Xj: Replacing Front Leaf Spring Mounting Brackets

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RAVC1

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Michigan

• Oct 15, 2015

• #1

My rear floor pan has begun to rust along the seam between the front and rear factory floor pan sections. This is a difficult repair job in view of the location involved, the sheet metal above the front leaf spring mounts.

I decided to purchase the Synergy 8240 leaf spring mounting bracket kit because, removing the OE bracket allows me to remove the bad metal and replace with new sheet metal easier.

I am curious if anyone has experience with installing these that can lend insight regarding any issues involved. The installation pdf is well written but, this is the first time I have installed them so, this will be a lengthy job and I have to be careful...

 

K

kev4dez

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Ramona, CA

• Oct 16, 2015

• #2

I installed them on my "99. install was pretty easy but I didn't have any metal damage. I bolted them into the floor first to position them and then welded them to the unibody frame in as many places as I could. You will want to put a jack under them to push them up against the frame before welding.
Let me know if I can answer any questions for you.

Kevin

 

R

RAVC1

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Michigan

• Oct 16, 2015

• #3

Thanks for the response. The potential list of issues I have identified with removing the OE brackets are:

1) OE bracket thickness - I have no desire to leave any kind of a witness mark on the unibody channel so, I'll mark the rotabroach with some type of depth measure marking.

2) Is removing the OE bracket problematic after the spot welds are drilled through? The instructions indicate caution here that I do not yet see. We can only see the front face of the spot weld so, perhaps its non-uniformity through the bracket causes it to migrate to slightly different locations at the interface between the bracket and unibody channel. Does undercoating between the bracket and the unibody channel create an issue here making it necesary to use a hammer to knock it off?

 

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clean4drxj

NAXJA Forum User

Location

CT.

• Oct 17, 2015

• #4

Typically with any unibody being wheeled or off-road it would be in your best interests to do unibody stiffeners anyway.

 

R

RAVC1

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Michigan

• Oct 17, 2015

• #5

People have mentioned unibody stiffeners to me previously but, I have no knowledge of these products so, I am glad you commented on this. It does not appear that any of the manufacturers of the stiffeners compliment these aftermarket brackets well because, of the location of front/rear edges of the Synergy 8240. I will have to discuss this with Synergy and the stiffener manufacturers or fabricate my own...3/16" (0.1345") seems too thick to work with. The 8240 is 1/8" (0.125"). I suspect completely surrounding the unibody channel with a lip to weld to floor on each side would be a better design and allow the use of thinner metal but, I am not a unibody design engineer.

I found a YouTube video for the RuffStuff stiffener and it did not conform the the unibody as well as I would have hoped something like this should. However, it is clearly sufficient for its purpose.

 

R

RAVC1

NAXJA Forum User

Location

Michigan

• Oct 23, 2015

• #6

Using the rotabroach has proved more complicated than expected. However, I have found my 4-1/2" electric grinder to be an exceptionally easy tool to use to remove the OE brackets!