1996 Cherokee Country, DD and Light off-roading
 

This is my jeep. I've had it since 9/09 and I love it.

here is a little info about the stuff i've done. i'm pretty big on making things myself and doing it as cheaply as possible.

i got it with 76k miles on it. except for a saggy headliner it was in fabulous shape.

i made a basket style roof rack for it. it only cost me about 15 bucks to make, its not totally straight but it gets the job done and it is very strong.

i made a cargo table to put in the back. i used scrap wood and fortunately i only had to pay for the felt cover and cargo loops. i really enjoy being able to put stuff under or on top of the table.

i made an axe/shovel mount in the back window that i'm pretty proud of. i used 1/2 in steel tubing and mounted it mostly under the plastic trim, so it looks pretty clean. i used rubber straps to hold the axe and shovel on there, they are very strong as well. my neighbor was afraid in a wreck the axe would come flying off and kill me, so i calculated the max g-force in a wreck and hung weight on the axe to make sure the straps would hold, just to spite her. :)

i recently installed a rear tire carrier and then lowered my cargo table. i have more room for tools and other junk now that the tire is out of the cargo area.

i didnt mention that i installed a 3 inch lift from rusty's. after that i got a set of 30x9.50's and then a while later a set of 31x10.50 mud kings.

here is a picture of the axe/shovel mount

imghttps://www.cherokeeforum.com/member...-1220-copy.jpg/img

out at the farm

looks good man i love the roof racks on these things.

Looking good man. Rack looks good for what you got in it

Here are some pics of how i made the axe/shovel mount. i used 1/2 inch steel tubing again, pounded the ends flat, and mounted it on the hatch above and below the window.

Here is the finished product. i used regular rubber straps and took out the metal "S" hooks. the thick end of the strap just slips over an exposed bolt head and the tension keeps it on there. it doesnt rattle or squeak or anything, i've had them up for a few months and they still hold nice and tight.

if i had this to do over again i'd probably see if there was any way to mount these on a side window. the visibility isnt bad, but it just would have been a little more out of the way, but not any harder to get to.

cargo table
 

Here is my little cargo table project that i did back in the summer. i saw a TON of great ideas on here and other websites for cargo tables/racks/storage. i want to keep my jeep as clean as possible, so i came up with the design for this table (which was pretty original, if i'm allowed to toot my own horn).

like i said i used scrap wood that i had and bought the felt covering for like 11 bucks at the auto parts store. i've since taken out the 2x2's that i used for the front legs and put in 2x4s. they kept squeaking and were pretty weak.

whats great about this table is i can pull it in and out (thats what she said) very quickly and easily, the whole thing weighs maybe 25 pounds.

here it is in the jeep finished. i later added cargo hooks and lowered it a bit.

Some pics from when i made my roof rack. i only had thick welding rods and i couldnt get the voltage right without melting the tubing, so the welds are uuuuuugly. but like i said, its very solid. i just bent the tubing over a tractor tire to get the curved corners. this thing is pretty heavy though, and it really howls on the highway (potential wolf-ish jeep nickname?) so i've been looking for an aluminum one or something else. its hard to beat the price on this one though.

finished and painted

here are a few pics of the rear tire carrier. for a few days i had my high lift jack mounted on the back of the roof rack. i really didnt like that, so i put it on top of my cargo table in the back. it fits there perfectly and i like it much better.

i thought to myself "hey, i should post a picture that shows i actually do a little off roading" and this is all i could fine. haha. its very mild, i realize that. since i drive this everyday i usually wash off the mud pretty quickly. this is before i got my 31's, they were the 30inch A/T's but they did pretty well. this is from a trip to and from my deer stand. i'm probably going to go out around thanksgiving, so i'll try to grab some real pics. :)

looks good i like the homebrew rack and shovel/axe mount