I didn't just fall out of the turnip truck, but I'm interested in going to a CJ-7, YJ, or FJ-40 and swapping in my Dana 60, 14 bolt, 205, 400 and 454. I'm curious as to what the best wheelbases would be to stretch these out to, what sort of steering systems, (I'll prolly go with leafs in the front and a 4 link in the rear, pushing the axle back to the end of the frame) where to mount the engine, how it'll fit, What I need for headers, how much room I need under the unit to fit my 44" boggers on 15x14's with 3.5" BS, driveline angles, cooling etc. I've got a FS chev now that works well, but dropping 2500 pounds is better. Turning tighter and having a narrower body will be an asset also.

Are there any good sites, or pages that I can visit? I've been searching for quite a while and I haven't come up with much really...

I'd be looking at doing this come winter (start to finish 2 months max) out of my garage/driveway, so I'd like to start amassing parts now and be able to go at 'er with the least amount of set backs possible.

The only rocks I've seen up here are in the river, and those only run about 3 feet high. There's not much for rockcrawling, but the skeg trails are phenomenal. There's tons of difficult trails within a 20 minute drive from my house, so don't jump on me because I don't run rocks.

Point me in the right direction if any of you have any positive insight.

Here's a pic of the unit right now. Broken front driveshaft and no front shockage. http://www.bogginfreaks.com/phpreaders/albums/MR4WD/abp.sized.jpg

http://www.bogginfreaks.com/phpreaders/albums/MR4WD/abq.sized.jpg

and here's the local's. The guy on the 33's was winching out the guy with the orange truck. He had 40's under water. I ended up hooking to both of em and pulling em out after the 8274 winch line broke. http://www.bogginfreaks.com/phpreaders/albums/MR4WD/abr.jpg

Mud, it's what I run.
Thanks in advance, Chad.

i say if you are just going for all out trail performance and simplicity, just toss the body of your rig and put on an s-10 body. nitrous would be fun too. for me though, i would keep the cab, ditch the bed, ditch the front fenders, and start tubing the thing. i don't think its worth all the hasle of switching bodies when your just going to beat the thing into oblivion. have fun.

I've thought about that... Still the frame weighs a ton, and the rivets are starting to break from all the flex. Jeeps are shorter, lighter and narrower... I'm not overly interested in making an abortion buggy, I did that once. I had a Firebird on a blazer chassis with 40's. I'm familiar with the S-10 body on a fullsize chassis and it works well. Still heavy. Another guy I know runs a CJ-7 on a blazer chassis. Works well, but not very light. I'm pretty keen on the rigidity of the body/chassis of a "Jeep" style vehicle. Plus they're much lighter and extremely easy to source parts for.

I've got laughing gas now. All that'll do is make me dig a deeper hole or overheat in record times. I'm satisfied with the 525 horse as it is.