I recently bought a 2001 TJ not knowing what to look for. I got under there today to change the oil and saw what I would consider some substantial frame rot. Was wondering if anyone could let me know how extensive the rust damage is to this Jeep and possibly how much it would this cost to replace or repair.
2001 TJ frame repair and cost
- Thread starter DeadPhish
- Start date
Sorry, not good....Looks like almost split in half in the one spot. Others with more experience will chime in but I think there needs to be some solid frame to be able to apply caps and not sure you have that. Get some professional advice too but might need a frame replacement and that is way pricey. Sorry, to hear/see this.
Just seeing the 3rd 4th and 5th pictures I wouldn't drive that TJ on the road at all or more than 10 mph off road.
And I'm one of the members that can accept more rust than most of the others would.
What are NY laws on vehicle safety?
And I'm one of the members that can accept more rust than most of the others would.
What are NY laws on vehicle safety?
SaharaBound
TJ Enthusiast
SaharaBound
TJ Enthusiast
Floor pans: Look under carpet driver and passenger sides front. Toque boxes: right above frame where body mounts are
Before you do too much more I'd go around the whole frame and I guess body with a pointed hammer to check the thickness of the rest of the metal. The area you show is common and not that hard to fix but does require a number of hours to be done right. You'll see guys say they can do it for $500 but I'd run from that offer.
Coincidentally I also have a 2001 and it had very similar rust. The worst sections were actually the center sections where the skid plate mounts.
I only had one bolt on each side actually holding the plate up.
Judging by your pictures, I think its
Repairable. Safe-t-cap will work well as long as the top of your frame rails are ok. I paid the MSRP on parts for my repair (approx. $1000 from safe t cap, which was everything but the driver side front control arm mount section). I then paid an additional $1500 for the removal/ install/ cleaning/prep/paint of new parts. So all in I was close to $2600. For perspective, I only spent this much bc my Jeep has 74k miles and everything else (body/interior/etc) is close to perfect. Good luck! I
Hope this helps.
I only had one bolt on each side actually holding the plate up.
Judging by your pictures, I think its
Repairable. Safe-t-cap will work well as long as the top of your frame rails are ok. I paid the MSRP on parts for my repair (approx. $1000 from safe t cap, which was everything but the driver side front control arm mount section). I then paid an additional $1500 for the removal/ install/ cleaning/prep/paint of new parts. So all in I was close to $2600. For perspective, I only spent this much bc my Jeep has 74k miles and everything else (body/interior/etc) is close to perfect. Good luck! I
Hope this helps.
dvTJ
Member
I'd be curious if you have some recourse if you bought from a dealership. When I was shopping for Jeeps I found one on a lot that had holes rusted through the frame. It wasn't safe and I had a sales manager come out to see me put my finger through the frame. He said they would immediately remove it from the lot (who knows if they did). He also told me they did a full inspection, but if that's true and they still tried to sale that death trap to someone, it's borderline criminal.
Great post!!
That's what I was thinking of when I asked about NY laws on vehicle safety. Unfortunately I left the recourse part out, if I even could have come up with a word like that.
UPDATE:
Turns out the damage is more substantial than I thought. Would cost me way more to repair than it will wind up being worth in the end. Anyone have any advice on how to get rid of this thing for parts? In good conscious I could not sell it to anyone knowing what I know. I wish the guy who sold it to me felt the same way.
Turns out the damage is more substantial than I thought. Would cost me way more to repair than it will wind up being worth in the end. Anyone have any advice on how to get rid of this thing for parts? In good conscious I could not sell it to anyone knowing what I know. I wish the guy who sold it to me felt the same way.
I didn’t take it to Goonies. A friend of mine is a mechanic and he took a thorough look at it over the weekend. He said the frame and motor mounts need to be completely replaced, one of the brake calipers is completely frozen, he wasn’t even comfortable putting on the lift to check the suspension. It has a litany of small issues, it that was the main thing.
I don't know what you have in it, but part it out and move on. If it has a hard top, good doors, good soft top you will see people all over craigslist on the island parting out jeeps.