Daily Driver, Moderate Trailrider, Ultra Survivalist Jeep Cherokee!
 

Ok, so the title is rather long and I don't have any build pictures, but basically that's what I want to turn my 1996 Jeep Cherokee into. I need it to drive the 20 miles to and from work each day and so forth, but I also want to be able to just take it off the road and tool around in the high desert over here.

Also I want a little "end of the world" insurance so I want to increase the survivability, fuel capacity and overall security of the vehicle. My idea was the following, if it sounds awkward or perhaps I could do better with some other options let me know.

Moderate Lift, 2" to 4"

Roof Tire Carrier

Front and Rear Bumper Upgrade

Warn Winch or suitable

I need tires that can be driven on the asphalt and still work off road on rocky desert light trails.

Light Bank, but not just lights that face forward, I want lights that illuminate all sides, so if I have to stop somewhere in the dark I can turn on which ever lights I need to do work on whichever side.

Undercarriage Lights, I saw it once and it looked awesome :D.

FLIR Thermal Camera with 7inch display mounted on drivers side, not sure if you have seen one, but for $3000 you can see 5x further than your headlights and in any weather it shows what is ahead, so I can see that indangered turtle crossing the road in time to stop. :P

Laptop mounted between driver and passenger side so I can run engine diagnostics, and surf the web when I am bored.

CB Radio

Remove the back seat and install two bucket seats in their place.

Weapons Rack between the two rear seats

Police Bars over the windows.

Expanded fuel tank or rigged fuel reserve system.

Oh and desert tigerstrip paint job.

Alright, where do I start?!

Dang , I believe is start by going to the bank and get a second mortgage to finance your wish list.
It sounds pretty awesome. One question I have , and I'm sure we all want to know. Why the police bars?

if you were gonna put in a 3000 dollar camera ide be hella tight on my security too, but what if you flop and crush the camera? invest that money in a good lift kit or regearing. i am not sure if you were serious or kidding about the camera...

So your going to give the rear passengers bucket seats but not yourself?

I don't need a second mortgage, I am single so my money is mine :).

The camera will be inside, the idea though is not to do enough trailriding to get into a flip situation. I'm mostly going to use it to go out hunting and playing around in the dirt, not actually "rock crawling"

I forgot to put that I want bucket seats in the front too :)

Here is the camera system.
http://www.opticsplanet.net/flir-pat...ra-le-kit.html


I want to completely redo the interior to fix the annoying wind noise I get from driving at highway speeds.

youve been watching to many zombie movies havent you?....

Nope. So what do you all suggest, besides the "extras" I'm putting on. What lift kits, suspensions, tires, bumpers, gear etc should I put on my vehicle?

Youre talking a LOT of money for everthing you want to add, just buy a h2

zombieland lol

And then spray paint a #3 on the sides.

A H2 cost more than I have, the idea of buying parts over time and making a nice survival vehicle is that I don't have to worry about up front costs. I also wouldn't ever want to trail ride with a vehicle I still owe money on.

Now I have considered just doing as much maintenance on my jeep as I can to make it a good daily driver, because well it could use a new/rebuilt transmission since the one right now is over 100,000 miles. Put a new fuel pump and sending unit and some other minor sensors. Then buy a surplus military blazer and do all that stuff to it.

so just asking but whats the point in putting all this money into your cherokee...and then buying a blazer to wheel with?...your xj is alot more capable then any blazer

Honestly it doesn't sound like you know how to do any of this yourself and you just want a pretty "look-at-me" rig. Also if you're going to invest this much into mostly useless additions you should start with a newer vehicle with a longer projected lifespan.

Pro-guard would be the company to go with for "Police Window bars."

I like the lights on all sides, you never know when you need light in another direction. However, it may be better to just invest $125 into a good rechargable flashlight. Streamlight is the one you want for that.

Keep in mind if you are putting a laptop and 7" monitor you are going to be dealing with a very crammed dashboard.

I know of at least one member here that has a HUGE fuel tank. Search a bit, you'll find one.

We all know the zombocalypse isn't likely, as much as we all want it to happen...myself included.

The most likely senario is some sort of nuke, improvised or other. That nuke will set off an EMP, and that EMP will toast all your electronic equipment. So your end-of-the-world-truck will end up being useless.

Not to mention gas goes bad after awhile. So you'll have maybe 6 months to drive your truck til you can get a refinery working.

Flir Camera: Very pimp use one almost every day at work, however VERY expensive for what you want to do. Not to mention replacement parts are almost as expensive as buying a new camera (especially the lens). We use ours at work to inspect equipment and transformers etc.

Laptop: Again why? If its to run engine diagnostics the programs that interface with OBD II (from my knowledge) are pretty expensive if you want them to do well. Also, if your wanting to browse the internet your going to need wifi or broadband either of which your not going to get in a "end of world" scenario or out in the middle of the desert.

Lights: Great idea! Can never have enough illumination. Spend the $3000 on some good Hellas!

Security Windows: ???? Why? Hauling illegals across the boarder?

CB Radio: Good, probably one of the first mods I would do/did.

Expanded fuel capacity: Also could be useful on very very long desert expeditions but then food or other supplies become an issue.

Weapons rack: sure why not, I carry my shotgun under the back seat if need be and my handgun under the front (only when camping of wheeling)

Tires: BFG AT's!!! Perfect for what it sounds like your doing

Lift: Purely depends on what your doing and how much you want to spend. If your just cruising the desert a rusty's or RC 3" would be just fine. Otherwise go with a 4.5" LA

Roof Rack Tire Carrier: Be careful, jeeps don't need any help flipping over. and lifting an oversize tire onto and off the roof of a lifted vehicle gets VERY old VERY quick ( I know I do it when I go four wheeling)

Bumpers: Also can be a good upgrade

Winch: Start with bumpers and good tow points


All my opinion but... :thumbup1: