so with my chop top ive bin thinking about choping off the rear fender quarter panel an making a flat bed rear sorta..because aparntly delaware only requires semi s to have fenders an mud flaps....i plan on eventualy tubeing the whole rear but for now itll be a flat rear?? any opinions ??

 

i dont think it would look bad actually....diamond plated flat bed? just an idea deff post up some pics if you decide to do it!

 

I actually really want to see this done, seems very interesting

 

im going to double check with dmv first lol

 

§ 4317. Protectors or flaps behind rear wheels of vehicles.
(a) No person shall operate, cause or permit to be operated any bus or commercial motor vehicle having a gross weight of 8,000 pounds or more, including semitrailers and trailers, upon the highways of this State unless it is equipped with suitable metal protectors or substantial flexible flaps behind the rearmost wheels of the vehicle or combination to prevent the projection of rocks, dirt, water or other substances to the rear and to minimize side spray.
(b) The flap, shield or other device shall extend down from the vehicle's body to not more than 8 inches above the road surface, but not more than 15 inches when the vehicle is in an unloaded condition. The protector or flap shall extend laterally at least the width of the tire being protected.
(c) If any bus or commercial motor vehicle, including semitrailers and trailers, is so designed or constructed that the objectives in subsection (a) of this section are accomplished by reason of fender or body construction or other means of enclosure, either permanent or temporary, then the requirements of this section have been satisfied.
(d) This section shall not apply to any farm tractor or to uncoupled truck tractors or other vehicles where the construction is such that complete freedom around the wheel area is necessary to secure the designed use of the vehicle.
(e) The Director of the Division of Motor Vehicles shall set and adopt such regulations as are necessary to implement this section.
(f) Whoever violates this section shall for the first offense be fined not less than $10 nor more than $28.75. For each subsequent like offense, the person shall be fined not less than $28.75 nor more than $100 some one else read this an i think im good

 

it looks like youll be good...other than needing mudflaps or am i reading that wrong?

 

I don't see a problem if you build a cage and flatbed it at the same time. I don't think the body has enough rigidity to be safe for any travel with just the floor out back. I wouldn't leave it like that.

 

i have seen a two door xj flat bed on the trail up here. SICK!!!!!!!!!!. he had brat seats on the rear too. i thought it was awesome. didnt get pics though sorry.

 

i was thinking itd be alot easier to tie that cage into the flatbead also

 

That's what I was going to say too... I think the floor would flex a ton between the unibody rails. At least, until you caged it, or did some tube reinforcement.

I had front to back flex problems with the back of my XJ due to some frame damage, and it seriously played havoc with the ride and stability. Made the rear end hop extremely unpredictably to the point that the vehicle was borderline dangerous. On a flatbed setup, you will have mostly cause side to side flex, I would think. Not sure how that would affect the handling, but if you're going to do this, I would seriously advise to have a good plan for frame reinforcement before you start.

 

i agree but how much is the rear corner panel really suporting,, i will be putting a cage on but tht wont be till after my deployment...but intill then i wanted to just get rid of the fenders/quarter panels till then,i wont be doing no crazy offroading or anything till its caged

 

Well, the rear quarter would support the front/rear flex. Keep in mind that the back of your leaf springs connect way back at the corner of the truck.

I suspect that without the extra support of the wall, it would cause the rear leaf mount to flex the floor up and down more than it would without the wall... which is more or less the condition mine was in (frame broken right in front of the shackles). With the floor flexing up and down at the back corner of the truck, you've basically introduced a bunch of motion into the rear that is not being damped by the shocks at all. It makes for a really bouncy ride, and no amount of shocks will do anything about it. If it's really bad (like mine was), then it will bounce enough to hop the back end sideways on moderate on-road bumps.

Granted, with good intact rear framerails, it *may* not be that bad. But it's definitely going to be more movement that there is supposed to be, and it's all undamped.

Plus, the missing roof would cause the floor to flex crossways, which might set up a weird side to side oscillation between the movement of the two rear springs. Also not damped by any shocks.

I mean, it's your jeep, so do what you want. I'm just saying that I've personally just been through some weird floppy back problems, and mine was dangerous on-road because of it. I really think a cage tied into the frame would have zero problems, but I wouldn't flatbed it until I'm ready to cage it.

 

The unibody gets its structural integrity from being a complete shell. If you've ever seen pics of someone who's cutting out rusty floorboards to replace them, you can see the inside of sheetmetal "frame rails". They're not very strong without the rest of the rear shell.

 

Ive seen Xj flat beds myself on the trails. but they arnt really XJ's, they cut the uni body, and placed it on another frame! like the the guys who take Yoda's and put em on K5 frames, or Burban frames so it has the support. they mix and match vehicles to get what they want.

good luck!

i did really like to see you do it though. post some pics of your idea, or when you start.

 

I say do it