CJ 7 rear criss member replacemt.

[Tony Marc]

So the time has come to replace the thin rear crossmember my 85 CJ originally came with. I already have a heavy duty one ready to go. An old timer where I work told me a should weld a temporary brace behind the original before cutting it off. His thought was, if you cut off the rear crossmember off, the frame rails may have a tendency to spread apart from each other. The temporary brace would hold the two frame rails in place while the new crossmember is put back.

Anyone ever do this? Or found the frame spreads apart when the crossmember was cut off? I would think if there was that much tension, the frame would show some signs of that by now.
I can easily do the temporary brace and cut it off and grind it flat later.... But is it necessary ? Or just plain overkill ?

Thanks.

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[PoliceMonkey161]

If youre down to a bear frame to replace the cross member and each frame rail is still parallel / square with each other, then I would weld in the brace as described. If your frame is out of true, then it really is a waste of time because your going to need to straight / parallel out the rails. Consider that unlike a unibody vehicle with sub-frame parts, the rigid frame of a Jeep in vulnerable without the tub adding some structure.