XJ Unibody Beefing

What is the best way to make the XJ more rigid? other then puttin a cage in it, thats next year.... but what about now... I need to strengthen my XJ and was wondering if you people have any good ideas. I have the rubicon express long arm front suspention with custom crossmember mount so the frame ties you can buy have nothing to bolt to in front. My windsheild has come loose due to all the body flex, doors still open and close perfect. thanks for any info!!

XJRubicon said:

What is the best way to make the XJ more rigid? other then puttin a cage in it, thats next year.... but what about now... I need to strengthen my XJ and was wondering if you people have any good ideas. I have the rubicon express long arm front suspention with custom crossmember mount so the frame ties you can buy have nothing to bolt to in front. My windsheild has come loose due to all the body flex, doors still open and close perfect. thanks for any info!!

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Check this out:
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?s=&threadid=168280&

I'm trying out the T&J Stage 2 Chassis Stiffener. It'll be bolted and welded on in the next couple weeks. Those who I've talked to who have tried it say it stiffens it up a bit. Approximately $420 shipped, or you can make it yourelf. It comes with 3/16" plate molded to fit onto the bottom of the sub-frame rails and has places to rosette weld it, along with the tubing that ties in the front and rear suspension pivot points (http://www.tandjperformance.com/products-bpp.htm). A cage is in my future too, but not for another year probably. Also check out C-Rok's new front bumper. It comes with 2 frame plates, one for each side, and a 3/16" crossmember that goes in front of the stock one. It looks pretty stout (http://www.c-rok.com/brc.html).

you can also add frame supports from the bottom, angle iron running the length of the frame rail. You can also bolt in support braces from frame rail to frame rail. They would mount on the inside behind the front leaf spring mounts and arch up and over the driveshaft to the other side. This is something I'm working one and should have one done in the next few weeks. I'll post pics when I'm done with it. The T&J frame supports seem like they could cause problems with mounting rock rails. (rock rails can stiffen up the frame as well if there mounted from the frame rails to the body seam). Juice

IMO, the best way to reinforce the frame is to sleeve it. I'll be using .25" rectangular tubing and adding a crossmember in the front and rear. I'll also be adding a shock mounting cross member instead of the shock mount that is near the gas tank. Also I'm going to use a 70's Ford front coil and shock mounts. See picture below. They are welded to the sleeve so that the coil and shocks aren't mounted to the body anymore. The stock control arm brackets will be replaced with .25" brackets welded to the sleeve. This should get rid of most of the strain on the body. Of course, there will still be some strain because the sleeve is still attached to the body, but it SHOULD cut down on body strain immensely. But that's the hypothesis behind it all, we'll see how it fairs when we've got it under the real world testing grounds.

Front hitches will stiffen up the front for ya. Read about them here:
http://www.jeep-tech-tips.com/jeep-tow-hooks.html