Project "Mud Bandit" dedicated mud bogger

Awesome work! Looks great!

It's always fun hanging out. Those new seats are awful comfy.
Besides, somebody has to supervise and drive drunk people home.

Bill welding was fun. Hopefully the CJ will be ready soon so we can work on getting your bar and game room setup and the cage in the Toy worked out

I look forward to it. only about 17 full days counting weekends and thursdays before it's got to be ready.

Updated list
1. Plate frame
2. tie cage to frame
3. build rear antiwrap bar,( do I need one in the front with 7 leaf waggy springs?)
4. Route and secure brake lines.
5. replace busted axle shaft
6. install seat mounts.
7. build fuel cell mounts
8. move radiator to rear of jeep.
9. buy and install shocks
10. mount belly pan
11. Exhaust-route and assemble
12. Obtain and install speed sending unit, fill with fluid
13. fill front and rear diff with gear oil
14. mount fenders and hood
15. install new battery taken from YJ
16. Snorkel
17. Paint

Picked up 60 more feet of tubing today. tried to buy some 4" plate to work more on boxing in the frame but the retailer said he was out. Turns out there was a 6 month surplus in their suppliers warehouse and is just about out. HE said once it is gone there will be a wait for more steel and the price is going to go up very soon. if anyone is going to buy a good bit of steel anytime soon then you may want to do it now.

that cage turned out great. For the shocks, what size did you need? I purchased a set of rancho shocks that were two big that I was going to try to use but if they fit yours, your more then welcome to use them.

md4wheelin wrote:

that cage turned out great. For the shocks, what size did you need? I purchased a set of rancho shocks that were two big that I was going to try to use but if they fit yours, your more then welcome to use them.

Well since I haven't welded on any shock mounts yet I can make just about anything fit. how many shocks do you have and what is the length compressed and extended?

how much tube did you buy orginally ? I think I'm going to go get some tube for the toyota if prices are going to go up.

nevermind I found that you used 100' whats that guys contact info. I need to claim at least a 100'

I started with 100' and really only wasted about 8'. i really want to beef up this cage so the extra will go to the seat mounts and b pillar supports so i can just get stupid with this jeep and not worry.

I need the guys contact info so I can get a hold of him.

Looking to finish the cage and mount the seats this weekend, thats the goal anyway.

finished welding the cage and built the seat mounts today, both seats are in but not fully welded. Now that the seats are in I can finish the main pillar supports and tie it into the frame. I have all weekend and hope to finish all cage related stuff.

nice bill

Got some more work done on the CJ. Frame mounts are done. After I weld on the seatbelt tabs I'll drop the cage in and weld it to the plates.







BOdy mount was in the way so it had to go.

Does this look familiar? Doing my part by recycling.

Mounted this at an angle to secure the body mount and cage tie in.

rear mounts to a small outrigger.

welded the plate to the tubing and dropped it down through the hole in the body and then welded it to the frame mounts.

if you all want dom 1 3/4 .120 wall tubing, i checked with my metal supplier and my price is 3.25 a foot (NO TAX) but it comes in misc. lengths from 17-24 ft. let me know if you all are interested and i will persue this further........... 2 inch .120 wall is 3.80 a ft (NO TAX)

Had a couple hours so I installed a cross member in between the back frame rails and used that to mount the bottom of the fuel cell frame. Iput together the bottom half of the fuel cell frame and left enough room for rubber padding. I was looking for a piece of rubber to fit around the bottom of the fuel cell and remembered that if I took the square root of the sine of the opposite angle of the tangent that I could divide it by the cross section area of the fuel cell and mutilply it by PI k(3.14) and what you get is a whole bunch of useless numbers. So I took the rest of the bicycle apart that i salvaged parts for Nesters hand throttle and took the intertube out and it just so happens that a 36" inner tube fits perfect around the bottom of the cell with a little stretching. I'll use rubber cement to secure the tube to the fuel cell to prevent wearing a hole in there. I mounted the framework even with the bottom of the frame of the CJ and leaned the cell sligthly towards the side with the fuel pickup.

Updated list
1. Plate frame
2. tie cage to frame - DONE
3. build rear antiwrap bar,( do I need one in the front with 7 leaf waggy springs?)
4. Route and secure brake lines.
5. replace busted axle shaft.-dropped off at AOI for replacement
6. install seat mounts. - DONE
7. build fuel cell mounts
8. move radiator to rear of jeep.
9. buy and install shocks
10. mount belly pan
11. Exhaust-route and assemble
12. Obtain and install speed sending unit, fill with fluid
13. fill front and rear diff with gear oil
14. mount fenders and hood
15. install new battery taken from YJ
16. Snorkel
17. Paint

Dont move Rad to rear of jeep that doesnt work and is a big pain in ass

jealos-z wrote:

Dont move Rad to rear of jeep that doesnt work and is a big pain in ass

I would say yes just because of all the mud that would get caked in it from going through the mud bogs. With it being in the rear wouldn't it get some protection from the mud?

i agree. at mikes mud bog there were a lot of vehicles iwth the radiator in the rear of the vehcile and they were clean. other problem I face with keeping it up front is there is barely a 1/4 inch of clearance to the front of the motor. I think i need a new radiator since this one is leaking already.

If you put a mudflap under the front it will be fine I know alot of guys that tried it and said fuk it put bak in front and was good to go...

i've seen the mud flap on the front bumper before. i think i will try that first to save time and have it ready and if it doesn't work well enough then i'll swap it to the back. I just need to find a big enough rubber for that.

Bill, I think I may have something perfect for that. I'll see if I can dig it up in the shop tomorrow. Remind me if I talk to you.