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Double Width XJ - Anyone done this?

Island XJ

NAXJA Forum User
I'm not tryin to piss off any purists, but I have two 91 xj's in addition to my baby 97. One of them has a crushed B-pillar on the passenger side from a roll over, the other has a smashed roof over the driver's side from another roll over (Don't ask!!). My frankenstein disease has been starting to take over, and this is what i am itching to do....
Cut both XJ's in half down the middle and weld the two unibodys together to make a whole new truck (obviously a trail only rig) .
Last nite I parked them side by side (or rather forklifted them into position) and I started thinking, well if i did not cut them right in the middle, but instead about an extra foot over towards the damaged side, when i weld the two bodies together, I would get an XJ body that is two feet wider than a stocker! It would easily accommodate a full size axle underneath and probably a huge V8 under the hood. I realize how much is involved here, and hey i got nothin but time and an angry girlfriend who can't beleive how quickly our acreage has become a junkyard! So my question is, has anyone heard of this or done this (beezil?). And does anyone have any pics?
 
Yep, been done before. He made the body wider but somehow kept the frame the stock width at the front and the back with stock width axles. This let him run 33" tires with no lift, since the wheel wells were huge. The guy's in So Cal.
 
Goatman said:
Yep, been done before. He made the body wider but somehow kept the frame the stock width at the front and the back with stock width axles. This let him run 33" tires with no lift, since the wheel wells were huge. The guy's in So Cal.

I think i will build a subframe and mount the unibody to it, that would make me feel mucho safer and would stiffen up the whole kaboodle. I imagine myself running 37's or larger and would all but clear out the entire fender. I would also mount the rear axle on coils or quarter ellipticals so that i could get a killer departure angle.... The subframe should allow full width beefy axles to be mounted optimally, whatever that will be...
Dreamin, but these things have a way of becoming a reality. I'll keep y'all posted!
 
Do just the opposite, cut more out of the centers and make the body narrower by about a foot. Then still run full widths on them. If it's off-road only, who cares about tire coverage? Have you ever wheeled with a Hummer or full sized truck. They really have a hard time up here in the northwest because of our narrow trails. I know I don't want to be wider, I already snag my body on rocks and trees at it is.

Steve
 
Willis said:
Do just the opposite, cut more out of the centers and make the body narrower by about a foot. Then still run full widths on them. If it's off-road only, who cares about tire coverage? Have you ever wheeled with a Hummer or full sized truck. They really have a hard time up here in the northwest because of our narrow trails. I know I don't want to be wider, I already snag my body on rocks and trees at it is.

Steve

Yer right, the trails are quite narrow up here, but I am thinking of a vehicle for use up north, and I am mostly thinking of being able to carry tons of gear and crap around while still capably wheeling. I have wheeled with a hummer and an H2 (what a laugh that was!) and of course many many fullsize trucks. Although they can't always get down the trails I can with my XJ, they can certainly rock stuff that i can't due to my shorter wheelbase, less lift, etc. Besides I think it would look badass and be pretty original. And i would certainly do the exo cage thing for protection! But thanks for your thoughts. It might be neat to fab up a two seater xj (one front seat and one rear seat) that would be about 4' wide. Think walker evans narrowed rock krawlers!
 
Now that would be sweet to be so narrow that you could only do one seat front and rear. I was thinking it would be as narrow as a Sammy (still have side by side seating).

I see where you are coming from with snow country wheeling. With wide open trails, guess there's no reason not to go wide.

Take some pics as you go and share them with all of us.

Steve
 
Island XJ said:
I'm not tryin to piss off any purists, but I have two 91 xj's in addition to my baby 97. One of them has a crushed B-pillar on the passenger side from a roll over, the other has a smashed roof over the driver's side from another roll over (Don't ask!!). My frankenstein disease has been starting to take over, and this is what i am itching to do....
Cut both XJ's in half down the middle and weld the two unibodys together to make a whole new truck (obviously a trail only rig) .
Last nite I parked them side by side (or rather forklifted them into position) and I started thinking, well if i did not cut them right in the middle, but instead about an extra foot over towards the damaged side, when i weld the two bodies together, I would get an XJ body that is two feet wider than a stocker! It would easily accommodate a full size axle underneath and probably a huge V8 under the hood. I realize how much is involved here, and hey i got nothin but time and an angry girlfriend who can't beleive how quickly our acreage has become a junkyard! So my question is, has anyone heard of this or done this (beezil?). And does anyone have any pics?
Brent, you are even crazier than i thought! Your girl is gonna be pissed! And no you can't have any more of my MIG wire!
Buck.
 
Willis said:
Now that would be sweet to be so narrow that you could only do one seat front and rear. I was thinking it would be as narrow as a Sammy (still have side by side seating).

I see where you are coming from with snow country wheeling. With wide open trails, guess there's no reason not to go wide.

Take some pics as you go and share them with all of us.

Steve

Is that a diss at being Canadian? :) I figured you washington boys oughta know what Canadian weather is like since you basically live it as well! FYI, there is no snow here in the summer!!!!! Wheeling in the snow is like drinking American beer, it can still be done, but when you have a choice, why bother?

All kidding aside, I will post shots as i go....
Brent.
 
Maybe a better idea here. As a youngster ( a few years ago ) we would add different bodies to an old '71 Bronco. It is surprisingly easy to do. We got our original Bronco from a junk yard (total roll over) thru the years we used a Datsun truck body (dubbed the Bronson) a B210 four door and a VW bug body. I think the XJ would be a great choice for this kind of work....
Just a thaught.... :smoker:
 
My grandpa cut his suburban (a very old burb') done the center and took out like 4 inches cause it wouldn't fit in his garage or something. He is an awesome guy and does things alittle backwards at times, but he got it to work and apparently it looked factory.

Anything is possible
 
Island XJ said:
Is that a diss at being Canadian? :) I figured you washington boys oughta know what Canadian weather is like since you basically live it as well! FYI, there is no snow here in the summer!!!!! Wheeling in the snow is like drinking American beer, it can still be done, but when you have a choice, why bother?

All kidding aside, I will post shots as i go....
Brent.

Well, when you said 'up north', I kinda figured you meant way up north.

Now go drink some Kokanee or LaBatt Blue and leave our good American beer alone.

:D

Steve
 
Willis said:
Well, when you said 'up north', I kinda figured you meant way up north.

Now go drink some Kokanee or LaBatt Blue and leave our good American beer alone.

:D

Steve

Do you have any idea how far north you gotta go to find snow in the summer? I'm not wheeling up there! Its all islands with no roads or civilization for literally thousands of miles. :)

I have to say I'm impressed that you know a couple of our beers, however neither of them are the really good stuff.

And I will leave your good American beer alone, that is IF i can find any GOOD American beer!
 
Island XJ said:
Do you have any idea how far north you gotta go to find snow in the summer? I'm not wheeling up there! Its all islands with no roads or civilization for literally thousands of miles. :)

I have to say I'm impressed that you know a couple of our beers, however neither of them are the really good stuff.

And I will leave your good American beer alone, that is IF i can find any GOOD American beer!

There are a few beer companies I think are very good here in the USA. After traveling around the world and being to several other countries (Japan, China, Russia, Africa, Australia, Singapore, around Southeast Asia, etc...) I have to say that I have had more then my sure of brews. My favorites do not include anything from canada or the usa(exceptions). I enjoy German Beers and a few beers made in Scotland. Sure they cost a little more but I would rather pay for something I am going to enjoy over just getting drunk... I did that when I was younger. Now its time for quality over quanity. Plus some of them still have a rather nice alcohol percentage.

When it comes to any beer made here in the USA always lean towards the microbrews because they just taste better and with several in the PNW I can pick and chose and also complain to the maker if it tastes off.

Here are a few of my all time favorites:

McEwans Scotch Ale 8.0%
Spaten Optimator 7.2%
Spaten Oktoberfest 5.9%
Celebrator Doppelbock 6.7%
Orkney Skull Spliter 8.5%
Original Flag Porter 5.0% (This is a nice smooth porter from England)
 
Dreamcatcher said:
Don't know if this is the one you guys are talking about, but here's the url.
http://www.jjournal.net/jeep/gallery/XtraWideXJ/
Too cool, huh?
Needs more lift, if you ask me.
Too bad jeep doesn't make full-size stuff anymore! :doh:

Ok, in reading this thread, I at first thought, "hey, thats sounds cool". But....after seeing the pics, I think the Cheromanche looks so much better. If you're going to do some cutting, just do that.

Just my 2 cents.... :peace:
 
I live down the street from Damian Smith, who owns the widened XJ shown at;
http://www.jjournal.net/jeep/gallery/XtraWideXJ/

He used one XJ for the project, not two. He made two cuts, each one outside the frame rails and then grafted in 7’’ down each side. Two windshields were used, sectioned down the middle. The rear window is plastic
The running gear is all stock. He used wheel spacers and wider wheels with little or no offset to fill the wheel wells.
I think he it was built as a show car to, he told me it was not that good for off-roading. It sure looks slick, from the rear it looks much like a Hummer, in fact better than a Hummer.
It would be a good street machine but for serious off-roading, major upgrading would be needed. Whatever you do, it will be a huge job especially if you finish the interior like Damian did.

Larry
 
Stick said:
Ok, in reading this thread, I at first thought, "hey, thats sounds cool". But....after seeing the pics, I think the Cheromanche looks so much better. If you're going to do some cutting, just do that.

Just my 2 cents.... :peace:

yeah, I gotta agree, its much cooler just floating around in my head. Damian's looks neat, but I was imagining it being at least a foot wider and running full width axles with big honkin 37's and at least 8" of lift. I imagine it sporting wide wheels with huge cutouts in the fenders, and tubbed in the rear to allow for it. His looks like a bit of a poser machine (and i do not mean to offend by that) made for driving to shows and stuff. I want mine to drive over parking dividers and huge logs on the trail. Maybe i should go back to the idea of narrowing the XJ's to make a mean trail runner that's just 4' wide....
 
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