blistovmhz
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Vancouver, BC
This is not at all a build thread, just information and ideal gathering.
After 25 years of accident free driving, my room mate rear ended my XJ on Saturday. The spare carrier popped the hatch, and while there's no uni-damage, finding a hatch locally is sorta stupid. There's a Jeep wrecker that gets first dibs on all 98+ XJ's, and he wants $400 for his worst condition hatch. I figure given the jeep climate here, I'd be far better off to just buy a decent condition pre-97 and swap everything over. I'd have to re-do all my plating/stiffening/armor, but ultimately for the $1000 for the new older XJ, and a couple hundy for steel, I could gut the new XJ and make most of my money back anyway.
The other obvious answer though would be to just call this a blessing in disguise and chop the hatch off. It'd be a lot of work to swap everything over to another shell, considering all the plating that'd have to go in, so I'm not even sure if truggying the rear would be any more work than a swap.
That said, I've got a few questions on truggy's, as well as a few idea's I'd like input on.
First off, here's my current build:
98 XJ, 5.3L/4l65e, build d30/44, 4w disc, unibody stiffened and plated almost throughout. Rear is sprung on 63" chevy leafs, which are mounted a few inches forward of the stock front mounts, and between the uni and the big bumper on the back.
I hate the rear end of the XJ simply because of the poor visibility (especially in the dark while wheeling in the rain). I'd really like to have the back window right behind the rear seats so I can see what's going on behind me.
That said, I can't find a 98+ hatch to weld in, and mine is destroyed, so I'd have to find something else. A pre-97 I'm sure could be done, but it seems silly to use a fiberglass hatch when I could instead weld something in to provide additional torsional rigidity. I'd also be doing an exo at the same time though, so not sure it matters.
But, I'd really like the rear to open and I remember I really liked the old GMC Jimmy S15 hatch glass (glass is essentially isolated from the body, and lifts up like a tiny hatch). I figure this setup would be ideal as it could be left open while wheeling, while still providing protection from the rain for rear passengers.
What other weld in hatch options would give me a rear window that opens?
For the structure, I was thinking I'd probably remove the back half of the wheel wells as I need to extend them back anyway to accommodate my axle location and tires (and future 37+), so I was thinking it'd make sense to simply figure out where I'm burning in the "hatch", and cut the floor and walls out completely all the way back, and build a box ground up with something beefy enough to withstand the rocks/trees, while also providing more stiffening.
Also considering fuel tank location. I'd LOVE to move it up some, but I'm already short on gear and spare tire room as it is, and I want MORE rear visibility, not less. I figure if I was real ****in' smart about it, I might be able to raise the fuel tank a few inches and build a new floor over top, then build a full width/length drawer over top, only a few inches high. That'd probably be a more efficient use of space for tools and recovery gear. Once that was done, I'd cage it from the rear bumper up over the roof, and try to find a way to mount a full size spare, without completely blocking my view.
Thoughts on this?
Also, anyone got interior shots of their setups? Not much posted on interiors post-chop.
After 25 years of accident free driving, my room mate rear ended my XJ on Saturday. The spare carrier popped the hatch, and while there's no uni-damage, finding a hatch locally is sorta stupid. There's a Jeep wrecker that gets first dibs on all 98+ XJ's, and he wants $400 for his worst condition hatch. I figure given the jeep climate here, I'd be far better off to just buy a decent condition pre-97 and swap everything over. I'd have to re-do all my plating/stiffening/armor, but ultimately for the $1000 for the new older XJ, and a couple hundy for steel, I could gut the new XJ and make most of my money back anyway.
The other obvious answer though would be to just call this a blessing in disguise and chop the hatch off. It'd be a lot of work to swap everything over to another shell, considering all the plating that'd have to go in, so I'm not even sure if truggying the rear would be any more work than a swap.
That said, I've got a few questions on truggy's, as well as a few idea's I'd like input on.
First off, here's my current build:
98 XJ, 5.3L/4l65e, build d30/44, 4w disc, unibody stiffened and plated almost throughout. Rear is sprung on 63" chevy leafs, which are mounted a few inches forward of the stock front mounts, and between the uni and the big bumper on the back.
I hate the rear end of the XJ simply because of the poor visibility (especially in the dark while wheeling in the rain). I'd really like to have the back window right behind the rear seats so I can see what's going on behind me.
That said, I can't find a 98+ hatch to weld in, and mine is destroyed, so I'd have to find something else. A pre-97 I'm sure could be done, but it seems silly to use a fiberglass hatch when I could instead weld something in to provide additional torsional rigidity. I'd also be doing an exo at the same time though, so not sure it matters.
But, I'd really like the rear to open and I remember I really liked the old GMC Jimmy S15 hatch glass (glass is essentially isolated from the body, and lifts up like a tiny hatch). I figure this setup would be ideal as it could be left open while wheeling, while still providing protection from the rain for rear passengers.
What other weld in hatch options would give me a rear window that opens?
For the structure, I was thinking I'd probably remove the back half of the wheel wells as I need to extend them back anyway to accommodate my axle location and tires (and future 37+), so I was thinking it'd make sense to simply figure out where I'm burning in the "hatch", and cut the floor and walls out completely all the way back, and build a box ground up with something beefy enough to withstand the rocks/trees, while also providing more stiffening.
Also considering fuel tank location. I'd LOVE to move it up some, but I'm already short on gear and spare tire room as it is, and I want MORE rear visibility, not less. I figure if I was real ****in' smart about it, I might be able to raise the fuel tank a few inches and build a new floor over top, then build a full width/length drawer over top, only a few inches high. That'd probably be a more efficient use of space for tools and recovery gear. Once that was done, I'd cage it from the rear bumper up over the roof, and try to find a way to mount a full size spare, without completely blocking my view.
Thoughts on this?
Also, anyone got interior shots of their setups? Not much posted on interiors post-chop.
