Vince's Super Jeep
We opted for the Genright high line fender kit, which gives the Jeep an additional 3” of wheel well clearance along with a 6” flare. The Jeep is going to be running a 42” IROC so we brought the rear fender up to the tub bodyline. There are two options when modifying the 3” off the hood to allow for the high line fenders. The fast and easy way is to mask a line, get a cut off wheel and hope for the best or take a proper measurement, cut and fold the metal and re weld the factory fold back on the hood.Story and Photos by Ryan Stoangi & Ryan Kovac
Part One: Body, Frame and Cage.
One of our customers Vince Hodgson came to us looking to turn his 1997 Jeep TJ into the ultimate full frame Jeep. A machine that would conquer anything he wanted to throw at it and still drive it to the local Jeep club meeting. This is a complete restoration and custom build project. It encompasses body modification, suspension and drive train swap. There is too much to put into one article so we are splitting it into 3 parts.
The body is a typical 1997 Jeep TJ that has been driving Ontario winters for over a decade. The body was in fair shape but the frame was in need of major repair. We started by gutting the entire truck. The interior was stripped, all the panels were taken off and then the body was removed from the frame. The entire drive train was pulled off and discarded.
We opted for the Genright high line fender kit, which gives the Jeep an additional 3” of wheel well clearance along with a 6” flare. The Jeep is going to be running a 42” IROC so we brought the rear fender up to the tub bodyline. There are two options when modifying the 3” off the hood to allow for the high line fenders. The fast and easy way is to mask a line, get a cut off wheel and hope for the best or take a proper measurement, cut and fold the metal and re weld the factory fold back on the hood. We took the time and did it the right way.
We created a custom cage from 1”3/4 .120 wall drawn over mandrel (DOM) tubing. The cage houses the seats and the shifters. The cage is 6 points to the frame, 2 points at the front foot wells, two points behind the front seats and two points at the top of the tub closest to the back of the jeep. The cage tie in point is made with DOM and bushings to eliminate vibrations and additional noise over rough terrain.
The frame required a lot of attention. We needed to make it very strong so it would withstand the abuse it will be subject to in the near future. We re-plated and boxed the back half of the frame with 3/16 steel. The six inserts that are used to hold the belly pan were totally rotted with no threads left inside. We were surprised that the whole drive train did not fall out on its own, so we custom machined new threaded inserts and welded them into place.
The frame then received a series of custom brackets; upper control arm brackets for the front and rear, inset coil over mounts, front coil over shock hoops, track bar bracket at the front, a frame mounted sway bar tube in the rear, inset air bump stop cans and roll cage tie in mounts. All of these components were gusseted and reinforced. Stay tuned; the next issue will have the suspension and drive train modifications.
Ryan & Ryan are with Off-Road Addiction – you can check out more of their builds at http://www.offroad-addiction.com or give them a call at 519-451-6076