what would you do.  i was just talking to a friend of mine that wants a trail jeep.  i told him he could have the red xj body but the realized that is not an easy solution.  So with about 30 seconds of seaching i found a running 86 xj for $350. 

so that would be my starting point.  after that i'd buy the rigid front bump i have.  i'd find me a set of full width axles from a ford f-150 (44,60/9inch).  i'd then build a leaf spring front end for the jeep and lift it about 7-8 inches.  this is gotta be one of the cheaper solutions to lifting an xj cause you don't need all the extra brackets and stuff and you can build it all yourself.  then i'd build or buy a rear bumper.  i'd then chop a ton off it.  doors would be off, the top behind the back seat.  i have no need for the back seat so i would level the floor to get some more storage space both above and below the new raised floor.  then a inner cage around the passenger campartment toped off with an exo front end to tie into the front bumper hoop.  then for rubber some 36" iroks.  did i mention high steer on the 44 and 5.13 gears, welded spiders.  this is probably what i'd start with and then start modifing from there and evenutally work towards a true 4 link setup all the way around.  the intial cost of this i don't think would be too outragous and you can abuse this setup without breaking too much. 

what would you guys do for a trail rig if you were gonna start over?

dave