XJ and offroad teardrop

[andysgreenxj]

I finished the gambler car and ran the Gambler 500.. what a blast, everyone should do it once... I've been wiring on the xj and ordering a lot of parts to get it finished. We leave for Colorado and Moab in 3 weeks and I'm no where near ready.

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where did you get this switch set up from...looks awesome

 

[jonb8]

From this guy, product fit like it should with no modifications.... great product..

https://www.shapeways.com/product/6...01-jeep-xj?optionId=61299283&li=related-items

 

[jonb8]

I finished the snorkel, the roof rack and got the RTT mounted... 3 day's till Colorado and I'm still not done.. LOL

 

[JandDGreens]

Where in Colorado are you going to play in?

 

[Heavyopp]

Nice build -- some questions

I went back in the thread looking for what the gear ratio is in the JK axles -- can't seem to find it

What is the gear ratio in the axles?

Did you build that hummer like air intake -- where did the parts or kit come from?

 

[jonb8]

The axles are 410's, my old axles were 456's and it made me tow the teardrop in overdrive on the interstate... I stayed 410's so I can tow in drive.... I pieced the snorkel together and just bought the rivers raiders cap from Hauk offroad. The filter and 90's came from summit and the straight steel pieces are 3 inch exhaust tubing... Hope that helps.

 

[jonb8]

Were going to start in Colorado Springs and try to cross as many Passes we can on are way to Moab Ut. I won't lie my brother put together the route and I haven't got in the weeds on it yet...

 

[jonb8]

Here's a few pics of the trip, 3600 miles with no major issues. The rooftop tent got renamed as the "Roof Top Sail" the jeep struggled in a head wind on the interstate.. I'll be starting on a trailer build soon, it also made the xj very wonky in Moab with that much weight up that high..

 

[jonb8]

I haven't updated this thread in awhile, I built a offroad trailer and put the rooftop on it but didn't really like it... so I sold it..

 

[jonb8]

I ended up with the ARB awning and tent combo, and this summer I ran RT66 to Vegas, picked up the wife ( she flew in there). We hit all the ghost towns we could up through the sierra nevada's and down Rt 1 through CA, 18 day's and 6000 miles. We got to camp on Pismo Beach which is cool since there working on shutting that down....

 

[jonb8]

Are next trip is Alaska in 2021, the xj gets to stay home on this one. My wife said she's not staying in a tent in bear country so I'm working on building a 4x4 van/camper out of these two vans... The bus project is slow but moving along, should be done this summer...

 

[nick_n_ii]

Nice build Jon...

We too will be building a bus in a year or 2....

 

[JandDGreens]

Very nice to see your report on your trips, with your fab skills I would like to see what you would do with taking a Xj and turning it into a hard shell tear drop camper like I have been working on. It would work great in bear country. And tow nicely behind any rig. I wish I would get back to work on it. I let my enthusiasm wain and need to get back to it. (Quite frankly I would rather concentrate on keeping rig ready to go and get up into those rockies)
Congrats on a job well done!!!

 

[jonb8]

Would love to see pics of your xj camper, I've looked into it but couldn't get the tongue weight right with the axle back so far on an xj...

 

[jonb8]

Nice build Jon...

We too will be building a bus in a year or 2....

Is this the same Nick I used to know from all the jeep forums?