I have a replacement crossmember on its way (3/16"). Old one is fine, but for several reasons (including, but not limited to "You've got to be kidding me. What were they thinking in Ohio"), looking to upgrade. At the same time I'll be addressing my tank sending unit as well as hose, roll over valves, giving the tank a good cleaning (factory 20 gal poly) and new rubber isolation between the tank and skid. Just getting that info out of the way.
I am going to want to clean (and seal) the inside of my frame while I've got the back end torn down. I've read just about every inside frame cleaning thread I can find, and crossmember threads well, and I have a plan, but thought I'd run it by the CJ experts in case you have a better plan. Going to blast the frame with water first. Since this is not a frame-off situation, I'm limited in just how high I can raise the front end (blasting through the front and out the back). Other limitations are welding outside as well as sand blasting mess. I work on the CJ on an apron with a fairly decent slope (no room in the inn) outside my shop. With nose up (closest to the shop) I'll be washing towards the back. That's great and no problem there. To work on the tank, weld new crossmember on, etc, I want the rear end closest to the shop ( It will actually be partially in my shop for this for wind protection, ease, tool and equipment access, etc., etc., etc.). Going to use a needle scaler (possibly if needed), sand blasting and any other thing I can think of to clean the inside. However, I'm going to want those processes (or specifically sand blasting) to happen as far from the shop as possible (that sand is a nightmare and if it finds its way into my shop, I'm doomed). So one of my hurdles is having the frame open from tip to tail, yet being able to re-position the Jeep (under its own power) as needed (180 degrees). Thus I have the competing needs of keeping the orig crossmember, in place for moving around, but removed for cleaning. My thought is the best way to pull this off is to open up the ends of the frame at the rear (meaning opening up the existing crossmember) while leaving the orig crossmember in place. Since my tank will still be in place, I'm not going to use my plasma for this. Just going to enjoy the misery using a small cuttoff wheel and die grinder to open up the hole (at least that orig crossmember was manufactured paper thin). This way I can do the necessary washing, cleaning, blasting, chiseling, or whatever else I come up with, while not allowing the frame to scissor or diamond while flipping the CJ around for the tank drop and new crossmember install (want to move it under its own power). In fact, since I don't want the rear of the frame to do anything weird while moving it, I'll weld up the crossmember holes with some scrap plate over the holes after cleaning and before re-positioning (that little bit of welding will be likely occur in the wind, so porosity abound, so don't ask for pics). I can't think of a better way to accomplish this, given this particular situation and needs, but I'm certainly open to other ideas if anyone has some.
The only place that has any noticeable buildup inside the frame is at the rear (of course there's going to be dried mud/sand/etc all long the inside frame). I'm sure there will be plenty of scale running the length (why wouldn't there be). Cleaning the ends should be fairly easy (rotary nozzle, sand blasting, scaler, etc). I'd like to be able to clean the middle of the frame, but other than sand blasting through every factory hole I can find, while rotating the nozzle around, which won't be very effective, I can't think of much else that can be done. I do have a rather powerful pressure washer (3500psi) so I could use a small nozzle to work the wand from the front a good way down the frame, but not all the way (my rotary nozzle, which literally can blast the finish off of concrete) is much too big to fit inside the frame...if only it could. I can get 36" extensions for my wand, so perhaps that's the best solution (I''ll have to use a small, non-rotary tip, to go down the frame). Can't think of much else I could do short of a frame-off and having the frame dipped (which it doesn't really need, but it would be nice). If anyone has some better ideas for really cleaning (and removing scale from the middle of the frame), based on experience, I'd sure love to hear it. Thanks! (as in thanks in advance to any potential respondents >)
I am going to want to clean (and seal) the inside of my frame while I've got the back end torn down. I've read just about every inside frame cleaning thread I can find, and crossmember threads well, and I have a plan, but thought I'd run it by the CJ experts in case you have a better plan. Going to blast the frame with water first. Since this is not a frame-off situation, I'm limited in just how high I can raise the front end (blasting through the front and out the back). Other limitations are welding outside as well as sand blasting mess. I work on the CJ on an apron with a fairly decent slope (no room in the inn) outside my shop. With nose up (closest to the shop) I'll be washing towards the back. That's great and no problem there. To work on the tank, weld new crossmember on, etc, I want the rear end closest to the shop ( It will actually be partially in my shop for this for wind protection, ease, tool and equipment access, etc., etc., etc.). Going to use a needle scaler (possibly if needed), sand blasting and any other thing I can think of to clean the inside. However, I'm going to want those processes (or specifically sand blasting) to happen as far from the shop as possible (that sand is a nightmare and if it finds its way into my shop, I'm doomed). So one of my hurdles is having the frame open from tip to tail, yet being able to re-position the Jeep (under its own power) as needed (180 degrees). Thus I have the competing needs of keeping the orig crossmember, in place for moving around, but removed for cleaning. My thought is the best way to pull this off is to open up the ends of the frame at the rear (meaning opening up the existing crossmember) while leaving the orig crossmember in place. Since my tank will still be in place, I'm not going to use my plasma for this. Just going to enjoy the misery using a small cuttoff wheel and die grinder to open up the hole (at least that orig crossmember was manufactured paper thin). This way I can do the necessary washing, cleaning, blasting, chiseling, or whatever else I come up with, while not allowing the frame to scissor or diamond while flipping the CJ around for the tank drop and new crossmember install (want to move it under its own power). In fact, since I don't want the rear of the frame to do anything weird while moving it, I'll weld up the crossmember holes with some scrap plate over the holes after cleaning and before re-positioning (that little bit of welding will be likely occur in the wind, so porosity abound, so don't ask for pics). I can't think of a better way to accomplish this, given this particular situation and needs, but I'm certainly open to other ideas if anyone has some.
The only place that has any noticeable buildup inside the frame is at the rear (of course there's going to be dried mud/sand/etc all long the inside frame). I'm sure there will be plenty of scale running the length (why wouldn't there be). Cleaning the ends should be fairly easy (rotary nozzle, sand blasting, scaler, etc). I'd like to be able to clean the middle of the frame, but other than sand blasting through every factory hole I can find, while rotating the nozzle around, which won't be very effective, I can't think of much else that can be done. I do have a rather powerful pressure washer (3500psi) so I could use a small nozzle to work the wand from the front a good way down the frame, but not all the way (my rotary nozzle, which literally can blast the finish off of concrete) is much too big to fit inside the frame...if only it could. I can get 36" extensions for my wand, so perhaps that's the best solution (I''ll have to use a small, non-rotary tip, to go down the frame). Can't think of much else I could do short of a frame-off and having the frame dipped (which it doesn't really need, but it would be nice). If anyone has some better ideas for really cleaning (and removing scale from the middle of the frame), based on experience, I'd sure love to hear it. Thanks! (as in thanks in advance to any potential respondents >)