jerry's kid project

[slim616]

Allright I began on the rockers today which is basicaly the first step in putting the cage in.

I was worried about cutting the A pillar and loosing some strength but after I cut the rocker I found out the whole bottom part of it had rusted away. so I guess that solves that problem.


Also got the base for the tube bender mounted. I drove four pieces of rebar into the dirt to keep the concrete from twisting in the ground.

[MoonWorks]

You ended up going with the JD2 I guess?

[slim616]

I ended up getting the protool 105. Ive had it since march but never got around to putting it together because I wasn't ready to do the cage.

[slim616]

Got some more done today on the rockers





had a rain storm today and relized I had to drill some holes in the floor for water.

[ILikeMud]

I like those rockers man.
Might have to redo mine.

[slim616]

Thanks mud I really like them because of how sturdy they are. With them being flush against the bottom of the pillars I think they really strengthedup those pillars. Without them being welded I was able to jack up the jeep. My main concern is with the exo cage being welded to it that it wont be pushed down in a roll over. I'm hoping that between the 3 legs that are 2x2 box and the wing that comes off the RE long arms should be enough to keep it in place.
Saturday I got the rear 8.8 up to speed.

we cut 2" out of the spring mounts and welded the 8.8 carrier up plus got all the slop out of the 4 link. Plus I'm in the process of moving the rear suck down winch inside the cab.
Today I got the other rock slider on and worked on the floor. At 1/8 inch thick I shouldn't have any probs welding stuff to them.


got the templates ready to do the little cubby holes on the sides.

got the front piece of metal cut for the storage boxes

[MoonWorks]

Good progress Joe! Keep it up.

[SirFuego]

I was worried about cutting the A pillar and loosing some strength but after I cut the rocker I found out the whole bottom part of it had rusted away. so I guess that solves that problem.

Welcome to my world...

[ILikeMud]

Ever thought about running a bar up into the pillars and plug welding it to add a bit of strenght?
I thought about doing it with my rockers but never did.

[slim616]

All right got the rest of the tool box and floor tacked in today.


Also started bending the tube for the rocker panels. Let me tell you the whole learning curve on bending this tube sucks.

Ever thought about running a bar up into the pillars and plug welding it to add a bit of strenght?

That actaully seems like a prety good idea but I guess I'm beyond that point to be abel to do that with the rocker welded in under the pillars.

[slim616]

Finished bending the tube for the sliders today

[grandmaster]

Turned out really nice, good work.

[SirFuego]

Lookin good, Joe! I like the tool storage compartment where the rear seats used to be.

[Dirtdiver]

I like them rockers, turned out really clean.

[MoonWorks]

Toolbox makes a good place for DD to stand too! haha

[zj95maxx]

Looks good, looks just like mine turned out and I love mine. I wish I made my bar come out more likes yours.

Looks like you are getting the hang of the bender. Once you figure out that it is actually super simple to work, it's cake.

BTW if you need any help on working the bender in case you come across a problem, I am pretty handy with mine so I might be able to lend some advice. Let me know.

Jeep looks good.

[slim616]

Thanks everyone for the compliments. One prob i ran into with the sliders which was a total newb welding mistake was that I went and tacked the sliders in flush were I wanted them with the bottom of the rockers. Then when I went back to weld them I didnt factor in the part about the welds shrinking when they cood off. to make along story short when the welds cooled off it pulled the bar down leaving a slight gap between the slider and the pillars I'm hoping now that the bar will just get bent up a little the first couple of times I drop the jeep down on a couple of rocks.
Also Ive been doing alot of practicing with the welder and have learned to be able to control the pool a lot better to get better looking welds. well at least when i'm over top of them. That and some one showed me I was holding the gun too far away and that the gas was not always reaching the weld. kind of why I could weld nice for a inch or two then it would go to shit for a while then go back to nice. I still can't seem to get the nack of welding over head were you have a small gap to fill in between the to pieces of metal. I guess its all a matter of practice, I'm hopping by the time this thing is finished and I move one to the next that i'll have worked out all the kinks with my welding.

Also max I'm going to take you up on that offer. I kind of figured out the basics but I still have a long way to go to be able to build the cage. By chance could I bribe you with all the crabs you can eat for comming up and giving me a hand with building the cage

[slim616]

Toolbox makes a good place for DD to stand too! haha

lol your right, I allready caught grief about not having a seat in the jeep for dd so i'm going to have to figure out some way to mount a seat back there for her. only thing is that I have to extra careful that she's not in the jeep when their is a chance of a flop because her being thrown out. I was thinking doggy seat belts but i'm not sure how she would react to them.

[zj95maxx]

Thanks everyone for the compliments. One prob i ran into with the sliders which was a total newb welding mistake was that I went and tacked the sliders in flush were I wanted them with the bottom of the rockers. Then when I went back to weld them I didnt factor in the part about the welds shrinking when they cood off. to make along story short when the welds cooled off it pulled the bar down leaving a slight gap between the slider and the pillars I'm hoping now that the bar will just get bent up a little the first couple of times I drop the jeep down on a couple of rocks.
Also Ive been doing alot of practicing with the welder and have learned to be able to control the pool a lot better to get better looking welds. well at least when i'm over top of them. That and some one showed me I was holding the gun too far away and that the gas was not always reaching the weld. kind of why I could weld nice for a inch or two then it would go to shit for a while then go back to nice. I still can't seem to get the nack of welding over head were you have a small gap to fill in between the to pieces of metal. I guess its all a matter of practice, I'm hopping by the time this thing is finished and I move one to the next that i'll have worked out all the kinks with my welding.

Also max I'm going to take you up on that offer. I kind of figured out the basics but I still have a long way to go to be able to build the cage. By chance could I bribe you with all the crabs you can eat for comming up and giving me a hand with building the cage

haha how about YOU come down HERE!

or if you think it would help, I could send you my copy of bend tech pro to use. But to be honest, I built my whole cage without using it. I wish I could remake my cage just to get it more the way I want it. Not that it isn't how i want it now, but I know what NOT to do on my next cage.

[slim616]

well After getting the wheeling itch today I decided to take the rig out for a light test run @ RC. With out the cage being in I decided to not to mess with anything that could put me in a roll over situation. Ie no off camber hill climbs. Didn't get many pics but the jeep did great. it really nice not to have to drag your sliders across every rock. I was able to do stout with out even having to back up one time





as a side note the body did not flex at all between the skid plate and the 4" channel I have running between the frame were the factory bumpstops were. Though I don't think i'll take it out again with out the cage being in just because the roof is so damn flimsy looking and would probly not hold up to even a light flop.

[slim616]

All right got some work done on the cage.



Before I get flamed on how high did the rear x. i did it so when i mount the spare tire on it, I will still be able to see under the tire and out the back when I need to back up.
Started to work on the B hoop but ran out of time before I could finish welding in all the bars.

Yes I know this is kind of a getto way to build a cage but I don't have a garage to work out of.

a couple of previews of how its going to look for the internal cage.


I had an extra magnet of one of my skid steers laying around and figured I'd throw it on the jeep so it could be a tax write off I still have a lot of triangulating to do and i have take apart the rear cage so I can weld a 4x4 plates to the bottom of the pillars but it seams like its comming together. But i'll tell you what that notcher makes life real easy. I had to use a grinder to notch the middle bar on the B pillar and it sucked. Not only did it take to long, it wasn't perfect.

[dp96zj]

Wow that turned out SWEET! mounting the spare up there definitely looks like a good idea.

[BigDaveZJ]

Seatbelt?

[97 zj Steve]

nice wheelings pictures and the cage is looking amazing!!

[slim616]

i normally wear the seat belt but I was paranoid that if I rolled over that the roof would cave in and with the seat belt being on it would not let me duck down. But yes you are right, you should wear the belts at all times or you get what happened to that one guy on extreme 4x4 a few weeks back. I can't belive he didn't get his fingers cut off when the jeep rolled over. But I will be ordering some seats seats with the 5 point harness here in the next few weeks so you won't be seeing any more pics like that.