im liking theses ideas i still have yet to do mine

 

Update?

 

little stuff here and there, but nothing major. very busy time of year with work and kids in school. right now i'm focusing more on getting her more capable offroad. full long arm kit, armor, winch, etc. are in the works now.

 

nice man. building your own bumper? and are you geting lockers?

 

don't have the right equipment to build my own just yet, so i'm going to have one of the local jeepers whip one up real quick. doing a stubby bumper to stash the winch behind the factory bumper. once i finally upgrade from the tiny little flux-core mig i have, then i'll look into fabbing up a new one for myself. right now i just want functionality.

as for lockers, i've got a d30 lokka sitting on my parts pile waiting to go in as well. was going to tackle that first, but i'm getting some horrible DW lately so i'm bumping the new lift up the list first.

 

got ya.

 

Wow uber this is a great build. I have read and re-read many builds for cargo storage in their rigs. I built a very similar cargo drawer storage box you have but the rear storage area has my spare, a 33" tire. I dont want a swing out tire carrier b/c when I come down off a ledge, the tire usually rubs or just gets in the way. I also didnt want a roof rack b/c I wanted a lower center of gravity.
In the storage container I left a space in between the drawers and seat to store extra axles and drive shaft. The storage container holds a propane grill and the drawer above it holds 6 small propane tanks. The other drawer is for misc odds and ends.
I too thought of sleeping inside the xj, but I am a very tall man and would have to sleep on my side legs bent. I thought of a hinged system like you were, just havent figured out how to store it and how it would work.
Did you ever put to paper how the roof tent would work? It would be nice if you explored that idea!!

 

Damn that's a sick build, I'm def gonna have to steal some ideas!

 

trail readiness pic dump time

new lights



light protection..



new fuse panel for accessories, and a home for the winch solenoid..



nice and bright..



rc 4.5" long arm kit installed, as well as new roof rack setup from olympic 4x4..



bosch 703 injector swap..



new scanner and cb..



best addition yet

 

What lights did you use inside the grill? I might be stealing that idea as I like the way it looks. You've done an awesome job on your build so far, can't wait to see more.

 

just some cheap hellas from pep boys. will be going for an led bar up top tho. wanna keep it low profile to avoid getting hung up on branches.

and in the spirit of fabrication, here's a quick photo walk-thru of how i made the grill inserts.

start with a form..



metal mesh to fit (screws hold in place to avoid shifting during next step)..



hammer down around form..



press into place, zap a few screws thru screen, into jeep grill



and that's that

 

how much was that rack setup from Olympic?

 

retail is like $750.. i lucked out big time and got it for $250

 

I really like the grill inserts and the Hella lights in the grill. I do believe I'll be ripping this idea off soon!

 

Lots of cool ideas and nice craftsmanship through out this build thread. Nice job.