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crunched unibody frame rail

Kiefer316

Kiefer316

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Littleton, Crawloardo
bentuni-frame.jpg



so i bought my cherokee from a guy and he had gotten rear ended and the hitch on there was a bad one i pretty much just want a price everyone might think it would cost to fix i was thinking fix it and get some tnt frame siffeners if that gonna help at all. please or any tips on fixing it myself maybe? TIA
 
sorry thats the best i could get with my phone plus its night time so its gonna be harder im gonna get some camera pics tomorro and post up but the biggest problem is its pushing the shackle and making the spring make it sit a little higher so the back is higher then the front. my main issue is when i want to relift it im not going to be able to get the new springs to fit. thats the bigest of my worries
 
I remember seeing your XJ on Craigslist. That was a hard enough hit that the hitch took the brunt of the force and transferred the impact into the unibody frame rails.

Unfortunately, you're looking at a fix that in order to fix it correctly - is going to require that it be placed on a frame jig at a body shop and pulled out. That's gonna be way more than you paid for the rig in the first place. I figured you bought it knowing that frame damage was there........

I don't think you'll need to worry about it too much as it is. If you're going with a larger lift, you'll end up needing longer shackles anyway and those should take up the difference in the length of the spring and where the shackle mounts "should" be. If it's bad enough, boomerang shackles would be my next suggestion.

Leave it like it is and wheel the hell out of it!

Oh, and TNT frame stiffeners don't go that far back. They just run the length from just behind the front lower control arm mounts to just ahead of the front rear leaf spring mount.
 
and hammer the floor down then to make it all good not sure if i would be able to do that myself im prolly gonna go to a shop sometime and get a quote if its too much im gonna chopit cut it find some strong stuff and put that on instead
 
yella your way too much help. but im also wondering if there would be accseive wear(sorry about spelling) on the tires and what not it seems to be fine though
 
MiNi Beast said:
cut and re weld, tnt stiffners help the unibody but wont help in the back where your at. But you can when do lift remove everything and cut the frames and weld in new pieces.
Click to expand...

The problem with that idea is that the unibody frame rails are crunched, but so is everything else that they're connected to - to a small degree. I'd imagine he has a bit of rear quarter panel that's dimpled or bulged out around the rear fender wells somewhere. The entire rear cargo area, hatch opening, all that has moved a bit from the impact and having the frame rails get forced inward and downward from the impact.

I don't think he'll have any major issues leaving it like it is.

Unless the rear axle isn't sitting squarely because the leaf springs are bent or something, that kind of hit isn't going to affect the rear tire wear. Basically, you'd have to have a much harder hit that would have physically bent a leaf in the pack or changed where the front mounts for the leaf packs bolt to to affect how the rear tires track. If you currently have a shackle that is displaced because of the frame wrinkle, it may cause some binding as the leaf pack moves, but it shouldn't track differently.
 
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YELLAHEEP said:
The problem with that idea is that the unibody frame rails are crunched, but so is everything else that they're connected to - to a small degree. I'd imagine he has a bit of rear quarter panel that's dimpled or bulged out around the rear fender wells somewhere. The entire rear cargo area, hatch opening, all that has moved a bit from the impact and having the frame rails get forced inward and downward from the impact.

I don't think he'll have any major issues leaving it like it is.

Unless the rear axle isn't sitting squarely because the leaf springs are bent or something, that kind of hit isn't going to affect the rear tire wear. Basically, you'd have to have a much harder hit that would have physically bent a leaf in the pack or changed where the front mounts for the leaf packs bolt to to affect how the rear tires track. If you currently have a shackle that is displaced because of the frame wrinkle, it may cause some binding as the leaf pack moves, but it shouldn't track differently.
Click to expand...

Yeah now that you explain what it looks like and what not I see that. But yeah I like the boomarang idea there my self. And can't be to bad if you are still driving it.
 
well if i dont get it fixed now im gonna get it fixed in the future and all the rust done up nicely and a new paint job. also i just got a new job at pep boys so im gonna be working on it alot or getting it worked on. this is still gonna be a fun project
 
yup as of now im workin 2 jobs it hurts a little. but new tires are gonna come soon. when i relift im thinking 5.5in springs. and 5.5 inch springs with maybe .5 inch coil spacer. just to make it level
 
I got rearended and the hitch caused a similar issue.
My damage was on both sides of the Jeep and the floor is about 1.5" higher in that area than it should be.

Insurance deemed it 'totaled' as the cost of repairs was going to be way to high. :tear: I did get a quote from the shop for $600-850 to put it on a frame machine and straighten it, but that would only be 1/4 the repair. The area would need to be re-enforced and braced to be properly repaired.

Mine isn't going to be an issue anymore as I bought it back to cut/chop it and she's all trail-duty now. That section won't even exist anymore as it's getting linked.

Picture of my damage on one (the better) side:
Unibody_Damage1.jpg


Given that your picture is not the best I can't tell how bad yours really is. Assuming its not as bad as mine, but still warrents this post I'd would have to disagree with those that said "just drive it", that is totally, IMO, wrong. If you can't fix it to stock or better than stock configuration, I'd go elsewhere. It's just not worth the saftey risk in my eyes.
 
RCman said:
I got rearended and the hitch caused a similar issue.
My damage was on both sides of the Jeep and the floor is about 1.5" higher in that area than it should be.

Insurance deemed it 'totaled' as the cost of repairs was going to be way to high. :tear: I did get a quote from the shop for $600-850 to put it on a frame machine and straighten it, but that would only be 1/4 the repair. The area would need to be re-enforced and braced to be properly repaired.

Mine isn't going to be an issue anymore as I bought it back to cut/chop it and she's all trail-duty now. That section won't even exist anymore as it's getting linked.

Picture of my damage on one (the better) side:
Unibody_Damage1.jpg


Given that your picture is not the best I can't tell how bad yours really is. Assuming its not as bad as mine, but still warrents this post I'd would have to disagree with those that said "just drive it", that is totally, IMO, wrong. If you can't fix it to stock or better than stock configuration, I'd go elsewhere. It's just not worth the saftey risk in my eyes.
Click to expand...

yup i know it wouldn't be too much to fix but when that first paycheck comes im going to be gettin it on a strecher and then i can knock out the rest of the blemishes but as a teen you dont really have much choice you know what i mean
 
Albino Krikit said:
yup i know it wouldn't be too much to fix but when that first paycheck comes im going to be gettin it on a strecher and then i can knock out the rest of the blemishes but as a teen you dont really have much choice you know what i mean
Click to expand...
I definitely know what you mean. Get some better pictures so we can all see how bad the damage really is. If it is anything like mine above, I wouldn't drive it. Of course if its anything like that... you really couldn't drive it (tire rubs front of opening on drivers side, gas tank is more of a gas strainer, etc).

Also, that $600-850 was JUST the cost of the pull. That doesn't fix the now weak area or anything else.
 
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well its really not THAT bad but he was pretty much rear ended goin 35 miles an hour and slammed into another car...i already fixed the front easy but tire doesn't rub just a noise when i go over big bumps.
 
got some news on some stuff i know a guy whose dad owns a body shop and said he would do it for cheap so im happy about that and gonna be gettin a bumpin system for my rig also for cheap
 
i had a guy do mine and only cost me $200 ended up giving him $100 and 10 sheets of steel to build a box for his truck. he cutit out straightened it up then welded back in.
 
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