looking to chop the cargo space
#1
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
From: upstate ny
Year: 95
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6 4.0 HO
looking to chop the cargo space
anyone got a DIY guide to chop the cargo roof and make it a soft top back
here's some ideas I'm looking for.
here's some ideas I'm looking for.
Last edited by Xj423; 02-28-2013 at 08:40 PM.
#2
CF Veteran
Joined: Jan 2008
Posts: 3,671
Likes: 10
From: LI, NY
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0, bolt ons for days...
theres no guide.
get a sawzall. if you dont reinforce anything (like, with a cage or some sort of rollbar that ties into the body well), it'll pull itself back apart.
get a sawzall. if you dont reinforce anything (like, with a cage or some sort of rollbar that ties into the body well), it'll pull itself back apart.
#4
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 823
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh,NC
Year: 1992
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L HO
Make a straight line and stay on it with the sawzall. It took like 30min to chop mine. Took the glass out, headliner out, and hatch off. I followed the window frame for my cuts. You'll have to get a custom cut of material for a soft top. I never bothered to do it. I would make something like this if I were to.
#5
CF Veteran
Joined: Oct 2012
Posts: 1,277
Likes: 0
From: Orlando/Winter Garden
Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6
first pic looks nice, iv always wondered how they move the top of the hatch right behind the rear seats so that you have a closed cab but still the little bed in the back
#6
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
From: upstate ny
Year: 95
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6 4.0 HO
Make a straight line and stay on it with the sawzall. It took like 30min to chop mine. Took the glass out, headliner out, and hatch off. I followed the window frame for my cuts. You'll have to get a custom cut of material for a soft top. I never bothered to do it. I would make something like this if I were to.
Attachment 178080
Attachment 178080
Last edited by Xj423; 03-01-2013 at 02:34 PM.
#7
CF Veteran
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 2,522
Likes: 0
From: New Jersey
Year: 2000
Model: Cherokee
Engine: l6 HO
I see you didn't put a cage over the chopped section like the two pictures I posted....thought I read somewhere that the roof is structural to the rest of the frame....is this true and if so have you had any problems without that's section. is the cage only needed if you took all of the roof off?
I would cut along the back window. But yes for sure your going to need to beef it up...
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#8
The roof isn't structural, but the pillar are and you lose the last one if you cut the top like that. You can weld a 97+ hatch in behind the back seat to seal it off or use the back of a Comanche cab. If you're only driving on the street it will be fine with adding a cage, rollbar, ect. If you're taking it offroad much at all you'll need to reinforce it.
There are no guides because it's literally just a matter of cutting.
There are no guides because it's literally just a matter of cutting.
#10
Thread Starter
Junior Member
Joined: Jan 2013
Posts: 44
Likes: 0
From: upstate ny
Year: 95
Model: Cherokee
Engine: I6 4.0 HO
The roof isn't structural, but the pillar are and you lose the last one if you cut the top like that. You can weld a 97+ hatch in behind the back seat to seal it off or use the back of a Comanche cab. If you're only driving on the street it will be fine with adding a cage, rollbar, ect. If you're taking it offroad much at all you'll need to reinforce it.
There are no guides because it's literally just a matter of cutting.
There are no guides because it's literally just a matter of cutting.
#11
Senior Member
Joined: Oct 2011
Posts: 823
Likes: 0
From: Raleigh,NC
Year: 1992
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0L HO
I wheeled mine once with the back cut off before I caged it. The amount of body flex it had was scary. I even had unibody stiffeners at the time. I immediately put a cage in mine after that.
#12
CF Veteran
Joined: Mar 2010
Posts: 6,685
Likes: 5
From: Jacksonville, FL
Year: 92
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
The roof isn't structural, but the pillar are and you lose the last one if you cut the top like that. You can weld a 97+ hatch in behind the back seat to seal it off or use the back of a Comanche cab. If you're only driving on the street it will be fine with adding a cage, rollbar, ect. If you're taking it offroad much at all you'll need to reinforce it.
There are no guides because it's literally just a matter of cutting.
There are no guides because it's literally just a matter of cutting.
#15
No, the roof provides rigidity, but that doesn't make it structural. A moonroof doesn't lower the structural integrity any more than removing parts of the roof does. The roof sheetmetal is no more structural than the doors are.