I ordered the JK Pro-Crawler Front Bumper from River Raider. I wanted to retain my fog lights so the guys at River Raider mounted brackets for the lights. At the time I ordered the bumper I wasn't sure what fog lights I was going to use so the bumper mounting holes were not pre-drilled. This way I could decide how far out I wanted the bumper to extend and still fit the fog lights in front of the radiator.

 

Becasue of how far out I mounted the bumper there was a bit of a gap between the bumper and the grill so I welded a strip to the bumper to close the gap.

 

Next I wanted to lay back the windshield so I altered the hinge and cut the brackets and re-welded both.

This also made a gap between the windshield and the cowl so then I had to add some metal to teh bottom of the windshield. (The blue circles are magnets)

Of course with the altered windshield the full doors no longerr fit so I found someone who had half doors and wanted to trade for my full doors. It worked out well becasue we both had black jeeps. Here's a look from the side.

 

now I'm working on the tailgate. Want it to be a fold down with the jeep emblem:

Once the tailgate is finished I'll be moving onto replacing the muffler so I can add the River Raider rear bumper.

 

holy cow, amazing work! cant wait to see how this turns out! finally something new!

 

Subscribed!!

This is way better than "will my tires rub"....

 

You have a serious set of metal fab skills! Very interesting project.
Any plans for a top?

 

Thanks. My only fab work prior to this is small metal art sculptures. It has been new to me to work on a car and a lot of fun. OF course I don't get all the credit. I have been getting a LOT of help from a Great friend (we'll call him the Best) who does have a lot of prior metal fab experience. I've been doing better with the grinding and finishing work myself.

As for the top - It will be a permanaent top off Jeep. I've been looking at the Eclipse Sun Shade as a solution to keep from getting burnt once everything is finished.

I will also comment that the work done above has taken about 6 months so it is not a fast moving project. but I will keep posting as I move along.

 

Well that's one interesting build. Don't give jeep that idea though lol

Good job


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Well that's one interesting build. Don't give jeep that idea though lol

Good job


I can't take credit for much of the idea. As I said some of the vision is coming from River Raider and some from the Jeep Lower 40. Although I'm not aiming for 40 inch tires. That's more than I want to get into. However the newer Jeep Flattop with 37" tires is also pretty good looking in my opinion.

 

The windshield thing is not my style but give your props for the work you're putting in.

 

That is ballsy to tackle that as a driveway build. Impressive...

RK

 

Yeah, definitely.

You got some skills man. Good luck with the build.

 

love the front bumper.
wonder if i could make that work with a hidden winch and my rubi motor.......... probably not

 

I don't know that much would fit behind the bumper with the Rubicon engin but the River Raider build does have the winch behind the bumper which is pretty good looking. Of course they have swapped the engine and used a smaller radiator to get more room.

 

Very friggin nice. I will be watching this one.

 

Awesome build, I subscribed to see how the tailgate goes!

 

Spiderwebshade might be the ticket for your "top".

 

Sub'd

 

Here's a current look a the tailgate. The old CJ tailgate was cut and welded into the hole I had cut into the JK tailgate. I started adding filler before I thought about taking more pictures. Anyway, it's still not very pretty yet but it is moving in the right direction.

 

That tailgate is going to be off the hook. Great work can't wait to see the final product. I have thought about that project but would never get close to tacking it glad someone has the balls. Jeep it up

 

The tailgate is coming along but I did take a break from all the sanding this weekend to cut the muffler and resonator out. I replaced these with a flowmaster HP2. It is a bit loud right now but I hope that when I add some piping behind the muffler it will quite down a little. I also coveed where the tailgate hinges attached to the tub. I hope to have the tailgate finished in about a week.

 

Coming along nicely. I can't wait to see the tailgate finished.

 

subscribed! looking great so far

 

Great work, looking forward to the updates.

 

This is GREAT! Way to go on the build. Subscribing to see further updates!

 

Here's an update on teh tailgate. It is coming along but we have had a lottof rain so it is going a little slower than I had hoped for. But getting closer and closer. Botton edge is finished. Now working on the top and sides.

 

More work from today.

 

Dude sick fab skills. Im in orlando, love to see this project sometime. March 15 is orlando jeep club show and shine check it out. No kidding about the rain. It was nice to finally see the sun again today.

 

Maybe I'll try to get to Orlando for the jeep show. But if you are ever on the East side of Tampa, you'd be welcome to take a look. It does still have a long way to go at this point.
Here is a primed picture. The primer did bring out some not-perfect areas so I've got a little more work to do.