Topic: frame rust challenge

[sharpxmen]

so yesterday i decided to deal with some rust i have on the frame. Last time i took the fuel tank out i noticed a lot of rust where the bushing sleeves are welded to the frame, about 2 inches around the sleeve was all rust. Same deal but not that much on the ouside of the frame and also had rust coming out from all the welds around the body mount brackets.
another place i noticed there's plenty of rust was at the steering box where the bolt sleeves are welded.
So i got a sandblasting gun at some point and finally yesterday i decided to tackle this. it's a freaking pain to sandblast but for sure it does a nice job cleaning the rust. I had everything taken out in the rear so it made the job lot easier. I was surprised to find that the rust was only at the surface, in no place were the welds rusted thru or the frame thinned, plenty of thickness left everywhere i cleaned. I gave it 2 coats of POR15 in all places, it dries like powdercoat, it's really strong once it's cured. I bought a 6 pack of POR15, it's 6 cans each 4oz and i used 2 of them for this, i got gray and black just to see what i'm doing, used gray for the first coat and black for the second (makes it easier with the lighter color to make sure you get it all covered on the second coat)

hit it with primer and painted with undercoat and black laquer top coat.

turned out nice, i'm very happy with the result - it's all nice and painted black now, hope will last (i just couldn't get myself to leave it like that althouh a rust convert and a top coat would have probably suffice), didn't take any pics though.

while at it i removed my old leafs and test fitted the RC lift kit i got a while ago (4'' lift) - the springs seem to be a bit shorter than the other ones i had (2'') or probably it's just the arch in them, so as a result the shackles were hitting my hitch mount where it ties in the the frame, i had to cut some notches in it to allow for more travel for the shackle to move forward.

I also found that the poly bushing sleeves were all rusted in the bushings and were virtually glued to them, same for the bushings in the frame - i cleaned them up and gave it plenty of grease, they move nice and easy by hand now with the shackles fully tightened. Had to use a 1 new 1/2 bushing as out of 8 of them only 3 were good enough so i am short by 1 on the leaf bushings, i ordered 1 shackle kit to have spares.

I also bought longer grade 8 bolts for the shackles (stock is 4.5'', i got 5''), the ones i had were a tad short as my shackles are a/m and way thicker than stock and the bolts that came with them were grade 5 (darn).

put the gastank back on and this time i used stainless bolts for the 3 holes above the axle, for some reason those ones were always rusting like crazy and just got tired of working out every time i need to take them off.

next thing i need to do is to make some rear shocks upper mount relocation brackets, something like the MORE ones but i have an issue with the way those are made - i'd like to relocate the fuel filter somewhere else, but it's a bit of a pain since i would need to reroute the lines, anyone did this before?

[neale_rs]

I would also like to relocate my rear shocks, both the axle (getting hit on every rock trail trip) and frame mounts.  My current plan is to put in a tube that spans between the current frame mounts and then install the shocks higher on the axle tube but angled in toward the center of the Jeep to keep them at the same length when at normal ride height.  I think Teraflex has or used to have a kit for this, which I was not planning to buy, but it did give me the idea.

[sharpxmen]

that's a great idea to use a pipe to stabilize the mounts, - i'll reasearch it a bit crawling under the jeep, would make it easier if it can be fitted and bolted on nicely without having to drill the frame. I'll let you know if i come up with anything

[neale_rs]

Thanks, you tend to come up with some really good designs.

[Jeffy]

I would also like to relocate my rear shocks, both the axle (getting hit on every rock trail trip) and frame mounts.  My current plan is to put in a tube that spans between the current frame mounts and then install the shocks higher on the axle tube but angled in toward the center of the Jeep to keep them at the same length when at normal ride height.  I think Teraflex has or used to have a kit for this, which I was not planning to buy, but it did give me the idea.

That was Teraflex.  It was originally a Metal Made Rite (Revolver Shackle fame) design.  It's actually made so you can triangulate your rear shocks to gain a bit more shock travel without having to clear huge shocks through the tub.  It's been done for years though.



For the lower mounts, you can either make your own from box tubing or else just buy them.  I bought my mounts from Currie and rotated them up about an inch.  They are a lot thicker then the stock mounts so there shouldn't be any worry of cracking them even if they hand down a bit.  Otherwise go with a stud mount so you can mount the shock closer to the axle tube.