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Cracked frame on 96 XJ

4K views 11 replies 8 participants last post by  aronkovacs 
#1 ·
I've got a 96 XJ that is a near time capsule from 1996. 135k miles, motor runs and drives great, all original and in great condition besides the rust. It spent its whole life in Maine prior to me buying it a couple months ago here in Florida.

Lots of bubbling on the rockers and such, a big hole into the trunk but I suppose that can be fixed.

My issue is that it seems when the guy towed his life down here, he cracked the frame rails on the driver side. My question is how far up **** creek am I? I'm wanting to put on a lift but is it worth it? Should I try to fix it? Everything else is perfect on it so I don't wanna ditch it.

The other 2 pictures are for reference to see the extent of the rust.
 

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#2 ·
Do you live in a state that requires inspections that cover this type of thing? Or do you have some time to deal with it?

Is it a daily driver on the road? Or is it something that can parked and worked on for the next 3 months?

Given the state of the metal remaining, it would require a significant amount of work and material. If you are in a position to tinker with it yourself over some period of time, it might be worth it. If you are in a position where you would have to pay someone else for time, know-how, and materials, it probably is not worth it unless you TRULY love this particularly vehicle.
 
#3 ·
Florida has zero inspections. Honestly I know nothing about welding or metal working.

The jeep truly is great in every other regard so I'm real hesitant on starting over. This jeep is actually a side project to begin with, intentioned on being a daily/off road fun so to not beat on my Mustang too much.
 
#4 ·
I have zero experience welding, but I do know that around my area decent welders are expensive. It would not be worth it here to have that fixed. I say get some quotes and go from there. Or if you want to learn how to weld, harbor freight sells welders and angle grinders and YouTube has just about everything you need to know

Sent from my HTC M9 using Tapatalk
 
#5 ·
Looking at the condition of the rockers, floor areas visible in the pictures, front LCA mount area etc., that thing really is a death-trap rust-bucket given the amount of rust it has. That is no longer just surface rust, it's bad enough to cause issues with uniframe integrity - as can be seen from the cracked frame where the gas filler tube goes through it.

If you want to safely drive it on the road, and for your Jeep to actually provide some protection in case of a collision, it needs a ton of welding. I can guarantee that once you pull the carpet and start looking around, that thing is in way worse condition that it looks like from the pictures. I've seen enough XJs and ZJs that look much better on the outside to needing a few square feet of sheetmetal and a few feet of box steel to repair floors, rockers, uniframe rails, etc..
Anything can be fixed, but bare minimum in your case would be:
* Cut open frame rails from top (cut the floor panels off from around frame rails) to access the inner frame area for inspection, clean-up, welding and painting
* Clean the uniframe rails from the outside
* Remove all rusty areas and replace with new metal (rust can only be fixed by cutting it away and replacing with new steel)
* Fix the cracked rear frame

Keep in mind that XJs are uniframe vehciles, meaning that both the "frame" rails and unibody itself provides both structural rigidity, and collision protection. If the uniframe cracks, it cannot provide support for the unibody and suspension components; especially when we're talking about frame issues near the mounting locations of control arms and leafs, it is absolutely vital for the uniframe and sheetmetal to be in good condition.

I've seen quite a few XJs on which the leaf spring pockets have cracked through the floor after hitting a pothole; unfortunately, your XJ looks like a very good candidate for that to happen.
 
#7 ·
If he is honest he will have the same conclusion as Tim, no one would risk the legality. To do this will cost more than a few used ones. Pics never show rust in all its places and what you do see here is more than bad. If the drive train is good< though with this much rust taking anything apart might may be a pita. maybe find one that needs a motor? Maybe its better the main frame cracked before you went off road. since off road it may have failed completely. depending on whats left of the floors, sides and roof. heck it might have broken like a boat at mid ship and bellied its self.
 
#9 ·
Part it into your newer model Southern states rust free XJ that needs an engine and/or transmission.
 
#12 ·
Well bottom line is that you need Massive amount of body work. Given material and labor costs, it seems more $ than it's worth. My $0.02, pull the motor/tranny/nice parts/ and put it in a jeep with minimal rust.
 
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