a clean title (they got it and were promptly going to crush it, I arrived just in time) when I was away at college and made friends with the owner. Spent a lot of spare time up there swapping stories with the guys at the yard and working on my "new" BII. When I moved home from college, I sold the BII. My parents knew I had it, but didn't bother to complain about it, it wouldn't have done any good.
With the influx of funds from the sale, my choptop finally grew. And my dad finally admitted that he was impressed with what I had been able to accomplish.
Then he screamed bloody murder when my 89 Ranger arrived on a flatbed.... ($200, I've now covered that expense by selling parts from it, had a bad frame)
And this year I bought an F-150 out of necessity for work, and added it to the collection. I was supposed to part with my 88 in order to get the F-150, but the 88 is still stuck in the driveway behind a large pile of stone.
And also this year I think I've finally managed to corrupt my dad. We now have 6 lawn tractors here. Three run, three are junk, of the three junk, one gave up it's motor to fix one of the others, and the two others have good motors and not much else. Mom has given up, lol.
Hopefully though, before the snow flies, I intend to clean up the driveway. I'm hoping to be able to open up my own driveway and move everything but my F-150 over there (just down the street from my parent's house). And next year I hope to be building my garage/shop, with a loft area to live in. The main complaint has been that I have the driveway packed full of trucks, although my collection accounts for just over half of the trucks here. (There's a '79 F-150 in the garage in mint condition, an '89 F-350 dump, a '94 F-350 dump, and an '02 Explorer in the driveway too, plus dad is looking at getting a F-250 extended cab diesel). I think the issue is that they need room to park a 5-th wheel and want me to provide room, lol.
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