Underbody pics. Looking for comments on that.

Dyl

Dyl

Member
Joined
Feb 19, 2021
Messages
66
Location
Zamunda
Hi all

I have been talking to this seller about his 1997 5sp TJ. He's sent me some pics of the underbody. It's done about 100K miles.

Do these pics look alright or make any alarming sounds (as I could see some rust but was told it's just surface rust)?
IMG_20210406_152426.jpg


IMG_20210406_152525.jpg


IMG_20210406_152543.jpg
 
One picture of the frame?

You need more than that...

From that lone picture the frame is fine.

I see marginal shit way more than most posters as I'm in the rust belt and inspect vehicles for the state of PA.

There's a lot more to the frame than that one pic...
 
My frame looked great until a jack punched through the bottom of the frame just in front of the transmission skid plate. Crawl under there with a hammer tapping on the frame. Make sure you check in front of the rear lower control arm and behind the front lower control arm.

That o-scope @ScottyD linked won't be a bad idea.
 
Based solely on the pictures provided, the rust doesn’t look bad and does appear to be just surface rust. I’ll say it again though, you need more pics of the frame and a look inside of it.
 
  • Like
Reactions: 02SteelBlue
All the rust pictured is surface rust on parts that will survive at least two or three times longer than the frame or body.

Multiple pictures of the frame instead of that panoramic view would be better but at least the first picture shows where rust would be the problem on one side of the Jeep. In that picture it doesn't look bad. At least I don't see thick chunks of rust between the skid plate and frame nor any rust working it's way out around any of the holes. I'd call that a good sign that needs double checked on both sides of the Jeep.

If I was looking for another Jeep, and that one had a decent asking price, I'd drive up to 2, maybe 3, hours away to check it out.
 
  • Like
Reactions: matkal
As others stated I would request more pictures of the frame. More specifically front and rear control arm mounts ( uppers and lowers ) and the surrounding area. The rear cross member, frame horn and gas tank skid. And the inside of the center section where the skid plate attaches. The body looks pretty good but I would also request pictures of the body mounts, especially the 2 very most rear ones as they like to rust too. Also if the carpet has been left in I would request pictures of both driver and passenger floor pans. I'm from the rust belt in Canada so I generally see way worse than that but it's just things to watch out for. If the rest of the Jeep looks as good as it does in the pics provided then it should be a good solid platform.
 
I'm amazed by the knowledge that you guys have like being able to tell it's right hand drive (it is) just by looking at those pics!

Thanks all for the replies! I'm going to see it next week and will keep in mind those spots to check.
 
  • Like
Reactions: glowell222
Top Bottom
Back