JK 4-door to 2-door long wheelbase conversion.....

[Clutch]

I dunno Metcalf....seems like a hell of a lot of agony just because you don't like the looks of the JK 4D...LOL

I would just paint the pillar black, between the back window and the door black to "mask" that it is a 4D, so it "looks like" one big window...and call it good...

Think you're making it harder than it needs to be, brotha'



Quickie photoshop...



like on a tundra crew max...

 

[Metcalf]

It's not that I just don't like the looks.....I don't like the small odd sized rear doors, the roll up window weight, the small size of the pass windows, the leaky factory top, among other things. If you like the 4door JK that is just fine, it's just not what I want. If they offered the J8 in the 2 or 3 door long wheelbase I would just get that. They don't offer that, so I have to look outside the box a little bit.

Yes its work, but its not THAT much work. I just got done building my last project from the frame up. Rather I custom designed the frame, built it, and then built everything else. After that project a set of bolt in block off panels and a new top doesn't seem like that big of a deal.

 

[Clutch]

I hear you...:ylsmoke:

 

[Metcalf]

yeah......but I have been known to build what I want......

 

[Clutch]

...and there you go.

Damn the Torpedoes!

 

[postalWagon]

Go for broke!!!

 

[Metcalf]

I need to recover from my Willys buildup....and finish a lot of detail stuff on it.....and play with my Dodge a bit....but I think my next full build will be something based on this concept. In the end I basically want a single vehicle to do everything.....and that is ALWAYS hard to pull off.

 

[drgnhrt1979]

I need to recover from my Willys buildup....and finish a lot of detail stuff on it.....and play with my Dodge a bit....but I think my next full build will be something based on this concept. In the end I basically want a single vehicle to do everything.....and that is ALWAYS hard to pull off.

Not only is it hard to pull off, but compromises will have to be made everywhere. If you are willing to tow a trailer, that can add valuable space and options to your idea and build.

 

[Clutch]

In the end I basically want a single vehicle to do everything.....and that is ALWAYS hard to pull off.

Yeah, there is always a compromise somewhere.

Sounds like you want a rock crawler you can sleep in.

 

[Clutch]

Not only is it hard to pull off, but compromises will have to be made everywhere. If you are willing to tow a trailer, that can add valuable space and options to your idea and build.

Towing a trailer offroad sucks...just another thing you have to worry about and carry spares for.

RTT or Flip-Pac/Wildernest makes better sense to open space within the vehicle...but Metcalf says he hates those things...

I would think a SASed Tacoma with a RRT/Flipper would be the cat's meow, for Met's application...

or a SASed pre 89 4Runner with a flip pac grafted on...




Or a Cruiser on portals (picture a Jeep Cherokee so we can keep it Jeep)

 

[Metcalf]

Yeah, there is always a compromise somewhere.

Sounds like you want a rock crawler you can sleep in.

Basically I guess. I don't really consider myself a rockcrawler, but rather some kind of adventurous off-roader.

Most of the trips I do, or take part in with my friends, are multi-day trips over more difficult terrain than most 'overland' style trips. One example are these 3-4+ day 'snow-wheeling' trips in the Montana and Idaho back country. They are basically 100+ mile trips where you are trying to drive over mountain passes in the early spring with 10'+ of snow. You aren't going to do these trips with much less than a 37" tire, winch, lockers, 1-3psi in the tires, etc. Camping outside, even in the spring, in 10+ feet of snow kinda sucks. Now that I live in Colorado those trips with my friends are almost 1000 miles away. So, tow a rig up, have to drive back around to the trailer when your done, etc. Or......you just build a rig you can drive up, do the run, drive home. It's a tough kinda thing to do well.

 

[Metcalf]

Not only is it hard to pull off, but compromises will have to be made everywhere. If you are willing to tow a trailer, that can add valuable space and options to your idea and build.

No trailer.....at least not normally. The perfect vehicle would BE ABLE to tow a trailer half way decent for other uses, but I can't see doing that all the time, especially the type of wheeling I like to do.

 

[Clutch]

Basically I guess. I don't really consider myself a rockcrawler, but rather some kind of adventurous off-roader.

Most of the trips I do, or take part in with my friends, are multi-day trips over more difficult terrain than most 'overland' style trips. One example are these 3-4+ day 'snow-wheeling' trips in the Montana and Idaho back country. They are basically 100+ mile trips where you are trying to drive over mountain passes in the early spring with 10'+ of snow. You aren't going to do these trips with much less than a 37" tire, winch, lockers, 1-3psi in the tires, etc. Camping outside, even in the spring, in 10+ feet of snow kinda sucks. Now that I live in Colorado those trips with my friends are almost 1000 miles away. So, tow a rig up, have to drive back around to the trailer when your done, etc. Or......you just build a rig you can drive up, do the run, drive home. It's a tough kinda thing to do well.

Well...you may not be into rock crawling....but the vehicle you envision is more or less built "like" a mild rock crawler, yes?

 

[Metcalf]

Well...you may not be into rock crawling....but the vehicle you envision is more or less built "like" a mild rock crawler, yes?

Sure, probably more than 'mild' for most people, but how does that really affect this concept?

I could see a long wheelbase 2-door JK being fairly attractive to the more mild overland expedition thing.....

I keep going back to Tom Sheppard's G-wagon. If a 4-door was the only way to go, why custom order 2-door commercial version of the same vehicle....

 

[Clutch]

Sure, probably more than 'mild' for most people, but how does that really affect this concept?

I could see a long wheelbase 2-door JK being fairly attractive to the more mild overland expedition thing.....

I keep going back to Tom Sheppard's G-wagon. If a 4-door was the only way to go, why custom order 2-door commercial version of the same vehicle....

Cause Sheppard is a curmudgeon....I know he runs his diesel jerry cans mid ship....seems like a pain in the ******** getting to them without an extra set of doors...he also has a cot which he sleeps outside of his vehicle...

And that thing is going to suck in the snow...well deep snow that is, without at least 37's on there...so you're talking about either heavily modded the suspension or major fender trimming...or a little of both. Doing that to it...is getting rock crawler-esk...

Alas different strokes for different folks.

My personal experience I would choose the 4D JK over a 3D....leaks can be fixed, don't care bout the size of the windows...hell I am not riding back there...nor the weight...what is the weight of a window mechanism compare to a winch, or the rotational weight of a 37" tire...pretty moot really...

Access to gear is more important than the other things you mention, well at least to me. That and it would be nice to have a window that rolled down right by my head if I wear sleeping in it to get a little cross breeze in warmer temps...

We have a 4D Trooper in our fleet now...it sure is nice..opening the extra door and throwing crap in there...unlike my 4Runner...either crawl in from the passenger side, or crawl in on my hands and knees from the back to get to whatever gear...