Thought you'd like this ~ MJ Truggy.

[Snoopy]

Thought you guys would like to see what I've been working on for the past two week. 5 Weeks ago it was a 2WD Stocker w/ nothing good but the potential to be a 4WD. Led picked it up from the previous owner ~ who was about to crush it. Here's the start:

As you can see it was destine for the crusher ~ or was it?

First the MJ got a little lift from Led's old rig. It was a 6" w/ 35s. The axles were swapped out, trans and t-case were swapped, and bed removed. Then the fenders came off to make room for a *straight* front clip and grill.

Then it came over for some fun ~ like today's youth, it needed some "structure" in its wasted life.

roll in, jack up....

Let led work out some frustration...

Looks better already!


Now we "strengthened" the frame with some of my bumper stock. Funny how 5x2 (3/16" wall) box tube fits (with a little beating) between the old frame and the body lip.

Then we cut off the rest of the frame clean! And added some additional gusseting to blend the old frame into the new *crossmember*

Then we cleaned everything up.



Then, off the new structure ~ we built the tube rear ~ which we used plenty of triangulation


But don't think thats all the suppot we provided ~ Additional support for the back was also in the double cab hoops, RockSliders, and rear uni-body frame sleaving. But all that is going to be covered later....

[Snoopy]

Skipping ahead one week ~ Saturday we built the front bumper. The mounts of which are modeled after those C-Rock braces ~ which are very nice, but don't give enought room for mounting a tube bumper from ~ they are also nice since we could weld the wrap-around edges to them via more tube.


You'll notice we kept the outer edges of the bumper high and tight. There are more than enough tube behind to keep things sturdy, but it does have a nice clean and high look.

Led installed the new 37's on Sunday.


Tuesday brought the completion of the front end.

[Snoopy]

Wednesday we just relocated the shock mounts (more lift and bigger tires made the old mounts, well - too low. We also took 1-gazzilion hours to find out how the gas line that goes from the fuel pump to the gas tank wall (that little one INSIDE THE FREAKING TANK) turned itself into mush and fell off

But when all was said and done ~ well after sun-down ~ we were able to fire it up, drive it out and test-flex it. These are without tweaking the shocks for FINAL height or spring rate/curve. Front first, a crappy 37"


The rear is steady at 47.xx" ~ we stopped lifting when the front coils came un-seated.


Then we loaded up, and took it home.



that was 12 midnight ~ or somthing. I don't know..... More pictures will be taken in the light of day between today and Saturday. The MJ is scheduled to run Indy on Monday. Pictures of that will be posted for sure! But until then, Led's got a laundry list of stuff to do, lights, skins, floors, paint....you get the picture....

[Snoopy]

Got flex?!?

its a tight fit

[Snoopy]

Thats all folks ~






















at least until we get it on the trail for some real pictures!

[rok-jeep]

Very nice work. Just a word of caution, I built up my XJ, custom 10" lift and had mad flex from the front end but on more than one occation I had a coil pop out. The one picture taken from the drivers side shows that coil on the verge. Though I see from all the XJ's in the picutes you've more than likely had to deal with that problem before. I was too lazy to extend the factory bumpstops. The tube bed looks killer and the exo ties it all together well. Good job.

[braxton357]

Sweet jeezus that is kickin rad. Are you saying that it took you 2 weeks or 5 weeks to build though? Either way that's damned quick but 2 weeks would be crazy. Did you guys show the previous owner just how much potential that old mj had?

[UK 95 XJ]

That is great work guys, lookin damn fine
I wish we coud get MJs over here
Daggie

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by braxton357

Sweet jeezus that is kickin rad. Are you saying that it took you 2 weeks or 5 weeks to build though?

the first 3 weeks Led swapped in his 4WD stuff, redid the dash, changed out the front clip (fenders/grill), put in the RockKrawler LongArm system, and spent some money ($300) on the stereo.

Then it came to me. The frame reinforcement, 4-link mounts and tube work on the bed was the next week (first week in my shop), the front tube work (from bumper to rear tube work) was the next *week* (saturday to tuesday) . Wednesday we had to fix the fuel problem and remount the shocks for the new 37s (originally had 35s).

So from the 2WD in the first picture, to the 4WD in the last picture, just under 5 weeks.

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by rok-jeep

Just a word of caution, ....I had a coil pop out. [snip] Though I see from all the XJ's in the picutes you've more than likely had to deal with that problem before.

Thaks for the warning, but we have run into that one. Here's his last rig, an 88 XJ.

[Harvester of Sorrow]

My XJ has limiting straps...lets the coil get about an inch from disengaging before they are taught.

Good looking rig.

[Jes]

Lookin' good!
And coils poppin' out? That never happens!


Jes

[jeeplord]

The truggy looks great,

make some simple end clamps if you're worried about pop-out

[IndyCJ]

Looks great! Nice to see something 'different' every once in a while.

VERY COOL!

[HotDog!]

That thing is just..... KILLER.

Did you do your own design on the tube bed??

[ZJim]

Man, what a sweet ass project. I stopped to scope out an MJ on my way home Friday... been thinking about a new project myself! Thanks for the inspiration :o

[BrettM]

MJs are taking over

[Tom Houston]

Hey Led, nice going. I like the picture of ShortBus with the brake hose limiting strap.

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by Tom Houston

Hey Led, nice going. I like the picture of ShortBus with the brake hose limiting strap.

That's not a picture of Led's XJ.

[Snoopy]

Originally Posted by HotDog!

Did you do your own design on the tube bed??

Yup ~ we did the suspension, then the main hoops over the cab ~ then we put a bar in for the back (this one)

And then just started adding tube.

First we put in the gas tank, then we gusseted the tank to the lower frame rails, then we added the bar behing the tires (under main bar) ~ then we started connecting things until it looked solid.

So if it resembles anyones *kit* ~ that is one heck of a coinsidence (sp)

[American]

Nice. Ya'll build quick. Must have some extra time and $$ layin around.

[moveaside]

Me and my buddy were researching a lot of the stuff you just did. After this weekend it looks like we're looking for another $150 MJ to start with and do it right this time. He flipped it 270 degrees and we had it back on its tires six minutes after it happened. Its funny now but it sucked this weekend. Thanks for the pics and the thread. Here's an example of why you should run an exo on an MJ. BTW A rock crushed the hood and cratered the valve cover consider this when designing an exo.
Brandon

[moveaside]

Back up and drove it home that night. Should have done the exo a long time ago. Didn't think he would have rolled it doing what he was doing but then again shit happens.

[Brian1]

Nice work guys! It looks killer. Looking forward to the pics of it on Indy.

[crazy_cooter56]

Looks sweet I love a built MJ. I was considering that type of bed for mine.