Jim's Buggy Build

[beer_goggles_009]

The XJ buggy is going to be retired soon after ~13 years of wheeling it. While rig has served me well I would like this rig to do the following:

• Be alot more comfortable on the trail, i.e. have some uptravel in the suspension and not beat you up on every bump
  allowing me to hit obstacles or drive down main trails with speed.

• Get rid of the weak points. -Dana 300 and 1310 driveshaft yokes, whats left of the unibody, plus make servicing the rig easier. I'm tired of cutting off and re-welding suspension crossmembers and skidplates to access the driveline.

• Lose some weight - target weight is as close to 3000 lbs as possible, realistically probably ~3300 lbs while not spending money on high dollar low weight parts like aluminum engines, fabbed axle housings, ect.
  

Specs:
Chassis -Goatbuilt JHF chassis (target wheelbase ~109" -same as current rig) 4 link front and rear.
Drivetrain -5.3/4l60e from a 2000 silverado
TransferCase -Atlas
Axles- Chevy D60 and 14bolt from current XJ buggy (regeared to 5.38)
Wheels and tires- 40" treps and racelines from my current rig
Shocks -ORI's 14" fronts 16" rears (the most common shock lengths I have seen on this chassis)

Target completion date spring 2019

[beer_goggles_009]

Building the Chassis:

The JHF chassis is very well engineered and layed out. Without a chassis table I was able to assemble the entire chassis by myself in less than a full weekend while the wife was out of town. I think I could have finished this step in ~10 hours if I had a good helper.

I would recommend having a helper for the assembly as it was very frustrating trying to align and square up the makeshift build platform and the frame rails without help. I probably spent 3-4 hours on these 2 steps alone.

Picture of the build platform and the framerails

picture of the framerails and the JIG (mostly assembled) that helps align and locate the tubes during assemlby.


Picture of the chassis with the Jig


Picture of the chassis Jig removed (Missing the rear shock hoops, vertical dash supports and subframe)


Chassis tucked away in the garage until I get a chance to work on it again.

[jeepmanjeff]

Looks really good!


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[bbtank45]

Cant wait to see this wrapped up!

Ive noticed a lot of folks on CORE going with the ORI's over a the traditional coilover setup....what was the deciding factor in ORI vs CO's? Assuming the shocks will be mounted at the axle and not a trailing arm setup?


Also, what kind of contraption you build on top of the barbie jeep?!?!?

[bbtank45]

Does Drew offer a buyback or "rental" program on the jig? Seems that would be beneficial for both the intial buyer and the future buyer....assuming its not bent/tweaked. The JHF chassis are gaining popularity fast!

[beer_goggles_009]

Originally Posted by bbtank45

Does Drew offer a buyback or "rental" program on the jig? Seems that would be beneficial for both the intial buyer and the future buyer....assuming its not bent/tweaked. The JHF chassis are gaining popularity fast!

Drew is not offering a buyback program yet, I don't know if he will. a buyback program would probably require him to do a quality check on returned jigs and the shipping costs might kill it anyway, that Jig is heavy and has lots of pieces, many of which you have to "knock out" with a punch, using both pieces for assemlby! I split the cost of the jig with Justin (doworkxj on this board) who also bought a JHF chassis at the same time. He will be using the jig after I am done.

jim

[beer_goggles_009]

Originally Posted by bbtank45

Cant wait to see this wrapped up!

Also, what kind of contraption you build on top of the barbie jeep?!?!?

That "contraption" turns a powerwheels jeep into an Ice-Cream truck. My father-inlaw built that after our son built his own ice-cream truck contraption out of cardboard on the powerwheels. He really likes driving that down the street and "selling" ice-cream and popscicles to the other kids.

jim

[bbtank45]

Originally Posted by beer_goggles_009

That "contraption" turns a powerwheels jeep into an Ice-Cream truck. My father-inlaw built that after our son built his own ice-cream truck contraption out of cardboard on the powerwheels. He really likes driving that down the street and "selling" ice-cream and popscicles to the other kids.

jim

Entrepreneurship at youth....hes off to a good start

[beer_goggles_009]

Originally Posted by bbtank45

Cant wait to see this wrapped up!

Ive noticed a lot of folks on CORE going with the ORI's over a the traditional coilover setup....what was the deciding factor in ORI vs CO's? Assuming the shocks will be mounted at the axle and not a trailing arm setup?


Also, what kind of contraption you build on top of the barbie jeep?!?!?

For me the decision to go with ori's was about simplicity. With ORIs I don't need bumpstops or sway bars and they seem to work well right out of the box. I believe after tuning coilovers will offer better performance but I'm not competing at high speed so the performance improvement isn't worth the hastle.

In my opinion the biggest pitfall of ORIs is a seal failure or piston damage will result in an unsupported corner of your rig and the end of a trip.

With coilovers, a damaged seal would only result in the loss of damping control and ridenquality you can continue to wheel.

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[beer_goggles_009]

Interested to hear the thoughts of others who chose to use ORIs?

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[Drivermod]

Looks great Jim. Can't go wrong with a JHF chassis. Don't be surprised if you come in a bit heavier than you are hoping. My buggy was 3900 lbs wet without me in it. Stuff ads up quick.

[beer_goggles_009]

Making more progress interior panels and dash are installed.

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[Smiddy24]

Looks awesome Jim! Question though, what are you doing for a front bumper? I noticed you and I have pretty much the same frame setup. I've been pondering what I should do for a bumper.

[beer_goggles_009]

This is how my chassis is going to be finished with a winch mount at the front. It's part of the jhf chassis kit.

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[Smiddy24]

Originally Posted by beer_goggles_009

This is how my chassis is going to be finished with a winch mount at the front. It's part of the jhf chassis kit.

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Ahhh okay what's your frame width? If it's like my setup, then I may look into doing something like this.

[beer_goggles_009]

26.5 inside to inside


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[jeepmanjeff]

where did you get the sheet metal from and who did the work?

[beer_goggles_009]

The Interior panels are an option on the jhf chassis. Same with the winch mount.

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[beer_goggles_009]

Making a quick rotisorie for finish welding. Pictured is one support and the attachment points for the cage ( the clamps will be tacked to the cage as an added safety against rotation around the tubes.

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[Drivermod]

I recommend removing the door bars until you are nearly done with the build. Makes it ALOT easier when you are doing all the interior work. Wish I would have done that on my build.

[93 Krawler]

Well you've been busy. Going to be a lot of new rigs out in 2019. Can't wait.

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[beer_goggles_009]

After a few tweaks the rotisserie is working great. I highly recommend building one if your going to weld an whole cage.

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[beer_goggles_009]

Slowly making progress.

Lower Chassis side link mounts tacked. Uppers mocked up waiting drivetrain install to check clearance before final burn in.


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[beer_goggles_009]

Engine mounts assembled.

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