Rust Advise

MadCore

MadCore

New Member
Joined
Sep 25, 2020
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22
Location
Trenton,OH
looking to buy a jeep. got these pictures back from one i was looking into. they are asking $16k for this LJ with 80k miles. Im thinking the frame is a deal killer but please let me give me feed back.

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3rd and 6th pic down where body mounts meet frame - it is done.
Fuck that.

You also have to understand, it is not just the frame, body is the issue as well.
I bet if you take a small hammer, and do a few taps around the roll bar on which seat belts sit, you will punch a hole through the floor.
 
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Someone that doesn't know what to look for will buy it. That frame is shot. I noticed rust on the center consol hinge and lock. I'd be willing to bet that the floor boards are rusty under the carpets. Run!
 
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kmq102 said:
Someone that doesn't know what to look for will buy it. That frame is shot. I noticed rust on the center consol hinge and lock. I'd be willing to bet that the floor boards are rusty under the carpets. Run!
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The shot of the floor behind driver's seat shows discoloration on the carpet around the roll cage. The rear wiper, is that the proper park position? The door panels are cracked in the common area above the door release.
 
At 16k? Hell no. That being said, this is another example of a rust belt jeep where the frame *may* not be as bad as it looks. It looks crusty on the outside, but I don't see any visible cracks or rust thru. If this was local to me and I was in the market and most importantly if the price was about $3-$4k, I'd take a look. A long look, with a chipping hammer and a borescope thru every rail. Look long and hard at torque boxes. I don' t consider floors to be a big problem, but the torque boxes are structural and more difficult to replace. If all of that turned up ok and I could drive it home for about $3k, I'd certainly have to consider it. If I saw any frame rust thru anywhere, I'd run fast and far. The frame rails are fairly easy to determine if they are ok or not. The area where the skid mounts is the most difficult. This seems to rust from both inside out and outside in as stuff gets trapped between skid and frame. It's doubtful anyone will allow you to try to turn the bolts, but you could ask. Also, grab a knife or a screwdriver or both and poke away at the seam. If anything goes thru, run!

That being said, you really need to know what you are looking at and spend a lot of time on your back getting rust in your face to see if it's worth the trouble or not, and at $16k, I can tell you its not worth the trouble.
 
Artsifrtsi said:
$16k will almost get you a good clean one and a plane ticket to go get it...
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True. There are always nice TJs/LJs for sale out here. Arrange an inspection with a local mechanic over the phone, book a ticket and come grab it. For a vehicle where rust is such a concern the extra logistics of picking one from the high desert is worth it IMO.
 
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hardtailpan said:
At 16k? Hell no. That being said, this is another example of a rust belt jeep where the frame *may* not be as bad as it looks. It looks crusty on the outside, but I don't see any visible cracks or rust thru. If this was local to me and I was in the market and most importantly if the price was about $3-$4k, I'd take a look. A long look, with a chipping hammer and a borescope thru every rail. Look long and hard at torque boxes. I don' t consider floors to be a big problem, but the torque boxes are structural and more difficult to replace. If all of that turned up ok and I could drive it home for about $3k, I'd certainly have to consider it. If I saw any frame rust thru anywhere, I'd run fast and far. The frame rails are fairly easy to determine if they are ok or not. The area where the skid mounts is the most difficult. This seems to rust from both inside out and outside in as stuff gets trapped between skid and frame. It's doubtful anyone will allow you to try to turn the bolts, but you could ask. Also, grab a knife or a screwdriver or both and poke away at the seam. If anything goes thru, run!

That being said, you really need to know what you are looking at and spend a lot of time on your back getting rust in your face to see if it's worth the trouble or not, and at $16k, I can tell you its not worth the trouble.
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Photo from the rear showing the gas tank skid - the passenger frame rail looks completely shot. Or, maybe its just a bad photo (don't think so).
 
Offline246 said:
Photo from the rear showing the gas tank skid - the passenger frame rail looks completely shot. Or, maybe its just a bad photo (don't think so).
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I think it's just scale flaking off, they don't usually rust out as easy in the high spots like that, it's usually in the low spots as I'm sure you know as you're from up here too. The rear LCA mount where the elbow is in the frame is a catch all, anything that gets into the frame ends up back there which is why they usually rust out at that point. Again, all that being said you could be right. My only point is it doesn't look so bad that it wouldn't be worth a look at if it was local and if the price wasn't 4x+ what it should be.
 
hardtailpan said:
I think it's just scale flaking off, they don't usually rust out as easy in the high spots like that, it's usually in the low spots as I'm sure you know as you're from up here too. The rear LCA mount where the elbow is in the frame is a catch all, anything that gets into the frame ends up back there which is why they usually rust out at that point. Again, all that being said you could be right. My only point is it doesn't look so bad that it wouldn't be worth a look at if it was local and if the price wasn't 4x+ what it should be.
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Donno, the frame by the tail pipe (rear view) looks pretty shakey, sorta like mine :(
 
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