So I have my 97 Sahara and the body is almost perfect and original. The whole jeep has only 95k original miles. runs great, no mods of any kind under the body. drives great and no issues. I was looking to add a lift and went underneath to look at all that I would want to replace. I noticed that hidden above the trans crossmember on the driver side, was rot, not rust but all the way gone frame section. I want to say about 12-14 inch long and 1/2 wide missing frame from rot. I am wondering how far I can drive this until Its just not drivable. the skid plate seems secure 4.0 with a five speed. Thanks for any advice.
Frame rot: how far to keep driving?
- Thread starter Jeep9748
- Start date
I'm not advising this but, there was a TJ from my town that was driving around with the skid plate on the drivers side that had completely fallen from the frame. There was noticeable gap, only thing holding it on was the passenger side and the tranny mount.
This is why btw I would get some spacers in-between the skid and frame. The way its put together from the factory just wicks moisture in to that area and it does not dry out.
This is why btw I would get some spacers in-between the skid and frame. The way its put together from the factory just wicks moisture in to that area and it does not dry out.
I look at something like that and I think to myself, “wow, that’s really scary”. However, I’ve also never owned a vehicle with rust that bad myself, so I’m not entirely sure how safe it is. I can say that being that it’s part of the frame, that is what worries me most. Realistically you could keep driving it for decades and maybe it would never give you any trouble. However, I wouldn’t chance it. I would say keep driving it if you feel up to it, but work on fixing in in the next year or so.
I had the same exact issue when I bought my 99 Tj. I would recommend fixing it sooner rather than later. A couple of things could happen with that much rot, 1) you could hit something with the skid and destroy the lower part of the frame completely and be left stranded with a hanging t-case.. 2) it could give way with a sudden jerk of movement from the t-case and again you would be stuck with a hanging t-case.. From what the rot looks like, you wont be able to get your skid plate off without breaking the nutserts which would leave you with a non-driveable jeep because you would be left with a hanging t-case... I used "safe-t-caps" replacement parts to replace that section of the frame. If you have any welding experience than its a pretty cheap option to fix your issue. I agree with chris that you could drive it and have nothing happen for a couple of years but I wouldn't chance it.
I plan on fixing it, I just need Spring to actually be here. this snow and cold makes it super hard to make driveway repairs.... anywho, I am hoping it will stay together until I can get it fixed hopefully in the next couple of months...
Yeah you need to get some Safe-T-Caps for sure on that thing!
I would also say you could keep driving it but don't do anything that will flex the frame. Also, your brake lines and evap line are rusted real bad too, you could potentially lose your brakes while driving, just FYI.
Totally doable job though, you sound like you can weld, so thats a huge plus and money saving there. Buy the caps and fix this TJ up!
I would also say you could keep driving it but don't do anything that will flex the frame. Also, your brake lines and evap line are rusted real bad too, you could potentially lose your brakes while driving, just FYI.
Totally doable job though, you sound like you can weld, so thats a huge plus and money saving there. Buy the caps and fix this TJ up!
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fourpointzero
TJ Addict
As EJD said, it can be repaired. Sooner is better. Definitely not next year, but this spring/summer. And again I agree w EJD on the brake lines. You’ll need to get the vape line changed out too.
The more good metal you have, the better the adhesion for your welds.
Best of luck!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
The more good metal you have, the better the adhesion for your welds.
Best of luck!
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I know that it needs replaced, I am just wondering how far I can go before I will be stranded. as in how far has anyone else gone before they said nope frame is too far gone. I plan on playing a HUGE game of legos this summer. As in I have my other 97 TJ that has a really good frame, but the body is about done(245K miles on that TJ). so obviously I am hoping I can hold out till I can do the swap.
tquig01
TJ Enthusiast
My opinion is to not put this off for two reasons. First, with your brake lines that rusty, imagine a situation where they fail and you have to rely on that frame to keep you (or others) alive. Maybe its my NY experience, but that is a lawyer's wet dream. From that perspective, drive it at your own risk.
From a pure "when is it going to snap and leave me stranded" perspective, it is impossible to tell. There may be cracks that aren't visible through all the rust. Remember that in order to use safe-T-caps, you must have good metal to weld to on both sides of the frame. Once you have less than 1" to the top of the frame, there is not enough to weld to maintain sufficient strength. Every day that you wait is a day closer to making it unrepairable. Hate to see you wait until summer only to find out there is too much rust and now you are stuck doing a full frame swap.
From a pure "when is it going to snap and leave me stranded" perspective, it is impossible to tell. There may be cracks that aren't visible through all the rust. Remember that in order to use safe-T-caps, you must have good metal to weld to on both sides of the frame. Once you have less than 1" to the top of the frame, there is not enough to weld to maintain sufficient strength. Every day that you wait is a day closer to making it unrepairable. Hate to see you wait until summer only to find out there is too much rust and now you are stuck doing a full frame swap.
Starrs
TJ Guru
I was planning on reundercoating mine again here soon when it gets a bit nicer out, but I called ziebart just to inquire about their services. It’s like 400 bucks and to maintain the warranty just go back yearly to have the undercoat checked for any cracking. I’m prolly gonna go through with this in a couple weeks. I don’t have any frame rot, but I don’t want it to get to that point either.
I would recommend dealing with the rot soon rather than waiting also. You can have s perfect body jeep and then underneath it is dead and so is your jeep. Prime example is the mango tango AEV equipped jk350 I found. Asked the sales guy to send me frame pics and I about threw up. He was completely upfront and honest with me and told me he knows they won’t ever sell it unless the buyer happens to not look underneath. Frame rust is no joke and it’s awful. Sucks that there has to be so much upkeep with these, but it’s part of it.
I would recommend dealing with the rot soon rather than waiting also. You can have s perfect body jeep and then underneath it is dead and so is your jeep. Prime example is the mango tango AEV equipped jk350 I found. Asked the sales guy to send me frame pics and I about threw up. He was completely upfront and honest with me and told me he knows they won’t ever sell it unless the buyer happens to not look underneath. Frame rust is no joke and it’s awful. Sucks that there has to be so much upkeep with these, but it’s part of it.
greenliftedtj97
TJ Enthusiast
I've never had luck with any kind of undercoating, seems to actually make rot worse. I have better luck, just keeping it clean and spraying it with a fresh coat of gloss black every spring.
Starrs
TJ Guru
I’ve heard those same complaints, and the only reason I can think of is the owner badly scraped the coating off the frame or underneath somewhere and didn’t take it back to have touched up which they tell you before and after you have it done. It’s not impenetrable, but if handled correctly I don’t see how it could be worse.
If it's not perfectly clean before you coat it, that coating will actually trap the moisture and it will corrode under the coating. That's how it can be worse... Also why they recommend it be done immediately when you purchase a new vehicle.
tquig01
TJ Enthusiast
Plating the side will only last if you cut the old rust off. Otherwise it will just continue to eat away until the plate falls off. Cut out the rust, hit it with some good weld-thru primer, weld on the plate and use some frame saver (Eastwood makes a good product). That should keep it in business for long enough to plan out a frame swap. The only issue you may have is the nutserts for the skid plate. If it was me, I would buy 6 of them before hand just in case. You should be able to get it done in 4-6hrs. Most of your time will be dealing with the damn nutserts.