Building on an Enlisted Budget..(Lots of Pics)
 

Here I go, I have always been more of a sit back and watch kind of guy, but I figured making my own build thread wouldn't hurt. I've never really gotten any feed back on my rig so hopefully you find it intriguing.

Why enlisted budget? Because despite popular opinion as any junior enlisted in the military, wine doesn't exactly fall from the heavens. So we deal with it. Most spend there two pennies on strippers and boos, but I take after different fancy.

So here she is, a 2000. Not my first choice on a year or condition it was in at the the time, but it was an impulsive buy. I was younger and dumber.

For starters here is what it looked like when I bought it.

Full of hurt and discontent...
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How is she now? 3 years later. :flag:
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I'm tied in with East Coast Offroad Racing Series so a lot of my build is and is going to continue to be heavily influenced as a race rig. I've been in and at a few races and I've definitely been bit by the go fast bug.. The main goal here is to push the daily driver to the absolute limits (whatever that may be..) Regardless its going to be street legal at all times. Probably not in all of them though lol.

I'll post previous major projects I've done to date, like the cage (yes there is one hidden in there).

But for now it's dinner time..more to come!

Good looking rig....but an enlisted budget can be very good dependng on your E#.....

lol you are correct, but I'm not an "adult" yet.

Perhaps a baja race XJ? That would be sweet. awesome XJ btw

Thanks! and I'm gonna hopefully be moving to the west coast here in less than year if all goes as planned. So given the opportunity, open desert here I come!

Here's some main highlights thats I've done so far over the past 6 months.

First up cage..definitely a big deal to me. Had it done by Ironman4x4fab.com. I did a lot of the of annoying and tiring prep work involved and made tie in plates, drilled, and cut. I learned a thing or two along the way thanks to Andy Carter. He is a great guy and really cares about his work he does for Ironman. I had a lot of fun building it with him. Not the most extravagant cage but its a good start that I can build off of.
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I did the Rockyroad CAD brackets. Definite improvement on street driving, a lot smoother over bumps and of course gives you a lot more axle drop. The only con I have with them is the weak hardware that is provided. Keeps coming loose. I even put a bead of weld for the rear support pieces tied into the frame. Could use some more. Just picked up Grade 8 hardware the other day to swap out and lock tight them. So that should fix the annoying popping i keep getting (would be something completely different with my luck).
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I got the ruffstuff frame stiffeners installed before the cage and boy what an amazing feeling. Very rigid. You can tell whenever you take a tight corner. Well worth the money. Now all I have to do is build some rock sliders off of them. If you're wondering about the crossmember. Thats the Clayton 3 piece crossmember. They come with mounts for their long arm setup. Now every time i'm under there I have to see those poor things not being utilized. I guess I know what's gonna happen later down the road :thumbup1:
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I suppose the last thing worth sharing are the shackle relocation brackets and shackles...or should I say mini control arms because those things are beefy!
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I suppose thats it for now. I'm currently building a D30. So I'm sure I'll be all excited to show that off as it progresses. Now where's my beer...

Ironman4x4fab shackles truly are the best, I love my pair.

Started my tube door project today. Been waiting to do this for awhile ever since I saw someone post up their's. There is a 1000 posts on tube doors so its hard to give them the credit due since I can't find whoever originally made them, but maybe they'll recognize the design.

Just got the frame work tacked together today. Gonna Finish this one up and start the second on Friday. Then the back doors begin.

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Looks like mine. I wondered how well it would work with the 97+ hinges. What is the plan for the latch? Any plans for an additional cross bar in the middle section of the door?

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Not sure if this will help or not, but here are some dimensions that could get you started on the rears.

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Hah, Yes I saved all of your pictures and have been using them :thumbup: I plan on doing the same cross piece like yours. Do note that the extra vertical piece near the latch side will not be there. Thats just there temporarily to hold things together a little better.

As far as latch goes, I was wondering what you used? I was literally about to leave here in a minute to go take a look at Lowes or Home Depot to see if I can get something to work. My original idea was hood latches..they seem a little too big though.

Also the hinges I already had modified to be able to pick the door up and off. 5/16 bolt welded to the door side hinge. Same plan on the tube doors.

I just used a gate latch. I was a little skeptical at first about those, but they have worked out well so far. I just used 4 self tappers to mount them to the tube. Did you use 1.5 inch tube? If you need any more specific pics or have any questions just let me know.

I found what I think you used last night at Lowes. Just a gate latch. Problem is I used 1" tube. I found the weight to add up quick with 1.5 and decided to save con cost and weight. So I'm thinking of trying to weld the latch to the tube since it's that awkward size of too small yet just big enough.

Got the front tube doors welded together today. I am by no means a welder so my welds are garbage. They're gonna get ground down so its not really gonna matter. Very pleased with the look. All I have to do now is weld on the latches grind everything then start the rear doors.

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