Project Patriot

[PureFunction]

While my little brother is gone to Iraq, I'm gonna steal his 90 XJ and build it up for him. Here is what i'm starting with.




This is what I want to do to it.

1. Remove Doors, rear glass, and lift gate. (Will be for Sale)
2. Plate the unibody. (possibly T&T customs)
3. Full Exo/Interior Cage Combination.
4. The suspension will probably be T&T Customs or Clayton Hard arm unless I have time to do something custom. Possibly 4 link the rear.
5. Axles will have to be D60's front and rear. I'd like to do custom such as Solid, Dynatrac, Spyder, etc. but may end up just doing Junkyard axles. Alot of it depends on what I can afford. (Read note below)
6. Full Hyd. Steering probably PSC or other.
7. Tires will be 42's with beadlocks of some kind. (Read note below)
8. Swap out the junk 5spd. for an auto. Probably a Turbo 350 or 700r4.
9. Do something with the t-case no plan for that as of yet.
10. Custom D-shafts from either Long View or Tom Woods
11. Reccess Fuel tank.
12. Front winch and maybe a rear. Possibly winch for front suspension and rear if I 4 link it. A ramsey Patriot winch would be cool since that is what i'm calling this build.
13. Lighting to include rock lights.
14. Hopefully a really cool paint job.


Interior Mods

1. Possibly some custom seats such as PRP or Mastercraft
2. 5 Point harness.
3. High Lift jack.
4. On board air maybe co2
5. Tools and spares will be where the rear seat used to be.


Alternate plans are....
1. D44/9" with 39's
2. Rockwells with 44's
We'll see which way I go when I get to that point. I only have approx. 1 year to do this and I don't have alot of time from work to actually work on it so alot of it will be bolt on stuff. I'm gonna try to stay away from it but you know how it goes. Ever dollar I can save will really help me out on this and I don't want to cut corners on anything safety related so If anyone comes accross a good deal on anything you see above or maybe have some of it laying around please let me know. Every little bit will surely help out.

I want to Extend a special thanks to all those involved thus far.
First of all the man who this build is for PV2 Andrew Roberts! Anyone who would step up and join the military when you know you are going to go to war earns more than my respect. HOOWAH Little brother Hopefully I have this ready for you when you get home.

Next is my Mother and Father and all the rest of our family and friends.
My wife who understands why I will be spending so much time in the garage.

Kevin Hill aka Bigbird on some forums Has hooked me up on a Ford HPD44 & 9" as well as a set of 39.5" Iroks on some Beadlocks You the man Kevin! He has went out of his way to help me out on this and done more than I would ask of even my best friends. He is a real asset to the offroad community. You may have to go out to randolph with me to "test" it out before Andy gets home LOL and make sure I have all the bugs worked out. Thanks for your help Kevin and your support of our troops! If your looking for some GOOD used parts, get ahold of him. If he don't have it i'm sure he knows where to get it.


Businesses:

Greg Pert of Expert Offroad www.expertoffroad.com Thank you for the continued support of our Armed Forces! So far, If I go the route of the D60's is going to hook me up on some from Solid Axle and pretty much anything else I order through them. Thanks again Greg!

Bob Buerlein of Race Ace www.hoodlouvers.com Thank you for the hook up on the hood louvers. It will be a little bit until I get them on but I know they will look good. Thanks again Bob for your support of our troops!

[Cue]

Well kudos for you in helping your brother out and kudos to him for helping his country out.

My Nephew is over in Iraw right now as well (Army Airborne sniper). He will hopefully be home for Christmas, but you know how that can go.

If there is anything I can do to help let me know I would love to help out.

Dirk

[loveshackle]

Cool project with a great goal! I commend you, and your brother. Best of luck with the Patriot. If you ever make it out to Colorado, I'll buy you both a beer. Definately be keeping an eye on this build.

[bentonedge]

i am collecting parts right now for my build and if i come across anything your way i will let ya know. what a treat that will be for him to come home to. what branch of the service is he in? i am stationed in san diego with the 3rd marine air wing. i am trying to collect all the parts i can before i leave and do the build when i get back. what a great bro you are man.

[PureFunction]

He is an 88M in the army. Right now he is stationed in Ft Bragg.

"what a great bro you are man." If he had the know how and equipment to do it I know he'd do the same thing for me. I spent 4 years in the service and know what it's like to be away from friends and family. It's the little things like this that keep your morale up while your away. He don't even know i'm doing it yet. He thinks i'm just building it up like mine LOL! Wait until I send him a pic of some of the things we are going to be doing to it! And it ends up looking something like this one!

[PureFunction]

Originally Posted by Cue

Well kudos for you in helping your brother out and kudos to him for helping his country out.

My Nephew is over in Iraw right now as well (Army Airborne sniper). He will hopefully be home for Christmas, but you know how that can go.

If there is anything I can do to help let me know I would love to help out.

Dirk

Thanks for your support, Tell your nephew thank you for his service for me would ya. As far as anything you could do... Anything that you could do would be very much appriciated. Next weekend we are going to "steal" it

[PureFunction]

Originally Posted by bentonedge

i am collecting parts right now for my build and if i come across anything your way i will let ya know. what a treat that will be for him to come home to. what branch of the service is he in? i am stationed in san diego with the 3rd marine air wing. i am trying to collect all the parts i can before i leave and do the build when i get back. what a great bro you are man.

Thank you for your service as well. This will be dedicated to not only Andy but ALL the troops, past and present!

[pipehitter155]

awesome build and tell your nephew on behalf of a iraq veteran/ied victim and his family THANK YOU FOR HIS SERVICE!!!...i look forward to this thread....

[PureFunction]

Looks as if i'll be going with the d44/9" as I have one pair of them currently and i'll be picking up another set that is allready regeared with an ox and a spool here pretty soon. Also, i'll be putting on a used set of 39.5 Iroks with some used allieds. Pics to come of the axles and tires. Hopefully I get time to pick them up towards the middle of next month. For right now, I'll be picking up [read] steelin it this weekend! Then we'll start the destruction of the little red XJ. Thanks to everyone for your support and especially to those that have contributed. Your support for our Troops is greatly appriciated!

[vetteboy79]

Great concept and a great gift....but be forewarned, 39.5s are a lot of tire for those axles. I can break stock 60 stuff on demand with those tires. Just because you have something already doesn't mean it's a good idea to use it...in your case I would definitely sell the little stuff and get a 60 for the front, and probably a 14-bolt for the rear (the regular D60 rears kinda suck too).

Best of luck with it though.

[PureFunction]

Yeah, i'd like to do 60's but these will probably have to suffice for the time being. We've managed to make this setup last for awhile on a couple of other rigs. Hopefully I trip over a set of 60's or a 60/14bolt setup in the near future. If not well, that will give us something we can do together when he gets back. IDK things like this will just kinda have to be a play it by ear sorta thing. Thanks for your support vette!

[PureFunction]

Well, he found out about it over on muchado http://www.muchadoproductions.com/fo...4141#post14141 But that's ok, at least he has something else to look forward too while he's over there. He can't do anything about it now anyhow

[Tripower389]

HOOAH good job keep us up dated ! I'm with a Transport Company myself.

- Jason

[jeeperanthony]

If only I was closer.
Lemme know if theres something i can help with from FL.

[Cue]

If you want to run Amsoil products in it, just let me know I will hook you up with "my cost" pricing (sorry I am already way over budget on the freebies).

Dirk

[aparke4]

if budget permits it would be cool to run a set of the solid axles - for the coin they are expensive but they make some fine stuff... you can get a set of rocks for about 1k but its a lot more fab than some easier "bolt in" axles - i dunno i would stick with either the hp44 front with 9 inch rear out of a ford and beef em up and run 36-37 meats or hp60 and 14 bolt combo - gear and beef up run a 38-39-40

cool build i will keep an eye out!

[catatonic]

Badass project man, I wish someone will do my rig when I go.
Tell him to stay safe and keep his head down.

[PureFunction]

Here's a few pics for ya'll. I don't have any that are current but progress has been very slow because of the extreme cold and the ridiculous hours i've been working. Anyhow, enough of the excuses... on to some pics!

[PureFunction]

When Andy came home for R&R he got to do a little bit of "body work"



I think that he is excited?

[PureFunction]

Couple more,

The plan is for it to sit only 3-4" higher than what it is now.



Me showing Andy the finer points of tire clearance.


I threatened to take this to it but he didn't think that was a good Idea!


I have a video of him doing a little dance but i'll spare ya'll! lol

[Preppi12]

What did you pull the hood vents off? Like the ride height you're shooting for.

[PureFunction]

They are from Race Ace, www.hoodlouvers.com They are a bit pricey but they are very nice pieces. As for the stance of it, I am planning on only about 4" of uptravel with plenty of room for adjustment if needed in the future.

[rocknbronco]

Nice project like the wheels.

[xjemily]

hes lucky to have a brother like you,good job

[PureFunction]

Finally decided how I wanted to cut the rear fenders. I will make a new inner fender to close it all up.