another rust repair

I have a 1989 Cherokee I have owned for 17 years and some of that time it sat for a few years. I got it down here to Texas from Ohio and I find rust issues with the sub frame rails. I'm posting this cause I am a complete novice at metal working and kinda feeling my way through it. I figure if its junk what is it going to hurt. As soon as I figure out how to post pics I will.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/87600078@N05/12582567165/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87600078@N05/12582588543/in/photostream/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/87600078@N05/12582715823/in/photostream/

get rid of it how has your leaf spring not ripped off yet

If it looks like that throughout I would start looking for another body. At a minimum you need to plate the frame from front to back on 3 sides and weld in new floor sheetmetal. My guess is this will look like the pix you posted through the whole belly, in which case it may be more work than it is worth.

i would start with another body. i made the mistake of repairing rust on my MJ and it turned out to be way more involved and take way too much time than its worth; and i only had one bad section and one floor to replace. it would be cost and time affective to just start over with a fresh rust free body

I'd have to agree; start with a new body. You can buy a rust free junker with a bad drivetrain for $500 or less if you're patient (at least in my area it's possible) and then just swap your good drivetrain over and be way ahead. You can repair all of the rusted areas you are seeing with your current body, but I would always be leery of rust that I haven't found yet. You may wind up playing an expensive game of whack-a-mole with rust. Heck I'm about to start over with a "new" body just because of some uni-rail damage that I don't want to deal with :laugh:

Actually that is what Im looking at doing I have some 3/16 U channel and I already cleared off the dirt and rust. My theroy is if it doesn't work its junk anyways...Ill use it as a learning experience..The floor pan needs to be replaced on the Driver's side only and the passenger side is solid...Im also debating putting a 22 guage sleeve inside the frame rail for more reinforcement on the area due to the leaf spring...If this works ill get some tnt frame stiffeners and POR my work.

Holy shit.

I would buy a big pile of metal and practice welding before fixing that... you are going to be doing a lot of important structural repairs there. Stuff that will kill you in a collision if done wrong.

That's worse than my 96 that I fixed up by sleeving with the bottom cut off a piece of 1/4 wall box tubing of appropriate size and then completely custom built a new shackle hangar for. I strongly recommend a new chassis... and I live in the rust belt and drive nothing but rusty jeeps. How did a TX jeep rust that badly?

edit: oh, and your username gave me a hell of a double take for a minute when I saw the thread :laugh2:

It started Life in Ohio and yes I am practicing

What if I used 3/16 steel and plated the area around the leaf spring mount and the hoop and bought the frame stiffeners for the rest of the rail...I have grinded almost all the rust off the rails and I have solid metal at the floor boards and with in 3 inches in front of the mount and 6 inches to the back of the mount. Im also thinking about installing a sleeve made from 22 guage sheet metal in that area

I think at this point you should really consider resigning yourself to the fact that the cancer is terminal. I'm sure you could fix it. The only difference between "impossible" and "possible" is how much time and money a person has available to put forth. Our point is that you can spend a lot of time fixing what you've got, and always have the repairs be questionable. I'm not knocking your skills because quite frankly I know nothing about you. You could be an excellent fabricator for all I know, but it does take a certain amount of skill to make quality repairs to a unitized body construction and have them perform safely out on the road.

We're just trying to say there's definitely an easier route for you to take, and that involves a different body in good condition. If the vehicle has a lot of sentimental value I can see why you'd want to rescue it, and I think it would be an admirable, albeit lofty goal. However if all you're wanting to do is hone your skills at welding and repairing the rust, you definitely have a good candidate but I wouldn't put much time or hope in it because I think you could put your money and efforts to use in a much more wise fashion.

That is way too much rust. Frame rail rust, particularly near the spring hangers is terminal.

While it may be nice to practice welding, i wouldn't drive it. I'd spend my time finding a newer rig. Hell, in california you can find a nice early 90's cherokee for like 2-3 k, with zero rust.