Just another buggy.....

oh crap i guess i'll do a build thread for my new pile....it wont be done soon, in fact it may take another 2 years but might as well start now.

I got tired of ripping full bodied rigs to pieces so after the death and partout of the waggy (and building her jeep) i finally got some time to start on my own.

The plan is mostly tube, no pesky body panels to replace when i lay it over into trees, lightweight, with enough go pedal to keep me happy.


drove around 1100 miles for my free jeep, steaks and beer were worth it, and the scary waffle house


got it home, cut all the shit off i didnt need


which ended up being a lot of it



then it sat for a long time while i scrounged up parts, mostly from peoples junk piles, so the prices have been alright :thumbup:

scrounged a used 4.0 for a few bucks out of a 2000 headed for the scrapper, also an aw4 and an sye'd 231 followed be home later


then it all sat again for a few months until this week. I took a week off over christmas to start working on it for good this time, so i dragged it into work and did more cutting and ended here




Your probably wondering at this point why i didnt start by building a chassis. My reasoning is less work and design overall. since the drivetrain is stock cherokee it all fits in, and a lot of off the shelf parts are used, making it easier to keep it running if i need stuff in the boonies. Plus it has a dash, a floor, a firewall and a basic straight frame already, which should really accelerate the building process.

drivetrain mocked up

then i noticed i left a motor mount at home so i did this for awhile


slid the front under it for fun...it will be a narrowed f250 hp44 but i havent done any narrowing yet


not much yet


set the head and valve cover on the motor and started tacking in the hdoffroad frame plating


these things are so much easier without the rest of the body in the way


only had to take a bit off the mid stiffeners



done for today...maybe doing crossmembers tomorrow and ill have a bit of tubing to play with next week

Nice start dude :thumbup:

Can't wait to see how the tubing works out.

Is it done yet?

stumpXJ said:

Is it done yet?

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Yeah I'm loading it on the trailer now, lets to wheeling

think that 44 will hold up? looks good so far man.

Nice start!

Keep posting progress!

Sweet, what size tires do you intend to run on this? I vote 39" Red Labels.

Vanimal said:

think that 44 will hold up? looks good so far man.

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it will with a set of rcv shafts


planned tire size is a set of 37's....maybe 38 inch tsl's if i cant drum up a nice set of radials when the time comes for tires

37" Red labels?

Doug, im so happy you didnt come and take my old 88. it would have killed me to stumble onto this thread and see old blu all chopped up.

but moving along, hurry up id love to see this thing done!

Timmy2XJS said:

Doug, im so happy you didnt come and take my old 88. it would have killed me to stumble onto this thread and see old blu all chopped up.

but moving along, hurry up id love to see this thing done!

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dont worry i wouldnt have cut that beauty up i'd be driving it.


been sick all damn week, it needs a trans crossmember and then i can start bending tube for the boatsides

why narrow the 44? how narrow ya want to be?

XJLI said:

why narrow the 44? how narrow ya want to be?

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Wagoneer width is perfect.... Full width rigs, even buggies, don't seem to work so well on the trails I run the most.

shortxjdoug said:

Wagoneer width is perfect.... Full width rigs, even buggies, don't seem to work so well on the trails I run the most.

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righto chap

i'm at 76.5" overall width, seems to be about perfect for most everything.
interestingly, my buddy's 1 ton chevy with H2 wheels and 35's is the same width.

Vanimal said:

i'm at 76.5" overall width, seems to be about perfect for most everything.
interestingly, my buddy's 1 ton chevy with H2 wheels and 35's is the same width.

Click to expand...

Ya I like my H2 wheels

That axle looks different now! WHen the maiden voyage happens i'll try my best to make it down there!

Vanimal said:

i'm at 76.5" overall width, seems to be about perfect for most everything.
interestingly, my buddy's 1 ton chevy with H2 wheels and 35's is the same width.

Click to expand...

Im not entirely sure what the overall was on my old rig but it was running a widetrack wag 44, i have to measure a friends 44 but i think widetrack waggys are between 61 and 64 wms to wms, so my overall may end up being around 72 ish?

i have a buddy who built the exact same axle im building so im just going to cheat and use his measurements his hp44 is using off the shelf shafts for a widetrack waggy

inner plates to box the rear of the rails, 3/16" steel


the lower seam meets the stiffener to fully box in where the rear crossmember is welded to the frame


the open ends will be capped with 3/16" and the rear structure will come up from them

2x2x3/16" i know the tube is a little small but it will be gusseted and and tied forward to the trans crossmember. the 2x2 makes it very easy to package and should be plenty strong once the belly is all tied together and skidded. its not flat but it only drops about an inch and the full skid will be tough to beat


i did a lot of boring shit today, finish welded all the stiffening plates except for the bottom of the mids, ran out of time and headed to class, i might work on it friday for a bit and finish up the welding