Call 4x4 land. If yours is driveable, I think they said the one side center rail was 250 for part and 400ish for labor. It was super reasonable. Mine is high because Im replacing over 70% of the frame.
Let's talk about it: Frame rot
- Thread starter Trailrated TJ
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Would you mind sharing down time and cost? Can you figure out number of hrs it took based on their shop rate and your invoice?
I had so much stuff done that my number isn't in the range someone else would get. But it took my very busy shop about 4 months from dropping the Jeep off to picking it up. Expect somewhere in the range of $3k-$4k in labor, though mine wasn't in that range for a number of reasons.
Thx, that's about what I figured for a shop to do it. Depending on what you have into your Jeep, that almost puts it out of "recover your costs" category if you sell it. If you can do it yourself, it would be doable from a cost prospective.
Ive told my wife a number of times, if we go down this road (buying a TJ), we cant look at it as an investment, because we will never get out of it what we put into it. We do it for the love of the Jeep. I guess that is really the premise of the OP question. Is it worth it, only for the love...
Not_Invented_Here_
TJ Addict
Thanks, really good to know. And yeah, I'm in good shape for hopefully several years to come as long as I keep doing my due diligence and treating/rinsing it as often as I do. I don't go mudding or anything like that and the only problem areas are just on that passenger side.
Regarding fluid film; I power wash after every off-road excursion, how durable is fluid film on the outside of the frame? As to the inside of the frame I’m leaning towards a rust converter and the FF or similar. Also, does FF attract and or hold dirt?
On the Jeepz posting, never heard of the shop, work near there. I like to think I personally know a lot of the prominent jeep club leaders who own shops in the Indy area and none are the guy who posted that. I know an acid dip place but it's on the other side of town.
Doesn't mean the guy still isn't in business just never seen anything like it on any of the Facebook club pages.
Doesn't mean the guy still isn't in business just never seen anything like it on any of the Facebook club pages.
I've spoken with him and emailed back and forth a couple times over the last 2 months he says he's still doing them. He says he stays about four to six weeks out on work. She actually cuts out rotten sections and replaces them rather than just capping. I was just curious as if anyone had ever heard of him or dealt with him.
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Eastwood seems fine so far. I also debated using fluid film on the inside of the frame, but I was concerned it would attract dirt and crap and create an uncleanable swamp inside my frame. I know others have used FF internally and had good results, but Eastwood seemed to be a more permanent solution. I flushed it out first and then applied the next day.
The regular safety caps involve cutting the old rust out. No one sells pure caps that just go over the rust. All the weld in segments you see involve chopping out the old rust.
I know that...I was just saying he cuts the whole section out rather than just the rust...not saying that one is better than the other. Both address it, just in different ways.
Ah, I see. That is a little harder to install since you have to make sure the frame doesn't move around when you have the whole thing cut in two. I'm sure he has that covered though and his repairs look fairly good from what I've seen. I read about him a few years back when I was still considering doing frame repair instead of the frame swap.
The autorust cap is designed so that it is easier to install since the top of the frame is usually rust free. There is a pretty common misconception that the caps only cover up the rust instead of replacing it (I actually think that shop that did my frame swap believes that).
Yeah, I'm not quite sure how he keeps the frame straight, but he does a bang up job of cleaning and prepping the inside of the frame. In an effort to keep rust issues at bay on my LJR, I am interested in him cleaning, sandblasting and prepping, and then POR-15ing my frame. I'm supposed to meet with him within the next couple of weeks and wanted to know if anyone had dealt with him or at least heard about him. It seems odd that work that looks as good as his photo documentation in that post is not more sought after in the Jeep community, especially since that post has been around since 2016. Wouldn't you think if he and his process were legit and sound that he would be known on the forums and in the community?
I found this thread regarding POR. Food for thought 
http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.php?threads/why-is-por-15-so-frowned-upon.2604/
http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.php?threads/why-is-por-15-so-frowned-upon.2604/
Thanks for posting. I wasn't sure about the product but this does shed some light on it. Sounds like a good paint is the way to go.I found this thread regarding POR. Food for thought
http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.php?threads/why-is-por-15-so-frowned-upon.2604/
You’re welcome. It’s always best to have all possible info to make an informed decision with any product.
jeepndogs
TJ Enthusiast
There is a relatively new place in Indiana that is a pretty good source for frames and Tj/Lj parts. Baseline4x4. They have been bringing Jeeps up from the south and dismantling then. I have seen some of incredibly clean frames from them. They can also measure them on a computerized measuring system to verify they are not damaged. They are about two miles from one of my shops so I am in the area just about monthly, if anyone ever found anything there I could make arrangements to swing by and look at in person
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