Bad News

xt master

xt master

New member
I took the Jeep to the garage today for its annual inspection.It failed.Rust issues.Frame is rusted too bad in front of the rear tire where it starts to bend up.Also the basket to hold the springs in where rusted,also the passenger side rear body mount.Looking at the rear of the Jeep the gap between the driver side and passenger side is different by about a 1/2 inch.Any input on weather or not is worth repairing or just I just make it off road use only and wait until I can buy a street legal Jeep?
 

Sorry to hear. NEPA road salt will do that. There was a few decent body shops there, you could get estimates and get an idea on if it's worth repairing.
 
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Thats a tough question! Can you weld GOOD? if so and the frame section is somewhat small I would just cut it out and weld a new peice in, same with the buckets. I half inch dif in your gap is probably the body mount bushings, over time they get flater and flater as the rubber softens. A shop would probably be very expensive. Well, maybe not as expensive as im thinking because my brother had both sides of his yj frame cut out and repaired and it cost him 500, so if you just have one side of the frame bad and a spring bucket, it may not be any more than that. Id get some estimates.
 

I have never welded in my life,all though I would like to learn.My father-in-law does have a welder and is ok with it.No professional but his welds seem to hold on other projects i have seen,just a lot of grinding after wards to clean up his welds.
 
I made the rear section of my CJ's frame and welded it in myself. I'm a decient welder, yea I've got several certifications but that doesn't always mean much. I'm not sure what a shop would charge you to repair it and I wouldn't have just anyone do it. Also, just because you pay more doesn't mean you get more or better quality. You can buy frame sections from Quadratech. If you can find the right guy and it's done the right way it'll be stronger than it was. I'd think you could get it done for less than $500 if you don't have to remove the tub.
 

I put a section inside the frame and extended it into both sides ( the new section and the frame, then plug welded that at both ends ) as well as butt welding the section on. I then put a diamond shaped patch over top of it to get an angled weld to take stress off the butt weld. Hard for me to explane, but you could pick my jeep up by the rear section and shake it and it would hold. I over did it for sure but I like to abuse my Jeep every now and then.
There's a video on youtube of a guy repairing a Jeep frame. I'm telling ya, I wouldn't drive it or trust it the length of my driveway. I would NOT have posted it.
 
I like the idea of buying one of those frames for $500 or less, then spending a week or two cleaning it up, and painting it with POR 15. Swapping frames would be alot of work, but you'd know that once it's done it would be safe and last for years.

My guess is that if the rear of your frame is toast, then the front can't be too far off.
 
Front frame is like almost new.All the power steering fluid that leaks out and sprays all over the frame kept it in great shape.
 

I'd say your right, it would be the better choice in the long run. I didn't do it on mine because mine was basicaly a parts Jeep to begin with. My tub was in terribal shape and if I had done a swap, I'd really opened up a can of worms. I have done quite a bit of metal work to the whole Jeep here and there but not all at once. If I'd had to have done it all once I'd just got anthor Jeep. In my area CJ frames are always bad in the same spots, it's a shame too. Alot of good Jeeps have been junked over something that could have been fixed. But by the time you pay to have that fixed and if it needs a top and maybe tires your in it quit a few bucks.
 
I see what your saying Flatie46.It does need a new top,to the point I had to hand some some of the seems back together,and can barely see out the plastic windows.I also need both front fenders,rusted beyond repair.I did put a quick patch on them for the inspection,but they need replaced.The tube steps are in bad shape also,but I was just going to remove them.There is a few surface rust spots that need fixed.I also forgot that there is a hole in the driver side floor pan that I patched 2 years ago.So it may be time to find another one and use this one for a parts Jeep.Also I have no defrosters.The motor actually fell our of the plastic and the plastic mount is broke so I can not just screw it back in.I only have high fan speed,which is usually an easy fix with replacing the reostat,but when the reostat went it actually melted the connector so a new connector is needed also.
 
Yea, you've gotta decide what you see yourself doing with it 2-3years down the road. If your just in love with this particular Jeep, very sentimental and see it in the driveway for years to come plan on spending the $$. If you need a new daily driver or multi purpose Jeep now may be the time to trade or buy and move this one to trail duty.
In my case I've got a couple other options to drive. I do drive my CJ everyday I can but it's been under the knife quite a bit.
 

Reading your description, I would just get another one. Then I've or twice a year, crawl under it with one of those weed sprayers full of an oil/gas mixture and spray the crap out of it. That ought to keep it from rusting out for a while. I always had vehicles that automatically coated their undersides with oil and I have never had an under carriage rust out, even when I surfed everyday and drove up and down the beach to the good spots. (now the top sides rusted out badly though)
 
xt master said:
I took the Jeep to the garage today for its annual inspection.It failed.Rust issues.Frame is rusted too bad in front of the rear tire where it starts to bend up.Also the basket to hold the springs in where rusted,also the passenger side rear body mount.Looking at the rear of the Jeep the gap between the driver side and passenger side is different by about a 1/2 inch.Any input on weather or not is worth repairing or just I just make it off road use only and wait until I can buy a street legal Jeep?
Click to expand...

Learn to weld, cut out the crap, rebuild 200% heavier, dial it up. VEX was a total-- it worked out fine and that was 21 years ago......

Robert
 

Here's something else for everyone. SAVE THESE 5s AND 7s!!! When they're gone, they're gone..........Just a thought....

Robert
 
I plan on doing a frame up rebuild once I get another Jeep to drive.I am going to take some welding classes at the local college before I start welding the frame.Still not sure if it will be street legal or not when I am done,but it be built tough.
 

I hope to build a tube CJ frame some day. I may end up with a mess but I'm going to give it a try. I think it'd be really cool to incorperate a good cage tied in to it.
 
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