Need advice/help from regular rockcrawlers

[Timber]

This weekend I had my first opportunity to do some minor rockcrawling. It was great, to say the least. Aside from a minor disagreement my passenger-side front door had with a rock, the only damage I incurred (that I know of) is I managed to produce a lip on the outside edge of the axle-end LCA mount. I came off a rock pretty hard and it bent the bottom edge. I didn't have my rock rails on (I'm reworking the design), but they wouldn't have helped anyway.
What do you guys do/use to protect your LCA mounts, if anything? It doesn't drive funny or anything, so I'm not TOO concerned about it. I figure I'll just hammer the lip back down and maybe plate the sides a bit.
BTW, the only reason I'm concerned at all about it is that it's my daily driver. My wife went outside this morning and said "W.T.F. did you do to the door?!" Of course, she doesn't really care, she just knows I usually don't do any real body damage and it was all the funnier because she rarely swears.

 

[ILLXJ]

Mini-skids. I know JKS makes some along with a few others. I just welded 1/8" plate to mine. JIM.

 

[KarlVP]

Just get some scrap steel and weld them to your lca mounts.

Buying the pre-made skids is a joke. They are two pieces of 1/4" flatbar. Probably free in the scrap bin at your local steel supply.

 

[Timber]

Big OOPS--I'm sorry. I meant to write that I bent the frame-end, not the axle end. Big difference. I already have some 1/8" plate across the axle ends of the mounts.

 

[KarlVP]

Big OOPS--I'm sorry. I meant to write that I bent the frame-end, not the axle end. Big difference. I already have some 1/8" plate across the axle ends of the mounts.

Cut the frame end off, and build new ones.

Better yet, build some radius arms (long arms) for the front. You can do it relatively cheap. Rod ends and bushings from www.polyperformance.com or other sources. Then some bracketry and lentgths of steel (either round or square stock, debate is in the air) and you are in business.

 

[JNickel101]

I've also seen an MJ solution on MadXJ....

http://www.madxj.com/MADXJ/technical/technicalfiles/SRlowerCtrlArmMount/lcamount.htm

what i cant tell is if you weld the MJ mounts around the current mounts...or if you cut the current mounts off and weld new ones on...

 

[johnnyc]

On the MJ mounts, you cut off the stock mounts, then weld these in their place.

 

[JNickel101]

Are they that much beefier? and do you know of anywhere to buy them? The MadXJ page lists part numbers, but doesnt say where they are from...? Dealership?

 

[WB9YZU]

Are they that much beefier? and do you know of anywhere to buy them? The MadXJ page lists part numbers, but doesnt say where they are from...? Dealership?

which were ordered as stock replacements for the Jeep Comanche (MJ)...
Part numbers for the lower MJ brackets are: PN 55005148 and PN 55005149

Those certainly look like Jeep part numbers if you put in a space after the PN.
I'd try the dealer.

OR, you could log into the MadXJ Group and ask Scott yourself ;D

Ron

 

[JNickel101]

Ah, yep, they are....lol...thanks

Checked prices on allchryslerparts.com and the left side mount is about half the price of the right side mount....$27 for the left, $47 for the right......

 

[Timber]

I totally forgot about the MJ mounts.
I'd do long/radius arms, but I'm only running an inch and a half of lift and I don't want to go higher--yet.
Thanks, guys.

 

[JNickel101]

Timber, thanks for bringing this up - now I have a new mod to do too