Collector grade Jeep Wrangler TJs for sale

How much of a problem with this rust be?

JDS123

JDS123

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Hi all,
I've known for a while that my TJ's going to need a new frame in the upcoming years. After spending its whole life in the snow, there is some rust taking over the inside of the frame. I washed out my frame earlier today after a wheeling trip and noticed a hole (I've attached pictures below). The hole is on the passenger side near the front control arm mount. How much of a concern should this be? I was hoping to get a few more years out of the frame before I did a swap. Should this cause immediate concern and attention? The rest of the frame seems solid and there are no holes or soft points anywhere else.

Thanks!

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jodomcfrodo said:
Hi all,
I've known for a while that my TJ's going to need a new frame in the upcoming years. After spending its whole life in the snow, there is some rust taking over the inside of the frame. I washed out my frame earlier today after a wheeling trip and noticed a hole (I've attached pictures below). The hole is on the passenger side near the front control arm mount. How much of a concern should this be? I was hoping to get a few more years out of the frame before I did a swap. Should this cause immediate concern and attention? The rest of the frame seems solid and there are no holes or soft points anywhere else.

Thanks!

View attachment 47121 View attachment 47122
Click to expand...

I’m not a Jeep expert, but I would not be worrying about having to get a new frame for that. Mine is way worse, but in the spots where the TJs are know to rust and I’m just cutting it out and welding in a new piece. I would how ever, use some of that stuff you can spray inside your frame that keeps it from rusting inside out. That makes me feel uneasy about mine. Lol. I don’t think you need a new frame though.


EDIT: It is called Eastwood internal frame coating.


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Last edited:
I have the same problem, below rear left control arm bracket to the frame and it's like the same size as this. I ended up grinding away until it was a bare metal edged hole and put a few coats of paint to keep it from getting any worse. Not worried anymore too much because the rest of the frames good just the inside bottom section it's got rust and I tried picking as much rust away with my fingers and I might paint the inside idk but I drilled a little hole on the opposite frame end to keep water from staying inside


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dcb481e2b211058eb21e0aaa5adaf430.webp
see rest of its fine this is when I first noticed it, felt a lil better too after a friend with a yj told me he rode his for a couple months with half the frame cracked which is Insane. Again it's all my opinion


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Well, Its probably not going to break in half...but its not going to get any better either. There is one thing you can bet on though...if you have a hole there, you have other places in the frame that are probably nearly as bad. Kind of a bummer, the way they are designed. You can't see it happening, until its almost too late.
 
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Your options to do this right are Safe-t-caps, fab the equivalent yourself, or a frame swap.

Most tj frames when they rot do it at the rear control arm mountsfirst, but who knows, maby yours spent its life parked facing down hill. I'd be carefully checking frame thickness over the skid plate and rear control arm brackets. You can probably keep driving like this for a good while, but you may hit a pot hole and suddenly the axle is no longer attached to the frame on one side, I've seen it happen. The choice is yours but I'd be planning to fix it sooner than later. You are after all taking a risk with the lives of anyone on the jeep with you and anyone on the road around you. Calculating that risk is up to you.

Also a YJ is a different animal, leaf springs are connected to the frame in two spots. Control arms just one.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
Drizit said:
Your options to do this right are Safe-t-caps, fab the equivalent yourself, or a frame swap.

Most tj frames when they rot do it at the rear control arm mountsfirst, but who knows, maby yours spent its life parked facing down hill. I'd be carefully checking frame thickness over the skid plate and rear control arm brackets. You can probably keep driving like this for a good while, but you may hit a pot hole and suddenly the axle is no longer attached to the frame on one side, I've seen it happen. The choice is yours but I'd be planning to fix it sooner than later. You are after all taking a risk with the lives of anyone on the jeep with you and anyone on the road around you. Calculating that risk is up to you.

Also a YJ is a different animal, leaf springs are connected to the frame in two spots. Control arms just one.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
Click to expand...

I'd end up going with a frame swap. Not a fan of the weld in caps. Do you think that this hole is cause for immediate concern? The rest of the frame is fairly solid. No soft spots anywhere else. I have a trip to Colorado planned in the fall. Would you personally feel comfortable going down the highway at 75 mph with a frame in this condition?
 
It's hard to say, unfortunately soft stops don't show up until the hole is basically already there. The frame rots from the inside out so the only ways to know for sure are when it goes all the way through or to drill a small hole 1/8" or less will do in all the usuall failure areas and see how thick they are.

If you loose control of the front axle at 75mph its almost a guarantee you will roll. If you loose it on a sketch turn at speed in the mountains with a 1000ft of nothing off the side of the road... Well there's potentialy no comming back from that. If that hole is all that's bad and a 1/2" away from the edge the frame is back to its full 1/4" thickness it's probably fine.

If not you could end up like this
919c925fd1dd30f1c3429c93c0c21316.webp

At the worst possible time. I've seen frames that started with a hole like yours and within a month or two had lost a control arm bracket.

I'm somewhat risk adverse when it comes to things like that but it's all up to you.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
Do you know anyone with a welder and the skill to use it? There isn't anything wrong with cutting out the bad spot and welding in a patch. Done properly, you don't give up any strength.

That is how is fix it... Plus you will get to see inside, and see how the metal is around the critical control arm mount.

@Drizit you're right about the YJ having leafs and two connection points. Also that control arms are only connected to the frame at one point... But there are four control arms. Would breaking one mount cause the axle to be totally uncontrolled on that side?
It shouldn't, right? Even with one broken lower mount, the upper should be able to control the position of the axle long enough to get stopped safely.
 
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Depends on a few things, like if the upper mount is ripped off by the extra stress. Also how rusty the arm is. In a rear axle I'd be far more tempted to chance it. However with the front it's under a lot more stress due to steering and brake inputs.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
TJ2 said:
That is still a solid frame my man, I have seen way worst that yours and still running on the road for years. Now for Drizit frame, that is a concern, not even close to yours.
Click to expand...

It is going to need a new frame in a few years so I should start looking now I guess. The inside of the frame is not great in the middle near the transfer case skid plate. I'm not concerned about tumbling down the highway, but still think I should look at a new frame for the future. No use in letting it get worse, but I'm still in no hurry to get it fixed. I'm just not sure how much of a problem it is now, but judging by your comment and others, it doesn't seem like a big problem (which is a good thing).


Ranger_b0b said:
Do you know anyone with a welder and the skill to use it? There isn't anything wrong with cutting out the bad spot and welding in a patch. Done properly, you don't give up any strength.

That is how is fix it... Plus you will get to see inside, and see how the metal is around the critical control arm mount.

@Drizit you're right about the YJ having leafs and two connection points. Also that control arms are only connected to the frame at one point... But there are four control arms. Would breaking one mount cause the axle to be totally uncontrolled on that side?
It shouldn't, right? Even with one broken lower mount, the upper should be able to control the position of the axle long enough to get stopped safely.
Click to expand...

I know plenty of people that can weld and I have access to a welder. But, if I'm honest, I'm not a fan of patching the frame. I just don't like the idea, even if it may be a somewhat acceptable repair. No use welding on it when the middle of the frame is going to rot out within a few years (especially considering I'm now in Illinois, which is killing my jeep with salt).
 
If you are in a heavy salt state I wouldn't count on more that 1 maby 2 years tops before you run into serious issues. Also if the frame is rotting around the skid area, don't try and pull those skid bolts till you are ready to do something about it. Chances are the nutserts won't play nice.

—
There must have been a time
when we could have said no.
 
Since most of our frames rot from the inside out and if left unattended could kill us. Why doesn’t Chrysler issue a recall. I feel like some people blow this up to be more than it is. Periodically check your frame and maintain it. If you live in the rust belt and it gets nice for a little bit it the winter, hose out your frame. Put some drain holes in low spots. Use chassis saver. Welding in new pieces of metal maintains the same structural integrity. We shouldn’t have to do this maintenance, but Chrysler won’t man up and issue the recall. If you want to put in a new frame and have the same thing happen, then by all means go ahead. Rust is like Cancer, it spreads. Once it gets into your new frame, more rot. Why do all that work when you can patch it. If you are a good welder, you can make it look OEM. That hole could even act as a drain hole for you. Mine is worse, but in the spot where it rusts all the time. I’m going to check the thickness all around and cutout and weld in new, more beefier pieces. Sorry for my rant, but those are my thoughts. Good luck with whatever you decide.


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Bruce20 said:
Since most of our frames rot from the inside out and if left unattended could kill us. Why doesn’t Chrysler issue a recall. I feel like some people blow this up to be more than it is. Periodically check your frame and maintain it. If you live in the rust belt and it gets nice for a little bit it the winter, hose out your frame. Put some drain holes in low spots. Use chassis saver. Welding in new pieces of metal maintains the same structural integrity. We shouldn’t have to do this maintenance, but Chrysler won’t man up and issue the recall. If you want to put in a new frame and have the same thing happen, then by all means go ahead. Rust is like Cancer, it spreads. Once it gets into your new frame, more rot. Why do all that work when you can patch it. If you are a good welder, you can make it look OEM. That hole could even act as a drain hole for you. Mine is worse, but in the spot where it rusts all the time. I’m going to check the thickness all around and cutout and weld in new, more beefier pieces. Sorry for my rant, but those are my thoughts. Good luck with whatever you decide.


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Click to expand...

The idea behind putting a new frame under the Jeep is that I would know to take better care of it. The jeep has been in the family since it was new. At the time it was bought, we didn't know that the frame would rust out and therefore didn't pay much attention to it. Once it started rusting, there wasn't much stopping it. Patching a frame that is already rusting from the inside out doesn't make much sense to me. I can patch this then watch other holes appear and patch those. Or, I can start fresh, take good care of the new frame, and never have a problem again.
 
jodomcfrodo said:
The idea behind putting a new frame under the Jeep is that I would know to take better care of it. The jeep has been in the family since it was new. At the time it was bought, we didn't know that the frame would rust out and therefore didn't pay much attention to it. Once it started rusting, there wasn't much stopping it. Patching a frame that is already rusting from the inside out doesn't make much sense to me. I can patch this then watch other holes appear and patch those. Or, I can start fresh, take good care of the new frame, and never have a problem again.
Click to expand...

Like I said, to each his own. I know a very good welder that has worked on many of these Jeeps and he has done a great job to where it almost looks oem.


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