Extreme FSJ Make over updated 6/21/2005 NEW PICS!!!!!!

[bigun]

Ok for the past few weeks my buddy Craig AKA Black Bart and I have been giving the rig an Extreme make over rock rig addition.
this first shot show redneck rear window this was done last year when we were warned of major snow storm coming and I needed a rear window!



front sheet metal off body bolts off Craig and Mitch the loader take cherokee to the shop


Craig going for a ride using chain host to pull the body off



the tranny and transfer case are much easier to remove when the body is off transfer case is a Dana 20 it was replaced with a D20 twin stick


To put a J20 cab on a cherokee you have to move the front body mount back 3 inches


The new exhaust is in headers to 3 inch to 3 1/2 muffler just be fore 90 and turn down. This keeps it high and hopefully away from the rocks



muffler and 90 turn down is just before frame by pointing it out towards the side we are hoping to not kick uop dust on drivers behind us


The cab is on and M715 fender is hung so we can go AAAAWWW


Manifold Propane tank bought for this rig turned out to be to big


Headache rack/roll bar from the side The 2 uprights are supported at the bottom of the frame and the top they eventully will be wrapped by a piece of angle tieing them togather


Support structure before final boxing in



Sorry this one is kinda dark but in it you can see the cross bed tank holds 44 gallons of propane and the rack supports. We went ahead and planned for cutting the frame off at the rear spring hangers


Out in the sun somebody else needs the shop so I got towed out which is ok now I need to put on front sheet metal


Ill post more as we go along 37X12.5X16.5s should be in this week end

[bigun]

ok this is Rufus he explained to me that if his pic wasn't on the net he was going to do bad things to the jeep

and since I put Rufus in I decided I had better give Dog his time too

Ok here they are my new used 37X12.5X16.5s with M715 fender mounted so we could drool

This is an unknown year Allis Chalmers rear tractor fender What do you think? Beaware that it is only sitting on jackstands at ths point.

Ok here is how they look togather sorry about how dark it is.You will knowtist that they complement each other we will be removing some of the metal from the rears so as to keep it out of the rocks


Here you see the rear from the back the bead near the outside of the fender and the fact that they were laying out in a feild made them very attractive

[JeepsAndGuns]

Looks pretty good. Looks like everything is moving right along.

[bigun]

Ok things have kinda slowed down so nothing much has been happening we did get started gusseting the roll bar this week end. The gussets were made from precut angles we picked up from local supply house. Two were used with each gusset seperated by a flat piece in the case of the long gussets they were sepperated by two flats boxing the gusset in. The flat pieces were spotted in by sepporating the the angled pices with a piece of 2 inch rectangular tubing once they were spotted in then Craig welded them up. after which the welds were ground off flat. Then the ends were fish mouthed to fit around the pipe. Here Craig is finshing up the weld on one of the gussets



first corner gusset is in




The long gussets in the middle also help support the spare tire

[Mudrat]

Looking very, very STOUT!! You're not planning on rolling are you

[bigun]

Looking very, very STOUT!! You're not planning on rolling are you

If I do I want to walk away LOL It is also a handy place to mount various types of heavy ordanance
=D> =D>

[bigun]

Well it has been some time since I posted pics mainly because shop is so dark that you can't see anything from pics. So yesterday Bart and I rolled it out to take pics and sweep out the shop. we still neeed to mount taillights and box the frame at roll bar mounts. Then paint!!


The sharp eyed will notice two things the rear fenders have been cut off we had to they were just to long and thenthe rear has been radused and then edge has been rolled to keep anyone from getting hurt. Rear frame cross member has also been cut flush with the frame for same reason.
Propane set up caused us to have to cut a hole in hood to clear it. I have a propane carb but the airfilter box for it was close to a $100. and so we went with a modified duel fuel set up. Runs great we also pulled the head snagger out and are going with oldstyle hood latchs outside on the fenders backed up by hood pins.

The hood scoop and hood vents scoop is homemade but from what?? The vents are from Chrysler Lebaron

tie downs for the bed and fender mounts there is a third bolt at the front under the propane tank. The space between the fender and bed is going to be turned into battery boxs for two optima batteries for future use!

[bigun]

After action report:
As some know The IFSJA.org annual Ouray Co. invasion was july the 13th-17th. Truck was barely made road worthy the day before with the installation of new windshield. I left the morning of the 13th at 04:30 hrs found out that dash lights don't work! Trip that I usually run in an hr took 1.5 when you are using engine noise as way to judge speed you will go slower. LOL Ran out of propane in Bayfield NM seemed to not be making that good of fuel milage. After assembling fuel transfer hose and dumping BBQ tank into big tank I was able to get to propane supplier and fill up $1.32 pg. sweet! Got to Ouray set up camp went out to find place to refill tank went to local gas station Bad move price was $2.53 pg then they added sales tax on top of road tax . I called home to talk to buddie who helped build rig he stated that he had left propane adaptor on full rich Duh. Leaned it out then started tightening up all the header bolts that had loosened up then replaced 3 that fell out thanks to Flint who had a set extra This was an ungoing problem I was always tightening header bolts. because I had used so much propane on the way up I was only able to make one trail run but it did show that what Craig and I were trying to accomplish with build works. We did trail that climbed up to about 12K feet where others were running hot mine didn't where others had to back up to get around some of the switch backs all I had to do was crank the wheel and goose it.
Road manners
truck is very stable at any speed when you consider that tires are not balanced there is no sway bar, steering stabiliser and front end was realigned after replacement of tie rod end. I was able to drive down the Hwy with only 2 fingers to hold on the road. It does not wander nor is there any evedence of death wobble when hitting bumps in the road.
Things that need to be done:
heat shields: when we ran 3.5 inch exhaust we tucked it up as high in the frame as we could to protect it. Problem 3 inch cross over under rear out put of transfer case may have caused it to start leaking. 3.5 under drivers feet and propane tank caused much driver discomfert and caused tank to obsorb heat to the point that I had to soak tank with water and lst of my ice to cool it down enough for it to fill up on way home. Also need to insulate cab at fire wall lots of heat coming in there too. Hand throttle on gear shift would be handy both on the trail and road. Parking brake because there won't always be rocks to put under tires. Comunications every truck on trail ride needs to at least have a CB hand held just didn't do it not loud enough to hear over engine noise. On bord air would be nice I didn't need this time but who knows at later date when your wheels are 8 lugs an air impact would be nice when changing out a tire. New door seals as well as fixing doors so they can be opened from the inside are also on the list of things to fix this winter. We are also talikng about making some half doors for summer trail use. Next do not drive trail truck for long distances on Hwy next year I'll trailer rig with 100 gallon tank so I don't have to pay through the nose for fuel.

[mick]

I LIKE IT!