HeavyMetal

This thread will show progress on my 89 Cherokee build.

I have HeavyMetal, my normal wheeling rig:


And I have DesertMetal, my new-ish project rig (got it very early spring)

The Jeep is currently sitting on 33x10.5 BFG Muds at stock ride height. It also has verious other odds and ends done to it. This will be a continuing project.

It started with this sad looking display:



Got it in the car-port


Got the 33s mounted up:


Then when i got down to painting:



Then the real fun began.



Ended up like this at the end of that day



The next day we got to gutting the interior of carpet and all, and made the doors removable (gotta have the doorless)


Started doin some 'custom' stenciling




Then, the starter died and i left it until i could find a cheap (free) one from a friend...

Got it revived and started flexin 'er out and drivin around

HeavyMetal

The tube arrives


Initial cage design


yellow and red are hoops

the green X is welded into the rear hoop

the purples are slant backs

the rest is obvious

Got its homebrew front crossmember/bumper made up and mocked up


and an exhaust note for all of you musically inclined
The Growler

more to come of course

Kyle

nice rig as always heavy, looking forward to seeing its progress.

-Kyle

ktmracer419

dude, ive said it before, but you have a sick lawn. even when the grass is dead it's a uniform tan color.

whats your secret?

ktmracer419

oh, desert is lookin sweet too.

get me a bender and i think im ready to hook you up with some arms.

HeavyMetal

i have the greenest thumb in all the land

we can try getting a bend out of the one i have now, considering its only a small bend, it could be do-able...ive heard success stories with this bender and DOM...worth a try i figure...down?

89xj

god that is awesome... u have a creative mind... how many inches of fender did u have to trim to fit those

ktmracer419

as much as you see in the pics

HeavyMetal

The cage has begun, we got the hoop bent to perfection on our first go. none of the feet of the cage have been attached yet or anything.

i just cut the slant-backs 10 seconds before the pic so their length needs to be adjusted for mounting and such. otherwise, this is the beginning

Kyle

are you tieing it into the unibody? how are you tieing it in?

-Kyle

HeavyMetal

They will be tied in using some 4x4" 1/4" plate, also tied into the frame rails some way i havnt totally set in stone yet, when i get it done ill be sure to post up how, still have more cagework to do

Kyle

definatly keep us updated. i love that tube work.

-Kyle

HeavyMetal

i have this brainstorm for frame tie in.

weld lengths of square stock whatever dimension i measure, into the frame rails from the top (cuz i can now access the inside of em..lol)



the top mounting plate would be flush with the XJs rear floor, and welded all around, while being welded to the tube "leg", which in turn is welded through the stock, welded into the frame. stiff.

Kyle

thats a great idea, much better then a lot of the ways most people tie in to their unibody. good work will.

-Kyle

HeavyMetal

got the a-pillars done today, they are a full tube that go up from the floor and all the way back to the rear hoop, the b-pillar will attach into this when i get more t00b

also made a crossbar that mounts between the a-pillars but there was no way to hold it up there for a pic without a tack-weld, it has a bend in it angled towards the windshield.






this is how i may do the top triangulating, undecided if i wanna do the triangle that way, or reversed