Hey Guys,
I have been following this forum for a long time, but this is my first time posting..
I have always dreamed of owning a Wrangler. I preferred the TJ's short wheelbase and everyone's builds over the newer models. I hoped to buy one with the intention of building it up over the next few years. I bought the car of my dreams about 8 months ago. I just got a new job, was trying to find a place to live and needed a car right away. In the past I only bought cars off of craigslist, but I thought going with a dealer would be a safer bet (especially with a TJ I had been fantasizing over for years). My lust of being a TJ owner and the immediate need for a DD overthrew my better judgement during the buying process. Instead of putting my research into buying the Jeep I was focused on what I wanted to do to the TJ after I got it. The inside floors looked good when I pulled up the carpet and the frame was painted black. I overlooked a lot of warning signs I have now seen throughout these posts. This Wrangler X was a manual and had 80K with the 4.0 engine I wanted to start out with. I thought that this would last me a couple years as a DD until I could buy a truck to focus on building up the Wrangler. In the first couple weeks of owning the car I had to replace the rusted out front sway arm connectors. I called the dealer after my inspection (which I should have done in the first place) turned up some pretty bad rust. Their response was that I should have looked at the car closer when I purchased. A week later I popped out and replaced the steering box because I came out to my TJ was leaking power steering fluid. I've done a few other common things that have come up throughout the months. My embarrassment of my findings have kept me from posting on this forum to date. Before the winter I took off any visible rust with a wire brush and RP'd the hell out of it to try to make it through the winter. . During the winter I got underbody car washes often as possible to try to keep the situation from getting worse. My wife and I just bought our new house last month so my eye was off the ball. After getting screwed on the Jeep I wanted to make sure I thoroughly researched a house, mortgages, etc. I really didn't realize how screwed I was until a couple weeks ago. The skid plate looked to be sagging a little, but on the way home when I realized it was sagging it rusted out, and hung about 4" from my driver side frame. I started wirebrushing the paint on the frame I realized the dealer had painted over the worst of it to make it look better than it was. I'm still making payments on the Wrangler so I am looking for the best advice to stop from making a terrible situation worse. I have a car I can borrow for a couple-few months so I bought myself some time. Below is after wire brushing the paint off the frame.
A shop owner told me the Jeep is totaled. He let me keep the Jeep in his parking lot with the skid plate jacked up for a week while I tried to figure out my next move. He said the dealership did a pretty good job of prettying the car up, but I doubt its anything I can prove at this point.
I found a custom welder who was weary about taking on the job. I told him I would do whatever it takes to fix it. I would drop the fuel tank and give him side by side pictures of what other jeeps with the condition looked like compared to what mine looked like. I've seen some videos of this getting fixed, but not sure if I'll be so lucky.
I was hoping I could bring the welder the floor support, safeTcap, rear coil spring bracket, and small lift.
When I researched what dropping the fuel tank entailed I was optimistic I could take on the job. Unfortunately there is rust at the top of the rear coil and spring bracket. I wanted to replace these anyway with a 2" Old Man Emu Kit.
If you're reading this you probably have already seen the links below..
https://www.autorust.com/product/full-length-floor-channel-subframe-set-wrangler-tj-97-06/https://www.autorust.com/product/wrangler-tj-full-center-section-with-rear-trail-arm-mounts/
I know I need new brake lines, and I took out the exhaust mount when I was checking for rust..
That puts me at 2640 + another 1000 of best case scenario "other random things I find" before I start putting in labor (hoping for the best 1500 if I remove the gas tank first?). That puts me at 5140 best case to do the job. Scrapping it puts me at something like 2k-3k so putting in that money seems like a good option if it takes care of the problem.
The only other way out would be to find a high mileage TJ in Illinois with a good frame and switch out the engine. I figure it will be a fat chance of finding that type of TJ near me. After looking for a thread where someone switches out one 4.0 for another it seems like I should just buy a new engine if I go through the trouble of pulling one out. Looking at the Jeeps around seem like I would be looking at investing at least 6k to find something like that.
I have some pictures below after I wire brushed the bubbling paint. if I could get some input, other big problems you can see that I am missing, or threads that might help me out..
I have too embarrassed about my situation to post up until now so any advice is appreciated..
Rear Driver Side
Middle Driver Side
Between the manual transmission and the skid plate
Front driver side looking down
front driver side
Here's where I got my numbers..
I have been following this forum for a long time, but this is my first time posting..
I have always dreamed of owning a Wrangler. I preferred the TJ's short wheelbase and everyone's builds over the newer models. I hoped to buy one with the intention of building it up over the next few years. I bought the car of my dreams about 8 months ago. I just got a new job, was trying to find a place to live and needed a car right away. In the past I only bought cars off of craigslist, but I thought going with a dealer would be a safer bet (especially with a TJ I had been fantasizing over for years). My lust of being a TJ owner and the immediate need for a DD overthrew my better judgement during the buying process. Instead of putting my research into buying the Jeep I was focused on what I wanted to do to the TJ after I got it. The inside floors looked good when I pulled up the carpet and the frame was painted black. I overlooked a lot of warning signs I have now seen throughout these posts. This Wrangler X was a manual and had 80K with the 4.0 engine I wanted to start out with. I thought that this would last me a couple years as a DD until I could buy a truck to focus on building up the Wrangler. In the first couple weeks of owning the car I had to replace the rusted out front sway arm connectors. I called the dealer after my inspection (which I should have done in the first place) turned up some pretty bad rust. Their response was that I should have looked at the car closer when I purchased. A week later I popped out and replaced the steering box because I came out to my TJ was leaking power steering fluid. I've done a few other common things that have come up throughout the months. My embarrassment of my findings have kept me from posting on this forum to date. Before the winter I took off any visible rust with a wire brush and RP'd the hell out of it to try to make it through the winter. . During the winter I got underbody car washes often as possible to try to keep the situation from getting worse. My wife and I just bought our new house last month so my eye was off the ball. After getting screwed on the Jeep I wanted to make sure I thoroughly researched a house, mortgages, etc. I really didn't realize how screwed I was until a couple weeks ago. The skid plate looked to be sagging a little, but on the way home when I realized it was sagging it rusted out, and hung about 4" from my driver side frame. I started wirebrushing the paint on the frame I realized the dealer had painted over the worst of it to make it look better than it was. I'm still making payments on the Wrangler so I am looking for the best advice to stop from making a terrible situation worse. I have a car I can borrow for a couple-few months so I bought myself some time. Below is after wire brushing the paint off the frame.
A shop owner told me the Jeep is totaled. He let me keep the Jeep in his parking lot with the skid plate jacked up for a week while I tried to figure out my next move. He said the dealership did a pretty good job of prettying the car up, but I doubt its anything I can prove at this point.
I found a custom welder who was weary about taking on the job. I told him I would do whatever it takes to fix it. I would drop the fuel tank and give him side by side pictures of what other jeeps with the condition looked like compared to what mine looked like. I've seen some videos of this getting fixed, but not sure if I'll be so lucky.
I was hoping I could bring the welder the floor support, safeTcap, rear coil spring bracket, and small lift.
When I researched what dropping the fuel tank entailed I was optimistic I could take on the job. Unfortunately there is rust at the top of the rear coil and spring bracket. I wanted to replace these anyway with a 2" Old Man Emu Kit.
If you're reading this you probably have already seen the links below..
https://www.autorust.com/product/full-length-floor-channel-subframe-set-wrangler-tj-97-06/https://www.autorust.com/product/wrangler-tj-full-center-section-with-rear-trail-arm-mounts/
I know I need new brake lines, and I took out the exhaust mount when I was checking for rust..
That puts me at 2640 + another 1000 of best case scenario "other random things I find" before I start putting in labor (hoping for the best 1500 if I remove the gas tank first?). That puts me at 5140 best case to do the job. Scrapping it puts me at something like 2k-3k so putting in that money seems like a good option if it takes care of the problem.
The only other way out would be to find a high mileage TJ in Illinois with a good frame and switch out the engine. I figure it will be a fat chance of finding that type of TJ near me. After looking for a thread where someone switches out one 4.0 for another it seems like I should just buy a new engine if I go through the trouble of pulling one out. Looking at the Jeeps around seem like I would be looking at investing at least 6k to find something like that.
I have some pictures below after I wire brushed the bubbling paint. if I could get some input, other big problems you can see that I am missing, or threads that might help me out..
I have too embarrassed about my situation to post up until now so any advice is appreciated..
Rear Driver Side
Middle Driver Side
Between the manual transmission and the skid plate
Front driver side looking down
front driver side
Here's where I got my numbers..
| 850 | frame rails |
| 390 | floor channel |
| 102 | spring bracket relocation |
| 930 | 2" Old Man Emu Kit |
| 108 | Brake Lines |
| 260 | skid plate |
| 1000 | Other things |
| 1500 | Labor |
| 5140 |
