First project

[Paul Hittie]

Most of you never saw it, but Deb's first LJ came from the owner of http://www.tops4less.com - he also owns some related websites, some Jeep and some general stuff.  Anyway, when we picked it up it had a bunch of goodies on it - hard tire cover, seat covers, slush trays, polished stainless steps, and this really cool storage box for the rear end.  It mounted on special tabs attached to the hitch, and had a swing-away so you could open the tailgate.  Unfortunately, everything but the box was lost when she got rear ended.  The box was useful, and we had used it a number of times, so last summer I looked at getting replacement parts from DPS, now owned by Reese.  Too much money, so this year I decided I would hack off the tab mounts, and replace them with a 2" post to go into the receiver.  So I measured and made cardboard templates to see if I could come up with something that would fit both Jeeps.  Bought some new metal working tools, and started playing.  My welding skills with my torches were taking too long to master (my last welding experience was 1989 working for Oakland County - fixing brush hogs) so I cheated and bought a Miller MIG/flux core.  Played around some, and started welding.  


http://s208213989.onlinehome.us/WLBgall ... temId=1881
http://s208213989.onlinehome.us/WLBgall ... temId=1885
http://s208213989.onlinehome.us/WLBgall ... temId=1888

It's a little bit crooked (not enough hands to hold it in place when I tacked it together) but not bad for a first effort.  I discovered one problem through -

http://s208213989.onlinehome.us/WLBgall ... temId=1891

I did all of my measuring with a 31" spare.  D'OH!

(hey, someone needs to show me how to post a picture instead of a link!)

[ouchman]

i think you should get rid of it and buy a new one, what do ya want for it?
j/k looks good ::woot::

[Nosilla]

Well done Paul.

[NewRide]

looks nice !!

[Mudviper]

Always an awsome job for something you do for the first time and on your own. How much weight can the box carry? Have never seen one of those before. Wouldn't mind one for the XJ.

I have been told many years ago that it is not legal to cover up the license plate, Longarm might be able to clear that up, so you might have to make a mounting bracket for the plate on the storage box.

If you have a photobucket account, you can copy and paste images from there on to the threads.

[astrogiblet]

Nice job!


-Brandon

[naypalm]

PM sent  

[Paul Hittie]

It's only rated for 250# - but it beats the heck out of the alternative, Rubber Maid totes bunji-corded to an open cargo basket.  This thing has a locking lid, the box locks to the tray, and the swing-out locks.  When we first got it there were 1/2 dozen different keys to keep track of!

[Paul Hittie]

PM sent  

See edit above - I still failed!

[Yager]

Wow, that's a serious box.. nice work.

[astrogiblet]

I tried to explain how to post pictures, but no matter what I wrote it was confusing, so my post turned into "Nice Job!" hahaha...

Lets try this again..

Basically, the links you posted are links to the webpage with the pictures on them, not the links to the pictures themselves. So, go to one of your picture pages, right click on the picture itself, and click view image.

Now your on the page that is a direct link to the picture only. Copy that link, paste it here, highlight the entire link, and click the "Img" button above the text box on this forum (right underneath to the right of the subject line).

Heres a pic of the IMG Button:



Once you do that there should be Img tags around your link, and there ya go.. now you've posted a picture.

So, let me try to walk you through this another way incase my text is confusing:

Link to page with picture on it:
http://s208213989.onlinehome.us/WLBgall ... temId=1885

Right click, view image.

Copy that link:
http://s208213989.onlinehome.us/WLBgall ... alNumber=2

Highlight link and click the "Img" button:


And Voila!



-Brandon

[longarm]

That looks great Paul!  Very nice idea to keep free space in the LJ.  It sure beats having Jonathan holding stuff in his lap for the trip.   :mrgreen:  

Ohhh, and yes, your license plate MUST be visable.  I know it might be a little extra work, but to be on the safe side, you can go and get one of those front license plate mounts that other states use and perm. mount that on the top left side of your storage box.  This way you can mount your plate on it to make sure you don't get messed with.  Just a suggestion though.  Some officers won't care as long as you can see that there is a plate on the vehicle.

[Anonymous]

The plate has to be illuminated at night too .

[longarm]

The plate has to be illuminated at night too .

This is true.  However, I have seen many a trailer that wasn't light up.  Speaking for myself, I never really messed with someone just for that though.  Some are different.  Just drive during the day.   :mrgreen: