XJ CRWLER - The Unending Journey

JamesNZ

New member
This build has been I guess in the process for a couple years now, the mods I'm sharing today started 12 months ago from the moment it was put on the trailer.

A little about myself: My name is James as you may have captured already, I'm from Christchurch, New Zealand. This XJ is my first Jeep purchased coming up to 5 years ago now, haven't wheeled it much as it's spent most its time undergoing modifications. Before this vehicle most of my 4WD adventures were in a 70 Series Land Cruiser and a GQ Nissan Safari/Patrol.

Little old New Zealand doesn't have much places for the extensive modifications and fabrication work I desired on my Jeep. Luckily there was one local that stood out from our small community who has a passion for offroad and happens to enjoy the type of wheelin' I do and fabricate his own designs like nothing I've ever seen before. So an honorable mention to Tom's Offroad and Customs, all the fabrication work and photo work seen below is courtesy of Tom himself.

Now to the build that has mostly been inspired around rock crawling;

Goal is to squeeze 14" coilovers front and rear, re-do the front bar to more of a stubby front bumper which will support the front fenders etc. and the external cage will tie into everything (effectively trying to make a road legal buggy). The involvement of doing these goals, well the photos below speak for themselves!

I am a little concerned about weight, I'm expecting this to weigh under 2.4 tonne, but really unknown where she will be sitting now starting from 1.8 Tonne! :D

Following all the beautiful fabrication work from Tom (Tom's Offroad and Customs) I'll be stripping her right back, engine trans and all to carry out an extensive paint job to the undercarriage, interior and exterior. Then i'll be piecing her back together again.

Hopefully later down the track when the pockets aren't so empty I can revisit the running gear.

I'm just really looking forward to getting her back on the road again to start wheelin' again.

1. Loaded up ready to go extensive modifications, this was when it was sitting on 33 inch tyres and an IRO Long Arm Kit, I'd also just freshly done some sanding and primer work on her as will be changing the colour down the track (the burgundy colour wasn't doing it for me).

1 transport.jpg

2. The first mission was installing the mid frame stiffeners from Iron Rock Offroad, after hearing all of those stories about the doors falling off XJ's it seemed like a logical thing to do first :lol:, by the way these frame stiffeners are a great fit.

2 framestiffener.jpg

3 framestiffener.jpg

3. Next was to help with clearance, so trimming and replacing the sills gave the clearance and additional protection. Although this doesn't solve the transmission vulnerability it should help navigate rocks a little easier!

4 sillcut.jpg

4 sillcut.jpg

6 newsill.jpg

7 newsill.jpg

8 newsill.jpg

9 framestiffener.jpg

9 newsill.jpg

10 newsill.jpg

4. Some added bracing or stiffening to the sills.

10 framestiffener.jpg

5. Next a rear quarter chop just seemed logical, this build was and still is growing rapidly.

11 rearquaterchop.jpg

12 fuel tank out.jpg

6. The dual triangulated 4 link was ready to begin, having the beefed frame gave something for us to work with and come up with a new rear cross member that was to link the arms.

13 rear crossmember.jpg

Tacked IRO truss.

14 truss tack.jpg

Tacked rear cross member.

15 cross member tack.jpg

16 cross member tack.jpg

7. Cutting the floor up was one small sacrifice required for the dual triangulated 4 link to work, the factory floor was too restrictive for it too work efficiently (or at all).

17 cross member bracket tack.jpg

18 fully cut floor.jpg
 
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8. It was now on to tacking up all the link brackets.

19 cross member tacked.jpg

20 diff link bracket tacks.jpg

9. The work involved with stiffeners seemed too overwhelming, so it was decided to start working on and putting a real chassis frame in the rear.

21 custom rear frame.jpg

22 links tacked.jpg

10. Links fully tacked up and link brackets welded up at cross member.

22 links tacked.jpg

23 welded up.jpg

24 close up weld.jpg

11. The need or want 14" coil overs was there, so once again the modifications grew. Here a strut tower was developed with the intentions of linking the external cage and tube fenders at a later date. The top tube passes outside each side of the body work.

25 new frame and truss tower.jpg

26 truss tower.jpg

27 truss tower.jpg

12. Some patch work was required to fill in some holes. The upper links of the rear cross member brackets did mean that rear passengers would have a bit of a lump at their feet, but so worth it to keep this a rig a 4-5 seater.

28 floor patch.jpg

29 fully welded truss tower.jpg

30 underneath.jpg

13. Removable panel for rear strut tower was added.

30 truss tower complete.jpg

14. Some more complete shots of the strut tower and rear frame.

31 truss tower complete.jpg

32 truss tower complete.jpg

15. New shoes arrived, nothing too fancy 37x12.5r17 F-Racing Big Rocks.

33 new feet.jpg

16. What good is the tailgate if it doesn't close!

34 rear frame.jpg

35 tail gate closes.jpg

17. Starting to work of the tube fender framing.

36 custom fender frames.jpg

37 custom fender overshot.jpg
 
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18. Mounting and plumbing up the rear anti-rock swaybar.

39 frame shot with antirock mounts.jpg

40 antirock swaybar closeup.jpg

19. In with the factory fuel tank, repositioned at chassis level. A custom fuel cell may be added a later date.

41 factory fuel tank fit up.jpg

42 factory fuel tank fit up.jpg

43 factory fuel tank fit up.jpg

44 factory fuel tank fit up.jpg

45 fuel tank overshot.jpg

20. Now back on to the tube fender work.

46 fender frame overshot.jpg

47 fender frame overshot.jpg

48 custom fender.jpg

49 custom fender.jpg

21. The doors did end up requiring trimming for this, probably more as a result of not lengthening the wheel base which will probably happen at a later date. Overall it's a small sacrifice for the greater good of wheeling.

51 door shaving.jpg

54 custom fender.jpg

22. Filling in the fenders.

55 custom fender fill.jpg

56 custom fender fill.jpg

57 custom fender fill.jpg

58 custom fender fill.jpg

23. Then on to the new custom boot floor and whoops forgot to add a cover to remove the fuel tank pump!

59 boot floor.jpg

60 boot floor.jpg

61 boot floor.jpg
 
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24. This completes a bit of a milestone I guess as we leave now into working on the front with only some tidying up to do in the rear. Here are some shots back in a more a mobile state.

62 underneath.jpg

63 side shot.jpg

64 side shot.jpg

65 side shot.jpg

25. Now on to the front, again the first thing was to continue the strengthening so front frame stiffeners added.

66 front frame stiffener.jpg

67 front frame stiffener.jpg

68 front frame stiffener.jpg

69 front frame stiffener.jpg

70 front frame stiffener.jpg

26. Time to take the dust cover off and remove front bumper, coils and shocks removed.

cherokee.jpg

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bumperoff.jpg

bumperoff2.jpg

27. New customer bumper built. This proved to be worth it, lost around 4 inches off of unnecessary bumper sticking out the front by creating this tidy piece.

newbumper.jpg

newbumper2.jpg

newbumper3.jpg

newbumper4.jpg

newbumper5.jpg

newbumper6.jpg

28. External roll cage time! Got to protect the investment and the occupants :thumb:

rollcage1.jpg
 
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There's quite a bit of fabrication to go but aim is to have it all done in the next two weeks minus all the paintwork. :wings: Keep you guys updated. :thumb:
 
Excellent fab work, I cant wait to see the finished project!

Thanks mate, and everyone else's comments!

I've uploaded some more photos. Been some good progress over the last week, things are really starting to take shape. Roll cage is getting there!
 
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Good looking build. I have to ask though. Knowing how easy it is for these rigs to overheat, are you not worried about airflow with how the custom front bumper and winch sit?


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
Good looking build. I have to ask though. Knowing how easy it is for these rigs to overheat, are you not worried about airflow with how the custom front bumper and winch sit?


Sent from my iPhone using WAYALIFE mobile app
Not the first to mention airflow lol. The previous bumper eliminated alot of airflow also, but I never experienced any high temperatures. I am a little concerned but not overly atm so I'm open to ideas to assist with this around current bumper build. I do know that alot of the cooling will mainly rely on the fans at least offroad anyway.

Sent from my EVA-L09 using WAYALIFE mobile app
 
Project Update

Hi guys, sorry I've been away for a while. :crybaby:

Anyway here's some pic updates, slowly getting there. Haven't had a huge amount of time on it and I'm currently working on some wiring.

1.HSH1.jpg

2.HSH2.jpg

3.Tail-1.jpg

4.Tail2.jpg

5.Tail3.jpg

6.Tail5.jpg

7.Tail6.jpg

8.Prep2.jpg

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11.Prep5.jpg

12.Prep6.jpg

13.Prep7.jpg

14.Prep8.jpg

15.Prep9.jpg

16.Bline1.jpg

17.Bline2.jpg

18.Bline3.jpg

19.Bline4.jpg

20.Bline5.jpg
 
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