First off, thanks. I really can't take credit for the cage build though. Hunter Offroad in Tempe, AZ is responsible for the cage fab. Hunter had just done another XJ and my cage is pretty much a copy of it with just a couple changes that I asked for. His previous cage had a "droop" in the top windshield bar to give it a more aggressive look. I wanted mine to look low key so I had him straighten that out, then add the cowl bar which his previous cage didn't have. Pretty much everything else is the same on mine as the one he built previously.

I did the painting and interior work myself after the fact which does give it a finished look I think. At first I considered an all internal cage, but these XJ's are just so small it's not really practical for a DD in my opinion. Really, you just need to do what I did. Lots of research and look at what everyone else has done, then decide what works for you and what doesn't. That was one of the reasons I had Hunter build my cage. It's a custom job and he asks a lot of questions about how you use the rig, what you like or don't like, what compromises you can live with, etc. Probably the main issue with my cage as far as daily utility is the bracing on the B-Pillar hoop. It makes is so I can't move the front seats all the way back and it's a pretty tight fit for passengers getting in and out of the back seat. I suppose it could be built without the internal bracing and would still stiffen things up, but would definitely be weaker. I'd like to add more bracing to mine, but as long as it's driven daily, I'll just leave it as is.

 

Well, during our offroad trip last weekend I tore one of the front flares loose. After spending awhile trying to get it reattached and make it fit right, I decided to take the plunge and trim the sheetmetal. After removing the flares and brackets, I taped around the outside edge of where the stock flare was and started cutting. Now I just need to paint everything under there black and get some edging so it looks finished. Room for bigger tires when I decide to step up.

 

Looks like a good job.

I don't want to trim, but if I end up doing it, I want to do just the front like you did. It's easy to replace the front fender if we trim too much or want to go back down in wheel size, but the rear had a lot of structural welds for the uni-body, and I seriously don't want to mess with those.

Nice job on yours

 

Ahhh!!! Such a pretty jeep! It sucks you had to trim! Although, you did a great job of it! I was at that crossroad a couple of months ago, I was able to trim the fenders and reattach the flare, now you can't even tell unless you look underneath...love your rig!

 

Nice rig and well planned out. Nice to see a nice one from AZ as well.

 

Had an annoying clunk ever since we ran Judgment Day a couple weeks ago. Discovered the stock motor mounts had finally given out. I replaced them this morning with these from MORE.

 

Awesome build you got going on here. Whereabouts are you located in the AZ? The terrain looks very Jeep-Friendly...

-The only reason I ask is because I may be moving to Arizona in the next year or so.

 

Phoenix area. Plenty of wheeling within an hour of town. This is prime season now that the weather's finally cooled down.

 

Ah awesome, I would be living in that general area as well. I have a trip planned in the beginning of December to check things out down there so i'm looking forward to it!

How are you liking those MORE MM mounts? I am contemplating those or Brown Down Offroads MM when the time comes to replace those.

 

Just got them in today. Definitely a lot more vibration and noise, but hopefully they'll hold up better than the stockers. I was going to buy Brown Dog, but I had a $150 gift certificate at Quadratec and these were what they carried so I bought them. Going wheeling next weekend, so we'll see how they feel then.

 

One of the best build threads I have EVER seen... Congrats on all your work!!

 

that thing is so clean, well done

 

you should enter cotm i bet you would have a great shot at winning it

 

nice lookin jeep man, very clean. mind me asking how much the cage and sliders cost each? just curious.

 

If you had only posted the final product of this XJ, and told us you bought it from an aftermarket tuner as a $30,000 specialty vehicle, I'd bet that half of us wouldn't have doubted you. That's how well-done this Jeep is.

Maybe you should go into business replicating this thing. For the rich kids who just want to look more bad-a$$ than their buddies with Rubicons, Land Rovers and Hummers.