A repair for caved in rockers

hackedxj · Feb 23, 2005

I'd been running without rocker protection like an idiot, just trying to watch out, took a few small shots then a few weeks ago caved the pass side to the point it tightened up the crack between the rocker and door. Picked up some steel to build some custom rails but the rocker made it look like the jeep was breaking in half.

I took a small piece of thin sheetmetal,around the thickness of the rockers, about 6 inches by 6 inches. I then ground off the paint on the edge of the rocker where it turn under the vehicle. I then held the square piece of sheetmetal up to the edge with the metal in the vertical position and put 4 small tack welds spaced out evenly. Then took a piece of tubing about 6 feet long , held one end under the frame rail of the xj . Then simply welded the lower end of the vertical piece of sheetmetal to the top of the tubing which made a lever to pull down on the caved rocker. It takes very little downward pressure to pull the rocker back out. I pulled the rocker down and held pressure on the tubing while tapping around the damaged area with a hammer to relieve the stressed metal , keeps it from flexing back upward when you let the pressure off. Don't use to much pressure or it will rip out the rocker

I just thought I share this because it worked wonders for me, it just left some small ripples.I ground off the spot welds and sprayed the rockers with bedliner spray, and put on the sliders. Looking at them know you'd never guess the shape they were in. Sorry I didn't take any pics.

Kejtar · Feb 23, 2005

hackedxj said:
I'd been running without rocker protection like an idiot, just trying to watch out, took a few small shots then a few weeks ago caved the pass side to the point it tightened up the crack between the rocker and door. Picked up some steel to build some custom rails but the rocker made it look like the jeep was breaking in half.

I took a small piece of thin sheetmetal,around the thickness of the rockers, about 6 inches by 6 inches. I then ground off the paint on the edge of the rocker where it turn under the vehicle. I then held the square piece of sheetmetal up to the edge with the metal in the vertical position and put 4 small tack welds spaced out evenly. Then took a piece of tubing about 6 feet long , held one end under the frame rail of the xj . Then simply welded the lower end of the vertical piece of sheetmetal to the top of the tubing which made a lever to pull down on the caved rocker. It takes very little downward pressure to pull the rocker back out. I pulled the rocker down and held pressure on the tubing while tapping around the damaged area with a hammer to relieve the stressed metal , keeps it from flexing back upward when you let the pressure off. Don't use to much pressure or it will rip out the rocker

I just thought I share this because it worked wonders for me, it just left some small ripples.I ground off the spot welds and sprayed the rockers with bedliner spray, and put on the sliders. Looking at them know you'd never guess the shape they were in. Sorry I didn't take any pics.

did you reinforce the area after you put the sliders on? Cause with the rockers already being tweaked once they've been weakened. I was in a similar boat as the previous owner of my current XJ did damage the rockers a bit. After drilling a few holes in the pinch seam and pulling the rockers down, I built my rockrails to have square tubing that tied into the pinch seam go on the inside of the pinch seam (the side of hte pinch seam that faces the frame rail). ANyways that side has some vertical support going towards the floor which helps spread the load and prevent collapse during impact.

hackedxj · Feb 23, 2005

Kejtar said:
did you reinforce the area after you put the sliders on? Cause with the rockers already being tweaked once they've been weakened. I was in a similar boat as the previous owner of my current XJ did damage the rockers a bit. After drilling a few holes in the pinch seam and pulling the rockers down, I built my rockrails to have square tubing that tied into the pinch seam go on the inside of the pinch seam (the side of hte pinch seam that faces the frame rail). ANyways that side has some vertical support going towards the floor which helps spread the load and prevent collapse during impact.

That sounds like a good set up, I don't trust just a couple of mounting points to the pinch weld. Mine didn't have any pinch weld damage , just the outer part. My rails don't use the pinch weld at all . They have six legs each that weld to the frame sleeves. the slider rails are .250 1.5" tubing . There's also 2 tubing braces on a 45 degree angle at each end, one going under the flare to the cowl ,the other in the rear to a body support. kinda rail buggy style.

jeepguy97 · Feb 23, 2005

TTIWWOP

Kejtar · Feb 23, 2005

hackedxj said:
That sounds like a good set up, I don't trust just a couple of mounting points to the pinch weld. Mine didn't have any pinch weld damage , just the outer part.

Well the pinch weld is there to prevent it from going up. I still have legs going to the frame rail.

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=te2xbqn.c1yk7do7&x=0&y=4s1kn4

My rails don't use the pinch weld at all . They have six legs each that weld to the frame sleeves. the slider rails are .250 1.5" tubing . There's also 2 tubing braces on a 45 degree angle at each end, one going under the flare to the cowl ,the other in the rear to a body support. kinda rail buggy style.

you welded your rock rails to the frame rail? FYI that frame rail isn't all that beefy: I damaged it on my other jeep after I landed with it on the rock: it kind of flattened out sideways. You might want to reinforce it to prevent any damage if you land on the rails and apply leverage to it through the rock rails (that's why I have the square tubing tucked in up against the floor board)

hackedxj · Feb 23, 2005

Kejtar said:
Well the pinch weld is there to prevent it from going up. I still have legs going to the frame rail.

http://www.ofoto.com/I.jsp?c=te2xbqn.c1yk7do7&x=0&y=4s1kn4

you welded your rock rails to the frame rail? FYI that frame rail isn't all that beefy: I damaged it on my other jeep after I landed with it on the rock: it kind of flattened out sideways. You might want to reinforce it to prevent any damage if you land on the rails and apply leverage to it through the rock rails (that's why I have the square tubing tucked in up against the floor board)

I think you may have misunderstood when I said "That sounds like a good setup" I was being serious not sarcastic. I pretty much understood what you had desribed, seeing the pics it does look very good, neat work. I was referring to some of the factory built rails that only have a few mounts along the pinch weld, I've seen alot of post where they're pushing up into the rockers and the rail are bending upwards

The legs on my rails are welded to my frame sleeves which are 3x3 1/4 inch angle which are welded and plug weld to the frame.The 45 degree braces really help, when I get a cage in I'll tie into it also. I'll get some pics posted.

XJ_ranger · Feb 23, 2005

jeepguy97 said:
TTIWWOP

what the hell does that mean? generaly - if its worth posting, its worth being able to have everyone read it...

whatever...

to the origonal thread:
Im going to use the $20 e-bay aluminum rockers to cover the damage and look cool once i roll up the dough for a welder and some metal....

BillR · Feb 23, 2005

XJ_ranger said:
what the hell does that mean? generaly - if its worth posting, its worth being able to have everyone read it...

whatever...

I think it means This Thread Is Worthless WithOut Pictures. :laugh3:
(I don't agree; I'm just translating...) :wave:

Kejtar · Feb 23, 2005

hackedxj said:
I
The legs on my rails are welded to my frame sleeves which are 3x3 1/4 inch angle which are welded and plug weld to the frame.The 45 degree braces really help, when I get a cage in I'll tie into it also. I'll get some pics posted.

Cool

That's pretty much what I did to my frame rail: I reinforced it with a 3x3 which was a prefect fit.

Hickey · Feb 23, 2005

Kejtar said:
Cool That's pretty much what I did to my frame rail: I reinforced it with a 3x3 which was a prefect fit.

What thickness did you use?

Kejtar · Feb 23, 2005

Hickey said:
What thickness did you use?

3/16" Had to make 2 incisions and bend it in in one spot and bend it out in another to follow the contours of the frame rail. When you hold up a long piece against it you'll see what I mean.

RichP · Feb 23, 2005

I'm more interested in how he got his rockers back out, I've got matching dents on both sides and other then cutting the old ones out and having new ones welded in OR drilling holes [which I don't want to do] and using a dent puller/slide hammer would like to fix them. You guys may understand what he did but it's going right over my head. Boy oh boy, come up with a basically simple sounding fix and no pics, for shame

[I can say that now that I have a digital camera :laugh3: ]

hackedxj · Feb 23, 2005

RichP said:
I'm more interested in how he got his rockers back out, I've got matching dents on both sides and other then cutting the old ones out and having new ones welded in OR drilling holes [which I don't want to do] and using a dent puller/slide hammer would like to fix them. You guys may understand what he did but it's going right over my head. Boy oh boy, come up with a basically simple sounding fix and no pics, for shame [I can say that now that I have a digital camera :laugh3: ]

I guess I could always cave them back in on purpose, then pull them back out while taking some pics. lol. But seriously when I was trying this I didn't expect such good results and in about ten minutes I was done before I even thought about pics.
Can you tell me what part if any your not getting RichP ,Be glad to help any way I can.

A repair for caved in rockers

hackedxj

NAXJA Member #1090

Kejtar

PostMaster General

hackedxj

NAXJA Member #1090

jeepguy97

NAXJA Forum User

Kejtar

PostMaster General

hackedxj

NAXJA Member #1090

XJ_ranger

NAXJA Member

BillR

Toy Jeep driver!

Kejtar

PostMaster General

Hickey

NAXJA Forum User

Kejtar

PostMaster General

RichP

NAXJA Forum User

hackedxj

NAXJA Member #1090

Similar threads