In only a matter of weeks, we were the proud owners of a 1998 Chevy Tahoe, all the options and 36,000 apparently gentle miles. Now six months later, I suffer from "four-by envy." What bothers me the most? The fact that it looks like every other SUV in the parking lot.

I am NOT a Soccer Mom; in fact, with a 10-year old son only months from his Black Belt, I am quite proud to be a devoted Karate Mom. So, I need appropriate wheels to express the jump-the-curb, take-the-gravel-shortcut, haul-the-bulky-messy-stuff side of my life! Time for Karate Mom to Kick It into high gear, literally.
The upgrades we will be dealing with in this build up -

Exterior

• While the black & silver paint is classy looking, we live on a gravel road, so it really didn't have a chance. It needs some bold striping or two-toning, to play down the permanent level of red dust, as well as hide lots of greasy little fingerprints around door handles.
• Factory wheels and tires ALWAYS look better in the eyes of the factory; these have to go. And soon, since the tires are essentially bald. I'm thinking steel directional….
• Which will be set off nicely when we Kick It 5 - 6" taller. Body and/or suspension lift will of course be the first stop. I'm tall enough, and the kid can jump…
• Once we're riding high, we'll need to be able to do just that little extra CRUNCH when some idiot rear-ends us - one of our favorite additions is always a sturdy set of bumpers.
• And while I'm not particularly fond of many of the aftermarket gadgets people glue or bolt on their poor rigs, we're seeing a lot of paint chips, so we'll be shopping for a good option for paint protection on the hood and behind fenders.
• Roof rack - gotta go. Ditto with the plastic running boards.

Interior

• We were wise enough when we originally bought the truck to have high standards for the interior. There are indeed cup holders hidden everywhere, and the leather bucket seats have more controls than NASA programs in the space shuttle. Tinted windows and air vents all around, power everything, very comfortable for long trips or jumping in and out while running errands in town. The only problem we've found so far is the carpet isn't high-traffic friendly.

  We've considered standard floor carpet or rubber pads, but just haven't found anything that protects the entire area - we'll be looking at several options.

Under the Hood

Braking/Suspension

In this case, the official line is: "Description of Defect: One or both front brake rotor/hubs were built with out-of-specification gray iron that can fail during the life of the vehicle. Consequence of Defect: If a driver continues to drive with a cracked rotor, the cracks could continue around the wheel mounting bolt circle and ultimately result in a wheel separation. Corrective Action: Dealers will inspect the rotors for a core date of "287" and, if found, replace the rotor." With the larger tires and lift we are considering, and future towing we will be using this vehicle for, we will be putting even more stress on the braking system. We will be looking at this immediately -- starting with a visit to our dealer to see if our VIN is part of the recall batch, and if it had been corrected by the previous owner. That will get us through to a point where we can beef it up for future use.

So, for all you men who are lucky enough to have a true "Jeep Chick", congrats. For those of you who are divorced because the little woman made you choose between crawling off-road and crawling into bed with her, I can't help you. But for those of you with someone in between, stay tuned! We'll be tackling this project all summer from a woman's perspective, with lots of men to provide the required amount of cursing and technical tips. Targeted completion - January 2001.