The Jeep Builder's Garage

[Hosejockey61]

This project was started in April of 2018. I am still working on finishing it up. I will start the build from the beginning and add more as I have time.

My wife and I had a house built on an acre and a half in 2015. I knew I "needed" a separate work shop, so we accounted for that when figuring out where to set the house on the property. I do a bunch of Jeep builds and stuff like that, so I needed more space. The attached garage is an oversized 4 car but I found myself running out of room pretty quickly (yeah I know, first world problem).

My vision was to have a space big enough for me to do my stuff, yet not big enough where friends would ask me to store stuff

I decided to go with a 36' wide by 32' deep detached shop.

With all of that being said, I designed a building using Chief Architect. Being in the fire service, I have a decent understanding of building construction. Since we live in a HOA controlled community, the shop had to match the house finishes which meant stone and stucco ($$). It was also required to have footers and a stem wall ($$$). Those two alone ate up over half of the budget.

Pics to follow

 

[Hosejockey61]

Here was the initial drawing along with an elevation view. Also is a pic of our house right after it was finished for reference. As you are looking at the house, the shop would be built to the right of it, across from the attached garage.

 

[HOTFR8]

This looks like you have a great project ahead. I like the way you are building it to match in with your home.

 

[zmotorsports]

Subscribed. You had me at "Jeep".

Similar in size to my previous shop which was 34'x34' with 14' tall ceilings. I built a LOT of custom and specialty vehicles as well as general projects in that shop over the 26 years we lived there but eventually outgrew it and moved two years ago.

Looking forward to seeing your Jeep shop being built and even moreso, your Jeep projects.

 

[Hosejockey61]

You had me at "Jeep".

Looking forward to seeing your Jeep shop being built and even moreso, your Jeep projects.

Lol. I do mainly mild builds up to 35's. I want to build a buggy next but one thing at a time.

Pics:

My current garage wall art, mine and a friends Jeeps, ground breaking.

 

[cpttuna]

Good Luck with the project

 

[Mighunter]

You also had me at Jeep. I'll be following along

 

[teamextreme]

Ah, the exit at Carnage. My rig looked nice until a couple of runs through that one. I'll be watching this one.

 

[Hosejockey61]

Ah, the exit at Carnage. My rig looked nice until a couple of runs through that one. I'll be watching this one.

My Jeep was never the same after that run. I winched a lot that day, breaking the line in half just after the waterfall. Tied a knot in 1/2 cable and coiled it up on my hood until I needed it again.

The trail is only .8 of a mile as you know and it took us 6 hours to get through.

 

[Hosejockey61]

And just so everyone is clear, I am currently getting my final electrical and final building inspections this week. My intent was to post pics and show what I have done so far and then take it from there. I just found this forum today as I needed an electrical question answered.

 

[Hosejockey61]

Once excavation was complete, time for foundation.

 

[Hosejockey61]

Once backfilled, I had them pour a 6" slab inside and a 4" transition to my existing driveway.

 

[retarius]

When did you guys run Carnage. It looks like TJs on 35s. Last time I was out there it didn't look like you could even winch the exit on 35s. Granted that was a few years ago. Looking forward to how the shop comes out!

 

[Mpower5266]

You had me at Jeep. I have a 77 Wag, 77 Chief, 85 XJ wag, 84 J-10, and a 14 Grand Cherokee Limited.

 

[Mighunter]

I have a '16 JKU that is heavily customized and my wife has an '18 JLU that stock right not. Not many places around RI to do offroading, but I've got too much money in my JK to destroy it lol.

I've a signed P&S for a 25x50 garage that should be complete in the next month or two and my plan is to also tinker with Jeeps so i'm really looking forward to following this thread!!

 

[Mighunter]

I would really love to get a CJ5 or CJ7 and restore it! Are you planning to put a 2 post lift in?

 

[Hosejockey61]

When did you guys run Carnage. It looks like TJs on 35s. Last time I was out there it didn't look like you could even winch the exit on 35s. Granted that was a few years ago. Looking forward to how the shop comes out!

2015. Those are both TJ's on 35's. The sign at the entrance to the trail says 35's minimum....couldn't agree more!

 

[Hosejockey61]

I would really love to get a CJ5 or CJ7 and restore it! Are you planning to put a 2 post lift in?

Yes, I have a 2 post waiting to go in. Getting my final electrical tomorrow and final building the day after. Then it's all about interior projects.

An old CJ build would be fun but it is so hard to manage the time I have. I only work 10 days a month and still don't have enough time!

 

[Hosejockey61]

So as you can see from other pictures, there is a lot of open space behind me. I back up to a dry creek bed and the nearest house behind me will be 500 yards away which makes for a great view. On the left side and rear corner I opted to install 2 4x5 windows at the corner so I have a place to go think when I get stuck on a project.

 

[Mighunter]

Tell me about it, i wish i there was more time in the day. I'm an attorney with my own practice and finding spare time is not easy. But for me a restoration would be a little therapy even if i dabble with it here and there on the weekends. Keep up the good work!

 

[Hosejockey61]

Tell me about it, i wish i there was more time in the day. I'm an attorney with my own practice and finding spare time is not easy. But for me a restoration would be a little therapy even if i dabble with it here and there on the weekends. Keep up the good work!

I work for a fire department. I work a 48/96 schedule, meaning I'm on for 2, off for 4. The best schedule in the world but I sometimes get my hands full with all the spare time.

 

[Mighunter]

Lol, i hear ya. Add to that kids, a spouse etc and spare time quickly vanishes! Id love to hear more about some of your jeep builds although i know that is off topic. My JKU is the first wrangler i've owned and its now become a bit of a passion for me. Customizing it so its "mine" is both rewarding and therapeutic that I want to it more! Who knows, maybe i can get out of this legal rat race and build jeeps for a living.

this is a before and after lol. Its a total sickness!!!

 

[zmotorsports]

Lol, i hear ya. Add to that kids, a spouse etc and spare time quickly vanishes! Id love to hear more about some of your jeep builds although i know that is off topic. My JKU is the first wrangler i've owned and its now become a bit of a passion for me. Customizing it so its "mine" is both rewarding and therapeutic that I want to it more! Who knows, maybe i can get out of this legal rat race and build jeeps for a living.

this is a before and after lol. Its a total sickness!!!

Nice upgrades. You're right about it being a sickness though. I've been sick for many years now.

 

[Hosejockey61]

I forgot to mention at the beginning that I would be doing a lot of the work myself minus concrete and stucco.

In the previous pictures, my goal was to get the pad and driveway transition completed quickly as I was having a big 50th birthday party. I hired a live band and they played outside in that area. My 50th was actually a week and a half prior and a buddy and I got completely smashed downtown. I knowingly had to get up the next morning and core under my driveway so I could run the electrical. That day sucked you know what. 97 degrees out and I was sweating every bit of alcohol out. After I got the boring complete (took twice as I got off a little the first time) I still had to hand dig the remainder of the trench to my existing service panel.

There is nothing like a little manual labor to make you appreciate life.

 

[Hosejockey61]

Lol, i hear ya. Add to that kids, a spouse etc and spare time quickly vanishes! Id love to hear more about some of your jeep builds although i know that is off topic. My JKU is the first wrangler i've owned and its now become a bit of a passion for me. Customizing it so its "mine" is both rewarding and therapeutic that I want to it more! Who knows, maybe i can get out of this legal rat race and build jeeps for a living.

this is a before and after lol. Its a total sickness!!!

Looks like a lot of time and $$ into that.

I just couldn't bring myself to do that knowing that it's going to get beat to hell in the rocks. My Jeep is all function over appearance.

I'm debating now on whether to get the new Gladiator when they come out. They are just really expensive for what it is. Being that I am wanting to build a new project, my other idea right now is to get a 4 door JK, stretch the axles, weld the rear door shut, and remove all the **** behind the drivers seat. Probably go with a D60 front and shaved 14 bolt rear.

 

[Hosejockey61]

With the lumber pack delivered, it was time to get framing. I live in a pretty high wind area, and with 12' walls I wanted to make sure the building was solid. The walls are 2x6 and heavy as a mother. I had a couple of friends come over to give me a hand lifting the first wall and everyone just seemed really unsteady (I'm sure flip flops didn't help, but hey, the help was free ).

After we got that wall up and braced, I needed to figure out another way to get this done. I thought about it and figured I'd use the Jeep to help out. The nice thing was that I could do it at my pace and make sure things were right. At first I wasn't sure about using the winch for this, but I quickly discovered that it was exactly what I needed. Safety was my number one concern. As I raised the walls, I'd get them to a certain angle and then attach bracing so it wouldn't go right over and on top of the Jeep. It was FAR more stable than with the other helping hands. I brought it up on blocks as to not bend the J bolts. Once it was upright, I simply removed the blocks and let it down onto the foundation.

 

[Hosejockey61]

And another random Jeep pic This is up at Chinn's Lake. Gorgeous area to say the least. We saw a couple of young moose up there playing around.

 

[Hosejockey61]

So up go the walls over a period of time along with a truss delivery.

 

[Hosejockey61]

The one thing that drove me nuts about lumber now is that they aren't all cut to the same length. Everything is cut as "at least", meaning that some of the 2x6's were 12' 3/4" and some could be 12' 1/4". That created a ton more unnecessary work. I got my lumber from a place called Alpine Lumber and I have to say they were the cheapest but it showed in the lumber. I was not happy about it but worked my way through it knowing that my power planer would be getting a work out.

 

[Mighunter]

Looks like a lot of time and $$ into that.

I just couldn't bring myself to do that knowing that it's going to get beat to hell in the rocks. My Jeep is all function over appearance.

I'm debating now on whether to get the new Gladiator when they come out. They are just really expensive for what it is. Being that I am wanting to build a new project, my other idea right now is to get a 4 door JK, stretch the axles, weld the rear door shut, and remove all the **** behind the drivers seat. Probably go with a D60 front and shaved 14 bolt rear.

yeah admittedly my jeep is more of a mall crawler. The biggest problem is there is nowhere in RI to go off roading. There are some trails in MA but nothing crazy which i plan on doing with a buddy of mine when i have the time.

I just enjoy creating something unique and the summers with no top or doors, crusing down the beach or Newport is just too fun. Not to mention all the compliments i get! Just brings a level of satisfaction that i don't get from my career if that makes any sense.

Yeah my dream build would be a JLU on one tons and 40's and an LS3. The Gladiator is cool, but i think the worst part of them is the rear axle....they needed to move it back a bit. It just doesn't look right. There is a company (can't remember the name) that has done a few JK custom pick ups and the rear axle is further back and doesn't cut into the rear door and looks totally bad ***!

Maybe they will change the design in a few years LOL

 

[Mighunter]

And another random Jeep pic This is up at Chinn's Lake. Gorgeous area to say the least. We saw a couple of young moose up there playing around.

Now if we had places to go with views like that fairly close by, i would be all over it!!! Beautiful.

 

[Hosejockey61]

I'll randomly post other offroad pictures as I bring this thread along simply for the pure fun of it. It always brings great conversation.

 

[Hosejockey61]

Continuing with wall construction. The winch was HUGE when I went to pull the front up. It was awkward, difficult to find the right balance, and would have required a lot of friends to get it into place. I was able to do it solo with a little planning and careful observation. Once the front was up, it was time to start sheathing.

As you can see, my trick to get the wal to stand upright was to lift it just enough so the bottom plate would catch the top of the foundation and then pull up. As the winch tightened, I went around and lifted at the top plate to take the tension off. Then they would go up without a problem.

 

[Hosejockey61]

More Jeep pics. Again, this is the same run on carange. The first two at the waterfall and the "can opener". If you look at the second pic closely, you can see how off camber my out of stated buddy was. If you can't keep your left front tire on the wall then you will slide down into this position, hence the can opener name. He had his winch control line routed on that side and it took a couple of repositions to keep the line from getting ripped apart.

The last pic is another out of state guy in his buggy. To give you an idea of the extremeness of the trail exit, this buggy is on 42" tires. There are NO bypasses on this trail. A lot of out of staters put together a trip and these two were the only ones that could make it. I was their "tour guide".

 

[Hosejockey61]

I was going through my photo progression and forgot to mention accessing the existing electrical panel. Digging the ditch was bad enough but I had about a 2" diameter target to get through the wall on the right side of my current feed. Luckily my electrician was able to get it dead on.

 

[Hosejockey61]

Once the walls were up and squared, it was time for the trusses. I enlisted a little help for this. Myself and another up setting the trusses and a helper on the ground to rig and maintain a tag line. It took two hours to get it done. It probably could have gone a little faster but I wanted to make sure it was solid and secure due to the unpredictable wind.

 

[Hosejockey61]

 

[Hosejockey61]

Now if we had places to go with views like that fairly close by, i would be all over it!!! Beautiful.

 

[Hosejockey61]

I would really love to get a CJ5 or CJ7 and restore it! Are you planning to put a 2 post lift in?

Here is a pic of my old '80 CJ5.

 

[teamextreme]

Oh, this could be fun. It's the Guess the Trail game.
It's somewhere in the San Juans. Imogene?