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I'm trying to get a compilation of Off Road 181's pics, Modifications, and Fabrication idea that are unique to the 181Thing"s & Safari's as well as street-able Dual Sport 181's heavy on the dirt modifications side. Sifting through pages of lowered or stock thing is cool but not where my interests lie. If you have info. on your off road 181, or have pics that are not already posted feel free to add them as well. If you would like to share your Off Road build Link while making it easy for us to find please, post a link here as well. All 181 off road modifications would be welcome as well. A pic is worth a thousand words so get wordy!

Id eventually like to get into specifics like Tire and wheel sizes and relocation pros and cons, Suspension up grades both to stock components and custom built, and eventually working from the ground up to what is the best design of roof racks and for what purposes... I guess I'm just hoping to get as much 181 off road stuff in one place as we can. Spending days searching for this valuable stuff sucks! So basically anything 181 off road can be added here. Thanks for the help and taking the time to add your information.

I thought I would get THINGS started with some eye candy that I have collected. I saved these pics with the intent of gathering ideas of what has already been done. Some great vehicles here and be sure to add yours when ya get a chance.

Just curious how far one can take the modifications of a 181 and still get buy calling it street legal? Im in California and Im guessing if you had it registered prior to the mods and you never had to transfer the title everything would be just fine. What has your real life experiences been? Any Issues with the DMV or the PoPo?

Not much activity on this thread. I myself am interested in the same topic. Twisted metal if you would like to brainstorm some together feel free to. I currently have four things but only one worth working on and would like to do a "mudder" off road type ride. I live in Mississippi where that would be more suited for my surroundings.

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I'm interested in this too. I'm hoping to make my thing as capable off road as possible without cutting the body or doing a body lift. I may do the fiberglass fenders, but not sure on that yet.

(Opinion)

I've only played with thing parts and asked question about certain things; the Thing is (as I understand it), in many ways, is like a glass dune buggy. No top to transfer loads front to rear, side to side, and cross (diagonal loads) ways also so the cage has to do all the load work.
The front beam of a Thing has been changed to be stronger spindle design by putting the lower BJ facing down and the spindle has beeh changed to meet the new requirement so the BJ can't be pulled out of the lower A arms making it stronger bump wise. The beam (opinion here) should also have A-arm wise for the "just in case" thing (no pun intended).

Not sure about the rear torsion housing stops at each end of the housing but if it is like the bug then some work has to be done there. Again, the trans mount (if like the bug) should have the spot welds backed up by rewelding the seams on both inside and their outside seams.

Lee