Pan american highway trip Rig

[Welder/Traveler]

So Hey um this is my second time on here. I had A 1980 SJ 2 door cherokee laredo, amc 360, 4 inch lift , d44 hd with detroit in front and amc 20 with stock posi in back.
Ha that thing was a beast till it fell prey to a red light cam and wiped out a light standard via brake avoidance. except it seemed to eat 727 trannys good riddance.

I am pretty handy and have done most jobs including a full built 48re for my mega cab diesel . 

So my questions are more about  base line mods to a 98,99,00 xj for a trip from mexico to panama via belize, guatemala, honduras, el salvador, nicaragua and costa rica.

The vehicle will be a total loss... probably donate it in panama to some school or charity as you cannot sell a vehicle in panama to a panamanian, maybe sell to some back pakers for dirt cheap???

For this reason i will buy donner truck in tijuana there are piles of these years no rust and fully stock family rides  with <100 000 miles for 2-3000 usd like 25000 pesos.

It is still up in the air between an xj and a 4 runner.

My idea was 2 inch body lift,  long travel shocks, this will help keep axles on the ground, long brake lines, 31x15 or 33x15 or 16 whatever stock is and some sort of mt tire, they need to make 15000 miles. what else??? I need to retain as much stock service life as possible no 4 inch lifts and odd driveline angles.  I was thinking spools front and back?

i can fab bumpers and rocker panel armor for the cost of materials I will do a dual battery system and a 1000watt inverter, 12 volt refrigerator, roof rack set up with ridgeline for roof top hammock sleeping  and tarp awning to shade the truck, limo tint all around and expanded metal frames bolted to cover all rear windows.

Any way i need some ideas thoughts , my two friends did vancouver to argentina in 18 months with a 97 4 runner and the only non maintenance issue was $350 to get a rear axle seal done in el salvador. two other friends of theirs had bigger issues with the same set up. another i read about did the same trip as i want to in a 91 golf sooo?

Anyways welcome to me Ryan

[w squared]

Let me get this straight....

You are proposing putting a 2 inch body lift on an XJ, and then putting spools in the front and the rear. Then you're going to drive 15,000 miles?

[Welder/Traveler]

There are Also piles of 1.3l sami's down there but the pirate camping in the truck would be a no go! So for cities it would be hostel and a hammock @ 5-8/ night lol. but 25 mpg would be sweet. and the plane is to fly down in nov with a few friends at my cost them loaded with tools and things i already have and rent a garage in TJ to complete build and just drive up to sandiago for parts. gonna spend most of my time surfing and beach bumming  no rock crawling an such but all roads south of belize are like the forestry trunk road or worse but wet and washed...

[Welder/Traveler]

Let me get this straight....

You are proposing putting a 2 inch body lift on an XJ, and then putting spools in the front and the rear. Then you're going to drive 15,000 miles?

exactly it maybe closer to 10 000 (hard to say exactly the roads cross back and forth all the way down ) but mostly on jungle roads!!!! it is going to happen my sailboat is in panama.

[w squared]

You may want to re-examine your plan.

First, XJ's are unibody construction. If you want to do a body lift, you'll have to fab a frame first, and then install that. It can be done (one of the club members did it to his XJ) but you might find it easier to explore other lift options.

Second, the distance is about 6000 KM from Tijuana to Panama. While that's way shorter than 10 or 15 thousand miles, I still think that you'll want to reconsider spooling those diffs.

[BUKI]

You can't body lift an xj. Unitbody. An fsj  yes.


Sent from my iProne

[apeman]

You must know next to nothing about xj's.

[Welder/Traveler]

You may want to re-examine your plan.

First, XJ's are unibody construction. If you want to do a body lift, you'll have to fab a frame first, and then install that. It can be done (one of the club members did it to his XJ) but you might find it easier to explore other lift options.

Second, the distance is about 6000 KM from Tijuana to Panama. While that's way shorter than 10 or 15 thousand miles, I still think that you'll want to reconsider spooling those diffs.

you ha

yeah google can say x miles but as a crow flies!  hell the travel here and there and no gps has complete maps so thanks for your concern but i know for a fact it will be at least 1ok miles. I am not b lining it on a race man i am going on an epic holiday might take a year just to do as far as belize  .

 didn't know about the unibody good info thanks.

 but as for spools i know exactly how hard it is on the steering again not sure this matters i need 10 00o miles out of it and 149$ is good money spent to not get stuck!!! hell even if i go through my front end twice and two sets of tires if it saves me from getting stuck in a jungle alone sold sold sold. i will start with new brakes new u joints new bushings and tie rod ends new shocks maybe springs with 1.5 spacers.  2500 for a truck and even if i spend 2500 on parts to get it ready still under budget from buying a rust bucket with 200k here so but i still have to decide on jeep or 4 runner... maybe this is more of a pirate 4x4 question then a calgary jeep one regards Ryan

[Welder/Traveler]

You must know next to nothing about xj's.

your right i drive a 07 mega cab cummins 4 inch carli dominator and a 48re that can handle 40 pound boosted 4 wheel launches but yet my info on x y z jeep is limited squid  .

my last truck was a 92 w250 cummins that could tow a 30 foot TT and a lincoln 300 d welder with full tools at 100k all the way to van and back .

again yup dana 60 but this is old sckool king pin style probably never came on a xj so read about it ,dana  70, 205 splitter add a np203 doubler  yup check  i have the service manuals and can rebuild everything on it!1!! but hmmmm my x y k z jeep is somewhat limited

[Fly Guy]

Been a while since I posted on here but I think I'm going to offend my former Jeep brothers (and sisters) and suggest the toyota over the XJ. But not the 4runner, get an older FJ60, diesel, add a winch and some M/T's, maybe a locker in the back and call it good. The diesels are far more popular up here than in the US so I'd get one here and drive it down to San Diego to work out any bugs it might have before crossing in Mexico. I don't think this is a pirate question, more along the lines http://forum.ih8mud.com/expedition-builds/ Good luck and post lots of pics! I'm jealous already!

[Welder/Traveler]

Been a while since I posted on here but I think I'm going to offend my former Jeep brothers (and sisters) and suggest the toyota over the XJ. But not the 4runner, get an older FJ60, diesel, add a winch and some M/T's, maybe a locker in the back and call it good. The diesels are far more popular up here than in the US so I'd get one here and drive it down to San Diego to work out any bugs it might have before crossing in Mexico. I don't think this is a pirate question, more along the lines of ih8mud.com Good luck and post lots of pics! I'm jealous already!

thanks and yeah the fj 60 and 80 are sweet but cost too much for a vehicle i will abandon.  pretty much if sea shipping was cheaper i would drive my 92 w 250 and just build a jungle topper and put an ox locker in the front and drive away. ahhhh i heard of ih8mud thanks for that ....

I met this couple in africa a few years ago  http://www.liferemotely.com/trip-shenanigans/trip-information/239-free-ebook-overlanding-mexico-and-central-america

that is a free ebook  showes the milage and fuel and entire budget 315

 this place is funny from the comments  hmm 38 years old a contract welder for 1o years and a driller for nabors drilling for 8 i sailed around van island and down to mexico  across the sea of cortez and off to panama via the south pacific, indian and atlantic oceans not quite a full turn i still need to make it to acapulco to call it a circumnavigation . but i'll share something with you all.... canada is cold and expensive I have been home working for a year and a half and i can live down south for years on what i have earned..

anyway i built some gear for a guys kj on here he said to stop by and ask a few questions about xj s and i did lol to bad i can't post pics

[Welder/Traveler]

reflux still for sale https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lEZSsuqEbw lol 500 with keg makes 95% ethanol another thing i know about http://calgary.kijiji.ca/c-buy-and-sell-tools-other-copper-and-stainless-distillation-W0QQAdIdZ490936135 kijiji link

[Fly Guy]

Where in Africa were you?

I did a trip back in the late 90's with some friends. We bought a diesel Nissan Patrol and a Mercedes 300 diesel wagon in Germany for cheap and drove them down to Dakar and sold them. We burned through France and Spain in about 4 days and then spent a couple months in Morocco, a few weeks in Mauritania, and then another month in Senegal. After we sold the cars I split from the group and backpacked thru Mali for a while. Met some motorcyclists there who had just finished the Dakar rally. They were pretty wasted from the ride and pretty wasted from the beer in the brothel! Good times!

[Welder/Traveler]

Where in Africa were you?

I did a trip back in the late 90's with some friends. We bought a diesel Nissan Patrol and a Mercedes 300 diesel wagon in Germany for cheap and drove them down to Dakar and sold them. We burned through France and Spain in about 4 days and then spent a couple months in Morocco, a few weeks in Mauritania, and then another month in Senegal. After we sold the cars I split from the group and backpacked thru Mali for a while. Met some motorcyclists there who had just finished the Dakar rally. They were pretty wasted from the ride and pretty wasted from the beer in the brothel! Good times!

there is no better way to live life, pretty much the whole west coast of south africa was playland for 6 months spent two weeks in johannesburg with some girls i had met in tonga or fiji one of the two the rest was surfing and sailing the big swells from durban to mossel bay then spent the winter in cape town and headed north when the trades filled in  visited  the namibian desert decided i like the water better then shoved off  for trinidad nov 2010

[cLAY]

From what I'm reading it sounds to me like you would be better off with a 4runner. The 4runner should have better parts availability down there, the frame will probably stand up better and be easier to mount a winch as well allow you run a body lift with bigger tires.

XJs don't have front locking hubs, the shafts spin all the time so welding the front and trying to drive it on the highway would be A REALLY BAD IDEA. The locking hubs on the 4runner would let the hubs free spin and drive normally on the highway. Bear in mind that when the front end is solidly locked like that you have no steering ability, it want to plow in a straight direction. When on a trail/bad road you will be constantly getting in and out to lock/unlock hubs so you can either get thru a bad spot or navigate a bend in the trail.

The back I'd weld without a second thought.

Have fun/take pics!