[Cocoyofoo]

Indiana's winters have taken its toll on my 2000 TJ, I've had the car since August and its pretty obvious the PO did nothing to prevent rust. This summer I want to do everything I can do prevent the rust from spreading and making the problem any bigger than it already is. Problem is I really don't know what I have to do. I'm planning on replacing all of the hinges and if necessary replacing any easily removable body panels. Another issue that I really want solved is the bouncy ride of my TJ, are there any shocks out there that are somewhat forgiving on the road and can handle being used off road every so often

Bigger tires? Spacers?.. It just looks really weird to me..


Passenger Side, the rust spot is a little bigger than a quarter.


Frame





Tailgate/Rear End
Those spots are just water


I was also wondering.. is this normal? one of my shocks is upside down, the other one is the other way



Windshield Hinge


Does this mean I have a short arm lift kit?!?

[newbs]

Originally Posted by Cocoyofoo

Indiana's winters have taken its toll on my 2000 TJ, I've had the car since August and its pretty obvious the PO did nothing to prevent rust. This summer I want to do everything I can do prevent the rust from spreading and making the problem any bigger than it already is. Problem is I really don't know what I have to do. I'm planning on replacing all of the hinges and if necessary replacing any easily removable body panels. Another issue that I really want solved is the bouncy ride of my TJ, are there any shocks out there that are somewhat forgiving on the road and can handle being used off road every so often

Bigger tires? Spacers?.. It just looks really weird to me..


Passenger Side, the rust spot is a little bigger than a quarter.


Frame





Tailgate/Rear End
Those spots are just water


I was also wondering.. is this normal? one of my shocks is upside down, the other one is the other way



Windshield Hinge


Does this mean I have a short arm lift kit?!?

click free

[Rocky529]

Originally Posted by Cocoyofoo

Indiana's winters have taken its toll on my 2000 TJ, I've had the car since August and its pretty obvious the PO did nothing to prevent rust. This summer I want to do everything I can do prevent the rust from spreading and making the problem any bigger than it already is. Problem is I really don't know what I have to do. I'm planning on replacing all of the hinges and if necessary replacing any easily removable body panels. Another issue that I really want solved is the bouncy ride of my TJ, are there any shocks out there that are somewhat forgiving on the road and can handle being used off road every so often

Bigger tires? Spacers?.. It just looks really weird to me..


Passenger Side, the rust spot is a little bigger than a quarter.


Frame





Tailgate/Rear End
Those spots are just water


I was also wondering.. is this normal? one of my shocks is upside down, the other one is the other way



Windshield Hinge


Does this mean I have a short arm lift kit?!?

Looks like you have a Pro Comp 3" suspension lift.

Coat your undercarriage with POR-15 for starters. For the body panels/hinges, you don't have a choice.. either replace the hinges or sand them down and re-paint them properly.

[JeeperAbe]

You have a Procomp short arm life. I would upgrade shocks to OME or BDS. Both are good shocks, good ride. I dont really know about all the rust. Im deff going to be watching the thread where i have a little rust on my frame to.

[-BeNt-]

Holy cow man. I'm no body man so I couldn't begin to tell you where to start on the windshield hinges etc. But as far as the frame goes if it is mostly surface rust right now, I would invest in a brillo bit for your drill and acouple of them while you are at it and clean most of that off by hand. What you can't get gone I would check to make sure no major damage has happen, deep rust, and purchase some of that rust-be-gone from the autoparts store that turns rust black. That stuff is supposed to neutralize it. Then once that is done give the frame a heeping helping of some black paint. That should get you by for acouple years.

As far as the paint/rust on the windshield and tailgate I would take that to a body guy where they can get the rust out, reprimer and repaint them. You would think after all these years they would develop a road salt or equivalent that doesn't eat metal. If somebody knows an easier/better way for him to solve this speak up because I would like to know for future reference as well.

[M.DURITZ]

I can confirm that one of your shocks doesn't look right. it looks like it is upside down!

[skyjacked94xj]

Originally Posted by M.DURITZ

I can confirm that one of your shocks doesn't look right. it looks like it is upside down!

x2 right there..

[spyder6]

some shocks are made to run upside down, like the RE-monotubes. but those shocks arnt

[Zamboni68]

Flip the shock, POR the frame, and replace the hinges.

For the body panel, take it to a shop and have it done professionally. Another option is to sand and prime that spot, then cover that area with rocker sill protectors (preferrably metal that was powder-coated).

That's my 2 cents!

[Rocky529]

The shock was probably flipped because the tube was hitting the exhaust or gas tank.

[wiggle_puppy]

In for info. I have a little bit of bubbling on the tailgait.

[Unlimited04]

seems like normal rust for a midwest car. lived in michigan & ohio for 24 yrs and vividly remember salted winters. take a wire brush (or wire disc on a grinder or dremel) to all the rust and coat it with Line-X or POR15 or something like that. prime and paint over the rust on the body, fill in the bad holes & gaps with bondo and hand sand it flush, but you shouldnt be that bad. paint and primer should do the trick. it will hold off the salt for a few more winters, then it will look like that again.

[Cocoyofoo]

Im pretty sure the frame needs extensive work.. I lightly hit the frame with a flashlight and some big flakes fell off.. I'm leaning towards using chemicals to deal with the rust. I remember seeing something on Horspower Tv, the one on Spike . Anyways it was a product that turned a piece from a car from being really rusty to completely solid and hard as it used to be

[Unlimited04]

Originally Posted by Cocoyofoo

Im pretty sure the frame needs extensive work.. I lightly hit the frame with a flashlight and some big flakes fell off.. I'm leaning towards using chemicals to deal with the rust. I remember seeing something on Horspower Tv, the one on Spike . Anyways it was a product that turned a piece from a car from being really rusty to completely solid and hard as it used to be

the frame doesnt need chemicals or anything fancy. get a handheld steel wire brush and put some pressure on it and rub it back and forth. the rust will fall right off, all of that frame rust is just surface rust. i bet it doesnt even penetrate 1-2mm.

cleaning the frame with a wire brush by hand will take you till next winter, so get an angle grinder for 20 bucks at harbor freight and put a wire wheel on it - but keep the guard on the grinder and use some heavy welding gloves with safety goggles & a dust mask. grinder + wire wheel = lots of dust and little wires flying everywhere. i put my hand into a wire wheel on a grinder one time, luckily i had a set of welding gloves on - it took a finger off the glove - my finger was fine

[wildjeeper]

I live in Ohio and for my Jeep frame (and undercarriage) Por-15 is now my new best friend. It's great stuff. Just be sure to do the prep work and paint with a top coat. Don't forget to spray the inside of your frame with wd-40or some other rust inhibitor. Living in the midwest, rust is just something you have to keep up with, like any other maintenance item.
Good luck!