I did my rusty frame swap and replaced torque tubes, parts of floor in just under 2 months. That was working pretty much every night after school and weekend.
Frame rot
- Thread starter Jbelcher
- Start date
I did my rusty frame swap and replaced torque tubes, parts of floor in just under 2 months. That was working pretty much every night after school and weekend.
I took my time and worked on it over 3 months. I also did a lot of upgrades while it was apart. I have photos here: https://hv4w.org/galleries/?ga_id=32
absolutely, I think a lot of people that do repairs or swaps go right back to business as usual, insane.
I've seen countless 'Safe-T-Cap'd TJs that are rusted to shit, again! The caps look as bad as what they probably replaced a few years earlier. I think a lot of that may have to do with the lack of drain holes, those things look pretty solid on all sides. If I ever went through the hassle of doing any serious frame remediation or swap & then planned on driving it in the northeast elements, I'd take all known steps to prevent a recurrence for sure. Certainly not driving it in those conditions is ideal if you can swing it, though not really practical for those daily driving them
Great pics! That last pic has the Jeep rolled on its top - you didn’t wreck it after all that swap work did you?!
I did my tub and frame swap in eight days.
Granted I'm in the PNW and has pretty much spent the last two years touching every nut and bolt on my Jeep.
We went on a trip across Oregon and I really finally felt I had the gremlins worked out. It was comfortable to drive. I felt confident I wasn't going to blow up out in the middle of nowhere.
Then my wife smashed into the back of my TJ and...well...we were planning on wheeling on Victoria Island and running the WABDR on the way home.
Pure torture but made some good videos.
Here's the beginning of the rebuild...
Here's the trip before it started...
Rust makes everything suck. Took me three weeks of trying to get the skid pan off before I torched through the spacers...then redid the riv nuts with a BMB kit. If I hadn't done that (and had the transmission in and out seven times) I never could have done it in a week.
-Mac
Granted I'm in the PNW and has pretty much spent the last two years touching every nut and bolt on my Jeep.
We went on a trip across Oregon and I really finally felt I had the gremlins worked out. It was comfortable to drive. I felt confident I wasn't going to blow up out in the middle of nowhere.
Then my wife smashed into the back of my TJ and...well...we were planning on wheeling on Victoria Island and running the WABDR on the way home.
Pure torture but made some good videos.
Here's the beginning of the rebuild...
Here's the trip before it started...
Rust makes everything suck. Took me three weeks of trying to get the skid pan off before I torched through the spacers...then redid the riv nuts with a BMB kit. If I hadn't done that (and had the transmission in and out seven times) I never could have done it in a week.
-Mac
Yikes - I followed your saga when it happened Mac and if it takes you 8 days with no rust it’s a few months for normal humans!
The roll was the first run after all that work. I had to replace the hood, windshield, and top. The tub got damaged in the rear when we had to right back on its wheels. I put on aluminum corners painted to match afterwards. I still drive and wheel it although its not my daily. I keep it in the garage at first site of salt here in the NE.
When I had my daughter's Jeep fixed at Safety-Cap, I brought it home, drilled additional holes in the bottom, painted the inside of the frame with a wand and let it dry. After that, we fluid filmed the entire underside and we do so every year. That was done in 2019 and it looks brand new still.
My son bought his 2003 in 2014 (He was a junior in High School at the time). It was very rust free. We have been spraying fluid film on it yearly. It still looks great and he's been using it as his daily driver up until this year.
I only wish I took my own advice on my 2012 Ram. Everything on that looks great except the bed wheel wells.
When I had my daughter's Jeep fixed at Safety-Cap, I brought it home, drilled additional holes in the bottom, painted the inside of the frame with a wand and let it dry. After that, we fluid filmed the entire underside and we do so every year. That was done in 2019 and it looks brand new still.
My son bought his 2003 in 2014 (He was a junior in High School at the time). It was very rust free. We have been spraying fluid film on it yearly. It still looks great and he's been using it as his daily driver up until this year.
I only wish I took my own advice on my 2012 Ram. Everything on that looks great except the bed wheel wells.
and that's the way to do it, unfortunately in these parts it's either that or you'll suffer the consequences. If I took my TJ out on icy/salty roads that thing would be glistening with fluid film
Like I said above, so many people don't do that following a frame repair, blows my mind that you'd spend all that money/effort to preserve a TJ then treat it the same way that nearly killed it the first time...
I have a (bad) habit of sticking my head under every TJ I see, a morbid curiosity I guess, I've seen some horrid shit over the years
I do the same thing. I can't believe the number of people who are oblivious to what is happening under their Jeep or vehicles in general.
I use Cosmoline since the frame swap. It does a great job at corrosion prevention, and I dread the day I have to remove it.
Making progress. things are going okay and I am halfway through the drivers side removal.
PS
If you don't have a plasma cutter, you need one!
PS
If you don't have a plasma cutter, you need one!
Finished up cutting a majority of the Drivers side today. Need to clean up the the area around the Control arm mounts.
The inside was not as fun as the outside, the whole laying down on your back deal.
Going to switch to the rear jack for holding up the transmission to get a better position on the front position.
The inside was not as fun as the outside, the whole laying down on your back deal.
Going to switch to the rear jack for holding up the transmission to get a better position on the front position.
Finally Got around to cutting out the passenger side.
Had some issues with the stabilizer link bolts had to cut around the brackets, will deal with that later.
Ready for a clean up and prep work.
Had some issues with the stabilizer link bolts had to cut around the brackets, will deal with that later.
Ready for a clean up and prep work.
My wife’s family is from New England. For the most part they are just not car people; they just think of cars as disposable things that rot out.
I started my driving years in salt free states and now live in New England. Nobody told me how bad the salt thing was! It does take a ton of time, money and / or effort for those of us that want to keep our vehicles more than 5-10 years. I wish there was a better alternative than salt. It just causes so much damage!
[/hijack]
I started my driving years in salt free states and now live in New England. Nobody told me how bad the salt thing was! It does take a ton of time, money and / or effort for those of us that want to keep our vehicles more than 5-10 years. I wish there was a better alternative than salt. It just causes so much damage!
[/hijack]
I somewhat agree with the sentiment about "lazy people".
In my defense, I have attempted to take steps to try and stop the rust, had a lot of fun for 7 years after.
But it turned into a daily driver about 11 years ago, when I got rid of my other vehicle.
Since then, I did get lazy with it. I do maintain it, just not enough attention to the frame. I was easy to miss the rot at first glance since i coated it with Chassis Saver it looked fine. But I wouldn't recommend using that stuff. Looks good for a bit, but it hides issues.
