I must've missed the part about the cage when I read it.

I don't see what the point is of adding a frame underneath an XJ. I don't really see any positives to doing it, if someone has some please let me know. If its a money issue, you probably shouldn't be modifying a vehicle in the first place if you can't afford to do it the right way.

I'm all about people doing it themselves, but some of those welds look really scary not to mention the double shackles in the rear

 

oh the fear of double shackles is over rated. and why do what everyone else is doing? i say if you can do something just as good and different then go for it. i like that idea alot. instead of taking all the time to add stiffeners you can just add a whole frame. i give props for thinking outside the norm.

your just jealous his is chopped is all.

 

I would personally love to get my hands on a set of Tera-Flex rear shackles, AND use them on my DD.

 

OK, you didn't look very close I guess. There are pictures of the motor mounted to the frame before I set the body (see picture below). With a 350 V8 I wanted a frame. It will hold up better than any stiffners. There are 8 body mounts. I have taken great care to make sure this will hold. And just to set your mind at ease, This will be the 3rd xj that we have set on a Scout II frame (see link to youtube). They work. The other two are VERY capable rigs that handle Clayton OK and some of the hardest trails you can think of. There will be a FULL cage before this thing gets wheeled as stated in my build thread if you had read it.



Here is the first of the three in Clayton ok. Watch and learn. lol

 

I am considering splitting my tailgate into to a top piece that goes up like the entire tailgate does stock and a bottom piece that folds down like alot of these chops as well as pickups. Do any of you have pics of how you did the tailgate setup, like latching it as well as the hinge setup?

 

Nobody has done it yet, but a few of us (including me) have brainstormed over it. Search for posts by me in the fab section and you should find it. It's actually a thread that doesn't belong in the fab section, but my bad

 

The removable top xj guy did it on Pirate4x4. It looks sweet but he even admitted it took a long time.

 

the removeable top xj on pirate is one of my favorite

the split gate


http://pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=557715

 

I have taken a look at this and definitely have been inspired by it but if I recall he had an internal roll cage he tied into which I don't have.

If I do decide to do it I will do a write up,

 

Ya we are definitely thinking the same thing. My tailgate is already junk so I guess in a month or so I'll just do it, worst case scenario I have to buy a new tailgate. Unfortunately mine is an older cherokee so it has a fiberglass hatch but I did like the idea of the spray in foam as a kind of strength booster.

 

yeah he hung the cables and latch mounts for the gate off the cage but you dont need to do it that way

if you dont want a cage just build up off the jeep (may require trimming interior panels) or just add a hoop to latch to

you never have to copy someones steps exactly use what you can then make the rest work for you

 

Yea Im going to look and see what I can do I can't look right now, my xj is sitting in storage from the winter still.

 

it all depends on if your wanting to keep the interior looking stock or not

but if you dont mind cutting into the panels a bit you could remove the interior add a couple stiffeners to the D pillars and add the latch tabs for the upper gate there along with the cable tabs for the lower gate

then you just make cutouts in the interior panels for the tabs to go in and reinstall them

if you dont have the interior panels you can used the same method or you could add in a hoop like some people add for shock mounts just put the hoop towards the back more and attach to that

theres other ways of doing it but theres a couple off the top of my head

 

That is cool, I had no idea someone had done it. I have not been brave enough to make an attempt at it yet. Got to get a warm summer night, some buddies, and too much beer.

 

yeah i found the one on pirate a few months ago looking into doing a chop which i wont be doing but i might do the gate this summer if i get the other projects done
just have to make sure and reinforce everything real well like he said
he used spray foam wood and aluminum and fiber glass mat to reinforce his

the only thing on his i didnt like is his lower gate isnt hinged its pinned into place

when/if i do mine ill have to figure out a way to hinge it which i think i have already figured out its just tring it on my extra gate to see if itll work