XJ body on K5 Blazer frame

I was not sure where to post this so feel free to move it if necessary.

I pulled into my local pull-it-yourself yard on Saturday and I saw a monstorous Cherokee in the parking lot so of course I had to park next to it and get a better look. It was a Cherokee body with the unibody frame rails chopped and modified to mount on what looked like a Blazer frame. (The K5 Blazer emblems on the body tipped me off) The drivetrain looked like it was from the Blazer as well. I am not sure if the frame was narrowed or not but I think it would have to be. The width of the 35x12.50 tires on Dana 44 axles were just barely inside the bushwacker fender flares. Now my Cherokee is lifted 4.5" inches on 33s and this thing was a good 12 inches taller than mine. I think it would be very top heavy with lots of body roll. Or would the weight of the frame with heavier drivetrain keep the center of gravity low? Any comments or concerns on this? Or maybe if the owner of said vehicle that was parked at Pull-N-Save in Spokane, Washington on Saturday October 6, 2007 can speak up, I would like to learn more on this idea.

In my opinion it is a incredibly stupid thing to do to an XJ. If you want something with a frame buy a 4-runner not a cherokee. So now that rig has a heavy frame and a unibody vehical mounted to it that is also structural therefore it is probably heavier than a standard car body. Very very red neck in my opinion. You are loosing the strengths the XJ once had. Just reinforce the XJ unibody and mount the chevy running gear to it, would look and work alot better!

I saw a charger like that one time! lol Now THAT was redneck!

Stupidist thing ever....

I think I just threw up in my mouth.

It's nice to hear opinions about it but what backs your opinion. I was hoping to hear more technical advice about the pros and cons of this setup. Not that I am considering this but I am just courious about what would drive someone to do this. Obviously atleast one person thought it was agood idea. But hey keep 'em coming I would like to hear what more people think.

Why do this?

The XJ body was designed as a unit body assembly - and therefore will be too rigid for a ladder frame (since it's designed to bolster the frame members, while itself being bolstered by them.)

A ladder frame vehicle tends to be a bit more flexible - since the frame and body are separate engineering units, a little "give" at the interface between the two has to be allowed (which is why they use bolts/nuts to connect them - there's just a little "give" there.)

A unit body assembly is designed to be rigidly attached (read: welded) to a frame composed of units of lesser overall strength - since the frame is itself stiffened by the unit body assembly. Removing either from the other makes both considerably weaker - and the "give" designed into a ladder frame would allow an attached unit body to start structural cracking in short order (since the unit body assembly, overall, is designed stiffer than a "box and frame" vehicle.)

Even with considerable engineering going into the attachment of the unit body to the ladder frame (which I doubt happened...) you're still going to get a mismatch - kinda the same effect you'd get using a fire hose to water your rose garden. It will get the job done, but it's not the best way to do it.

Short form - it's mixing two decent things to make one bad thing. Sort of a reverse gestalt - in this case, the whole is less than the sum of the parts.

Hope this helps.

Ah, the great wisdom of 5-90. I always enjoy reading your posts. I will tell you from what I saw the unit body frame rails were chopped in the front and rear on each side of the vehicle just leaving two rails in the middle. Then tabs were welded on for body mounts. It looked like atleast some thought went into it. You do make a good point about the unit body cracking when attached to a ladder frame. I can see how this would be a bad thing to do. Does anybody have any thoughts on the center of gravity and weight distibution of the vehicle? Just curious.

XJeremy23 said:

Ah, the great wisdom of 5-90. I always enjoy reading your posts. I will tell you from what I saw the unit body frame rails were chopped in the front and rear on each side of the vehicle just leaving two rails in the middle. Then tabs were welded on for body mounts. It looked like atleast some thought went into it. You do make a good point about the unit body cracking when attached to a ladder frame. I can see how this would be a bad thing to do. Does anybody have any thoughts on the center of gravity and weight distibution of the vehicle? Just curious.

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Due to the more robust elements of the ladder frame, I'd think the CoG would drop slightly (an inch - two at most, probably.) Weight distribution? Would depend on the difference in weight distribution between the uniframe members that were removed and the ladder frame members that were installed (while weight distribution would be more severe in changes of motion, I'd think it would otherwise be about the same in effect. It's just a matter of degree.)

I know I'd rather run bolts up through the baseplate (with reinforcement inside) than use weld tabs on uniframe rails - they're definitely not designed for that sort of loading, and seems to be a recipe for failure to me. I could be wrong (it happens...:doh: ) but that does not sound like a very solid body/frame mount to me. Granted, I haven't seen it myself - but if the tabs are at all offset from the uniframe rails that remain, I'd not hesitate to call it a stupid idea.

I saw a Yugo mounted on a Bronco II frame once.

I win!
:laugh2:

neighbours where I grew up had one 4x4 with ole police crown vic (80's box style) on it, and another with a 67 Mustang body on the other... sad seeing the Stang sitting around doing nothing most of the time. Both were redneck too, body lifts to clear mudders on the stang, body lift to clear... well normal car tires for the crown vic... ugh they were sad looking things.

Why ruin two perfectly good vehicles to make one monstrosity?

Hahah... can we say Corvair on K5 frame?

ZacSquatch said:

Hahah... can we say Corvair on K5 frame?

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Yeah. Keep pillaging around on Doc Nickel's site, and you should find the page where a buddy of his made a knee mortar, calibre 'bowling ball.'

Fun times!

Someone around here has an Mercedes on some type of 4wd frame.

5-90 said:

Yeah. Keep pillaging around on Doc Nickel's site, and you should find the page where a buddy of his made a knee mortar, calibre 'bowling ball.'

Fun times!

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He had a video of it at one time. I went to his shop a couple times when I lived up there, he's got some strange stuff.

A kid I went to high school with had an old 70's cadillac eldorado on a chevy truck frame. The neighbors hated it, eventually they had to park it behind their house away from the street. The 454 in that thing sounded so good...

I saw a Stingray with 33's one time, it kinda looked like a trophy truck stance. It was pretty sweet, it didn't look redneck engineered.

I saw a 90s cavalier on a 4wd truck frame and 33s.