Should I have cut my losses and moved on with this frame rust?

primetime4

TJ Enthusiast
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Joined
Sep 13, 2018
Messages
453
Location
Northern Virginia
I have a 2001 TJ Sport that I have owned since new. Bought it with 17 miles on the odometer and now have about 155k. It is no longer a daily driver it but I love this thing and it is the one vehicle that I thought I would always keep. It lived part of it's life in Maryland but mostly on the Virginia side outside of DC.

Last week, I brought it in to have a mild lift installed. 2 inch springs, new Fox shocks and stabilizer, adjustable track bars, and a transfer case lowering kit. The shop calls me at the end to tell me they are not able to install the lowering kit due to frame rust because the nutserts are just spinning and unfortunately there is some drive line vibration. Dagger. My Jeep has been babied its entire life and the interior/tub/engine are absolutely mint. While I knew there was some frame rust, I had my fingers crossed that obsessive maintenance and cleaning would have limited most of the damage to the surface. Unfortunately this was not the case and rust has eaten the frame from the inside out.

The shop that installed the lift put me in touch with another that can fix the section by welding in a safety cap for around $1600 or cutting some holes to weld in a new nut and patch for half that. After running through some options such as a tummy tuck or SYE to eliminate drive line issues, I ultimately picked up my Jeep and drove it directly to the next shop to do the safety cap fix. I am not sure if this was the right move but I am not quite ready to let this one go just yet especially with the new lift as well as mechanical and cosmetic condition. It's just the darn frame rust that it no doubt contracted in just a few years up north.

I was just wondering if I did the right move or should I have just cut my losses and moved on? I switched up to a Land Cruiser for family adventures and all this money could have made one pretty awesome rig. But I figured I expect to get another 10 years or so of faithful service out of my TJ and was just not quite ready to move on at this time.

Thanks.
 
Sorry but this is the only recent pic I have that I quickly snapped after the lift was installed. It's hard to tell but you can definitely see the rusty transfer skid which I always knew about. The front and rear points seem to be much better but honestly I am not sure.

image1.jpeg
 
I have a 2001 TJ Sport that I have owned since new. Bought it with 17 miles on the odometer and now have about 155k. It is no longer a daily driver it but I love this thing and it is the one vehicle that I thought I would always keep. It lived part of it's life in Maryland but mostly on the Virginia side outside of DC.

Last week, I brought it in to have a mild lift installed. 2 inch springs, new Fox shocks and stabilizer, adjustable track bars, and a transfer case lowering kit. The shop calls me at the end to tell me they are not able to install the lowering kit due to frame rust because the nutserts are just spinning and unfortunately there is some drive line vibration. Dagger. My Jeep has been babied its entire life and the interior/tub/engine are absolutely mint. While I knew there was some frame rust, I had my fingers crossed that obsessive maintenance and cleaning would have limited most of the damage to the surface. Unfortunately this was not the case and rust has eaten the frame from the inside out.

The shop that installed the lift put me in touch with another that can fix the section by welding in a safety cap for around $1600 or cutting some holes to weld in a new nut and patch for half that. After running through some options such as a tummy tuck or SYE to eliminate drive line issues, I ultimately picked up my Jeep and drove it directly to the next shop to do the safety cap fix. I am not sure if this was the right move but I am not quite ready to let this one go just yet especially with the new lift as well as mechanical and cosmetic condition. It's just the darn frame rust that it no doubt contracted in just a few years up north.

I was just wondering if I did the right move or should I have just cut my losses and moved on? I switched up to a Land Cruiser for family adventures and all this money could have made one pretty awesome rig. But I figured I expect to get another 10 years or so of faithful service out of my TJ and was just not quite ready to move on at this time.

Thanks.

I believe Savvy has a product to fix that. Maybe someone will chime in with more information ... @Jerry Bransford, @mrblaine
 
Yea, I'm in texas and I have a spinning nut sert on my skid and I have zero rust. Make sure before they hack on your frame.
 
This is what they are going to be using. There is definitely rust on that section of the frame. No holes or anything close to it but you can see it.

https://www.autorust.com/product/center-frame-at-skid-plate-mount-art-113-s/

Interested to know if anyone else would have chosen to fix this? I also inquired about a frame swap but that would have been upwards of 5 grand.

Slow down. Go back and double check, no need to spend thousands upon thousands of dollars when all you need are potentially $40 nutserts.
 
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You could always replace the frame and if you’re lucky or willing to travel a bit you can find one that will look super clean, not sure where you are but in South Carolina I have my eye on one that you definitely need more if you want the link


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Man I can relate .

I take great care of things , want them to last forever , and it's a hard call when it's a lot of money on something old.

A good used frame would be great for the long haul if it's needed. If it's not , those nutserts can be figured out I bet . Seems a tackweld might hold em til they grab .
 
You can pre expand a nutsert on the bench then tap it in to make it bite
, and you can also use washers on the bolt to set them some with an impact , then back it out and install the final assembly .
 
You can pre expand a nutsert on the bench then tap it in to make it bite
, and you can also use washers on the bolt to set them some with an impact , then back it out and install the final assembly .

These were in the tub and I couldn’t get to them. I drilled them out and replaced them...
 
Cool. Those things are awesome when they work.
 
Quick update. My frame center section was pretty much roached. There was a pronounced bulge so it was definitely more than spinning nutserts so I had the frame repair done. I think it turned out pretty clean and gives my ride an extension on life so I am pretty thrilled with the results.
Great news! I'm glad to hear that your Jeep's adventures aren't at an end after all. =)
 
Awesome news indeed. I'm glad you get to jeep on Jeepin'!

Looks great with the lift too!