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Attaching crossmember

I would think not. The reason to add the sleeve's is because the frame rail is so thin. Flexing will elongate the holes.

I sleeved mine, but I don't have 1/4" plate wrapped around it either. Wow!
 
JeepFreak21 said:
Bummer.
Click to expand...

Billy:
It's not not big of a deal because you'll have to drill the holes anyhow, now they'll just have to be slightly bigger (double the wall thickness/plus of the tube ). The welding in of the sleeves will be the easy part. Plus you have the advantage of the heavier plate to weld the sleeves to.

Put the holes through the crossmember first, jack it into place and mark and drill the holes as accurately/centered as you can. Try to be as precise because going through 1/4" plate plus the frame rail is going to be some work.

When drilling into the frame most likely the drill will wander some, so jack the crossmember back up to check the alignment of the holes, Take a dremel/file, etc. and *correct* the position of the holes. Insert sleeves, weld. Hope this makes sense. Good Luck!!
 
Last edited:
XJZ said:
Billy:
It's not not big of a deal because you'll have to drill the holes anyhow, now they'll just have to be slightly bigger (double the wall thickness/plus of the tube ). The welding in of the sleeves will be the easy part. Plus you have the advantage of the heavier plate to weld the sleeves to.

Put the holes through the crossmember first, jack it into place and mark and drill the holes as accurately/centered as you can. Try to be as precise because going through 1/4" plate plus the frame rail is going to be some work.

When drilling into the frame most likely the drill will wander some, so jack the crossmember back up to check the alignment of the holes, Take a dremel/file, etc. and *correct* the position of the holes. Insert sleeves, weld. Hope this makes sense. Good Luck!!
Click to expand...


Yeah, I gotcha... thanks! What material should I use for the sleeve? Do I need to use DOM?
Billy
 
JeepFreak21 said:
Yeah, I gotcha... thanks! What material should I use for the sleeve? Do I need to use DOM?
Billy
Click to expand...

I used it, at this size it will be inexpensive. Why not?

Don't remember the size of the tubing off hand. I'll run out to the garage in the morning.
 
Stop whining. Drilling holes in the side of the frame is not fun. It's very difficult to get the holes to come out straight on the other side. Consider renting a magnetic based drill press. It will clamp itself to your frame & drill a hole straight through like a press would. It would make life sooo much easier for you. The tubing for the sleeves doesn't need to be thick at all or DOM. It just needs to fit the bolt fairly well. Have fun.

Matt
 
FarmerMatt said:
Stop whining. Drilling holes in the side of the frame is not fun. It's very difficult to get the holes to come out straight on the other side. Consider renting a magnetic based drill press. It will clamp itself to your frame & drill a hole straight through like a press would. It would make life sooo much easier for you. The tubing for the sleeves doesn't need to be thick at all or DOM. It just needs to fit the bolt fairly well. Have fun.

Matt
Click to expand...

Who's whining???
 
Drill a small pilot hole (easier to get straight) and use a holesaw to make the final cut for the sleeve. The hole saw wont walk like a large bit would.
 
JeepFreak21 said:
That's what I was thinking... Good stuff.
Click to expand...

Sounds like a good plan. Will the holesaw work on the 1/4" plate? I'm trying that next time.

Billy, For the sleeve I used .75 x .120 wall. A 1/2" bolt fits through that nice and snug!
 
XJZ said:
Sounds like a good plan. Will the holesaw work on the 1/4" plate? I'm trying that next time.

Billy, For the sleeve I used .75 x .120 wall. A 1/2" bolt fits through that nice and snug!
Click to expand...

It should work on 1/4. The thickest I've ever cut was 3/16 and I made 4 of those cuts with ease. I dont see a problem.
 
i started using a hole saw on mine but the holes were coming out oval so i used a special bit from snap-on that drilled a perfect 1" hole. ill let you barrow the bit if you want.

Bryan
 
vintagespeed said:
Drill a small pilot hole (easier to get straight) and use a holesaw to make the final cut for the sleeve. The hole saw wont walk like a large bit would.
Click to expand...
A hole saw will cut thick steel no problem. Use a 1/4" pilot hole since it's what most hole saw pilots are. Just use a really slow speed and use oil. Don't over heat the bit.
I cut 3/4" holes into 1" thick steel on my bumper for shackle mounts that way.
 
Instead... The only point to sleeving is to keep the frame rails from crushing as you torque down the bolts. I've crushed the rails on mine from doing that exact thing without the sleeves. I've since just used nutzerts in the outer frame wall to bolt the cross member to. The bolts are in a position of shear so bolt strength isn't the issue. The sleeves will transer load from the outer wall to the inner, but is the added strength needed? The bottom of the frame rail is what see's the majority of the load. If you spread the load out enough than the sleeves become a non issue. My cross member has been attached like this for the last 3 years without a hint of it coming loose or deforming the rail. The cross member is attached on the bottom using the existing 2 cross member bolts & one more bolt farther forward. FWIW I believe that Rusty's cross member is attached simularly. With his I belive you hog out 1" holes on the inner frame wall & slide a nut through to just bolt up the cross member to the outer wall.

Matt
 
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