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Frame rail question

S

saleen9973

NAXJA Forum User
Location
new york
Hey guys i am new to xj's, I just picked up a 93 4 door for 300 bucks. It has rust everywhere. The rockers are shot, the floors are caving in and the doors have rust holes in them. I am not scared of rust i can fab and weld. This will be me trail rig. I was wondering if i cut all the floors out can i put some 2x2 steel tube inside the frame rails or should i just plate the outside of them? I plan on doing sliders a 4.5 inch rc lift and 32" tires and a locker in the 8.25. I will try to get pics of what my junl looks like. Thanks guys.
 
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That looks like a lot of rust. You may find out that the body is too trashed, but if the running gear is all solid it's still not a bad buy for $300.

Good luck.
 
Everything is solid drivetrain wise. I just drove it to walmart and it runs great except for the sloppy steering, I can move the wheel about 3 inches either way before the front wheels turn, not good. I plan on gutting the interior and removing the floors and welding in new floors, This will be my trail rig so rust is not a big problem.
 
Boat sides or rocker replacement with square stock are defiantly a must. Only thing that worries me is the floorboards form the top of the frame rail. If the floors are that far gon, the rails may be just as bad. The good news is, people here have replace just about every peice of an XJ except the roof(for unknown reasons, as a group, we tend to throw the roof away :D)

You're probably also looking at full frame rail plating, replacing the spring hanger boxes and shackle hanger boxes. Rust is never fun.
 
XJ's get their strength from the whole unibody. It is almost impossible to make it as strong as original by patching rust. I'm just saying that it is not worth all the work and will never be as good as an original body.
 
Living in the northeast rust is everywhere. I think i will try to tear it all apart and plate the frame rail and put new floors in. I did just notice that there is a crack under the driver sway bar mount that goes up the frame rail right inbetween the bolts for the steering box. What would be the best size plate for that section? should i go 1/8 inch or 1/4 inch for that section?
 
Holy crap. That really makes me appreciate my last 2 Jeeps being 20 years old and living in Washington their whole lives.

~Scott
 
you guys... lazyyyyyyyyy :moon:

I fixed worse and yes you can make it stronger than stock...
I plated all my spring hangers this summer, rockers are tied to the front leaf pockets etc... that's a piece of cake
 
J-Roc said:
you guys... lazyyyyyyyyy :moon:

I fixed worse and yes you can make it stronger than stock...
I plated all my spring hangers this summer, rockers are tied to the front leaf pockets etc... that's a piece of cake
Click to expand...

No, it's just that where I live you can get a rig that runs flawlessly for $600 with zero rust.
:cheers:

~Scott
 
I'd say get some of the best frame stiffeners and plate the frame up first, then pull the floors out and replace them. I had to replace about 80% of my passenger floorboard and it was not fun. Do yourself a favor and spend some money on a couple of good quality spot weld cutters. They will save you a buttload of time.
 
Hallo. I do see the damage. wow.
That's, why I am always busy with spray cans. Oil and siliconspray into the joints and seems. Sometimes a few times.
On every rustspot I find, I spray Phosfor acid and clean after half a hour with water.
Go under the jeep and look for joints and seems and holes, and spray!!
Put oil into all the framerails and beams.
My Jeep is like a hotdog. Greasy and drippy. :gee:

'92 XJ without rust.
 
Last edited:
I hate NY they use salt, In PA which is like 10 minutes from me they use only sand on the road and the vehicles don't rot as much. Its very cold out here now and its gonna be a while till i get to work I don't have a garage. The worst part of it is the frame rail behind where the steering box bolts to, The xj was in an accident years ago and it stressed the frame rail and crumpled it there now it cracked real bad and the layers of metal are comming apart. So i am gonna try to make a plate out of 1/8 or 3/16 steel that goes from the bumper all the way back to the radius arm mount. I will get pics so you guys can see what i have to deal with.
 
saleen9973 said:
I just drove it to walmart and it runs great except for the sloppy steering, I can move the wheel about 3 inches either way before the front wheels turn, not good.
Click to expand...


around here, we call that not running so great.


yes, it can be fixed, but theres millions of xj's out, i would pick another.
the amound of energy that any jeeper has is finite, i like to reserve mine for other stuff, instead of breaking my balls fighting mother nature.

we know what youre dealing w/, its common. people fix it all the time, the differance is theirs cracked after building the rig, yours is stock... so why waste time?


FIND ANOTHER.
 
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