Topic: Built or Bought (was Re: 3" to 5" Stretch)

[Jeffy]

But isn't it  a good thing that fabricating is more affordable and easier than the days of just the torch and good old arc welder. Mig makes it easier and quicker to weld. Even though all I have is my good old torch set and an old miller welder. Still you cannot beat a mig welder and plasma cutter same goes for a good tubing bender. As far as suspension and so forth goes it takes some insight into suspension concepts but then most all of this is knowledge that can be aquired. I agree with making my own stuff and  or installing things my self why pay somebody a load of money to do at best a mediocre job. Scrap steel is cheap and it is good to use ingenuity and express your self with your own faqb work on your Jeep. Makes it a lot more fun when it out performs a shop built rig or you have items on it that simply cannot be bought. It increases the pride in ownership

Art

This is what oldjeep was saying earlier.  He said and I quote, "Yes, anyone can MIG - that's a good and bad thing.  MIG has the ability to create a beautiful weld with absolutely no strength in the wrong hands."  In a perfect work everyone would know everything and have a machine shop in their backyard to churn out parts with.  And yes, it's always nice to see a well built homegrown rig keep up or exceed a shop built rig. But as wrangler387 said, "The main thing I'm trying to say is would I respect someone who built their own jeep more then the person who bought their jeep b/c they have a job/family that they put first... no I wouldn't."   I'll quote oldjeep again since he made another good point, "Those of us who like to fab, help out those who do not or cannot, but in a lot of cases there's no reason to reinvent the wheel."

You know this topic comes up a lot with the Rubicons.  Some buy them with no inclination to build it themselves.  Others buy them because they have built many other Jeeps and want something more.  Then you get some of those who can't afford it complain that it's bought not built.  While others aspire to built their own version of the Rubicon.

[Erik]

ugh, can't believe this turned into is own thread and such a debate on the concepts of fabricating your own parts.

building parts for a jeep are pretty simple in my opinion.  you don't really need any crazy expensive tools or any experience, per say... you just need patience and a few things to pound and mend steel with.

My total investment in ALL my tools is just a little over $1300..... 

all my sockets, wrenches, crap like that came from harbor freight.  they started out as my trail tool kit and low and behold they have held up just as good as my craftsmen tools i've been used to using around the house so they are now my everyday tools without any problems.  i think my toolbox and all it's contents cost me about $150.... $40 of that being the box itself from lowes.  It's amazing how much you can buy for so little if you wait for a sale at that circus.

i've got a nice angle grinder and drill, and a cheap harbor freight chop saw for cutting my steel tubing and such.....

i run a lincoln 220v Pro-Mig 175 welder... $500 on sale at Lowe's, regular price $599.  It'll burn into anything I throw at it.... nothing on the jeep is more than about 1/4" and i think it'll penetrate up to 1/2" with two passes.

my tubing bender i traded labor on to get.  if i would have bought it it would have cost me about $600.


that being said, i have no garage.  i work on things in my yard.  i store my tools in a tiny closet.  it sucks but at 23 yrs old and a full time student and part time realtor i don't have the time or money to buy a bigger house with a garage :(


all i'm saying is anybody can do fabrication.  I was a computer tech all through hs so it's not like i had experience doing this crap.  i learned as i went and if i can do it i can honestly say that anybody could.....  all it takes is patience, a tape measure, and a way to cut and mend shit together.

-Erik <---- would definatly count CNC'ing as DIY since the machine won't program itself.  that take some serious dedication and skill to learn 

[might4banger]

I did not read all of the above... But I think Erik is giving "anyone" too much credit.

Not all can or will do their own work... (even if it is a bolt on.)

I will give you ~ there is more of a sense of pride if it is a do it yourself (and done right).

Don't forget about the scary side of ghetto fabbed horror stories... anything can go too far.

[chrisfranklin]

1.  I dig what a vehicle can do (whether built or bought)
2.  I dig DIY good craftsmanship & fabrication

Sure you have a lot of guys with disposable income who can dump a catalog fortune on a Jeep to outfit it for off-road.  Yeah, it's not nearly as cool as building a Jeep from welded scrap metal and junkyard parts.  Course, if everybody had a Jeep that was built from welded scrap metal and junkyard parts, then such Jeeps wouldn't be as cool

Frankly, I think we'd all like to build are own Jeeps, but living areas, work, time, etc haven't caught up with us.  But, I'll settle for just driving mine, built or bought.