themangeraaad
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Halifax, MA
So I am going to be picking up a welder soon, boning up on my welding, and then probably chopping the back half of my roof off the XJ since its not currently a DD and well... because I can and it will be a new challenge.
I have been planning this since 2006 and reading up, but the Jeep was a DD until last year and it has been in storage since. I know I will need to cage it or at least reinforce everything. Was kicking around the other night and found this XJ which is essentially exactly what I planned on doing to mine (except it ended up looking better than mine probably will).. Not sure on the username if they are on here or if I just found it linked from some other forum.. not sure.
http://fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/detailfs?userid={C9B50706-F7D6-410E-B99C-36111C35FAC9}&ndx=0&slideshow=0&AlbumId={4CD6D08F-A20A-4CB4-B4F5-B8DB4AAFBBA5}&GroupId=&screenheight=1200
Anyway, the pics, if going through them in order, seem to show the build from it having just the back reinforced with square tube, then an inner cage, and then an exo... My plan was to do the exact same thing (reinforceing the rear), then tying that into an inner cage, and having a couple other braces down into the bed area, building a top hat type of exo for the roof, having the exo go down into the front fenders, tie into rock rails and front bumper (exactly what was done by whomever that is).
Seeing that link disapointed me since its exactly what I wanted to do and now I feel like I am copying it... but its just so well done and such great work it made me want to carry out my variation of it all the more. Only differences are that mine is a 2 door XJ and I would be trying to move the tailgate/C-pillar up to behind the rear seats and using that as the back of the cab rather than a vertical rear window from a MJ... trying to keep the stock rear lines. I think someone else attempted this and ran into issues and ended up using MJ rear as well, I guess I will just make the same mistakes they did since I'm stubborn like that :laugh3:.
Now onto the bender, I just found this on CL:
http://providence.craigslist.org/tls/1088912451.html
It is a pipe bender but will that work for the 1.5"-1.75"x .125" wall DOM I hope to use for the cage? Might end up using .134" wall DOM, still thinking/planning that aspect. I am not sure if there are different "pipe benders" and "tube benders" with different strength characteristics, but if I am thinking correctly that should be sufficient since I dont plan on any bends exceeding 90*.
Thanks in advance
-Scott
I have been planning this since 2006 and reading up, but the Jeep was a DD until last year and it has been in storage since. I know I will need to cage it or at least reinforce everything. Was kicking around the other night and found this XJ which is essentially exactly what I planned on doing to mine (except it ended up looking better than mine probably will).. Not sure on the username if they are on here or if I just found it linked from some other forum.. not sure.
http://fototime.com/ftweb/bin/ft.dll/detailfs?userid={C9B50706-F7D6-410E-B99C-36111C35FAC9}&ndx=0&slideshow=0&AlbumId={4CD6D08F-A20A-4CB4-B4F5-B8DB4AAFBBA5}&GroupId=&screenheight=1200
Anyway, the pics, if going through them in order, seem to show the build from it having just the back reinforced with square tube, then an inner cage, and then an exo... My plan was to do the exact same thing (reinforceing the rear), then tying that into an inner cage, and having a couple other braces down into the bed area, building a top hat type of exo for the roof, having the exo go down into the front fenders, tie into rock rails and front bumper (exactly what was done by whomever that is).
Seeing that link disapointed me since its exactly what I wanted to do and now I feel like I am copying it... but its just so well done and such great work it made me want to carry out my variation of it all the more. Only differences are that mine is a 2 door XJ and I would be trying to move the tailgate/C-pillar up to behind the rear seats and using that as the back of the cab rather than a vertical rear window from a MJ... trying to keep the stock rear lines. I think someone else attempted this and ran into issues and ended up using MJ rear as well, I guess I will just make the same mistakes they did since I'm stubborn like that :laugh3:.
Now onto the bender, I just found this on CL:
http://providence.craigslist.org/tls/1088912451.html
It is a pipe bender but will that work for the 1.5"-1.75"x .125" wall DOM I hope to use for the cage? Might end up using .134" wall DOM, still thinking/planning that aspect. I am not sure if there are different "pipe benders" and "tube benders" with different strength characteristics, but if I am thinking correctly that should be sufficient since I dont plan on any bends exceeding 90*.
Thanks in advance
-Scott