I know this may be hard to determine by just looking at pictures and going off my description, but any piece of advice helps.

Heres the story,

The guy who owns it was sliding around in wet grass, caught a deep rut and flopped it on its side. It pushed the everything on the driver side (doors, b pillar, cage, rear quarter) a pretty good amount to the right. It runs and drives good, doesn't seem to "dogtrack" or drive out of whack. It has 5:13s, 37s, detroit in the rear, 5" full traction mid arm, fox shocks, bumpers and tire carrier. Interior is a little wore out from sitting out in the hot Florida sun. The jeep is a 2008 Unlimited with power everything and only has 60k miles on it, and its been in his family since 2009; 3,500 miles. He didn't turn it into insurance, so the title is still clean.

Ive pretty well decided it needs and tub and a cage, but where do I start? I have found one on eBay for $3600 with no cage but thats about it, and its in Colorado.

Im in the military and have a pretty busy schedule, (deploying in 3 weeks actually) but i want to keep the shop costs at a minimum on this if I can do so, and do most of the work myself. Ive pulled the cabs off of many 6.0 powerstrokes to do engine work ("bulletproofing"), so I'm familiar with tools and mechanics.

Now what it is worth is another question. This guy wants to trade straight up for my 2004 XLT F350 RCLB 6.0 with 178k miles. The truck is clean, looks good, and has a good amount of work done to it. Ive done everything to it and have owned for a few years, but i just don't really utilize it like it should be, its more of a toy. I value that truck, on stock wheels and tires, at 10k.

Who has done tub swaps on a JKU? Where did you get the tub? What was your experience, ETC. Just looking for some opinions and criticism... either walk away or is it worth taking the time and swapping tubs and cages?

Thanks,

Bryson

 

See if this can help on prices. Remember, it's a total loss whether he claimed it or not. Therefore it's value is diminished substantially.

https://www.salvageautosauction.com/...NGLER-for-sale

 

After a couple hours of searching, I was able to find a couple tubs. One had the rear cage cut out of it, looked to be in good shape for $3500 shipped, and the other was a "slight" rollover with interior for $4,000... neither are really what i am looking for. To my surprise I was actually able to come across this JKU tub last night in really good shape from what I can see. Its a quite a few states north of me, so I will have to have it shipped. The price on the tub itself is significantly lower than these other tubs, and it looks to be in much better shape with no rust. So now we are working on shipping, the seller has never shipped a tub before but he seemed pretty confident that he will get it figured out.

- Anyone ever had a tub shipped?

 

I'll tell you right now from looking at the pictures: it would be absolutely dumb to swap tubs. Here's what I would do:
Use a rubber mallet to beat the body/ body rail straight as possible and then
Corner armor
Rocker armor
Fix/replace(depending on condition) window frame
Get someone to build a custom cage
Replace the damaged doors
You'll have much less $ in it than replacing the tub and garbage oem *roll bar*, you'll have much less time and work put into it, and you'll have a MUCH more badass jeep in the end.

 

Thanks for the idea, Chuck. This has crossed my mind multiple times and the more I read and get others opinions, its starting to look a little more appealing/realistic. I know of a few custom Jeep shops locally. I will see what they can tell me.

 

Where is the LIKE button!?

 

I'm 100% with the Ripper, Armor hides and upgrades the stock bodywork.

If this has a good title, and drives and stops fine, then a straight swap for your $10k equivalent Ford is a great deal IMO for you. Jump on it.

There's no need for you to have a bodyshop install the armor --- you can do it at home with a nutsert tool, and a rivet tool.

My 4-door was lightly T-boned, the rock rails took most of the impact, and I installed Evo side armor to hide the bodywork damage.

I've Warrior corner armor with frenched rear 6" lights on the rear. There's now plenty of manufacturers making JK corner armor to choose from.

 

to add, I've no experience, nor do I ever want experience of doing a body swap on a modern truck or JKU. The electrics alone will be a headache.

 

A body shop would likely cut out the bent parts of the tub and weld in new panels, then repaint. Way, way, cheaper and easier than swapping the entire tub. I mean, WAY.

If you can't do it yourself, it's still worth it to go that route. For less than the cost you are looking at for the tub, you could likely have it fixed. Get an estimate. I can't imagine why the insurance would total this. There must be some hidden damage.

 

He says in his first post the owner didn't turn it into the insurance. He likely only had liability/ maybe comprehension without collision so there's no reason to turn it into the insurance.