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front uniframe plating

woody

NAXJA Forum User
NAXJA Memorial Lifetime Member
Location
NC Sandhills
Apologies if this is way OT, but it seems like some JS/Go-Fast co was selling frame plates for the XJ?

Similar to the JKS/ORGS SBS, (or the outside of a C-Rok) but these extended much further rearward and down towards the LCA mount iirc.

Anyway, I have a virgin-mary XJ with an empty driveline bay, so it's prime time to plan my fabwork in & under there.

Been a couple years since I heard of these, and CRS as to who sold them...

Thanks.
 
Interesting... none of those are what I remember, but the Temper-Mental setup is closest IIRC. 3/16" is what the doctor ordered.

Thanks gentlemen.
 
Again thanks for the replies.

If I had a place to work on & fab tools for these sort of projects, I have no doubt I could make them. However at this stage I am limited to mostly COTS products. :(

I was thinking thicker = better (offshoot of the Army demo formula: P = Plenty!) but I'm an old dawg that can learn new tricks. The plan is to harvest the front x-member, and replace with a small winch & low-pro (tubing & a little plate) bumper...
 
Woody, I don't really think those plates add much stiffness. I think they mostly strengthen the area to keep the frame from cracking over the long haul, which is important. Strength is good even if stiffness isn't achieved, which is why the 1/8" should be good enough. Between the steering box and the track bar mount, that area sees quite a bit of stress and flex. Plating one side isn't going to stop that, but it will make it much more resistant to future cracking.
 
Woody, I don't really think those plates add much stiffness. I think they mostly strengthen the area to keep the frame from cracking over the long haul, which is important. Strength is good even if stiffness isn't achieved, which is why the 1/8" should be good enough. Between the steering box and the track bar mount, that area sees quite a bit of stress and flex. Plating one side isn't going to stop that, but it will make it much more resistant to future cracking.

This is exactly why I wish someone made a front stiffener out of bent plate. However, it would require a 3-axis bending machine which would not exactly be cheap to produce.

I agree entirely that the thin flat plate will not "stiffen" much of anything, but it will tie in the seperate peices of sheetmetal that form the front unibody which in turn will reduce the potential for cracking to occur.
 
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The plate actually ends up bent when you complete the install.....so there is some torsional strengthening that occurs to this section. To truely stiffen this area, the incorporation of tube in the form of a engine cage would provide the best results.

For what you're looking for Woody, 1/8" should be fine and is easily installed with C-clamps and staggered welding. I run TMR's plates, but since my build, the HD Engineering option came available. I like having more rosette hole already drilled, however, I used the JKS SBS system up front, so I just cut the TMR plates where they met the SBS plates.
 
The plate actually ends up bent when you complete the install.....so there is some torsional strengthening that occurs to this section. To truely stiffen this area, the incorporation of tube in the form of a engine cage would provide the best results.

For what you're looking for Woody, 1/8" should be fine and is easily installed with C-clamps and staggered welding. I run TMR's plates, but since my build, the HD Engineering option came available. I like having more rosette hole already drilled, however, I used the JKS SBS system up front, so I just cut the TMR plates where they met the SBS plates.

That's still only a 2D bend, which doesn't result in much rigidity. Tube would definetly be the best way to go for sure.

The 3D bend would require the plate to extend under the frame rail, much like most middle stiffeners.
 
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