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Rusty's HD Crossmember

Mighty.Mighty_XJ

NAXJA Forum User
Does anyone out there have one of Rusty's Gen 1 HD crossmember they want to part with? Mine is heavily rusted from many NJ winters & I need one to work together with the skids. I bought his new x-member but it won't bolt up with the older skid plates without extensive modification. This is per both Rusty's & the installer. Rather than buying all new skids I'm hoping to find an older x-member.

Anyone? Fredericksburg VA or within reasonable driving distance. I might accept shipped with the right terms ....
 
Actually Andy, I don't know the gory details. I just know the installer said that he spent an hour & a half on the phone with Rusty's and the part about extensive modification is a direct quote. This build is already costing me a ton I don't want to add any unnecessary expense to it. Right now I have my old cross member sitting in vinegar hoping all that rust from Jersey will dissolve. Just in case I can't find another cross member. The vinegar worked with the skids, but the x-member is pretty bad.
 
If it were just a matter of drilling some holes, there would be no problems because this shop is pretty good. But almost every other part that I'm transferring from my '92 on to the '99 has had some kind of modification or other. Another "extensive modification" is just not in my wallet right now.
 
Thanks, but no stock. Right now the new style Rusty's heavy-duty crossmember is installed on my Jeep but in order for me to add my older skid plates I have to get rid of it. So that's why I'm looking for an older crossmember
 
Um, two questions:

1. Is there an actual technical reason the stock one won't work (not compatible with skid, etc.)?

2. there's a heavy-duty crossmember on Quadratec, made by Rugged Ridge: https://www.quadratec.com/products/72027_700_07.htm Would this be an option if you can't find a "Mark I Rusty's HD member"?
 
Rob, I'd like to think that my rock wheeling days are not over, therefore the stock skid is not sturdy enough. My XJ is being built for turf that's a bit more challenging than the mall.
As for the other one you mentioned, it's likely not compatible with the Rusty's engine & t'fercase skids which I already have and are still fully functional.
 
I dont mean to sound like Im bagging on rustys here because Im not. Ive met rusty and ran his products but it would seem to me that if he is no longer going to offer the first gen crossmember he should offer to sell you skids for the upgraded one at a discount or ship you out a first gen one as Im sure he still has the tooling to make one. I put a rough country long arm on a 4 cyl xj and they had to send me 3 before it was right because they had never made or tested one on a 4cyl. Each time I would take measurments or pics and they would adjust and ship me one to try. I would think any company that truly cared about the customer would offer to help in some way. Just my.02.
 
CMNCHE - I like the way you think. My installer was on the phone with them for over an hour and the closest he came to that was they pointed out that their new skids were on sale at the time. But due to the cost of my build and the time I spent restoring the older skids, I just don't have the funds to buy new skids right now.

My old X-member is still sitting in vinegar for rust removal. It will take some time, but it'll be ok for painting eventually. When I have money I will be going to a different brand of belly protection.
 
Rob, I'd like to think that my rock wheeling days are not over, therefore the stock skid is not sturdy enough. My XJ is being built for turf that's a bit more challenging than the mall.
As for the other one you mentioned, it's likely not compatible with the Rusty's engine & t'fercase skids which I already have and are still fully functional.

Ok, I had to actually go to Rusty's website to look at his TCase skid to get my head around this. Based on looking at that, I'm guessing that you're saying "OEM isn't strong enough" because the skid you want to use doesn't fully cover the crossmember, so in effect you're expecting the crossmember to serve in part as a skid, unless I'm misunderstanding how the two fit together. Guess I'm just used to my JCR belly pan that fully wraps around the crossmember and shields it completely (unless I land on it hard enough to un-bend it like I did the year I won "most thrashed").

Given that, I guess I can see why you'd want something stronger than an OEM crossmember.
 
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Actually Rob, your argument made me go back to look at pics to see how they all fit together. You're correct in thinking that the skids do "protect" the x-member. But Rusty's x-member is an integral part of the 3-part undercarriage protection. It was designed to facilitate bolting up the 2 large skids. Below is an old pic of my '92. For some reason the newer X-member won't mesh with the parts you see in the pic.

skidt.jpg
 
Sure looks like you could drill some holes in the new crossmember (or any crossmember for that matter) and bolt up the old skids. It's only four bolts.

That's about an hour's work tops for any decent shop.
 
My wrists just aren't strong enough to drill steel. I've tried it ... won't ever do it again. Besides, the Jeep's at a shop, remember?

Anyway guys, here's the lates on my old POS x-member. It's out of vinegar. Sheck out the pics:

Before:
8Zvctc.jpg


After:
rUBlf6.jpg


WOOT!!

I didn't go this route at first because the part was so rusted that I didn't think it was possible to restore. But ... well here we are. A few coats of paint & I dropped it off at the shop last Monday. Now let's just hope it bolts up to the '99!!
 
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