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considering my budget ive found the yj tub to be the best solution to my body needs on my project ive done the research taking measurements for the body mounts and whatnot but my concern is everything that bolts to the tub(windshield frame, doors, tailgate, fenders, etc.) is all that going to bolt up with no problem or is everything going to need tweaked, its my first body swap and im feeling pretty timid any words of advice..?
considering my budget ive found the yj tub to be the best solution to my body needs on my project ive done the research taking measurements for the body mounts and whatnot but my concern is everything that bolts to the tub(windshield frame, doors, tailgate, fenders, etc.) is all that going to bolt up with no problem or is everything going to need tweaked, its my first body swap and im feeling pretty timid any words of advice..?
Pretty much the body mounts are the biggest difference. The windshields are near identical, but you will want to use a CJ windsheild if you already have a hard top. The doors you will have to look at the strikers. That is easily rectified, though, as you get get the correct strikers, or reuse what you have. The front clips(from fender to from grill) can be swapped out, so you should be good to go. Dont' be afraid of it, there are planty of write ups about it, and we will help you out if needed. Take lots of pics, would make a good write up. It will be a little while until I can get to mine, I am doing the same thing.
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tailgates are different and the gas filler is on the wrong side, those are fixable though. a yj tailgate swings out you can keep it but i'd swap it to the cj tailgate. i have heard of people having the swap done in less than a full weekend.
what is the difference on the tubs i have found a 1989 yj tub and i want to put it on my 1985 cj frame all the info i can get will help will this even work thanks i need all the help i can get
here is a write up on the swap and some other things. Jeepskate Body
the main differences in the tub itself are a few of the body mount locations, and the gas filler opening. the tailgate is different as mentioned above, along with the dash, but they won't interfere with the body swap, and can be changed to all of the cj stuff later if you don't like the yj stuff. the windshield is a little different, you can either use your cj windshield frame or modify the yj one to accept your cj top.
so the cj dash will fit into the yj tub or do i have to have a yj dash in my cj..? and from what i understand only the middle body mounts on the tub are different the others line up...??
Yj tub to a CJ frame is easy, up here in rust country we were doing it all the time, until the supply of good YJ tubs ran out, now we use TJ tubs. More work, more ceativity, bet better rust proofing from the factory. My 85 CJ7 is getting its TJ tub this weekend (along with XJ drive train).
I wrote this up a while ago... but now I am intrigued with the idea of a TJ swap... when you do it this weekend... take lots of pics and post them... I might have to try it in the near future.
With the TJ body... still running the CJ front clip?
1975 CJ-6 with 401/T-15/Scout 300/Dana 30 and 44 with 3.73, 1986 CJ-7 Laredo with 4.6 stroker/T-5/Dana 300 and 30 and 44 with 3.31,1983 CJ-8 with 258/ T-5/Dana 300 and 30 and 44 with 3.31, 1986 Trail Jeep in the works with TDK frame/4.0/NV-3550/Dana 300 and 44 front /8.8 rear/full Poison Spyder armor,2003 TJ Rubicon all stock
If you want some pics and info from someone who did this swap a few days ago.....here you go. I cut and past from another thread, but you'll get the idea...
Also pulled out a body. 87 YJ tub with very little to no rust. Just surface in a spot or two.
Here's my buddy Brian sanding off the factory decals from the sides. He's been a big help! That his bad a s s white TJ in the background.
It really looks way worse than it is. Its very dirty from storage. Those are leaves that blew in under the cover and settled on the floor.
Last two days was turning a YJ tub into a CJ tub. First the decals had to go and when they are that old, you almost have to take it down to the metal. Next was addressing the defrost. I cut out out the CJ section from wrecked CJs and weld them in. I pick a common point like a bolt hole and draw the same line on each tub section, Then cut on the line on one and over the line on the other. It makes for a nice fit and easy weld in.
Since I'm running a CJ windshield, the holddown plates in each dash corner would be off by a little over .5 inches as the YJ moved them outward. The sheetmetal stamping still reveals the space in the movement. I puched out the nut and elongated the hole. The upper corner dash bolt was off two, so both of them went on a nut plate that was tach welded in the center. All the other holes matched up just fine.
Then the rear of the tub needed some mod work. The swing down tailgate fits fine, but needs the hinge holes at the bottom. What I do is cut an oval in the back of each hinge area and use a plate with welded nuts to go inside the rear channel. These were cut when the tub was upsidedown to gain easy access.
The gas filler is traced out using an old paper bag and transfered to the right side. The hole is the actual size, so if you cut just on the outside of the line, it will fit back onto the other side IF you want to fill it back in. I'm going for full CJ here so it was moved and fit fine. A very thin coat of surface filler was all that was needed after the weld was ground down.
The two body mounts on the rear crossmember are off by .75 inches between the CJ and YJ as the YJ went to a wider frame. I usally relocated the frame holes, but this frame was already galvanized and I didn't want to mess that up, so I drilled the new holes and tapped the floating nut inside the tub.
After the tub was sanded, cleaned, and sanded some more, the paint went on. It was at night, so the colors are off, but you'll get the idea. The swing gate holes were drilled and the outer YJ ones were welded up with small square patches. (I still have to mount the cable tabs in the tub and drill the left side)
Even filled the double washer sprayer for the CJ single one.
Heres how the tailgate turned out. The CJ brackets were welded in.
The one thing I didn't do on this one was weld in the two heat shields. One goes on the fire wall lower left and another under the rear floor.
Also not shown is the oval hole cut for the clutch linkage rod. Other issues are the fender supports and studs/threaded holes for those. Measurements off a good CJ tub are a must.
I wrote this up a while ago... but now I am intrigued with the idea of a TJ swap... when you do it this weekend... take lots of pics and post them... I might have to try it in the near future.
With the TJ body... still running the CJ front clip?
Will do on the pics. For now at least I'm keeping the CJ nose, mostly because I'm cheep, but also it helps keep things legal for registration. But eventualy I do plan on dropping a TJ front end on it though.
ok cool as far as the strikers go is it a matter of cj striker to cj door and yj striker to yj door or will my cj strikers not mount up right in the yj tub? also anybody know on average how much a decent used yj tub costs these days?
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