Unibody stiffener suggestions

hey guys ive got a slow build going of a 2000 4 door jeep cherokee. before i lift it i want to put unibody stiffeners front to rear. im looking for suggestions on how to make my xj last a long time because i plan on keeping it forever.
heres what im thinking:
fronts- either TMR or LII stiffeners. which should i go with? also 3/16" or 1/8"?
mids- ruff stuff
rears- hd offroad or? is there anything better?

i will also be building a hybrid cage tieing everything together.

i plan to build a front bumper like N20jeep did with a jcr steering box spacer. is there any other tricks to keeping the unibody together? do i need to plate the inside or bottom of the front frame rails? thanks in advance

Nice. I wish I knew about frame stiffies before I did my build. 3/16 for sure.

Ehh I had in my possession TNT, ruffstuff and hd offroad. The tents were like 42lbs, no plug welds, nothing special but formed to the rail. Sold them.
The ruff stuffs were my favorite in design overall. Had a 1-1.5" foot that you weld to the floor, plug weld holes ect. For,Ed to the rail. Also 3/16 like TNT. Believe this package weight was 44lbs. I sold them.
I picked up HD offroad last. 1/8, plug holes, extended under the leaf spring hanger box unlike others. Formed to the rail. These are the best..only at 20lbs. All the jeepspeed guys, everyone says 1/8 is best..I say unless your in heavy rocks and sliding on the frame rail 1/8 is the way to go. Rocks maybe 3/16 to avoiding dinging or bending.

Full 1/8" plating was 46lbs on my rig. Front to rear. So the TNT and ruffstuff were that alone..ya I'm happy I went the other way. Adding weight isn't always helping your unibody. My only request is the hd offroad has the foot against the floor, then they be perfect in my eyes. I'm happy with mine, I plated everything and it weighed almost no more than the other 2. Jeepspeed guys do 1/8 for the same reason unnessasary weight. So roc,a I would do 3/16 if not 1/8 is perfect.

I did the middle prebuilt because the frame is got a angle to it, vs using 3x3.. I built my own for front and rear though. Mine touch end to end and is fish plated, the front I built because I wanted them perfectly flush with everything, bumper mounts and such..I have factory tow hooks and the plating it's butted up within 1/8" of those..just about perfect. I will be plating the bottom side and inside of my front rails once my motors pulled.

In the rear I played the side and the underside where it curves to help avoid bending. I also plated the the leaf box front and shackle box rear and gusseted them to the frame. No more creaks or groans and I can open my hatch and shut it while flexing. Before if you. Opened it while flexed there was no shutting it until you. We're leveled out again lol.


To keep it together there's got to be some give or fully plated, noo in between. If not fully plated or a beefy bumper that has no give will cause the frame to literally separate where the pinch seam comes together. Richard aka goatman made a few posts about it. So be prepared to go fully. I had no cracks and wanted to stay that way..it feels a good 3x as stuff as before. Stock bumpers front and rear full plating..hoping it lives another 25 years

desertjr said:

Ehh I had in my possession TNT, ruffstuff and hd offroad. The tents were like 42lbs, no plug welds, nothing special but formed to the rail. Sold them.
The ruff stuffs were my favorite in design overall. Had a 1-1.5" foot that you weld to the floor, plug weld holes ect. For,Ed to the rail. Also 3/16 like TNT. Believe this package weight was 44lbs. I sold them.
I picked up HD offroad last. 1/8, plug holes, extended under the leaf spring hanger box unlike others. Formed to the rail. These are the best..only at 20lbs. All the jeepspeed guys, everyone says 1/8 is best..I say unless your in heavy rocks and sliding on the frame rail 1/8 is the way to go. Rocks maybe 3/16 to avoiding dinging or bending.

Full 1/8" plating was 46lbs on my rig. Front to rear. So the TNT and ruffstuff were that alone..ya I'm happy I went the other way. Adding weight isn't always helping your unibody. My only request is the hd offroad has the foot against the floor, then they be perfect in my eyes. I'm happy with mine, I plated everything and it weighed almost no more than the other 2. Jeepspeed guys do 1/8 for the same reason unnessasary weight. So roc,a I would do 3/16 if not 1/8 is perfect.

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H.D.'s are 0.134 thick, a couple hairs over 1/8". Glad you like them.

if you dont feel like making them yourself, then just buy the big kit from HD to go bumper to bumper. I personally like plated the at least the botto, of the front rails. ive seen jeeps with just the outside plated and the rails still bent/folded. there needs to be plating in more then one plane to be real effective. since youre building a cage, you could probaby get away with it, a properly designed cage will really stiffen up the entire body of the jeep.

i wont be doing alot of rockkrawling as i live in michigan and theres not much around. it will be more go fast in the dunes and trailriding. maybe alittle bit of rocks. im trying to make this rig be able to do it all. think i should go with the hd stiffeners front to rear? maybe plate the bottom of the front and rear rails to?

if you're doing a cage, be smart, go with the the full length kit from HD offroad.

Buy a sheet of 3/16" steel.
Buy poster board from Office Max.
MAke exact templates. Test fit templates

Trace templates into steel plate. Cut them out with a 6" disc on your grinder.
Clean up edges with a flap wheel. Test fit steel pieces....

Use hole saw & cut 1.25-1.5" holes Into plates for circle welds.

Clean off all undercoating. Fit & Tack up bracing pieces using clamps to hold them tight against the unibody rails. Once u get them perfect... weld fully, around perimeter & weld holes.

Prime & paint. Done.U

barillms said:

Buy a sheet of 3/16" steel.
Buy poster board from Office Max.
MAke exact templates. Test fit templates

Trace templates into steel plate. Cut them out with a 6" disc on your grinder.
Clean up edges with a flap wheel. Test fit steel pieces....

Use hole saw & cut 1.25-1.5" holes Into plates for circle welds.

U

Click to expand...

time is money... and thats a whole lotta time, cut off wheels, and metal shaving/ abrasive wheel boogers.

and I know I wouldnt get mine nearly as purdy as a pre-made set.

I have the H.D. Offroad mid stiffeners and they fit great !
I am very happy with them and will likely get the fronts and rears later.

ktm racer 419 said:

time is money... and thats a whole lotta time, cut off wheels, and metal shaving/ abrasive wheel boogers.

and I know I wouldnt get mine nearly as purdy as a pre-made set.

Click to expand...

This.

thanks for the opinions guys. i think i will end up going with the hd offroads. would it be worth it to plate the bottom and inside of the front rails? and the bottom of the rear rails?

^^ yes. I would say grab 1/8" plate. And make your front and rear. I made mine run all the way back and they but up to my HD offroad middles. Same as the front. They are great yes, but mas produced. I just liked the idea of mine touching end-end. Also plate your leaf & shackle box..gussets ect.

I used JKS plating for the front (inside and out) and TMR's to TnT mid stiffeners when I built my latest rig, as they were the only manufactured option at the time. I recently had my buddy burn me a set for the rear with his plasma table. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=913774&page=2

I like the HD units and their full set front to rear option. Too bad they don't include inner plates for the front set.........

If you are going fast and not rock, have you looked into the JeepSpeed stiffeners from T&J?

http://barnettperformance.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=3

XJEEPER said:

I used JKS plating for the front (inside and out) and TMR's to TnT mid stiffeners when I built my latest rig, as they were the only manufactured option at the time. I recently had my buddy burn me a set for the rear with his plasma table. http://www.naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=913774&page=2

I like the HD units and their full set front to rear option. Too bad they don't include inner plates for the front set.........

Click to expand...

You mean these jcr front plates?
http://www.jcroffroad.com/mm5/merch...en=PROD&Category_Code=XJMISC&Product_Code=UNF

BRIANHO13 said:

H.D.'s are 0.134 thick, a couple hairs over 1/8". Glad you like them.

Click to expand...

Quick question about the front plates. Do they have holes pre drilled for the steering box bolts, track bar bracket, and the bumper mounting bolts. My rigid bumper uses like 8 on each side, and I hate to drill all those. The TMR ones didn't appear to have that provision, but the HD website just shows a sketch up version, so it was difficult to tell.

This second question is kind of general for anyone to answer. how do you deal with the trackbar bracket? With all these plates i assume you have to take that off and put it over the driver side plate? How do you correct for the resulting misalignment in the mounting holes? Just build a new one? Can you cut out a pocket in the frame plate and weld bracket and plate together and to the frame? I have an RE bracket, bar, and brace to the other side. I could just get an adjustable bar, but with the brace, I'm not sure if there is enough play in the mounting points to allow for a 0.137" difference due to the plate.

NCCherokee said:

Quick question about the front plates. Do they have holes pre drilled for the steering box bolts, track bar bracket, and the bumper mounting bolts. My rigid bumper uses like 8 on each side, and I hate to drill all those. The TMR ones didn't appear to have that provision, but the HD website just shows a sketch up version, so it was difficult to tell.

Click to expand...

yes the HD offroad ones do. that alone makes them a step above the rest. I did have to re-drill the hole for the brake line tab though.

This second question is kind of general for anyone to answer. how do you deal with the trackbar bracket? With all these plates i assume you have to take that off and put it over the driver side plate? How do you correct for the resulting misalignment in the mounting holes? Just build a new one? Can you cut out a pocket in the frame plate and weld bracket and plate together and to the frame? I have an RE bracket, bar, and brace to the other side. I could just get an adjustable bar, but with the brace, I'm not sure if there is enough play in the mounting points to allow for a 0.137" difference due to the plate.

Click to expand...

I didn't have to mess with it, my bracket went right back over the HD offroad plates. but I run a clayton bracket, it has slotted mounting holes. if your bracket doesn't quite line up you can use a reamer or a round file to slot the holes a bit and get them.


or you could just weld the bracket on and be done with it.

xjtrailrider said:

If you are going fast and not rock, have you looked into the JeepSpeed stiffeners from T&J?

http://barnettperformance.net/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=6&products_id=3

Click to expand...

yeah ive looked at those before, i will be doing some trail riding and maybe some rock tho so i dont really want those hanging down. thanks tho!