Quote from: Jebers53 on February 16, 2012, 06:21:16 PM

Nice expo rig ski! Great use of the RotoPax! Wondering how many gallons on the Bestop and how it handles the wt.? How did you mount thru the top?

Thanks, I did a lot of research of expo rigs before that trip but find very few on the forum ever use the term "expo rig" so I appreciate your knowledge. Seems most here are only day trippers which is fine but i found trying to do a multi-day trip an interesting challenge in such a small vehicle. We had to carry camping equipment, refrigerator, stove, tools, camera, laptop as well as water and clothing. That picture was from the White Rim Trail in Canyonland National Park outside Moab.  That was a 3 day offroading trip so I needed to carry extra fuel. Each RotoPax holds 2.5 gallons so there were 4 gas containers on the roof outside and I also carried a water RotoPax mounted on the ceiling of the hardtop so  the combined weight was about 85 to 100 lbs including the containers.  During the 100+ offroading miles I only
used 2 of the RotoPax of fuel but at the time I did not know just what my miles per gallon were going to be so I wanted to error on the side of safety. We did not pass another vehicle for 3 days so running out of gas would of been a big problem. I purchased the RotoPax mounts and installed a pair in the outside of the roof and a matching pair for the ceiling of the hardtop so that only 2 holes for each pair needed to be drilled into the roof.

Applaud your entire rig, especially your creative mounting of the RotoPax on the top.  I have been pondering how to haul some extra fuel concerned about overloading the tailgate. Did you get much flex on the Bestop? I would be worried about stressing the latch points or popping the windows! Lol. Did the RotoPax work well? No leaky? I'm sure the WR trail was a good test for this gear, if you give it two thumbs up, I'm gunna do the same on mine! Thanks for the report. You should post it on RotoPax Facebook!

Quote from: skitime on February 17, 2012, 06:02:42 AM

Quote from: Jebers53 on February 16, 2012, 06:21:16 PM

Nice expo rig ski! Great use of the RotoPax! Wondering how many gallons on the Bestop and how it handles the wt.? How did you mount thru the top?

Thanks, I did a lot of research of expo rigs before that trip but find very few on the forum ever use the term "expo rig" so I appreciate your knowledge. Seems most here are only day trippers which is fine but i found trying to do a multi-day trip an interesting challenge in such a small vehicle. We had to carry camping equipment, refrigerator, stove, tools, camera, laptop as well as water and clothing. That picture was from the White Rim Trail in Canyonland National Park outside Moab.  That was a 3 day offroading trip so I needed to carry extra fuel. Each RotoPax holds 2.5 gallons so there were 4 gas containers on the roof outside and I also carried a water RotoPax mounted on the ceiling of the hardtop so  the combined weight was about 85 to 100 lbs including the containers.  During the 100+ offroading miles I only
used 2 of the RotoPax of fuel but at the time I did not know just what my miles per gallon were going to be so I wanted to error on the side of safety. We did not pass another vehicle for 3 days so running out of gas would of been a big problem. I purchased the RotoPax mounts and installed a pair in the outside of the roof and a matching pair for the ceiling of the hardtop so that only 2 holes for each pair needed to be drilled into the roof.

Applaud your entire rig, especially your creative mounting of the RotoPax on the top.  I have been pondering how to haul some extra fuel concerned about overloading the tailgate. Did you get much flex on the Bestop? I would be worried about stressing the latch points or popping the windows! Lol. Did the RotoPax work well? No leaky? I'm sure the WR trail was a good test for this gear, if you give it two thumbs up, I'm gunna do the same on mine! Thanks for the report. You should post it on RotoPax Facebook!

I also looked to mounting  gas on the tailgate but with the spare it seemed small a space unless I would relocate the license plate so I started to look at the roof and ATV accessories. In fact the storage unit on the roof is an ATV storage container. I did not find any problem with the weight on the hardtop. The seals on the RotoPax needed to be screwed very tightly but then worked.  I found that the containers would bulged in the hot sun but even with that pressure they did not leak.  I would release the pressure when it was observed but only needed to do that once then they were good to go.  Two thumbs up to you.

another

Hi! From Dominican Republic!   

Hi! From Dominican Republic!   

Nice rig,,,that mud looks slick, what tires are you running?

Just after I bought my tinted top and got the windows tinted.

Ready to go meet with the local Jeep group (they are the only local 4x4 group.)

WIP:



The 3/8 cable has since been replaced with 11/32 rope, the roller fairleed has to go too.
Header and 2" cat will be in next week then it'll be an 85A Aerio alternator and air lockers...

a lot of sick rides! Airman what lift and size tires are you running on that black zuke?

Hope you guys don't mind lots of pics. I hardly ever post this thing, so I'm making up for lost time  

The day I bought it:





First lift. Jeffs spacers, slightly trimmed fenders, and 31's:

Can't find the pics  

Added the 2" RRO body lift:





Kinda miss it being all shiny and straight  :'(

Now. After a couple rolls, replacement sheetmetal, major front trimming and BFH mods. 2.5 bs and 33's:

nice rig did you extend the rear? if you did how. did you extend the front? thanks

nice rig did you extend the rear? if you did how. did you extend the front? thanks

Thanks..
 No it's not extended front or rear. I trimmed a lot out of the front fenders, probably a good 4 inches at the back-bottom of the fender and radiused from there to meet at the top of the arch. I also had to massage the floorboards a bit to stop rubbing. I'm sure at full-stuff and turned to lock, it'll probably still rub a good bit. Haven't had much chance to go offroading since the last set of mods  , so not sure how bad.
 The rear hasn't been trimmed at all. I did roll the fender lip under to stop it from eating my tires at full stuff. It would look better to trim the front of the rear fender a bit, as the tire is close there, but when the suspension cycles, it actually moves away from that area, so I didn't worry about it.

That being said, I'd prefer it was stretched just a bit (about 2" front and rear) and when I go SAS, I'll do just that. The rear is a pretty simple affair. Extend the links, move spring pads/shocks, and stretch your driveshaft. Me personally; I'll more than likely go to leafs front AND rear because it's cheap, DIY friendly, stupid simple setup that will get me plenty of flex for what I want to do.

nice i like the way it looks. what axles are you planing on using? im doing a sas soon with a samurai axle. im just sleaving the rear links and modifying the uper so it will go back 2" and for the front im using jeep front links for my 4 link it will be moved 2" forward to im just runing 31s though because thats what i have. im going to get a spartan locker for the rear to. eventually some 33x10.5s will be on there

Here is mine, 1992 with OME lift & 235s, it normally has a trailer following it.

nice i like the way it looks. what axles are you planing on using? im doing a sas soon with a samurai axle

I'm going to use a sami axle too. I originally planned on a set of Toyota axles, and had them in the shop, but was offered double what I had in them, so they got a new home.
I really don't think I will ever go over a 33" tire with this rig, so a well put together Sami axle should serve me just fine.
When I build the rig I really want (eventually I will) stretched on a set of EB axles (got them in the shop), 35's, drivetrain swap, and lots of fun 

cool i have almost the same story. i had a connection on some toyotas but then said screw it and am just goning to use the sami axle i already have. are you using leafs or coils. im going to use coils i like the way they flex and drive better