Safe-T-Cap alternatives

[harbiison]

So today the unimaginable happened I was heading to a doctors appointment and while going down a hill and hit a pothole i felt the Jeep get louder and shake a lot more i look underneath and saw my center rail was rusted out and my trans skid had completely fell off on a side and is now hanging on the driver so i safely made it home and now am looking at safe t caps for the center rails. can i get away with this ebay set? it seems very similar but cheaper than autorusts set? is this a alternative or is there a cheaper set than autorust?

 

[harbiison]

also the Jeep is being parked until fixed and after surveying my options.

 

[Chris]

That eBay set looks fine to me.

 

[bromel]

They seem disturbingly cheap, hah. Also they only seem to cap the skid plate area. What does the frame look like where it curves over the rear wheels? I guarantee the frame is rusting out there, too. You'd be better off with full-length caps from Safe T Cap or Pocono, in my opinion. It's worth paying for quality parts that fit the frame exactly.

 

[harbiison]

They seem disturbingly cheap, hah. Also they only seem to cap the skid plate area. What does the frame look like where it curves over the rear wheels? I guarantee the frame is rusting out there, too. You'd be better off with full-length caps from Safe T Cap or Pocono, in my opinion. It's worth paying for quality parts that fit the frame exactly.

while looking today the other knuckle or shackle stood out with this hole but the other side seems fine.

 

[bromel]

Yeah I guarantee the other side is not fine. You 100% need full-length caps on both sides. If you want to save a little money go with Pocono, but I would not be comfortable with those cheapo knockoffs on eBay.

 

[SvtLdr]

A good friend of mine tried using the E-bay parts. They didn't fit as well as the Saf-T-Caps but he made them work with a fair amount of custom fitting. On his next frame repair project he splurged and bought Saf-T-Cap. Lesson learned.

I've also heard good things about Pocono Metal Craft parts.

 

[harbiison]

i think i’m deciding on going with the full Pocono set for $450. it’s quite expensive but i hope it will get the job done for some time.

 

[2001slvrstntj]

Man, salt sucks and I know you guys typically get a lot of snow up there. That hurts to look at but being in the rust belt I get it. Good luck

 

[harbiison]

yeah as much as i hate it and just wanna sell it and get a clean one that’s many years away for me personally but i’m gonna attempt to make it my summer car exclusively after the winter

 

[qslim]

Dude them Buffalo winters are rough.

I was in FL for quite awhile working on cars, my SIL called me one day asking me to look at a quote from her mechanic to fix an oil pan leak on her Pontiac something or other that was only 6 or 7 years old. The quote was for something like $1300 which was bewildering to me, and she asked if I could talk to him. I asked him why he was trying to change the oil pan, the lower engine bracket that holds the oil pan, and the crossmember underneath instead of just changing the gasket or sealing it.

He sent me pics, an entire corner of the pan itself was gone, the lower engine bracket was corroded to the point that some bolts had fallen out, and the crossmember was almost completely eaten through. I just LOL'd & said "Ok, I'm in Florida. I don't ever see this kind of thing." and told her that he was on the up & up.