blistovmhz
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Vancouver, BC
Yea, it's not an XJ. Whatever. Naxja has the best community of technically minded wheelers and I figure here is going to land the best input.
So build info I'll try to keep short. I took a 95 runner, chopped the front of the frame off and rebuilt it to accomodate a 5.3L mounted super low (oil pan is at pumpkin height) and give me room for compression. Built some hybrid BJ60 (9.5") axles for it. Leaf sprung (for now... may keep it like this). Bobbed the back and caged. And lots of other stuff.
Here's the truck as it sits today.
Here's my dilemma. I wheel a ton, but I'm bored of everything in my very local vicinity. The problem is that I also have health issues which make longer trips an absolute nightmare due to the work involved in setting up camp, and the amount of gear I have to bring with me. I need several coolers of food, cooking supplies, etc, and I also cant' risk being stuck in the bush at all so I have a ton of recovery gear, spare parts, everything I need to make sure I can get home.
Adding a tent, sleeping gear, etc, and there's just not enough room for everything. I built my rig to be low COG and with 80 degree approach and departure, which doesn't leave much room for gear. No, a trailer won't work. Can't get into the places we go with a trailer. We camp up buggy trails.
So the obvious answer is to sleep in the back of the truck, and find a place for all the gear and food, but I have to do this without sacrificing the low COG or overall size of the vehicle. I'm 6'5" so I didn't fit in the back before the bob. I certainly don't fit now.
So my plan is to find a way to setup the back so that it can extend the deck out, as well as have the soft top transform into a tent about 8' long and 3.5' wide. The catch is that it has to do this in under a minute, while accomodating all my gear including the full size 40" spare.
I was going to build a slide out tool box under the deck between the rear bumper tubes. This would be large enough to store all my tools, probably some spare parts, as well as a camping stove, and could double as a table. The battery(s) would be mounted under the deck, right behind the fuel tank. The spare tire has to be able to be able to move easily (as I may not have the energy to lift it manually). I was thinking of building a light hinged tire mount that keeps the spare at a 45 (it'd use teh cage for support), and it could just lift up level with the roof with a strut. The soft top would have lots of extra material so it'd be buttoned/pinned to the INSIDE of the flip up carrier, and the sides would just drape down. With the spare lifted up, and the tool box pulled out, that gives me more than enough room to sleep, as well as store food and do all my cooking.
Basic requirements:
* Retain low COG. Nothing goes on the roof during driving.
* Have to keep full size spare, all tools required to rebuild the entire truck on the trail, at least 1 large cooler or fridge, camping stove, etc.
* I need to be able to go from wheeling to dead asleep in 5 minutes, and from sleep to wheeling in another 5. It's really goddamn difficult to explain why, but essentially I just crash out at random and my brain goes retarded and I'll just start passing out. When I need to eat, I need to eat right ****ing meow, and there's not much I can pre-cook, so I need very quick access to my food prep stuff.
* Cannot affect approach, departure, or ground clearance.
* I'm at 4500lbs now. I need to stay under 5000. Adding all 500 to the rear is not a concern.
* Must retain good rear visibility for wheeling. I'd prefer the spare tire stay flat on the deck if at all possible as we do lots of night wheeling in real tight spots.
* Soft top has to seal properly to keep the exhaust out and heat in, and cannot stick out beyond cage tube for wheeling. Must be fully protected by cage when under power.
* Need at least 7 feet of flat deck space from the rear seats (folded down).
Essentially, I need to build an RV into a rock crawler. And yea, I know... Lots of guys don't think it's going to happen. They also don't think any of the stuff I've already done "wont' happen"
. Don't care if you think it's not plausible/possible. I will do it. Just trying to do it "the most right" I can on the first try.
So that's sorta my rough outline, but I'm at the point now where I've gotta start actually designing everything down to each weld, stitch, and bolt. I've never built a soft top, but I can sew. None of the fabrication is beyond my ability. It's just a matter of coming up with a solid design and build plan.
So build info I'll try to keep short. I took a 95 runner, chopped the front of the frame off and rebuilt it to accomodate a 5.3L mounted super low (oil pan is at pumpkin height) and give me room for compression. Built some hybrid BJ60 (9.5") axles for it. Leaf sprung (for now... may keep it like this). Bobbed the back and caged. And lots of other stuff.
Here's the truck as it sits today.
Here's my dilemma. I wheel a ton, but I'm bored of everything in my very local vicinity. The problem is that I also have health issues which make longer trips an absolute nightmare due to the work involved in setting up camp, and the amount of gear I have to bring with me. I need several coolers of food, cooking supplies, etc, and I also cant' risk being stuck in the bush at all so I have a ton of recovery gear, spare parts, everything I need to make sure I can get home.
Adding a tent, sleeping gear, etc, and there's just not enough room for everything. I built my rig to be low COG and with 80 degree approach and departure, which doesn't leave much room for gear. No, a trailer won't work. Can't get into the places we go with a trailer. We camp up buggy trails.
So the obvious answer is to sleep in the back of the truck, and find a place for all the gear and food, but I have to do this without sacrificing the low COG or overall size of the vehicle. I'm 6'5" so I didn't fit in the back before the bob. I certainly don't fit now.
So my plan is to find a way to setup the back so that it can extend the deck out, as well as have the soft top transform into a tent about 8' long and 3.5' wide. The catch is that it has to do this in under a minute, while accomodating all my gear including the full size 40" spare.
I was going to build a slide out tool box under the deck between the rear bumper tubes. This would be large enough to store all my tools, probably some spare parts, as well as a camping stove, and could double as a table. The battery(s) would be mounted under the deck, right behind the fuel tank. The spare tire has to be able to be able to move easily (as I may not have the energy to lift it manually). I was thinking of building a light hinged tire mount that keeps the spare at a 45 (it'd use teh cage for support), and it could just lift up level with the roof with a strut. The soft top would have lots of extra material so it'd be buttoned/pinned to the INSIDE of the flip up carrier, and the sides would just drape down. With the spare lifted up, and the tool box pulled out, that gives me more than enough room to sleep, as well as store food and do all my cooking.
Basic requirements:
* Retain low COG. Nothing goes on the roof during driving.
* Have to keep full size spare, all tools required to rebuild the entire truck on the trail, at least 1 large cooler or fridge, camping stove, etc.
* I need to be able to go from wheeling to dead asleep in 5 minutes, and from sleep to wheeling in another 5. It's really goddamn difficult to explain why, but essentially I just crash out at random and my brain goes retarded and I'll just start passing out. When I need to eat, I need to eat right ****ing meow, and there's not much I can pre-cook, so I need very quick access to my food prep stuff.
* Cannot affect approach, departure, or ground clearance.
* I'm at 4500lbs now. I need to stay under 5000. Adding all 500 to the rear is not a concern.
* Must retain good rear visibility for wheeling. I'd prefer the spare tire stay flat on the deck if at all possible as we do lots of night wheeling in real tight spots.
* Soft top has to seal properly to keep the exhaust out and heat in, and cannot stick out beyond cage tube for wheeling. Must be fully protected by cage when under power.
* Need at least 7 feet of flat deck space from the rear seats (folded down).
Essentially, I need to build an RV into a rock crawler. And yea, I know... Lots of guys don't think it's going to happen. They also don't think any of the stuff I've already done "wont' happen"
. Don't care if you think it's not plausible/possible. I will do it. Just trying to do it "the most right" I can on the first try.So that's sorta my rough outline, but I'm at the point now where I've gotta start actually designing everything down to each weld, stitch, and bolt. I've never built a soft top, but I can sew. None of the fabrication is beyond my ability. It's just a matter of coming up with a solid design and build plan.
