Well.. here it is. My Jeep Journal.

Katuhstrofik

Katuhstrofik

Kat in a Space Suit
Supporting Member
Joined
Dec 11, 2017
Messages
144
Location
Oshkosh, WI, United States
Starting out with pictures of the frame/body. Frame looks rough.. kinda worried I might even need to abandon this Jeep... Lol.

Thoughts?
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Ouch. That second picture shows a body mount completely gone. You can repair it, but its gonna be spendy and time consuming. Looking at the second to last photo, kinda looks like the frame bottom is missing where the skid plate mounts up too. I'd punt, unless you got a REALLY good deal. Only you can decide if you want to tackle that...Even if you replace the frame, the tub is going to be rotten...You're a fabricator, right? You have the skills to fix it correctly, so that is a tick in your favor. Kinda up to you.
 
Ranger_b0b said:
Ouch. That second picture shows a body mount completely gone. You can repair it, but its gonna be spendy and time consuming. Looking at the second to last photo, kinda looks like the frame bottom is missing where the skid plate mounts up too. I'd punt, unless you got a REALLY good deal. Only you can decide if you want to tackle that...Even if you replace the frame, the tub is going to be rotten...You're a fabricator, right? You have the skills to fix it correctly, so that is a tick in your favor. Kinda up to you.
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Yeah I paid $2000. I'm good with metal but this might be beyond my abilities. I probably don't even want to know what it will cost to get it fixed.

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Yikes! I haven’t seen one that bad. Of course, I’m from Texas, no rust state. Lot of work ahead for you. Hopefullly others who have dealt with rust will chime in. :(
 
JMT said:
Yikes! I haven’t seen one that bad. Of course, I’m from Texas, no rust state. Lot of work ahead for you. Hopefullly others who have dealt with rust will chime in. :(
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Yeah I'm hoping so. I didn't even realize the body mount was that bad until today lol.

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Okay, so after relaxing and pondering my situation while researching things, I've come across this beauty:

http://www.classicent.com/jeep/jeep-tj-1997-2006

That + paying someone for lift/labor should do the trick right? The rest of the frame looks salvageable to me, I'll know for sure once I get under it and start wire brushing it. That body mount situation needs to change though before I am putting money into anything else. I want the peace of mind, other jeep forums have members who have had the same problem and they said that it didn't affect much. I was unable to confirm their assessment as none of them posted long enough to see the Jeep hold up or degrade.

What do you guys think?
 
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Dang dude! Those torque boxes are junk! The frame actually doesn't look that bad from your pics. Either way, you'd have to separate the tub from the frame to repair that. If you have the skillz and time to replace the torque boxes, that could be an option. Check the frame some more and let us know what you come up with. There is a guy on here that did a lot of replacing, including the torque boxes. I'll have to see if I can find his thread.
 
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Hey neighbor. I’m in Green Bay, well that’s where my home is but I’m at my boyfriends in manitowoc 99% of the time. I also bought one of those great deal Wisconsin rusted tjs. Mine isn’t as bad as yours is in a few spots, but it has taken my approach to my upgrades in a different direction. I’ve had my jeep since May and have spent numerous hours wire wheeling and blasting away rust. It’s never ending and hurts my heart because I LOVE my jeep. I’ve read a bunch on cleaning it up and then using fluid film to stop further rust. If I were you I would get under there and really inspect it to make sure there are not other areas that might need immediate attention or replacement. If you don’t have a heated garage that might be unpleasant based on the status of our current weather. I’ve done as much removal of rust I could bare to do, and have sprayed the underneath with fluid film to get me through the winter or until my boyfriend gets his new shop built. If you end up keeping your jeep, and decide to use fluid film, I purchased two different sprayers to get inside the frame and to allow for larger surface area coverage if you want to borrow them.
Don’t get too discouraged. If you are willing to put the time and effort it, it’s fixable :). It will be hard to find a tj in Wisconsin with no rust.
Ps: I love my cat Sammi also
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bobthetj03 said:
Dang dude! Those torque boxes are junk! The frame actually doesn't look that bad from your pics. Either way, you'd have to separate the tub from the frame to repair that. If you have the skillz and time to replace the torque boxes, that could be an option. Check the frame some more and let us know what you come up with. There is a guy on here that did a lot of replacing, including the torque boxes. I'll have to see if I can find his thread.
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Kathy said:
Hey neighbor.
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Thanks a lot guys. I am far from throwing in the towel, I just need to reassess :D I don't have the resources to do this work. It will need to be done by a shop I think.
 
Kathy said:
Hey neighbor. I’m in Green Bay, well that’s where my home is but I’m at my boyfriends in manitowoc 99% of the time. I also bought one of those great deal Wisconsin rusted tjs. Mine isn’t as bad as yours is in a few spots, but it has taken my approach to my upgrades in a different direction. I’ve had my jeep since May and have spent numerous hours wire wheeling and blasting away rust. It’s never ending and hurts my heart because I LOVE my jeep. I’ve read a bunch on cleaning it up and then using fluid film to stop further rust. If I were you I would get under there and really inspect it to make sure there are not other areas that might need immediate attention or replacement. If you don’t have a heated garage that might be unpleasant based on the status of our current weather. I’ve done as much removal of rust I could bare to do, and have sprayed the underneath with fluid film to get me through the winter or until my boyfriend gets his new shop built. If you end up keeping your jeep, and decide to use fluid film, I purchased two different sprayers to get inside the frame and to allow for larger surface area coverage if you want to borrow them.
Don’t get too discouraged. If you are willing to put the time and effort it, it’s fixable :). It will be hard to find a tj in Wisconsin with no rust.
Ps: I love my cat Sammi also
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My cat :)
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I also wanted to share a worse case of rust to put yours into perspective. My boyfriend, @Dave K. , got a yj for 250.00. Engine runs like a top, (67,000 miles), but I’m scared I’ll fall through the floor. Lol. It’s our plow jeep for around the yard. Worst rust case, but best purchase he has made in a long time
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Katuhstrofik said:
My only concern is the integrity of my jeep. If I do this right I will still spend less than buying a used one for 8k :)
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Maybe. Frame and body rust repairs are labor intensive, meaning many hours at 50-100 bucks an hr. You have only scratched (pun intended :D) the surface of how bad it may be.
 
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Yeah...if you pay someone to fix that, you'll be in way over the value of the vehicle. Rust is a son of a bitch...I have restored a bunch of garden tractors and other power equipment...didn't take too long to figure out that mechanical problems are easier to fix than rust.
 
I bought a similar 2000 tj 2 weeks ago. Should have walked away but did not. I have a heated garage and have been under it a few days now. I came to the realization that opening up the frame (even though it is rusted open already ) would be the only real way to clean it out if it has any bad rust at all.I am in for a penny,in for a pound as they say. It will be your decision of course but if you don't go ahead ,someone will.My problem is I have a heated shop, a mig welder,bender and this forum for advise and all winter to spend in a cold ontario climate.
 
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