It's hard for me to believe but it was 15 years ago today that I drove my 2006 Wrangler out of my garage under its own power as a pickup. It's still a daily driver and has about 130,000 miles on it today. I did the conversion at about 28,000 miles, so it's been a daily driver pickup for over 100,000 miles.
These two photos are a few years old but the truck looks exactly the same today.
In 2007 I was living in London and about to return to the U.S. I decided that I needed a pickup when I got back and I wanted a Jeep but Jeep didn't make pickups at the time so I decided to design and build my own. My main design goals were that the pickup should have a 100% factory look, and it should be what the Jeep designers would build if they were to do a modern version of the classic Willys pickup.
I started the design work before I left London and by late 2007 when I got home I began looking for a suitable LJ to convert. I found one that was just under two years old and had only about 10,000 miles on it:
I did numerous concept sketches and component drawings - every part of the project was designed before I started any fabrication work.
Here's an example of the level of detail I went to in designing the parts; I wanted a factory looking step bumper so I designed one made from the factory bumper.
I also made a scale model to I could view the planned result in 3d and compare it to other scale models to decide if the look was exactly correct. Since my design goal was a modern version of the classic Willys pickup, I also made a model of a Willys to compare my model to.
I started collecting the necessary parts. Some of the parts in this image have been modified and are ready to install (the custom tailgate, for example) and some have yet to be touched (the hardtop parts). A few parts I made from scratch, such as the rear fenders.
By late spring of 2008 I had essentially built a "pickup kit" - all of the components were built and ready to be installed on the Jeep. The mockup in my workshop:
In July of 2008 I drove the LJ into my garage and 17 days later I drove it out as a pickup. The project went so quickly because of the detailed design work I did and the fabrication of the components to that design.
A few work-in-progress photos:
Lengthening the LJ frame about 24":
The cab and bed going together:
The only work I didn't do myself was to lengthen the driveshaft, I had a local driveshaft shop do that so it would be perfectly straight and balanced.
I drove it for a few weeks in unpainted condition and then I turned it over to a local body shop for paint. Since then I've learned to paint but back then I needed to have a body shop do that work.
After painting, I took it to a local auto upholstery/convertible top shop and with my design help they converted the factory Sbbunrider top into a pickup cab. This is also work I would do myself today, but this was before I learned to sew.
THe truck was basically done at that point as a soft top but I spent the next month or so finishing the half cab hardtop, which I made from parts of a metal CJ-10 half cab (lengthened) and parts of a metal CJ-7 World Cab hardtop (shortened) I picked up in Wales when I lived in England (they were never released over here).
Once I installed the finished hardtop the soft top came off and I haven't used it since.
In April of 2009 I drove the truck to Utah for Easter Jeep Safari and for its trail debut.
In July of 2009 it was featured in JP magazine:
And since then it's been a daily driver and general purpose hauler.
I posted photos of the Willys model and pickup model I made during the design phase above and after I finished the project I got a chance to do that comparison in full scale...
The only negative about driving this truck is that people won't leave you alone. Whenever I drive it to the store, someone has to come over and ask me about it. Leave me alone
.
I've got lots of photos of the construction so if there's something you're interested in seeing let me know and I can post more photos.
These two photos are a few years old but the truck looks exactly the same today.
In 2007 I was living in London and about to return to the U.S. I decided that I needed a pickup when I got back and I wanted a Jeep but Jeep didn't make pickups at the time so I decided to design and build my own. My main design goals were that the pickup should have a 100% factory look, and it should be what the Jeep designers would build if they were to do a modern version of the classic Willys pickup.
I started the design work before I left London and by late 2007 when I got home I began looking for a suitable LJ to convert. I found one that was just under two years old and had only about 10,000 miles on it:
I did numerous concept sketches and component drawings - every part of the project was designed before I started any fabrication work.
Here's an example of the level of detail I went to in designing the parts; I wanted a factory looking step bumper so I designed one made from the factory bumper.
I also made a scale model to I could view the planned result in 3d and compare it to other scale models to decide if the look was exactly correct. Since my design goal was a modern version of the classic Willys pickup, I also made a model of a Willys to compare my model to.
I started collecting the necessary parts. Some of the parts in this image have been modified and are ready to install (the custom tailgate, for example) and some have yet to be touched (the hardtop parts). A few parts I made from scratch, such as the rear fenders.
By late spring of 2008 I had essentially built a "pickup kit" - all of the components were built and ready to be installed on the Jeep. The mockup in my workshop:
In July of 2008 I drove the LJ into my garage and 17 days later I drove it out as a pickup. The project went so quickly because of the detailed design work I did and the fabrication of the components to that design.
A few work-in-progress photos:
Lengthening the LJ frame about 24":
The cab and bed going together:
The only work I didn't do myself was to lengthen the driveshaft, I had a local driveshaft shop do that so it would be perfectly straight and balanced.
I drove it for a few weeks in unpainted condition and then I turned it over to a local body shop for paint. Since then I've learned to paint but back then I needed to have a body shop do that work.
After painting, I took it to a local auto upholstery/convertible top shop and with my design help they converted the factory Sbbunrider top into a pickup cab. This is also work I would do myself today, but this was before I learned to sew.
THe truck was basically done at that point as a soft top but I spent the next month or so finishing the half cab hardtop, which I made from parts of a metal CJ-10 half cab (lengthened) and parts of a metal CJ-7 World Cab hardtop (shortened) I picked up in Wales when I lived in England (they were never released over here).
Once I installed the finished hardtop the soft top came off and I haven't used it since.
In April of 2009 I drove the truck to Utah for Easter Jeep Safari and for its trail debut.
In July of 2009 it was featured in JP magazine:
And since then it's been a daily driver and general purpose hauler.
I posted photos of the Willys model and pickup model I made during the design phase above and after I finished the project I got a chance to do that comparison in full scale...
The only negative about driving this truck is that people won't leave you alone. Whenever I drive it to the store, someone has to come over and ask me about it. Leave me alone
.I've got lots of photos of the construction so if there's something you're interested in seeing let me know and I can post more photos.
