[Ravenbar]

'02 WJ

I'm starting to have rust pinholes new on of my control arm mounts. No repair sections are sold for WJ's from what I can find.

My plan is to cut out the damaged section to access the interior of the framerail, where most of the rust is, to eliminate the rust, the flange in a new section of metal, and plate over that with frame stiffeners.

To do that, I need to be able to flange the existing 1/8" framerail, so the filler panel will sit flush to the surface, for the stiffeners to go on correctly. The flanger I've got maxes at 16ga. I've tried 14ga, and it only half offsets the material.

I need a way to flange 1/8" metal in place on the vehicle.

 

[rjbruzan]

Not available for a low cost. You could have a sheet metal shop bend it up for you or just butt weld the patches. Even a lap joint over the cleaned up rust hole then spray the inside of the weld with a product like Fluid film or bar and chain oil.
Check out Fitzie on YouTube for his method of butt welding patch panels if you must have a flush repair. 14 ga. Or 1/8” is welded nicely with a MIG welder even if overhead.

Ron

 

[Ravenbar]

Not available for a low cost. You could have a sheet metal shop bend it up for you or just butt weld the patches. Even a lap joint over the cleaned up rust hole then spray the inside of the weld with a product like Fluid film or bar and chain oil.
Check out Fitzie on YouTube for his method of butt welding patch panels if you must have a flush repair. 14 ga. Or 1/8" is welded nicely with a MIG welder even if overhead.

Ron

The part I need to offset is the unibody framerail, so can't have a sheet metal shop do it.

It needs to be flush so that I can then plate over it with frame stiffeners. I honestly probably don't have to fill in the hole I cut in the existing framerail, to access the inside to do an in depth rust removal and reinforcements it necessary. Reinfrcement only being necessary if I find the framerail directly behind and immediately around the LCA mount is very thin. From sticking my finger into holes in the frsmerail in that area and using brake rotor clipers fished up in there, it appears the frmerail in that section is still close to it's original ~1/8" thickness, with most rust being pon the inner sides and the floorboard within the framerail.

 

[Ravenbar]

I've found a solution. Not to the question, but to avoid having to address the issue.

I've found I can go in through the floorboards into the frame rail to do the rust remediation. Another benefit of this is that I don't necessarily need to do either the rust removal or paint/rust treat the insides prior to welding in the frame stiffeners and proceeding with the rocker replacement. That means I'll also be able to leave removable access plates under the carpet for future inspection and rustproofing as well.