*Owner, Mark Harlow / Built in Partnership with 4wd Factory
Story by Mark Harlow, Photos by Roadkill Lifestyle
Back in 2002-2003, this 1981 Jeep CJ-5 was stretched to a 113” wheelbase with one-tons and chased buggies for over seven years. On Christmas Day 2010, everything changed; my daughter Autumn was born prematurely, weighing only 1 lb 9 oz. We spent the next four months at the hospital until we brought her home in April 2011. I wheeled one last run with the frame twisting so badly it was bending the body tub; I knew the old girl needed a new frame, among other things, so decided to park her for now and focus on my family. 
From June 2011 to July 2016, the Jeep sat outside rotting for the next few years while we raised Autumn and added her little brother, Ty, to the mix in June 2013. Once the family was stable, I started working to rebuild the Jeep. I worked Sunday through Thursday evenings from 9 pm until the early hours after midnight, five days a week. Friday nights were date nights with my wife, and weekends were devoted to the kiddos and family. Building in these restricted hours brought challenges, although friends assisted at every stage. Max, Mando, John, Kyle, Doug, Keith, Richard, Mike, Tommy, Jared, Joey, Daniel, and many others lent a hand and kept me motivated. Without the help of these friends and the support of my wife and family, I would have never finished this build.
We weren’t starting with a stock CJ, so we began with removing the tub sides, retaining the upper lip, and replacing them with 3/16” plate steel. The tub was stretched 30” and sits 3” longer than a CJ6 and 3” shorter than a CJ8 Scrambler. I recycled the well-used factory frame and built a completely new one using 2” x 5” and 2” x 4” (3/16” wall) rectangular tubing from the local metal supply house. I raised the drivetrain to get a completely flat belly pan and nudged the engine forward to put more weight over the front axle. I used a 3-passenger rear seat from a JKU to make this CJ-5 a 5-passenger vehicle, and still have room for tools, chairs, and a Dometic fridge behind the rear seat. It needed to be a safe and reliable family wheeler when done. 
Everything was done in my two-car garage; from bending the cage to high-lining the hood. We even built a 2×4 painter’s plastic “booth” on the side of my house where my neighbor laid down the Mazda “Soul Red Crystal Metallic.” The frame, bumpers, axles, cage, sliders, and fenders are all John Deere “Blitz Black” from a few pints and a dozen rattle cans. It’s tough and easy to touch up after wheeling trips. Due to the position of the back seat and location of the rear shock towers, the wheelbase ended up a little longer than a JKU at 121”. The inside and underside of the tub and fenders were bed-lined by a local company while it was torn down. The overall theme of this build was “ONE WRENCH.” Aside from suspension bolts, almost every bolt you see doesn’t require a wrench on the backside. I either welded nuts or tapped thicker steel extensively throughout the build so that assembly and repairs/maintenance are very easy! In the end, you only need one wrench (of various sizes) to loosen or tighten 95% of the bolts on the Jeep. I also applied anti-seize on every bolt during final assembly, so they never rust in place. The finished product came out pretty enough for my buddy Joey (Owner of 4WD Factory) to enter it into the “Battle of the Builders” at SEMA 2022. It placed in the top ten in the Off-Road Category and the Top 40 overall, so well worth the haul to Vegas!
