Hitch Mounts/Unibody Rail repair

So, when I bought the Jeep, I noticed it had a hitch(woohoo) so I was thinking that's one thing I wont have to add later. I later noticed the hitch was welded on (not so well), and homemade. The welds didn't look too hot in some places so I figured I should just remove the whole thing. As I am taking the monstrosity off I notice that the part of the frame it was welded to(the last 6-10 inches) was in bad shape. From the looks of it, the previous owner tried to bolt a hitch to only 2 holes on each side and it ripped off.

So the question is, what are the options? Is it even possible to repair the rails? I'd like some ideas but that's about as far as I plan to go for now.

picture would be really helpful.
Likely your best option is to plate the damaged area.

The easiest ultimate solution is probably to take it to somebody who does welding and fabrication and have a reinforcement welded on or a new section welded in.

Depending on how badly ripped it is, one option might be to reinforce it with a metal sandwich. Assuming that only the bottom, where the bolt holes are, is ripped, you could fabricate a sort of "super nut strip" for the inside, and match it to a plate on the underside of the rail. This might effectively spread the stress away from the ripped-out holes. You'll still have to evaluate how baadly weakened the rear of the rail is, and whether there's enough sound metal to hold the sandwich firmly. It must be completely immune to up and down flexing, or it will break again.

The problem I think you need to look for is whether or not the hitch flexed and stretched and weakened the frame before it finally broke through. If it was moving up and down for a long time, it could have weakened the rail more than it appears. You need to check it carefully for cracks, bulges, and any other signs of fatigue or work-hardening.

The original factory bumper hitch used a long reinforcement on the bottom of the frame rail as well as the nut strips, presumably to prevent the shorter hitch from pulling out or pushing up on the frame rail. The metal just isn't thick enough by itself to support a short hitch.

any body shop can repair the uni-frame. They do it all the time.

I'll see if I can post some pictures by this afternoon. Thanks for the ideas so far!

Fabricate a nutstrip with 1/4" flat stock, make it longer than you think youll need.

Its not as large of an area as I thought but the two large holes, a result of removing the welded angle iron, make the super nutstrip suggestion a little less possible. It may be worth a shot though.


Here are two pics of the carnage:

Driver's side


Passenger's side

Ouch! I say forget the super nutstrip idea, and go to someone who can weld it up. You can see the fatigue cracking around the big holes where it must have flexed repeatedly before it broke out. I'd want some reinforcement going up the sides, or, where sides aren't accessible, at least properly attached to the side walls.

thats ugly. I agree with Currie
Find someone that can weld, and plate the bottom and the sides.

and that right there is the reason i don't like the hitches that attach using just carrage bolts and steel washers.

with the nutstrips it puts the load across the entire frame rail instead of just a few load points.

as everybody else has said find a person who is good at TIG welding and get it fixed with some plate on the sides and bottom