Cherokee XJ Hardbody Class 1 Build

[Thumlock]

Looking amazing mate, following the progress And liking it! are you gonna work in any kind of inner fenders? I've been browsing ideas but nothing solid yet.

[Dustinf]

Originally Posted by Thumlock

Looking amazing mate, following the progress And liking it! are you gonna work in any kind of inner fenders? I've been browsing ideas but nothing solid yet.

Thanks! That's the plan. I'm hoping to build scale wheel wells. I also want them to effect the interior like they do on a real cherokee.

I bought axial's generic lexan wheel wells... but those won't work. They are nice enough, but not for this project.

[Dustinf]

Made a battery mount.

It goes where the fuel cell would be and will allow me to change batteries without removing the body.

Made from .06 lexan. I'll be painting it black and either using spazstix matte or steel wool.



It looks overly complicated, but it's not. The lip of the frame hold the battery in place. It actually "clicks" into place.





It hangs a little bit lower than the fuel cell on a real cherokee.. but I think I can live with it.

It still has the blue coating on in these pictures.

[Dustinf]

I've run into a bit of a road block.

I dont want to build too much without the 3d printed interior parts. As it may need to be scrapped once I get them.

So hopefully I can find something to further this build in the meantime.

[Dustinf]

Another small update:

I got a set of 3D printed cantilever mounts from shapeways.
This way the whole mech is beneath the frame, giving me even more room for my interior (when it eventually happens).

The mounts are well engineered, but the material makes them a bit flimsy. An aluminum set would really be ideal. I may take these off and use them as a template to build my own. Even though I bought them to save me the time of making my own.



This next picture shows just how much room I'm working with. This includes the battery being mounted along with everything else needed to run, with a 2 speed trans.



Looking forward to getting the 3d printed interior from R3 scale designz (trying to be patient). Or at least some measurments. That way I can start getting into the details. That will be a little over a month from now (I'm guessing).

For now I'm finding things to do here and there.

[juster89]

Love this build. There has always been a xj soft spot in my heart! 👍🏼

[Dustinf]

Started building the front wheel wells. I havnt gotten very far, but in wanting to keep this thread going, figured I'd post my progress anyway.




So far I've only built the supports. I'll be making the rounded section soon. These feel pretty solid and will give me a place to mount other things besides the inner fenders.


Thanks for the comments guys. I too have a soft spot in my heart for the old style cherokee. I've owned several. Sadly, it's hard to keep them nice in northern NH. They over salt and they rust really easily.

[Loehdingc]

ALL your parts you make look like they're from a kit. This Jeep will be amazing!

[Dustinf]

Originally Posted by Loehdingc

ALL your parts you make look like they're from a kit. This Jeep will be amazing!

Thanks man! In a strange way, that's one of the nicest compliments I've gotten.

It's a slow process, but eventually this thing will be my best rig yet.

[arafat74]

Hi,

Love the build, any recommendation's for a roof rack for this Hard body....I just got mine and am gathering extras for it...

[Dustinf]

Originally Posted by arafat74

Hi,

Love the build, any recommendation's for a roof rack for this Hard body....I just got mine and am gathering extras for it...

Good question. I havnt looked into roof rack options. I'll probably just do a stock looking roof.

I know that ebay has a bunch of Chinese sellers that sell roof racks in any measurement you could think of. I got one for my twin hammers and it wasn't too bad. Sturdy and pretty scale.

But I've always wanted to get the Gmade komodo roof rack parts tree. I've almost ordered it several times. It might be a good size (havnt checked), but it also comes with sand ladders and a shovel.. among a bunch of other cool stuff.

Of topic: I definitely want to build a komodo someday.

[Dustinf]

I finally got one front wheel well done. The second one just needs to be fitted and glued.

Getting these to fit just right and allow the body to be removed was, at the risk of being dramatic, a huge pain in the ass.

This body has all kinds of knobs and bolts sticking out. So you have to accommodate for them. I think if I were to do it all again, Id try to attach the wells to the body somehow.. but I doubt that would work better. I'll be painting these black to hide the glue. Then in the future when they get scratched, it won't show that bad.



I wanted to to be a bit more rounded.. but I couldn't get them to take shape without getting wavy. These actually work pretty well though.



My 3D printed interior is about to ship. Which is very exciting.

For those wondering (I havnt seen the price posted anywhere), it's $95 shipped. Which is much cheaper than I expected. With the demand and all the build up I put on it, I was expecting and anticipating $190+.

[Dustinf]

Finished both front wheel wells. They came out pretty good.





They fit against the body pretty tight. That way dirt and water won't seep into the interior easily.

Removing and mounting the body requires a certain technique, but nothing very complicated.




Now onto the rear.

[Dustinf]

I decided that I should probably wire this thing as it has yet to drive an inch using it's own power.

I've always been obsessive about clean wiring. So I cut short every wire to the length it needed to be. I also hate spliced wires so I take apart the plugs and rewire them.

I ran into a couple issues with space and had to cram a bit.







I like having a switch to shut the vehicle off. Plus, I run a high volt servo and wire it direct. So I put one underneath the transmission.



Now that it runs I can get back to the interior.

Interior pieces should be in this week.

[Dustinf]

This has nothing to do with the build, but here is a fun video of my Axial Yeti I shot yesterday.

I'm trying to up the quality of my channel, this one is 1080p and close to 60fps.

It picks up after 30 seconds or so.

[BrazinScaleRC]

You should look into the rccrawler.it flat belly skid for the ascender. Soooo much more clearance. Build looks great though.

[Dustinf]

Originally Posted by BrazinScaleRC

You should look into the rccrawler.it flat belly skid for the ascender. Soooo much more clearance. Build looks great though.

I've never heard of that. I will definitely check into it.

Thanks!

[BrazinScaleRC]

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?i...urce=typeahead

[Dustinf]

Interior should be in tomorrow. I'll be posting about it.

I don't know how many more he will make. It seems to have taken over his business. But there is a third list.

[Dustinf]

Originally Posted by BrazinScaleRC

https://m.facebook.com/profile.php?i...urce=typeahead

Thanks for the link, I wouldn't have found it otherwise. He has some killer stuff!

I have a left over skid from my GCM skeleton chassis that is very similar and actually fits with a bit of tweaking. I may or may not use it though. Need to see the interior first.