TJ Hooker (Wrangler YJ/TJ hybrid pick up)

[JennyMo 3526]

And just for Yogi - I did splash a little paint and rust on the front bumper, and felt it appropriate to fit a Hawse style fairlead since this winch has a rope rather than wire cable:

photo. yes, the winch still needs to be hooked-up to a remote receiver mounted somewhere under the bonnet!

 

What's that in the background you might ask? - a rather neat link to my brand new Jeep project build thread of course!

Toot toot!

Jenny x

[JennyMo 3526]

5 minutes ago, Carmine A said:

My Dear... You go right ahead! I couldn't be the only one interested in seeing just what you could do with one of THOSE!!

Ha - I'm thinking super-size beast mode - something along the lines of the STUMPKamper perhaps...? ;o)

Jx

 

[Carmine A 2046]

3 minutes ago, JennyMo said:

Ha - I'm thinking super-size beast mode - something along the lines of the STUMPKamper perhaps...? ;o)

Jx

Right.... I can totally see you doing a rusty Semi Cab 4X4!! 😁 But also consider doing a proper Rig - of course in the same vein as the "Duel" Truck. But with your own personal spin!! 😉

[JennyMo 3526]

Jan 2022:

 

A quick update to this build... having had a lot of fun driving this last summer, occassionally alongside my subsequent project: RED DWARF which I built for my friend Simon; while I like the stripped-down truck-cub look of this TJ, I couldn't help but covert the full-length roof-rack I'd installed on Simon's Jeep...

 

photo. Somewhere in Utah, summer 2021

 

A quick scour on Ebay revealed a 'universal' roof rack was available with the dimensions approximately 150x230mm, which ought to pretty much result in a full length roof-rack on this extended wheelbase 'TJ-L' style body... sure enough, it turned out to be a perfect fit!

 

photo. mocking up, prior to a little restorative paintwork...

 

Since this rack is really intended to be mounted to either the rain gutters (with brackets supplied) or directly though the roof panel of a full length hard-top, all I had to do was use a couple of 6mm threaded rods as rear supports, together with a pair of shackle brackets I had in my spare stash which turned out to be the perfect width to mount inside the rear fender panels using M2 screws.

 

At the front, I moved the gutter brackets inboard (to match the width of the Tamiya Jeep roof), and trimmed them to sit directly on the moulded gutter, held in place with an M2.5 bolt on each side.

 

 

While this meant the rack was now secure, I felt it would look more authentic to fabricate a hook plate (like a real gutter mount roof-rack) for each bracket out of styrene - and these were ultimately glued to the gutter, but not the roof-rack bracket, so it's actually feasibly to undo the bolt and remove the rack (although the outer L clamp plate will remain in place of course).

 

photo. L clamps made from 1mm styrene...

 

photo. ...then painted satin black and glued to the roof gutter.

 

Now I must admit the weight of this metal roof-rack has significantly raised the centre of gravity, and I can imagine it is going to be nothing like as stable as it was before as a simple truck-cab... however, it looks kewl - and that's the main thing (especially now I have my Vanquish Phoenix for more serious scale trailing), and is also the perfect home for all the scale accessories I've amassed over the years:

 

photo. how much junk can one Jeep carry?!

 

Ultimately I've decided to dial it back a little for now:

photo. All the accessory boxes in the load bed are secured with servo tape, while the twin roof boxes are mounted using a bolt into a plastic bracket which sandwiches the roof-rack cross-bars, plus a thin strip of servo tape... this means that even if it turns turtle on the trail, I shouldn't lose any of the scale accessories (note. everything inside the tool trunk is already super-glued in place).

 

photo. The rack comes with six round spot lamps - I elected to fit only two pairs (together with some Tamiya cover decals I had), and will most likely relocate the front licence plate between them on an L bracket too.

 

I'm sure there will be a few more accessories added in future - I'm already thinking about a Hi-lift jack across the rear of the rack cage, and perhaps some sand ladders too - and I feel I'm probably going to have to revert to the original Gmade shock springs at the rear, which are stiffer than the blue aftermarket ones current fitted, as the rear end is decidedly saggy now! Still, it actually moves in a very realistic way, and the added scale detail has given it a lot more visual appeal as a shelf-model too of course...

 

More soon!

Jenny