Ruby: The story of a Jersey Girl

[Chris]

Just the bottoms. The frame rots from the bottom up so the top of the frame is actually in great shape. Then you slip the pieces over the remaining good frame and weld it together.

I bought them from Morris, although they were just drop shipped from SafeTCap.

Ahhh, so they are SafeTCaps. I don't think I'd ever seen the full frame rails like that.

Makes sense about the bottoms rotting first. I noticed on my 2005 Rubicon even with a pristine, rust free frame, the ONE area there was rust in was right under the transfer case skid plate where it contacts the frame rails. There was a bunch of rust when I took the stock skid off. Fortunately all it took was 1-hour with the wire wheel and all of the rust came right off once I got it down to bare metal. Either way, that seems to be a very common rust area on TJs.

 

[Clint Rivera]

Ahhh, so they are SafeTCaps. I don't think I'd ever seen the full frame rails like that.

Makes sense about the bottoms rotting first. I noticed on my 2005 Rubicon even with a pristine, rust free frame, the ONE area there was rust in was right under the transfer case skid plate where it contacts the frame rails. There was a bunch of rust when I took the stock skid off. Fortunately all it took was 1-hour with the wire wheel and all of the rust came right off once I got it down to bare metal. Either way, that seems to be a very common rust area on TJs.

The new rails have a drain hole in the low spot of the frame. The frame turned out to be worse than it looked because of the 20 pounds of rubberized undercoating on everything. That stuff is no fun to grind off for welding. There was still enough good metal left to weld on, and the little patches for the front tied the new frame pieces to the front lower control arm mounts in well.

Overall, I'm happy the way it turned out. Way down the road when I do the mid-arm I'll frame swap it. It will be a lot easier to cut everything off of a frame that's not attached to the rest of the Jeep. It may get a LS swap then too. I'll have to see how the 42rle does, as I've never owned a Jeep with this transmission yet.

Also got the rear suspension done except for the rear shocks since all the bolts but one broke.

I also welded the rear track bar extension bracket.

 

[Chris]

Looks a lot better. Knowing what you know now about the frame, if you could go back and do it over, I am assuming you would spend more and buy one with a clean frame to begin with?

 

[Kathy]

And based on his write up, I would assume the opposite. He made this process seem to be somewhat enjoyable, or at the very least, tolerable .

 

[Clint Rivera]

Looks a lot better. Knowing what you know now about the frame, if you could go back and do it over, I am assuming you would spend more and buy one with a clean frame to begin with?

If I had my own garage, I would have frame swapped it for sure. As it is right now, I'm living in our 5th wheel on my buddy's property for the winter and looking for a place next spring. My girlfriend and I spent the last two years traveling and seeing the country. It was an amazing time, but it's good to be back and working on a Jeep again. Doing the frame patches was a lot faster. I had it done in about 4 hours (with a plasma cutter) - doing a frame swap would have taken a lot longer.

And based on his write up, I would assume the opposite. He made this process seem to be somewhat enjoyable, or at the very least, tolerable .

I wouldn't say it was enjoyable per se. Dealing with rust is never a fun time, but it's certainly not the worst thing I've done on a Jeep. Try cutting the front trackbar mount off - that's no fun.

 

[Chris]

If I had my own garage, I would have frame swapped it for sure. As it is right now, I'm living in our 5th wheel on my buddy's property for the winter and looking for a place next spring. My girlfriend and I spent the last two years traveling and seeing the country. It was an amazing time, but it's good to be back and working on a Jeep again. Doing the frame patches was a lot faster. I had it done in about 4 hours (with a plasma cutter) - doing a frame swap would have taken a lot longer.

That plasma cutter probably makes everything a lot easier, huh?

I'm thinking that if one was to outboard the shocks themselves and do all the work I'm having done to mine, a plasma cutter would be a lot easier than a grinder / cutting wheel, right? Never used one before, so I wasn't sure.

Anyways, sounds like you and your girlfriend would have had fun. I did stuff like that before I got married and had kids, it was a lot of fun too!

 

[Clint Rivera]

That plasma cutter probably makes everything a lot easier, huh?

I'm thinking that if one was to outboard the shocks themselves and do all the work I'm having done to mine, a plasma cutter would be a lot easier than a grinder / cutting wheel, right? Never used one before, so I wasn't sure.

Anyways, sounds like you and your girlfriend would have had fun. I did stuff like that before I got married and had kids, it was a lot of fun too!

If I didn't have the plasma, it would probably been as much work just to do a frame swap.

I did my outboards with a plasma, but a cut off wheel and die grinder works fine for that too.

We had an amazing time. Probably the best thing I've done with my life!

 

[Chris]

If I didn't have the plasma, it would probably been as much work just to do a frame swap.

I did my outboards with a plasma, but a cut off wheel and die grinder works fine for that too.

We had an amazing time. Probably the best thing I've done with my life!

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Wow, you're a damn good photographer too! Did you take those?

If so, I know who I'm hitting up next time I want some good photos of my TJ!

 

[Kathy]

If I didn't have the plasma, it would probably been as much work just to do a frame swap.

I did my outboards with a plasma, but a cut off wheel and die grinder works fine for that too.

We had an amazing time. Probably the best thing I've done with my life!

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Wow! That looks so so great! What great pictures. I could feel the serenity through your pictures. Thanks for sharing .

 

[Kathy]

Thank you for sharing your process and info. I unfortunately have recently found some more extensive rust issues on my TJ. Thank god Dave just bought a plasma cutter and it’s his new toy and almost seems excited about cutting up my jeep . I’m going to be reading a lot before making any decisions on how to fix mine, but your thread has helped.

 

[Clint Rivera]

Wow, you're a damn good photographer too! Did you take those?

If so, I know who I'm hitting up next time I want some good photos of my TJ!

Thanks, I did take those. Photography has been a hobby of mine. Satisfies my artistic side and geeky side. Jeep building has satisfied my mechanical side and give me something to drive to get the shot.

We should get together and go wheeling once your Jeep is done- you're not super far from me.

Wow! That looks so so great! What great pictures. I could feel the serenity through your pictures. Thanks for sharing .

Thanks! There is nothing more serene than taking 3 months off and watching the colors change on a perfect scene as the sun goes down.

Thank you for sharing your process and info. I unfortunately have recently found some more extensive rust issues on my TJ. Thank god Dave just bought a plasma cutter and it’s his new toy and almost seems excited about cutting up my jeep . I’m going to be reading a lot before making any decisions on how to fix mine, but your thread has helped.

Rust usually = cutting, welding, and broken fasteners. Irritating, but a TJ is pretty simple so there really isn't much to replace if things get ugly.

 

[Chris]

Thanks, I did take those. Photography has been a hobby of mine. Satisfies my artistic side and geeky side. Jeep building has satisfied my mechanical side and give me something to drive to get the shot.

We should get together and go wheeling once your Jeep is done- you're not super far from me.

I hear you, I have both sides as well! Playing music (I play the banjo and guitar) satisfies my artsy site, and the Jeep and building websites satisfies my tech / geek side.

Where are you at in Washington anyways? Once my Jeep is done, that would definitely be cool to do. It's been a while since I've been up to Brown's Camp, or anywhere for that matter!

 

[Clint Rivera]

I hear you, I have both sides as well! Playing music (I play the banjo and guitar) satisfies my artsy site, and the Jeep and building websites satisfies my tech / geek side.

Where are you at in Washington anyways? Once my Jeep is done, that would definitely be cool to do. It's been a while since I've been up to Brown's Camp, or anywhere for that matter!

Yup. I have to say, this is one of the best looking forums on the net. Nice, clean, and easy to navigate.

I'm near Tacoma. I've never been to Brown's camp but always wanted to go.

 

[Chris]

Yup. I have to say, this is one of the best looking forums on the net. Nice, clean, and easy to navigate.

I'm near Tacoma. I've never been to Brown's camp but always wanted to go.

Thanks! That's my web design background. I've always been pretty good with anything visual, which is why I got into web design.

Brown's Camp is actually a lot of fun if you go with the right people and go during the right time of year. It's definitely a lot more muddy and wet in the Fall and Winter months of course. Are there any places to wheel up there in Washington? Like dedicated off-road wheeling spots?

 

[Clint Rivera]

Thanks! That's my web design background. I've always been pretty good with anything visual, which is why I got into web design.

Brown's Camp is actually a lot of fun if you go with the right people and go during the right time of year. It's definitely a lot more muddy and wet in the Fall and Winter months of course. Are there any places to wheel up there in Washington? Like dedicated off-road wheeling spots?

I'm not a fan of mud. There are a few off road parks up here, and the Naches area has miles of offroad trails and some rock crawling.

The muffler was nearly rotted out so I ordered a Dynomax cat back. Dropping the pre-cats to replace the oil pan and do the RMS I noticed one of the cats were starting to disintegrate, so I ordered a Flowmaster replacement.

I had to cut and re-weld the pre cat piping since it was in the way of the upper control arm and at the wrong angle, and the cat back was hitting the shock. I was getting annoyed and impatient with the whole process so I decided the Jeep wanted a dump right after the muffler.

The front suspension went pretty easy besides a frozen sway bar bushing. I wasn't interested in trying to free any of the steering adjusters, so I just ordered the Crown HD setup and a new stabilizer. In the picture you can also see the blue push-loc tubing I replaced the rotted transmission lines with.

The factory subwoofer was shot, so I did the usual Kicker upgrade. I'm keeping the stock amp for now.

And how it sits now:

All in all, not too many other surprises. I did find a bad front axle U-joint so I replaced both. Also it had the factory radiator that was weeping, so I replaced it and the upper and lower hoses.