4x4Review Off Road Magazine
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| Another struggle where others simply crawled – something had to change… |
Necessity is the mother of invention. I never really thought about what this age old adage truly meant until I started my most ambitious Jeep project ever.
I used to like my 30 year old Jeep CJ-5; it worked well considering its petite 83″ wheelbase, 37″ tires, and lack of interior space – albeit not the perfect center of gravity for a dedicated rock crawler. But lately it has just plain pissed me off – I’m tired of pulling rope just to climb obstacles that guys in CJ-7’s and Land Cruisers walk right up.
This is by no means the Jeeps fault though; I bought the damn thing 15 years ago, but its time to address a major problem. What it needed was more… more wheelbase to climb steep ledges the southwest is famous for, more interior space so that I could take a passenger or two and a cooler, and more width at the axles for stability. Maybe then the love would return between me and the green midget.
The plan started out simple enough, if I lengthened the Jeep I could add much needed wheelbase and interior space in one fell swoop. The added width will come in the form of a set of new axles in a month or so, but for now its time to cut this thing up. I tend to jump into projects with both feet, a juggernaut of manual labor if you will, and this time was no different.
And it begins…
Step one was disconnecting the battery and getting a few wires, hoses, brake lines, gas lines and other dangerous items out of the way. Step two was simple, unbolting and removing the old roll cage from inside the tub and removing all the bolts connecting the body to the frame.
Once all was clear on the underside, I let loose a manly grunt, waved my arms in the air, and then simply cut the body in half behind the front seats with my trusty Sawzall. The body came loose a little too easily and almost killed me as it went crashing off the rear of the Jeep. Who knew that when you cut a CJ-5 in half behind the seats that the body would flip violently off the back of the frame scattering the tools you left in it all over the shop? Note to self… remove 37″ spare tire off the back before cutting – that extra 120 lbs tends to throw things a wee bit off balance. After a quick trip to the men’s room to change my shorts and check that I had all my fingers, I got back to work.
I decided that I was going to lengthen the frame and build a new rear body rather than trying to scab the original CJ-5 back together. I’ve seen a few crude attempts at turning CJ-5’s into CJ-6’s and they have always looked like garbage, so I wasn’t going to be “that guy”.
Once all of the critical items were removed from the frame ie: body, suspension, rear axle, fuel tank and lines, exhaust, brake lines etc., the Sawzall and another manly grunt came out again. This time a few properly placed jack stands kept me from repeating my earlier near-death experience. I measured side to side, front to back and at every angle I could find, until I finally marked the frame and cut it just before it started its arc over the rear axle. After I finished all of my chopping, I stood back in amazement realizing that I had just chopped a completely rust free, all original 1977 Jeep CJ-5 into pieces. Well maybe not all original, but at least rust free. Cool.
All fanatical Jeep owners who believe that I have committed some grievous sin feel free to send as many emails as you would like. They will be proudly pasted on my wall of shame. 🙂
| Before |
| The Build |
Now that I was past the point of no return, motivation to move forward was not an issue, as I had only two options in front of me; one – stand back in consternation and ponder my actions, or two – get busy and build my junk. Obviously, I chose option 2.
I extended the frame by adding 2″x3″x¼” sleeves inside what was now the end of the original frame. I hammered the sleeves in as far as they would go and left them extra long so I could get the exact length I needed. Once I was sure the new extensions were straight, square, and level, I welded them in place. I plated the outsides of these sleeves with 4″x1/4″ flat stock that I cut to fit.
To simplify the installation of the stock fuel tank into my new frame, I chopped up the stock fuel tank crossmember and integrated it into the new frame. Once it was welded in, I added the two rear sections to the frame and voila, 104″-107″ of usable wheelbase. It still needs some grinding and gusseting to be finished, but I’m well on my way toward ruining a perfectly good CJ-5. Stay tuned as I continue to chop, cut and recreate the Jeep I have always wanted.
| The Rear Frame Section… Coming Together |
