OP
Sold my old tub tonight! Cha-ching! Guy gave me 384 dollars and I gave him my old carpet. Savvy taillights are on the way
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MiRustyjeep
- Thread starter Mike_H
- Start date
Happens. A lot. My entire rig is one bone headed mistake after another.
By the way - how did you come to $384 as the sale price for the tub?
OP
He gave me what was in his wallet. I was asking 400 obo. I could tell he wanted it, So I made him give me a number instead of me telling him how low I'd go...so, 384. I told him 380 was good enough, but he wanted to give me the extra!
If your rig is all bone headed mistakes...maybe I should make more of them!
OP
Good progress today. Got my cross member ready to be installed. New tube for the frame for the last 6 inches, sandblasted the inside off the cross member, shot some paint.
Put the tub on to get my positioning right. First fit of the new one! I did find that the front driver body mount is bent. Not real happy at this point with baseline 4x4. There was a lot of damage that wasn't disclosed in their ad.
Anyway, since 2.5 x 4 tubing is so hard to get, I had some 1.25 x 4 channel formed up. Cut it down to my 6 inch length, and welded it together.
Got my cross member tacked to the tubes, and started fitting the rear cross member back in. Took a couple tries, but I'm pretty happy with it now. I tacked in a piece of angle to help me get it back in the same spot again (never mind the body lift pick underneath the body mount...I need to get a couple of the proper sized 7/16" bolts)
Spent the last part of the evening fully welding the tubes to the cross member.
Tomorrow, I'll tack the cross member in, pull the tub back off and finish up this part of the project. Hopefully, I can get my spring perches replaced too.
Put the tub on to get my positioning right. First fit of the new one! I did find that the front driver body mount is bent. Not real happy at this point with baseline 4x4. There was a lot of damage that wasn't disclosed in their ad.
Anyway, since 2.5 x 4 tubing is so hard to get, I had some 1.25 x 4 channel formed up. Cut it down to my 6 inch length, and welded it together.
Got my cross member tacked to the tubes, and started fitting the rear cross member back in. Took a couple tries, but I'm pretty happy with it now. I tacked in a piece of angle to help me get it back in the same spot again (never mind the body lift pick underneath the body mount...I need to get a couple of the proper sized 7/16" bolts)
Spent the last part of the evening fully welding the tubes to the cross member.
Tomorrow, I'll tack the cross member in, pull the tub back off and finish up this part of the project. Hopefully, I can get my spring perches replaced too.
I think we need to name this thread the " hard way" build! Lol!
OP
Everything I do is made harder by rust.
My next Jeep will come from the south west, for sure.
Sounds like a good signature
OP
Finished up the cross-member today. This little project took a fair bit longer than I expected. When you add new steel into the frame, it adds a layer of complexity to the job that I should have, but did not anticipate. I did pretty good though, keeping my cuts straight and measuring twice. I ended up having an epiphany last night right before I fell asleep in that when I was test fitting, I had not bolted the tub down to the frame. I was, however, bolting the cross-member down. I thought I should be consistent, so I went through and bolted the tub to the frame and re-fit the cross-member. I ended up needing to shorten my new frame rails a little (like a heavy 1/16") to get things to line up properly. Finally got it tacked in place, pulled all the body mounts and removed the tub again.
Then I got to work with the welding, cutting, fitting, etc. I'm still not a welder...but its not terrible. I will have to grind the inside of the rails to get a fishplate on there good, but its nice to get some progress going again.
Oh, by the way...this filler piece on the bottom of the frame, where the frame gets cut flush with the raised section? GIANT pain in the butt to weld. They are UGLY
Tomorrow, I'll get the spring perches cut off, and weld in the new ones I got from Dorman. I do a coil perch relocation at that time. Once that is done, I'll scuff and paint the frame...and I can FINALLY start re-assembly. My goal is to get the tub mounted the first week in April, which will give me a month to get it assembled and then a couple weeks for shakedown before my wheeling trip.
Then I got to work with the welding, cutting, fitting, etc. I'm still not a welder...but its not terrible. I will have to grind the inside of the rails to get a fishplate on there good, but its nice to get some progress going again.
Oh, by the way...this filler piece on the bottom of the frame, where the frame gets cut flush with the raised section? GIANT pain in the butt to weld. They are UGLY
Tomorrow, I'll get the spring perches cut off, and weld in the new ones I got from Dorman. I do a coil perch relocation at that time. Once that is done, I'll scuff and paint the frame...and I can FINALLY start re-assembly. My goal is to get the tub mounted the first week in April, which will give me a month to get it assembled and then a couple weeks for shakedown before my wheeling trip.
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OP
More progress tonight. Got a reinforcement plate welded on the frame. Ugly welds. Just when I start to think I'm figuring it out, I am faced with another challenging position and reminds me that this is not an easy thing to do. I got a lot of weld on it though, so it should be fine.
Once I finished that project, I got to freaking with my spring perches. They were getting pretty thin, so I decided to replace them and relocate them at the same time.
This is why a relocation is a nice thing to do. After you start rotating the pinion up for a tummy tuck the bump stops don't really line up well. I don't even have a big lift and extreme tuck...
To be honest, if my perches were not rusted to hell, I would have left it. But, there was enough material loss that I was uncomfortable leaving it. Here is an old one, vs a new one
Once they are cut off, which was actually way easier than I thought it would be, I ground the weld and leftover bracket off.
And, a quick mock-up.
I will weld it in tomorrow. I need to cycle the axle to make sure it's in the right spot. Besides, like every project I do on this Jeep, I have to wait for paint to dry...
Once I finished that project, I got to freaking with my spring perches. They were getting pretty thin, so I decided to replace them and relocate them at the same time.
This is why a relocation is a nice thing to do. After you start rotating the pinion up for a tummy tuck the bump stops don't really line up well. I don't even have a big lift and extreme tuck...
To be honest, if my perches were not rusted to hell, I would have left it. But, there was enough material loss that I was uncomfortable leaving it. Here is an old one, vs a new one
Once they are cut off, which was actually way easier than I thought it would be, I ground the weld and leftover bracket off.
And, a quick mock-up.
I will weld it in tomorrow. I need to cycle the axle to make sure it's in the right spot. Besides, like every project I do on this Jeep, I have to wait for paint to dry...
OP
Finished up my spring perch relocation tonight. Cycle checked everything at bump and it's all lined up nice... Though I am short on my bump stops. Too bad it's so hard to pull the tub... Makes getting this right a piece of cake.
You can see the first point of contact is my track bar into the cross member. That happens before my bumps contact. Gonna have to adjust that... But since I'm installing new shocks, I was going to have to to that anyway.
After tacking them in, I was within a 1/4 inch at all four places I measured, so I burned em in.
You can see the first point of contact is my track bar into the cross member. That happens before my bumps contact. Gonna have to adjust that... But since I'm installing new shocks, I was going to have to to that anyway.
After tacking them in, I was within a 1/4 inch at all four places I measured, so I burned em in.
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OP
I'm waiting for some supplies to come in, so I started on my bumper project. I cribbed heavily from jjvw on his bumper setup. I'm planning on using a motobilt stubby, with some customization... Details to follow.
In the rear, I wanted to do a reinforced crossmember style, but didn't like how none of them covered the tub corners. I also wanted a receiver hitch, but didn't really care for the ones on the market. So...I bought the cheapest plate I could find... Happened to be a Barnes. Then I added some steel to it to fit my ideas and I'm pretty happy with the result.
Details are in another thread.
Bumper thread
But, just because I'm a picture whore...
In the rear, I wanted to do a reinforced crossmember style, but didn't like how none of them covered the tub corners. I also wanted a receiver hitch, but didn't really care for the ones on the market. So...I bought the cheapest plate I could find... Happened to be a Barnes. Then I added some steel to it to fit my ideas and I'm pretty happy with the result.
Details are in another thread.
Bumper thread
But, just because I'm a picture whore...
OP
Looking good. It's hard to tell from the photo but almost looks like corvette supersonic blue.
OP
My frame is now painted. I'm a couple days behind my schedule, but I should be able to mount the tub this week. Here is the frame when I started...
Pretty representative. Every place there was a weld, or a hole, I have rust. Its pretty flaky inside too, but still has most of its thickness.
I used Polycarbide discs to strip the rust and paint from the frame
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086PFBKDN/?tag=wranglerorg-20
These worked really good. It took the paint and rust flakes off really easy.
Here is the frame after striping the paint
I used KBS coatings to paint the frame. Its a three step process, just like POR (which I've also used). You first hit the steel with amn organic degreaser. Keep it wet and scrub it for about 10 minutes. Rinse and let dry. Then you spray with a phosporic acid to "etch" the steel and convert the rust. They recommend letting the steel soak for anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour, depending on the rust. I went for the full hour. Then rinse with water again and let air dry. It will flash rust.
All the white stuff is what ever oxide is left when phosphoric acid reacts with Iron Oxide. Once this step is complete, you paint. Its a messy process...but the stuff is STRONG and pretty resilient once dry. I was using acetone to clean up some overspray from a different project and it didn't even remove the gloss from the KBS.
The paint goes on thick too...fills in a lot of the rough, pitted areas that the rust leaves behind. Its not perfect, but a LOT better than it was. I also have three cans of internal frame coating from eastwood to go in, but I gotta get the inside cleaned out. Been working at that a little here and an little there. I need to get the front end lifted up though, and get some help from gravity to really get her clean.
I have a couple areas on the tub to paint (front footwells are worn), I am going to replace my brake lines while the tub is off, and weld in some new nuts on the cross member for the rear shocks. Then the tub goes back on!
Pretty representative. Every place there was a weld, or a hole, I have rust. Its pretty flaky inside too, but still has most of its thickness.
I used Polycarbide discs to strip the rust and paint from the frame
https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B086PFBKDN/?tag=wranglerorg-20
These worked really good. It took the paint and rust flakes off really easy.
Here is the frame after striping the paint
I used KBS coatings to paint the frame. Its a three step process, just like POR (which I've also used). You first hit the steel with amn organic degreaser. Keep it wet and scrub it for about 10 minutes. Rinse and let dry. Then you spray with a phosporic acid to "etch" the steel and convert the rust. They recommend letting the steel soak for anywhere from 20 minutes to one hour, depending on the rust. I went for the full hour. Then rinse with water again and let air dry. It will flash rust.
All the white stuff is what ever oxide is left when phosphoric acid reacts with Iron Oxide. Once this step is complete, you paint. Its a messy process...but the stuff is STRONG and pretty resilient once dry. I was using acetone to clean up some overspray from a different project and it didn't even remove the gloss from the KBS.
The paint goes on thick too...fills in a lot of the rough, pitted areas that the rust leaves behind. Its not perfect, but a LOT better than it was. I also have three cans of internal frame coating from eastwood to go in, but I gotta get the inside cleaned out. Been working at that a little here and an little there. I need to get the front end lifted up though, and get some help from gravity to really get her clean.
I have a couple areas on the tub to paint (front footwells are worn), I am going to replace my brake lines while the tub is off, and weld in some new nuts on the cross member for the rear shocks. Then the tub goes back on!
OP
It really is a Shame that Chrysler couldn't figure out how to get the water and crap OUT of the frame. The outside is in really good shape. I'd say 75% of the metal is clean and smooth. Inside is a whole 'nother story though...They totally rot from the inside out.
I was reading something, somewhere, that said the galvanneal steel (steel made with extra zinc to help it resist corrosion) is really great...until you weld it. The welding burns away the zinc and leaves an unprotected area. Judging by the way my frame and tub rusted, I'd say that is 100% spot on. Every spot weld was rusted. Then because they don't seam seal the outside, the seams collect and hold water, so they were rusty too.
I know cars are not supposed to last forever, and being that mine has been a rust belt vehicle for most of its 17 years, I'd say its in decent shape, but dang...it would have been nice if they had spend a couple more bucks and applied a seam sealer to the outside of the tub...and maybe designed in some openings for crap to get OUT of the frame. Their handling and access holes would have been perfect, if they went to the bottom of the frame!
Would a weld through primer have helped stop the problem you think? I read somewhere the other day that Chrysler doesn't use it but many other manufacturers do.
OP
No, not any more than just holding them against the axle. Been thinking thru how they install tho.@Mike_H man you are totally revitalizing the Jeep this year. Awesome job man. Have you checked the placemen/fitment of the "recent goodies" yet?
