body widening

[DesertRat]

have been tossing around the idea of widening my 75 CJ5 about 4inches. was wondering if anyone has ever done anything like this, if so, any problems? what did you do about the windshield?

 

[Jimbos76cj]

What's the reasoning behind widening it? As far as the windsheild glass is concerned since its just a peice of flat safety glass I'm sure it will be easy to get made. If its a off road only ride then yOu can get it made out of plexi glass.

 

[DesertRat]

working on making a little more storage space, and a little extra room for a couple passengers. after some magic math i figured if i widened 4 inches that should give me all the room i need. much cheaper than buying a bigger vehicle

 

[CJim7]

much cheaper than buying a bigger vehicle

Really....?
depends on the extent of it I suppose. But this has been done before and there was an article on the Jeep in Offroad Magazine or some such several years ago. I think they went 10 inches wider then stock.

if you are doing the body only, then it wont be a huge undertaking....biggest issue will be moving the body mounts out some on the frame rails, and patching the body up so it doesnt look like a hacked up wreck when you are all done with it.
Done correctly (or in my mind asthetically), the frame would be widened also and full size axles used in place of the stock narrow track....and I would go a bit wider then 4 inches...that's not enough for me to justify all the work involved.

Anyway, just some thoughts. You might google search for that Jeep I mentioned and see what they did.

 

[IOPort51]

seems like a god awful lot of work for 4". what do you think it will allow you to carry that you can't now??

 

[Jimbos76cj]

Just my .02 but widening it 4" would be a pita. If your looking for more room inbetween the rear wheel wheels you can put a set of 2" spacers onto rear axles to move the tires out a total of 4" get a set of rims with an extra 1" of back spacing and your reduce the width of your wheel wells by up to 6" (3" per side) with out widening the tub. If you add 4" down the middle you will still have to either add the spacers to the axles. Then move all the feame mounts out 2", resign the steering column linkage since it will be moved 2" towards the frame. The. There's the hood, and grill that have to be widened,new radiator mounts to be fabbed since the grill will now be wider, new glass for your windsheild . By moving telhr wheel wells you will he the 4" you need with out havin to get crazy fabbing stuff

 

[DesertRat]

thanks for all of the input, you have given me several things to consider before continuing on with this project.

 

[Kane]

Here you go.

 

[IOPort51]

 

[sponge]

Just my .02 but widening it 4" would be a pita.

That is what she said :laugh: sorry couldnt resist...I am here to add no value to this thread.

 

[Kane]

Ahhh nope. It was for sale on Ebay and this is the second time I have seen it up for grabs. There is info out there about the build but it was done over ten years ago.