exo caged cherokee with no roof

[98XJ-ID]

ok heres the deal. about 2 years ago i started building my 98' xj slowly. i got the think pretty much to how i wanted it in phaze 1 and i rolled the damn thing about a year ago. heres the pics if u wanna see http://myweb.cableone.net/dngrfld/jeep/ ok heres my question. if you look at the pics its sexed pretty bad but thats the only damge. it just landed on some big rocks i want to chop and cage the thing since i just got a loan. im wondering since there is going to be no a-pillar is it even worth trying? i have a shop that can fab me a cage since i dont have the space/equipment or i was thinking modifing the c-rok cage to fit a plastic windshield in. this jeep will be for wheeling only so im not concerned about any issues with streetability i just wanna know from the condition the body is in would it be worth trying to ressurect it or not? thanks in advance guys.

josh

 

[YELLAHEEP]

Unless there's something major mechanically wrong with your XJ, then you've got an excellent platform to build a chopped, caged rig.

The real question is what do you want it to look like and what function do you want the cage work to do overall?

If you aren't concerned with the look, then tube and cage the heck out of it, placing the emphasis of the design on function. My opinion though is that XJ's that are chopped to the point that there's no windshield/a-pillars and have tube framework and plexi windshields - but still retain the front fenders, hood, grille - look like ass. Looks like a buggy dropped into the XJ body tub. Since so much of your front sheet metal is banged up, maybe you're looking to go more tubing anyway - like Farmer Matt's rig or the one that Goatman is building now - no fenders, grille, door pillars or rear quarters.

If you're thinking of retaining most of the lower body and repairing the front sheet metal, have you thought about replacing the windshield/a-pillar area with one from a donor XJ, but still chop the top - and then cage the rest? Since the pillars won't be needed for structural integrity, it should be easy and you get to keep a glass windshield with wipers - basically alot like what Greg (C-ROK) did with his rig.

 

[BrettM]

look at FarmerMatt's CAT as well as Dave Taylor and PaulS's rigs

 

[Fullsizexj]

If you want to keep the sides, you could do something like this, I did this for a customers rig, I tried to talk him out of keeping the sides but he insisted on keeping them
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5xq6ic3.b9rh17zb&x=0&y=k8g2oh

 

[hadfield4wd]

Keep the dash tube the rest. By the way it's nice to see the radio antenea made it unscathed.

Matt

 

[98XJ-ID]

If you want to keep the sides, you could do something like this, I did this for a customers rig, I tried to talk him out of keeping the sides but he insisted on keeping them
http://www.kodakgallery.com/I.jsp?c=5xq6ic3.b9rh17zb&x=0&y=k8g2oh

thats along the lines of somthing i want i dont really care about the sides tho. and about the front sheet metal i dont really care if its banged up or not there at all lol. how much did you charge to do somthing like that?

 

[Fullsizexj]

total bill was $1000.00 for tube and labor, it has a 3 piece front lexan windshield

 

[98XJ-ID]

well shit if i lived near you i'd have u do it but, im a little far a way