caged rear end?......

in4aride

in4aride

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Montrose
ok so the lady and i were thinkin about keepin the heep and possibly caging JUST the back end.....
is it possible to seal off the "cab" from the back and just tube the rear?:dunno:.....not concerned about prettyness.....:gee:

i just want to know....if i cut off all the banged up crap.....
can i tube it out and seal it off behind the seats?...(keeping back seats is optional)
and if so...does anyone ahve a ROUGH guess as to a price...i dont want anything elaborate right now....just enought to work lol(i need to afford some upgraded steering :) if i do this

so please let me know what you might know:paperwork
​
 
I've seen people cut up the back and put the rear hatch directly behind the C-pillar. If done right it looks good.
 
got sawzaw welder and beer??? if so go for it
 
Well, unless you're handy with fabrication tools, sheetmetal and a welder - I think you'd be in over your head...... but here's my "advice" for what it's worth:

You need the wrecked XJ to be usable with kids in the back seat, keeping the doors intact, and somehow seal off the weather. Then still have some ability to use the rear cargo area for.... well, cargo - but it'd be open like a pick up bed. That is, if I understand you correctly.

Here's what I'd do - IF you're able to fab and weld........

Most rear chops are done in conjunction with building a radical exo-cage. I imagine you'd rather not get that far into doing this mod - you just want to make the rear of your rig look better and be usable right?

I'd cut everything away from behind the rear doors, leaving the entire pilar area behind the doors where the side window seals are - there's a fairly substantial pinch seam there that will give good support to the unibody by leaving that intact. Cut the roof across from that pilar area and then straight down to the fenderwells.

Leave the majority of the cargo floor area in place all the way back to the sill plate where the hatch latch post is. Cut away the entire damaged quarter panel and the same area on the driver's side.

I'd then take some 2" square tube make a bulkhead that spans between the pillars just above where the top of the back seat latches in place. Then weld 3 or 4 pieces of square tube from the bottom of the bulkhead to the cargo floor. Weld a fitted panel of sheet metal to that to "close off" the cargo area from the interior. Then this is where you'll begin to design the "bed". I'd use some 1" steel square tube to construct a body framework - a skeleton if you will. Decide if you want a useable tailgate or a solid panel. You're basically constructing a square metal bucket. Then once the frame work is welded up and solid, all you'd have to do is cut and weld on sheetmetal panels on the outside of the skeleton.

Since the rear mounting points for the leaf packs are back there, you'd be best to run some tube from the cargo floor just above the shackle boxes, up to a hoop made to fit just inside the pilar and just under the edge of the roof. Weld gussets between the pilar and roof to the hoop to give all of that area stability.

Once the "bed" has been constructed and the hoop/down tubes have been secured, you could have an auto upholstery shop make you a snap-in canvas or vinyl panel with a plastic window. You could remove it for nice days!

All said and done, I envision it would look a bit like the rear of Jon Kaczman's rig:

main.php


Or do like this guy did and get the back half of a CJ/YJ/TJ tub and section it in:

main.php


Or like former member Beezil's first version of his chop - you can see how he created the bulkhead and panel between the back seat and bed area. The difference here is he still had straight quarterpanels.... you'd have to make flat sheetmetal panels or weld in a straight panel:

main.php


Anyway, those are some ideas..... do a search on www.xjdb.com using "chop" as a search term and you'll find 29 pages of ideas...... :thumbup:
 
dude. chop it. ill bring the beer if you give me some sawzall time!

you never know, you may be happy you had this crash and end up with a sweet rig.

oh, and i know maria probably wants the grocery getter to be safe, but we all know what the man inside of you wants... a caged up crawler =)


beer offer is on the table. lets do it this week.
 
I just looked at the pics from your original post about the wreck......

Man, that pillar behind the passenger rear door is pretty fubar..... you'd have to be able to pull that back out so that the door latches and seals correctly.

I'm assuming that the hit wasn't bad enough to impact or bend the rear frame rails or wrinkle up the cargo floor...... was it? If so...... I'd seriously consider getting another rig........ for what you need one to do anyway.

Caging just the rear probably isn't gonna be a good idea if you're thinking of cutting away EVERYTHING from the doors back...... you'd really need to do a full cage - be it exo or interior.

:dunno:
 
SurfXJSnow said:
dude. chop it. ill bring the beer if you give me some sawzall time!

you never know, you may be happy you had this crash and end up with a sweet rig.

oh, and i know maria probably wants the grocery getter to be safe, but we all know what the man inside of you wants... a caged up crawler =)


beer offer is on the table. lets do it this week.
Click to expand...


Im down to help
 
YELLAHEEP said:
I just looked at the pics from your original post about the wreck......

Man, that pillar behind the passenger rear door is pretty fubar..... you'd have to be able to pull that back out so that the door latches and seals correctly.

I'm assuming that the hit wasn't bad enough to impact or bend the rear frame rails or wrinkle up the cargo floor...... was it? If so...... I'd seriously consider getting another rig........ for what you need one to do anyway.

Caging just the rear probably isn't gonna be a good idea if you're thinking of cutting away EVERYTHING from the doors back...... you'd really need to do a full cage - be it exo or interior.

:dunno:
Click to expand...

ya its bent in pretty well but i am pretty handy with a hammer/mallet :wave1:
but realistically that rear/right door wont even open :thumbdn:


luckily as far as fab work goes....a family friend does structural welding for a living (yay me!)
i dont have to worry about having back seats....no kids to worry about lol....
all i care about is sealing OUT the snow and whatnot....


soooooo i dunno if that changes things./.....
also i will be able to get all the metal at COST and not all marked up (whew!)
but still expensive....


frame rails seemed ok...still havent been under it yet (work 12 hours a day) but i dunno if i messed up axle or bent rim either yet...i need a dayoff already :bawl:


but more infor please let me know.....
 
and i would even be ok with rear doors welded closed lol.......
i just dont know which way to go........
 
YELLAHEEP said:
Well, unless you're handy with fabrication tools, sheetmetal and a welder - I think you'd be in over your head...... but here's my "advice" for what it's worth:

...... :thumbup:
Click to expand...


Skully moment there Yella :yap: :D


What Yellaheep said, even if you have a family friend to help it is still a lot of work for him.............. Lots-o-work........what does your insurance company say or was it just Liability?
 
Last edited:
Skully said:
Skully moment there Yella :yap: :D


What Yellaheep said, even if you have a family friend to help it is still a lot of work for him.............. Lots-o-work........what does your insurance company say or was it just Liability?
Click to expand...


ya just liability :thumbdn::thumbdn:

but its all good....ya well i know how to do a bit of welding.....he loves to and is always good for wanting to make some side money so ya.....
i could get my metal at cost from him....id get it all chopped and tube cut to size for him.....then just zap zap with welder.....
this is no weekend project i know lol....
but with some patience and planning and leaving my jeep with him a few times i think i could get it done
 
i noticed everyone uses tube......is angle iron acceptable fro certain spots?!...i think it offers a much cleaner look along edges/seems
 
Angle is nowhere near as strong and it's strength is directional whereas tube is uniform strength in all directions of the forces you'll put on it. I don't think I've ever seen angle used as a structural component in a cage or exo..... :dunno:
 
oh ok cool thats why i asked...i imagined there had to be some reason lol.......
ah well this project should be underway in about two weeks....(next payday :)
 
From what I remember from your pic's, isn't your right front windshield pillar mashed pretty badly too?

That can be difficult to get straight enough to put a windshield in and get the door to close properly!

Truthfully, the whole job sounds like an extremely difficult/expensive task!!

Foolish to take on and hazardous to relationships!!

I think I'm jealous :):):)

I've got some rules of fabrication for you...

Terry's 10 rules of fabricating

1. Never fabricate on a vehicle that has to get done by a certain time. Have more than one spare vehicle, 3 or 4 is recommended.

2. Never start a fabrication project with a set budget and no money available for costly overruns. You'll still run out of money, but not as quickly.

3. There's no such thing as mistakes, however, there can be many prototypes.

4. Never tell your wife/girlfriend when you expect to be done, how much it will cost, or that this is the last project you'll do for awhile.

5. Never let your wife/girlfriend meet

6. Work impossibly long hours, but post up pic's and make it appear that you are really very fast and efficient.

7. Get your body used to sleeping only 4 hours per night! You can sleep when you're dead

8. Make sure you have some projects going that you are charging other people for, but never explain exactly how much. This gives a built in excuse for working impossibly long hours and being way to tired to do any home related work.

9. Always buy too much steel, cut off wheels, welding wire, safety glasses, soap, brake cleaner, gloves, camera batteries, band aids, rags, oil, fire extinguishers, floor dry, coffee, Tic tacs, Ibuprofen, and especially brown socks (inside joke). You'll still not have enough at crucial times, but very occasionally you'll get most of the way thru a project without having to run to Harbor Freight.

10, Never ever let them see you sweat, they'll smell it long before they'll see it.
 
well no damage to pillar altho the falling light frame did destroy the windsheild.....ya i know it wont be cheap...and is hazardous to a relationship...luckily for now my girl is very interested in taking part in the whole project...as far as design and money so its nice!....
i dont care when its done....i had a DD with no doors or hatch so im not worried about this being halfway done lol...and ive got a few rides lol....luckily i work with friends and again the girl is giving!
 
How much time do you have?
Double it.

What's the budget?
Don't tell the wife/ GF, then triple it.

Seriously, you will be behind schedule and over budget. Ask me how I know.

-Jon
 
time wise im not too worried about to be honest....ive come to the realization i will never own a "NICE" jeep so once i get the axle shaft fixed ill be good to go and just do this as it comes
 
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