I have seen many quality build threads here on Expo and decided it’s time to post my own.
This is our current project vehicle. A 2000 Jeep Cherokee that will be modified to support weekend, and multi-week adventures throughout North America. The main goal is to build a capable adventure vehicle that allows us to travel through the US and Canada, and do so while retaining the drivability and economy of the Jeep platform, all while maintaining a relatively stock appearance.
In a way it will also be a showcase vehicle if you will, illustrating that in an arena that once seemed to be dominated by expensive and exotic vehicles, there is no limit to what can be done on a budget also. Just because it isn’t a LR Defender or series Land Cruiser, does not mean a build can’t be done to rival the quality and attention to detail such a vehicle would warrant.
Here is really one of the only stock pictures of the Jeep, at an abandoned Canadian border crossing. This particular trip showed me just how well a stock jeep can perform. This old border crossing road was a conglomeration of very muddy ruts, washed out, pitched sections, and three deep water crossings (the result of bridges being washed away I gather).
The first thing that absolutely needed to be addressed was to the lack of storage space. Being just my Fiancé, myself and our dog, we really don’t need as much space as a family of five, but I still hate clutter. It had to start with relocating the spare tire which was taking up premium cargo space inside the Jeep. I didn’t want to put anything on the roof, so adding a roof rack to throw the tire on was out of the question. The only solution that left was a rear swing out carrier. This one came from Rigidco. It will also give me a mounting platform for solving another issue, spare fuel. But that’s later…
The build quality is top notch and the mounting system is very well thought out. It uses the standard bumper mounting points, along with a separate, heavy sub assembly that attaches through the same bolt holes as the gas tank skid/mounting bracket.
I painted the bumper with three coats of POR15 in an attempt to forestall the inevitable downward spiral that eventually overtakes all iron in this area…rust. After 4 months it seems to be holding up well, but we shall see how it fares this winter. So far the only spot that has any rust is on the latch mechanism. It appears this is a result of a long bolt that was on the cam latch grinding at the catch when closed. I have ground down the bolt so it is now flush and re-painted the offending rust spot.
After the tire was relocated to the outside I could concentrate on creating a system to store all the necessary items that accompany the vehicle at all times (recovery gear, spare parts, medical kit, tools, etc). The best way to do this was with a drawer system.
This gives all the items above a safe and secure place to reside out of the way during day to day activity, while allowing easy access.
As I stated before, I want to keep this as stock looking as possible, so the rear deck completely covers all wheel well arches, and bump outs (except for the big hole on the left, which I have a plan for later) the deck is also the preferred sitting spot for our young pup.
I also incorporated a hinged lid into the top so I can access everything in the drawers from inside the vehicle without having to open the back hatch. Should the vehicle be rear ended and become inoperable, or I just sink so deep in the snow that the hatch won’t open, everything is still accessible. There is also six tie downs for secure lashing points.
One nice thing about this system is that it also has a rather hidden location behind the seat that just happens to easily accommodate rifle length items. This gives me more peace of mind when traveling and I need an obscure place to store an item that might be overlooked during your run of the mill smash and grab. Of course it also is an out of the way place for bulky strange shaped items such as a spare front driveshaft, folding camp chair, etc.
Immediate plans involve a solution to power aux. devices, body and drive train protection, and a suspension upgrade to correct what I have so affectionately named, “the saggy butt”. The old tired leaf springs were already sagging prior to the rear bumper and drawers, which have now of course only exasperated the problem. Parts are on order and hopefully this can be resolved within the next week.
There are many other upgrades that we’re looking into and have to evaluate, but the shakedown run for everything will be a two week trip this November to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and wherever else we feel like going. We’ll just have to see how far we get.
This is our current project vehicle. A 2000 Jeep Cherokee that will be modified to support weekend, and multi-week adventures throughout North America. The main goal is to build a capable adventure vehicle that allows us to travel through the US and Canada, and do so while retaining the drivability and economy of the Jeep platform, all while maintaining a relatively stock appearance.
In a way it will also be a showcase vehicle if you will, illustrating that in an arena that once seemed to be dominated by expensive and exotic vehicles, there is no limit to what can be done on a budget also. Just because it isn’t a LR Defender or series Land Cruiser, does not mean a build can’t be done to rival the quality and attention to detail such a vehicle would warrant.
Here is really one of the only stock pictures of the Jeep, at an abandoned Canadian border crossing. This particular trip showed me just how well a stock jeep can perform. This old border crossing road was a conglomeration of very muddy ruts, washed out, pitched sections, and three deep water crossings (the result of bridges being washed away I gather).
The first thing that absolutely needed to be addressed was to the lack of storage space. Being just my Fiancé, myself and our dog, we really don’t need as much space as a family of five, but I still hate clutter. It had to start with relocating the spare tire which was taking up premium cargo space inside the Jeep. I didn’t want to put anything on the roof, so adding a roof rack to throw the tire on was out of the question. The only solution that left was a rear swing out carrier. This one came from Rigidco. It will also give me a mounting platform for solving another issue, spare fuel. But that’s later…
The build quality is top notch and the mounting system is very well thought out. It uses the standard bumper mounting points, along with a separate, heavy sub assembly that attaches through the same bolt holes as the gas tank skid/mounting bracket.
I painted the bumper with three coats of POR15 in an attempt to forestall the inevitable downward spiral that eventually overtakes all iron in this area…rust. After 4 months it seems to be holding up well, but we shall see how it fares this winter. So far the only spot that has any rust is on the latch mechanism. It appears this is a result of a long bolt that was on the cam latch grinding at the catch when closed. I have ground down the bolt so it is now flush and re-painted the offending rust spot.
After the tire was relocated to the outside I could concentrate on creating a system to store all the necessary items that accompany the vehicle at all times (recovery gear, spare parts, medical kit, tools, etc). The best way to do this was with a drawer system.
This gives all the items above a safe and secure place to reside out of the way during day to day activity, while allowing easy access.
As I stated before, I want to keep this as stock looking as possible, so the rear deck completely covers all wheel well arches, and bump outs (except for the big hole on the left, which I have a plan for later) the deck is also the preferred sitting spot for our young pup.
I also incorporated a hinged lid into the top so I can access everything in the drawers from inside the vehicle without having to open the back hatch. Should the vehicle be rear ended and become inoperable, or I just sink so deep in the snow that the hatch won’t open, everything is still accessible. There is also six tie downs for secure lashing points.
One nice thing about this system is that it also has a rather hidden location behind the seat that just happens to easily accommodate rifle length items. This gives me more peace of mind when traveling and I need an obscure place to store an item that might be overlooked during your run of the mill smash and grab. Of course it also is an out of the way place for bulky strange shaped items such as a spare front driveshaft, folding camp chair, etc.
Immediate plans involve a solution to power aux. devices, body and drive train protection, and a suspension upgrade to correct what I have so affectionately named, “the saggy butt”. The old tired leaf springs were already sagging prior to the rear bumper and drawers, which have now of course only exasperated the problem. Parts are on order and hopefully this can be resolved within the next week.
There are many other upgrades that we’re looking into and have to evaluate, but the shakedown run for everything will be a two week trip this November to Colorado, Utah, Arizona, and wherever else we feel like going. We’ll just have to see how far we get.
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