Time to beef things up! - - a build thread of sorts - Page 10

red_01_xj · 05-04-2008, 12:25 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricsXJ

After cutting 1.75" off the bottom of the rear door I put it on only to find that it doesn't match up with the front.

I can't figure out how that happened since I know I measured correctly and it would have been impossible to cut too high or I would have noticed it when patching the bottom of the door. It must be something with the door hinges a little off.

looks good...you can tell it is somehting with the hinge take a look at the crease in the body lines....its a hair off

xj_extreme · 05-05-2008, 11:06 PM

i was lovin the rocker job up until the door cutting, now im not sure i want to do this to mine anymore.

**EricsXJ** · 05-05-2008, 11:31 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by xj_extreme

i was lovin the rocker job up until the door cutting, now im not sure i want to do this to mine anymore.

There is a price to pay when doing this!

But honestly if you can get past cutting the door hinges, and cutting out the rockers, cutting off the bottom of the door isn't that bad. You'll also have to trim the fenders (again) and I haven't shown that. The weld spots do suck, but there are other alternatives to cover that up. One would be not to weld the outer door skin at all. Use glue or RTV or something. Or you could put a metal strip along the bottom of the door to cover it up and make it look good like its meant to be there.

But honestly, I have all 4 doors back on and have one more fender to go before I start driving it again. So far I have zero regrets for doing this! I'm sure in my close-up pics it doesn't look as clean as you'd expect (on my rig

) but if you take a few steps back, I don't think the casual observer will even be able to tell the doors have been cut. Just wait, I'll get some more pics of it outside and you'll see what I mean.

Also just an FYI. With the doors on, I lose 1 whole inch in my suspension! Makes me want to take them off and leave them off. But I'll have to see how it is when I drive it...

**Jason, aka: Jeepin.com** · 05-06-2008, 09:27 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricsXJ

Also just an FYI. With the doors on, I lose 1 whole inch in my suspension! Makes me want to take them off and leave them off. But I'll have to see how it is when I drive it...

Wow, I wouldn't have expected that much difference, but then, I loose nearly 1/2" in the back of mine when I put my ~90lb spare tire on... After seeing your rig, and wheeling our TJ doorless this past weekend, I'm pretty sure I'll be making my XJ doorless as well.

(just gotta figure out when I'll have time to do it!)

red_01_xj · 05-06-2008, 09:45 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by fast64

I weighed mine when I first went doorless, my fronts were 68 lbs and the rears were 42, so thats 220 pounds that you lose every time you go doorless. Add a few pounds more for power window motors if you got 'em.

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricsXJ

Also just an FYI. With the doors on, I lose 1 whole inch in my suspension! Makes me want to take them off and leave them off. But I'll have to see how it is when I drive it...

So that means when I have me and a passanger in the jeep I loose an inch

COJeepin · 05-06-2008, 02:57 PM

I believe it too. When I drive with my tube doors on there is a notable difference in ride height. I am going to start leaving my spare in the back of the tow rig when on big trails too as really adds up in clearance coming off of big rocks.

The front doors on Eric's XJ are about 66lbs a piece and the rear ones are 44lbs, if I remember correct when I weighed mine. That's 200lbs of lost weight when doorless!!!

xj_extreme · 05-07-2008, 12:59 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricsXJ

There is a price to pay when doing this!

But honestly if you can get past cutting the door hinges, and cutting out the rockers, cutting off the bottom of the door isn't that bad. You'll also have to trim the fenders (again) and I haven't shown that. The weld spots do suck, but there are other alternatives to cover that up. One would be not to weld the outer door skin at all. Use glue or RTV or something. Or you could put a metal strip along the bottom of the door to cover it up and make it look good like its meant to be there.

But honestly, I have all 4 doors back on and have one more fender to go before I start driving it again. So far I have zero regrets for doing this! I'm sure in my close-up pics it doesn't look as clean as you'd expect (on my rig

) but if you take a few steps back, I don't think the casual observer will even be able to tell the doors have been cut. Just wait, I'll get some more pics of it outside and you'll see what I mean.

Also just an FYI. With the doors on, I lose 1 whole inch in my suspension! Makes me want to take them off and leave them off. But I'll have to see how it is when I drive it...

thats interesting, im not ruling it out yet, im going to wait until you are all finished until i decide what im doing, i might change it up a bit because i wont need it to be as wild and awesome as u are doing, and my welding skills are still in the learning stage. overall i love the idea and all the fab. my hinges are already cut so thats not an issue but i dont understand what needs to be trimmed on the fender.

i never measured how much lift i even got on my 4 door when i had it but i only ever took the front doors off, now im curious to know what it will be like with my 2 door, i guess ill have to break out the tape measure once my axles are back in.

over your build

**EricsXJ** · 05-07-2008, 09:26 PM

I don't know if you guys are tired of seeing pics of this yet, but I finally finished the fenders which involved trimming them again to match up with the new rockers and also had to cut off the bottom to be flush. Then I had to put the fenders and front grill back on. So the rocker replacement project is finished. I drove the Jeep to work today. These pics show how far out the rockers stick out. Just perfect for what I wanted.....

And a shot to see how the doors look. Other than the fact the dirt on them doesn't match

I think it looks pretty good.

wojtizzlator · 05-07-2008, 09:47 PM

eric tht is a nice *** lookin jeep i really have to admit!

how much money do you think you have into it?

what are your future plans?

i wanna do someting to my jeep but idk what to do to it so i figured ide ask to see what your gonna do

bigern26 · 05-07-2008, 09:48 PM

I never get tired of seeing pics, Love the build thread, lots of info.
MORE,MORE,MORE.

Jeepernick · 05-07-2008, 09:57 PM

sexy

**EricsXJ** · 05-07-2008, 10:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by wojtizzlator

how much money do you think you have into it?

Honestly I don't know but it's a lot. Bought it in '99 and started building it in '01. You could look at the specs on my website and do the math....

Quote:

what are your future plans?

The future? Well after all this work I need to get out and wheel. In the very near future there are some more small areas to beef up and I have a few maintenance related tasks - front pinion seal and rear main seal. In June I will address my rear suspension by rebuilding my leafs and add new bushings. I'll also be building a shackle box to improve the shackle angle.

I do want to add a cage and repaint it desert tan. In a couple years I will probably get bigger axles and run 37's and I'd like a better transfer case.

cherokeeman90 · 05-07-2008, 10:34 PM

Eric, just curious what you do for a living?

**5.9 ANDY** · 05-07-2008, 10:37 PM

dude, you jeep is frecking sweet... you have done so much modification to the stupid unibody to make it more like a frame, it is great, some day, i hope to do ALL of that kind of frame stiffining on my grand.

wojtizzlator · 05-07-2008, 11:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by EricsXJ

Honestly I don't know but it's a lot. Bought it in '99 and started building it in '01. You could look at the specs on my website and do the math....

The future? Well after all this work I need to get out and wheel. In the very near future there are some more small areas to beef up and I have a few maintenance related tasks - front pinion seal and rear main seal. In June I will address my rear suspension by rebuilding my leafs and add new bushings. I'll also be building a shackle box to improve the shackle angle.

I do want to add a cage and repaint it desert tan. In a couple years I will probably get bigger axles and run 37's and I'd like a better transfer case.

i would love to do a cage on mine! there are plenty of armor things ive been trying to sketch out hopeing to build soon.

any ideas on what axles front and rear and what kind of transfer case?

(what axles do you have now?)