New TJ Frames

Hot dipped galvanized! Too bad they stop with the 2002 model year!
Sure would be the cats meow for some of the rusted out ?Js
 
It's a custom shop, so maybe there is a way to get them to bend up a frame for just about anything. The list of frames they make is pretty long. So, what is the difference in a pre 2002 frame and a post 2002 frame? Seriously don't know.

I was thinking that this would be a great place to start for a custom off road TJ. With all of the money you end up putting into a rig, why not start with a new, bare frame and work up from there? If you are doing suspension, axles, armor, and all of the other goodies that go into a full build, the extra 4 grand or so for a new galvanized frame is pretty trivial in the grand scheme of things.

Plus, how nice would it be to have easy access to all of the stuff that's normally hard to get to during a build with the body on?
 
Nope, it doesn't look like the assembly holes are there.

As a side note: Don't get the frame galvanized until AFTER you are done cutting and welding on it. Cutting and welding galvanized steel requires specialized respirators or it will make you very sick. Also, the metal prep required to weld on galvanized steel is extensive. Zinc and welding don't mix well and result in really bad welds. Don't use a grinding wheel on bare steel that has been used to grind galvanized, it will contaminate an otherwise perfectly good weld and make it weak and brittle.
 
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" Don't use a grinding wheel on bare steel that has been used to grind galvanized, it will contamanate an otherwise perfectly good weld ..."

Same for aluminum
 
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What's the difference with the 2002 frame and below versus a 2003-2006 frame?

This is pretty awesome, really cool find!
 
Stinger said:
" Don't use a grinding wheel on bare steel that has been used to grind galvanized, it will contamanate an otherwise perfectly good weld ..."

Same for aluminum
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...and stainless. There's a lot more to a good weld than grabbing the 6011 and cranking the machine up. :) We had a bunch of weld inspection failures and a few actual failures down in the ship yard one time. Finally traced it down to the rain and fog. It's Oregon after all, and it rains some here. Moisture was getting into the heat effected zone of the base metal, the arc was splitting the hydrogen bond in the water and hydrogen was making the heat effected zone brittle. (Hydrogen Embrittlement) We ended up having to do a lot of preheating until the weather changed.

The coolest thing I ever saw was Aluminum being welded to Steel. You use explosive shaped charges of a very certain kind under very controlled conditions and immaculate weld prep and fitting to make it happen. There were about two guys who could set it up on the west coast at the time. Our guy was loaned to us by Lockheed out of San Diego.
 
Wow. I can blame this on some of my shitty welds?:)

I have exploded almost tons of C4 and even more so Comp B and really like creating explosions. Hey not only did I serve as an aviator i am a branch qualified St Barbara accepted artillery officer:):)
Although none of that helped my high school metal shop welding experience!;)
 
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Stinger said:
Wow. I can blame this on some of my shitty welds?:)

I have exploded almost tons of C4 and even more so Comp B and really like creating explosions. Hey not only did I serve as an aviator i am a branch qualified St Barbara accepted artillery officer:):)
Although none of that helped my high school metal shop welding experience!;)
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Whoohoo! New career opportunity for ya' there! We had gunnery officers and really, really complicated old mechanical ballistic computers. (and ballistic tables) I hung out in an engine room and let the gunner's mates deal with the stuff that went bang. It was enough to keep 40 year old high performance machinery running without killing anyone too often.
 
StG58 said:
Though I'd share. What you all think?
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I think for most it is a viable alternative. For the purist, there is a bunch I don't like. First, it is made from the wrong size material and that means there is a centerline shift between the various mounts that line up both inside and outside the frame. The stock frame is 2.5" wide and theirs is 2.0" wide. That means if your upper control arm brackets mimic the stock location, then the body mount brackets have to be over hung off the side of the frame by another 1/2" which means they are getting into the rocks sooner.

The front cross member is round on the ends and the factory one has D shaped ends which I suspect was done for a reason. I'm also not fond of the look of the front bracket to pick up the steering gear, it offends my sensibilities for some reason.

There was a note that all holes are drilled and tapped into the frame which I hope isn't true for the bumper holes.

The rear cross member is made from a piece of angle which has a sharp outside corner contrary to the bent factory piece with a rounded corner.

Not a fan of the front shock mount. That flange around the perimeter is too large and not necessary. It is a shock mount, not a spring perch and it doesn't need all that material to work very well.

The front trackbar mount shown in the pics won't accept a stock trackbar and is set up for a horizontal bolt.

The rear spring perches are built in a very different manner than I would have done it and they make it very difficult to cut and rotate them flat. A simple u-channel like the factory used would have been much better but then again, kills the nifty place to laser cut a logo. That little logo BS would stop me from making a purchase even if I was in dire need. Advertising for the vendor is up to the customer. If they want to do it, they will ask for a sticker. If they don't, leave them be.
 
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There was a discussion that he participated in on another forum where he explained why a replacement TJ frame would be expensive to do. The conversation was interesting on his part, to be sure. I'm not sure the other participants got the message though.

Wouldn't it be cool (and advantageous) to get @mrblaine , the guy from Sandy, and a few other folks on here to do a "Wrangler TJ Forum" rolling chassis? That would be entirely worth the time and money. It would probably be $20,000 FOB wherever they had them put together, but what a dream setup.
 
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Yeah, I know it wouldn't actually happen, but it would sure be cool if one of these guys like @mrblaine or @David Kishpaugh built a really nice replacement frame that was beefier and made with something that wasn't as prone to rusting.

Well, I am sure they would if you paid them enough. However, bringing it to the mass market is obviously unrealistic. The shipping alone would kill you.
 
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Chris said:
Yeah, I know it wouldn't actually happen, but it would sure be cool if one of these guys like @mrblaine or @David Kishpaugh built a really nice replacement frame that was beefier and made with something that wasn't as prone to rusting.

Well, I am sure they would if you paid them enough. However, bringing it to the mass market is obviously unrealistic. The shipping alone would kill you.
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David Kishpaugh, that's the name I couldn't remember.

And how nice would it be to have all the fab stuff done to the frame and suspension that needs to be done right up front, and correctly? That would be worth the price of admission right there. Frame, suspension, axles and brakes.

I know it's entertaining to modify your TJ yourself, but having it work the way it's supposed to has got to be worth something. Right?
 
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