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Frame stiffeners?

W

Wlf_02

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Alabama
I’ve built my xj for rock crawling but i still lack frame stiffeners. So my question is do I need the front center and rear section or can I only use the center?also what brand should I go with. I’m will to pay what’s needed considering I still want to able to shut my doors😂
 
Front and center for sure. Rears depend on what you're running. Tons, linked on 40s or.......?

Brand is a toss up. They all have their pluses and minuses. I think IROs are decent price and quality are on point.
 
My only suggestion is buy from whoever sells the whole set.

I bought the JCR mids and very happy with them. 3/16" steel and the dies all fit perfectly. I want to do the fronts as well but that is going to wait until I redo some other stuff, and I already have heavy duty tie-in brackets that are bracing everything (knock on wood). I feel like the rears depend on the condition of the vehicle--the rear unibody doesn't get as much sideways push as the front.
 
ehall said:
My only suggestion is buy from whoever sells the whole set.

I bought the JCR mids and very happy with them. 3/16" steel and the dies all fit perfectly. I want to do the fronts as well but that is going to wait until I redo some other stuff, and I already have heavy duty tie-in brackets that are bracing everything (knock on wood). I feel like the rears depend on the condition of the vehicle--the rear unibody doesn't get as much sideways push as the front.
Click to expand...

An interesting thought,...Have anyone braced the rear of their XJ frame rail to frame rail similar to the front,... the tube that are used under the engine that ties the panhard drop bracket to the other side?

Yesterday, I opened the tail gate with the XJ twisted up on some rocks. The gate did not close until she was sitting good again.
 
techno1154 said:
An interesting thought,...Have anyone braced the rear of their XJ frame rail to frame rail similar to the front,... the tube that are used under the engine that ties the panhard drop bracket to the other side?

Yesterday, I opened the tail gate with the XJ twisted up on some rocks. The gate did not close until she was sitting good again.
Click to expand...

It may require a cage to win that battle.

I have had the same issue with my old 3/4 ton Suburban. Evidently a full frame isn't enough.
 
techno1154 said:
An interesting thought,...Have anyone braced the rear of their XJ frame rail to frame rail similar to the front,... the tube that are used under the engine that ties the panhard drop bracket to the other side?

Yesterday, I opened the tail gate with the XJ twisted up on some rocks. The gate did not close until she was sitting good again.
Click to expand...

Anak said:
It may require a cage to win that battle.

I have had the same issue with my old 3/4 ton Suburban. Evidently a full frame isn't enough.
Click to expand...

A cage or a really good bumper, I went the bumper route.
 
I have the jcr fronts and mids on my rig. From what I've researched the rears are not so important especially if you have some other implement that acts as a cross member such as a class 3 hitch, which I have. As noted above the jcr stiffeners are quality products.
 
On the topic of strenghening/stiffening the rear....in addition to a good trailer hitch or the right bumper, a gas tank slid that ties into the frame should help too.
 
My XJ do have the OEM class 3 hitch and fuel tank skid. It however have the OEM bumper held on with one bolt per side for many years :shhh:. I guess frame stiffeners need to go on the things to get list if I am going to wheel it on anything more than mild trails.
I do not care about adding a cage. I need all the passenger and luggage space I could get. And I am still have that tire carrier to get that 32" tire out from where it sit.
 
If you have a front bumper with winch, really easy to tie bumper mounts into the front stiffeners. After yanking my bumper off, I needed more than the small reinforcement plates up there. Added some flat stock to rebuild the mounts and welded it all to the front stiffeners. Winched a few times since then and its super solid.

Sent from my SM-G975U using Tapatalk
 
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