Stumptaco's has gone over to the darkside..XJ style.

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
Ok, finally got some time today and finished up the roof rack. Its not 100% finished, but close enough that I could go ahead and mount it and the RTT. This is mostly the same rack I had on my taco, except I lengthened it so it could accomodate my RTT, 6 jerry cans (or whatever), and my lights on the front. Needless to say, it takes up my ENTIRE roof length. I was able to put the rack up on the roof by myself, so I would guess it weighs 75 pounds with the lights? The lights are pretty heavy, so the rack itself is fairly light. I removed the "side" portion from the old rack, so zipping my RTT cover on should be a breeze now that there are no steel bars in the way.

I also had to change the mouting system, as this was mounted on my old ARE camper shell on the taco. I wanted to use the gutter rail's, as thats what most use. I was going to buy some gutter mounts, but at over 100 bucks per set ( I wanted 3 sets) I couldnt justify the money on such simple bracketry. I made my own, and I am quite pleased with how they turned out. I was honestly a little skeptical to do this myself, but I saw a Defender 110 here locally, and checked out their gutter mounts. This is basically a copy of what I saw on the Defender, and they worked out very well. That 300+ bucks will go towards something a little cooler than brackets now!

I used 1/4 thick, by 1 1/2 wide flat steel for the mounts, bent them in my vise, and then welded short peices of tubing for the bolts to go through. I used 1/8 thick steel plate for the clamps, Cut them to shape, and bent the "hook" for the bottom of the gutter, then welded long bolts to the backside of them to complete the clamping system. About 2 hours worth of cutting and welding, and viola!

I got TOTALLY lucky on the rear lights. I completely forgot about them when I was doing my measurements/clearancing for the rack and the rear hatch, but it worked out. I have about 1/4" between the light mounting bolt and the hatch when its full opened.

Didnt have any time today to run the wiring, but will get to it soon enough.

I am hoping the color of the Jeep will grow on me, but for now, I have to use my imagination and pretend its another color (ANY other color). It all looks a little wierd as the rest of the truck is still bone stock, but it will come around soon enough. Waiting for my tires and wheels to get here, and starting to peice together the suspension. I think I will get the suspension/tires and wheels done first, then work ont he front bumper and interior.

Thanks, James

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ExpoMike

Well-known member
Very nice!!!! I agree about the cost of mounts and have been wanting to do my own. I think you have motivated me to do something very similar.

Don't know if you have had it up there long enough to know but what type of decrease in gas mileage have you noticed?

Great job. :wavey:
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
Mike, not sure yet on the gas mileage, just got back from a short ~30 minute trip, and didnt notice any added weight or wind resistance (although I know its going to effect it some), and didnt notice any added wind noise (its already fairly loud inside).

Thanks for the compliment! I really suggest you trying out the mounts yourself. In fact, if you want to do something similar to mine, I have plenty of the clamp plate that goes on the outside. Its already bent and cut, you just have to weld on the stud/bolt. Let me know if you can use it.

~James
 

ExpoMike

Well-known member
stumptaco said:
Mike, not sure yet on the gas mileage, just got back from a short ~30 minute trip, and didnt notice any added weight or wind resistance (although I know its going to effect it some), and didnt notice any added wind noise (its already fairly loud inside).

Thanks for the compliment! I really suggest you trying out the mounts yourself. In fact, if you want to do something similar to mine, I have plenty of the clamp plate that goes on the outside. Its already bent and cut, you just have to weld on the stud/bolt. Let me know if you can use it.

~James

Hi James, you're quite welcomed on the compliment, it is well earned. I will be interested in hearing how a longer freeway type trip does to mileage.

I would be interested in those clamp plates. I am looking to put 8 mounts (a little overkill but that's how I roll :victory: ). If you got 8 of them, I would be interested, just no idea what the shipping cost would be to San Diego.

Thanks!
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
Hey mike, shipping will be about 8 bucks priority mail, next time I am in San Diego, you owe me a beer or two. Sound fair? :)

PM me your shipping addy.

~James
 

ExpoMike

Well-known member
stumptaco said:
Hey mike, shipping will be about 8 bucks priority mail, next time I am in San Diego, you owe me a beer or two. Sound fair? :)

PM me your shipping addy.

~James

Hey James, sent you a PM. You're on for the beers. Let me know next time you're in town. :chowtime:
 

OverlandZJ

Expedition Leader
James, that looks awesome!

Looking forward to see how you tackle the wiring into the cabin and your switch locations. I need to redo mine.

Also, how are your NATO cans secured?
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
New dash set-up teaser

Well, I decided to go forward with the dash reconfiguration, and mounting of my switches, scan guage, TV/Camera Monitor, and add a few 12v outlets. I have been contemplating for WEEKS on what I wanted to do, then I knew what I wanted, but had to figure ot how to go about it.

I have the bulk of it finished, but will not have pictures until tommorow after I re-install everything. I am pretty pleased with it all so far, the only thing left to do is run the actual wiring, and find a place to put a radio. I think I have the radio thing figured out, but wont know for sure till it gets here.

More on that stuff tomorrow

John, I am still deciding on where the wiring will enter the cab, but will takle that in the next couple of days as I reinstall the dash. I have 4 days off, through Tuesday so I will be able to spend some time with it. The Jerry Cans in the picture are just sitting up there to show how they will/would be placed. I dont plan on having them up there the whole time unless I know I will be needing them. I will have one can on the rear swing out gate that will stay on the whole time, similar to what I had on the taco. But, when I do put the cans up there, I will just do like I normally do and use a ratcheting strap through the handles and back down to the frame rails of the basket. The boxed portion holds the cans pretty firmly as is, and with a heavy ratchet strap, it should work just fine.

Vince, yes. yes I do. The Taco is still sitting in my driveway beleive it or not. It looks like it has been cannibalized by some hood rats as it is pretty stripped down. You are gonna like the snorkel on your taco, you get all sorts of goofy questions. See ya soon man!

Graham, thanks for the compliment, and I hope one day I can say the same thing about the color! The more stuff I do to the Jeep, the easier it is to look past the color...

~James
 

Zam15

Explorer
Have you hooked up your lites yet? If so have you noticed any glare problems? I know when I have my rack w/lights that far forward I can barely see out the windshield of my Taco.

Nice start on the Jeep I am looking forward to seeing the rest of your build. :safari-rig:
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
Zam, havent hooked up the lights yet, that will be in the next 2 days or so. I am fairly sure I will have to black out the hood for the glare, I imagine it will be bad since they are so far forward. When I had them on the Taco, they were behind that cab so there was no issue, but these are level with the top of the windshield.

I dont have a problem with blacking out the hood, it will be less "teal" that I have to look at...LOL.

I will know soon enough.

~James
 

StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
Ok, got the dash re-installed, and everything pre-wired.

I didnt get any before shots, because I can never remember the camera when I start on a project, so here is a photo of a similar dash, in a mostly stock configuration. Photo stolen from the net, not my actual dash.

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Here is what I have after a lot (probably too much) of work. It looks like a simple thing to do, but it proved to be time consuming. Basically its a 2mm thick sheet of aluminum that I bent, and cut to size. I then cut out the openings for my 7 inch monitor used for my camera's (and the occasional DVD), Scan GuageII, and original A/C controls. I also mounted all of my switches, and added two 12 volt outlets on the left side. I did most of the cutting and drilling with my little milling machine, but it could have been done with a scroll saw and some patience. I had to move the A/C controls up to the old radio position, and I also blocked off the center air vent. The aluminum is basically screwed to the orginal dash face/plastic peice. I had to do quite a bit of trimming, both on the dash face and behind it to get everything to fit, but it worked pretty well.

I prewired all of the switches and two outlets with power and the load wires as well, but still have to hook up the equipment as I install it. I did this in an attempt to not have to remove the dash 30 times in the next few months as she is being built.

Obviously I have to find a new place for the radio, but I think I have it figured out where it will go. For wheeling and trails, I use the cameras, switches and scan guage the most, so I gave them the priority when it comes to real-estate. The main reason I need a radio?? To control my i-pod. I dont listen to the German radio stations, and all of my "CD's" are on the ipod, as well as my audiobooks for long trips. Not really concerned about fancy radio at this point.

Enough babble. Here are the after pictures

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The open hole to the left of the picture is where the rear washer switch used to be, but I moved it over to the other side next to the defroster switch. I am making a new aluminum plate to cover this hole, and will also house my front and rear ARB locker switches.

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Thanks, James
 
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StumpXJ

SE Expedition Society
Thanks John!

Today I had to run a few errands and pick up some wire and relays, and on my way home to wire everythig up, I stopped by the post offcie to check the mail. I got a package from the guys who make the vinyl flooring for all sorts of vehicles, Automotiveinteriors.com. I decided to try this product, as an alternative to rhino lining the floor. I wanted something that was easy to clean, and wouldnt be destroyed by mud and dirt.

After picking this up, I decided to put in as much of it as possible instead of mess with wiring. Yanked out the front seats and center console, cleaned everything one last time, and was ready to start.

When I saw the size of the box this "Molded" vinyl covering came in, I was a bit skeptical. I mean, if its "Molded", how does it fit inside this little box right? according to the company rep, it came with the front section, rear section, and all new sound deadening/insulation material to cover the entire vehicle floor basically. This was all stuffed into a box that was about the size of a suitcase, and weighed about 50 pounds.

When I say "molded", this is what I was expecting, as it is the picture from the website that I bought this stuff from:

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Now, as you can see, this thing should just fit right in right?

Well, I opened the box, unfolded this stuff on the ground, and was not impressed for my 300 bucks. The material itself is perfect, its got a nice texture, it seems to be very tough, and is plenty thick enough to withstand a decent amount of abuse. But it aint "molded".

You could see in a few spots where they had heat pressed/formed a few humps and things, but that was about the extent of the "molding". Maybe I am expecting too much, but that picture is about as decieving as one could possibly be. I know that in order for this stuff to remain flexible, be boxed up and shipped out it would not be PERFECTLY molded, but come on!

I debated for about 30-45 minutes on stuffing it all back in the box and sending it back, but really couldnt think of another option for floor covering, and I did like the material.

I pressed on with the install. The rep from the company told me it required "minor" triming.... again, not exactly what the reality was. I started on the front section, which goes from the firewall, to the back seat edge. I fought (literally) this stuff for about 8 hours, and I FINALLY got it semi/sorta/halfway installed to a level where I can say I am KIND OF pleased. I am hoping that a few of the humps and wrinkles will flatten out with a little summer heat, and good ole gravity. I did stick the heat gun to a few of the areas, and the vinyl gets nice and flexible with heat. I am hoping the heat off the tranny and exhaust will aid in this process. I will finish the rear section tommorow and post pictures of this stuff. Its not perfect, but its better than stained carpet and a halfhearted attempt with roll on bedliner.

At this point, about halfway through the install, I cant really say I wouldnt recommend this to just anyone. Unless... you have 2 free days, lots of energy, even more patience, a decent understanding of upholestry and a friend to help would also be a good Idea. Even with that said, dont expect it to be easy or perfect. Maybe the rear section will go better for me. I probably shouldnt even do the rear section since its all getting covered with a platform anyway, but since I have it, I am going to put it in.

~James
 
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