Broke As a Joke (An XJ Build)

The mounts themselves are fine...but you're pretty much welding to sheet metal. Those kits bolt on for that reason. Bolts are stronger than welds when put in that situation.
 
1stgenxxx said:
The mounts themselves are fine...but you're pretty much welding to sheet metal. Those kits bolt on for that reason. Bolts are stronger than welds when put in that situation.
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Well what if i drill some holes and bolt them as well? Im also going to grind down the mounts a bit to make them not so blocky looking
 
I would add the bolts if I were you. I'm not trying to be a dick...Just don't want to see someone get hurt.
 
Your mounts are 3/16" or 1/4" thick right now the sheet metal they are welded onto is 16ga double layered in that particular area about 1/8" thick. When sheet metal is welded to something that is going to be stressed it will rip the mount off the frame when the area around the weld cracks, the mount and the weld will be fine the rest will not be.

I'm planning on plating my frame rails then weld my mounts onto the plates. The plates are going to be 3/16" and stich welded to spread the load and prevent the uni body from cracking along the entire weld should it fail.
Frame plating
ai41.photobucket.com_albums_e287_akxj_DSCF1233.jpg


The reason I ask about the upper arms is because of brake dive while braking.
 
a2.bp.blogspot.com__CWRtuk2VBho_RZsf81opdCI_AAAAAAAAAAk_mtv8AKbI3yM_s1600_framefab2.JPG

Something like that would be awsome....
 
There is lots of info on www.Pirate4x4.com go to bulletin board then the cheokee section...there is also a hardcore jeep section but you'll proably get the shit flammed out of you. Do alot of searching before you ask questions on there.
 
rob92xj said:
Your mounts are 3/16" or 1/4" thick right now the sheet metal they are welded onto is 16ga double layered in that particular area about 1/8" thick. When sheet metal is welded to something that is going to be stressed it will rip the mount off the frame when the area around the weld cracks, the mount and the weld will be fine the rest will not be.

I'm planning on plating my frame rails then weld my mounts onto the plates. The plates are going to be 3/16" and stich welded to spread the load and prevent the uni body from cracking along the entire weld should it fail.
Frame plating
ai41.photobucket.com_albums_e287_akxj_DSCF1233.jpg


The reason I ask about the upper arms is because of brake dive while braking.
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That's more or less what I did, I took 3x3x3/16th angle and stitch welded and plug welded it bumper to bumper. That gives you a nice solid piece of steel to build off of. Either way you look at it, the unibody rails will not hold up well on their own. Even with the bolts running through it, you'll start to see stress cracks everywhere. Especially since you did a big no no fully welding the inside and outside of your mounts. Whats going to happen to the rails is where your mounts are welded to the rails-it'll act as a can opener and tear all the metal front to back. Not trying to pee in your cheerios or anything, but maybe look into cutting those off, plating the rails, then re-welding the mounts onto that. It would suck you go to all that work to have the mounts tear off and potentially ruin a great looking XJ.
 
That's one of the reasons my long arms have not been started yet, I need to get the steel to plate my rails plus I need to fix the stress cracks in the tailgate area before they get worse.
You have a nice looking XJ and I don't want to see it come apart on you.
I might just end up ordering these from Dan at RuffStuff he is vender on this forum.
http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/chassis-channel-reinforcement-p-291.html
 
rob92xj said:
Your mounts are 3/16" or 1/4" thick right now the sheet metal they are welded onto is 16ga double layered in that particular area about 1/8" thick. When sheet metal is welded to something that is going to be stressed it will rip the mount off the frame when the area around the weld cracks, the mount and the weld will be fine the rest will not be.

I'm planning on plating my frame rails then weld my mounts onto the plates. The plates are going to be 3/16" and stich welded to spread the load and prevent the uni body from cracking along the entire weld should it fail.
Frame plating
ai41.photobucket.com_albums_e287_akxj_DSCF1233.jpg


The reason I ask about the upper arms is because of brake dive while braking.
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I have the stock uppers atm. I have no brake dive issues.

I see what you guys are talking about. If i can get something a little more reasonable that bolts to the frame in several locations as well as being welded, would that be ok?
Or would it be an even better idea to build some plating around that area and weld it to the frame rail and then build mounts off of that?
 
Plate the frame rails then fully weld the Ballistic frame mounts to the frame plates. Any mount you weld to the uni body will weaken it, it will crack next to the weld.
 
rob92xj said:
Plate the frame rails then fully weld the Ballistic frame mounts to the frame plates. Any mount you weld to the uni body will weaken it, it will crack next to the weld.
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I really want to do this on the cheap if possible. I thought of making like a right angle mount and bolting from the side and bottom with 2 HD tabs welded to the mount for the arms. not sure if that would be any better? But plating the whole frame rails is pretty much out of the question unless i get some extra money here real soon.
 
you can get a 20' stick of 3x3x3/16th angle for 80$, 5 dollars at Harbor Freight for their "heavy duty" wire wheel to clean the rails and a 4lb spool of wire and you're ready to go. Not to expensive.
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
I really want to do this on the cheap if possible. I thought of making like a right angle mount and bolting from the side and bottom with 2 HD tabs welded to the mount for the arms. not sure if that would be any better? But plating the whole frame rails is pretty much out of the question unless i get some extra money here real soon.
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Do your self a favor and search other forums like pirate, NAXJA, jeepforum for how others have mounted there long arms, there will be a few posts with mounts how you currently have and how your thinking of mounting them and there are some pretty bad pics of what the results will be.
What I'm saying is do your homework first. Cheap turns out to be the most expensive choice later. Do it right and be safe.

I did consider doing what you have done then I learned about how easily the unibody tears apart after doing alot of research on it. I've been working on my long arms with a 4 link calculator and still have not come up with a plan I like yet but while I'm working it out on paper(puter memory) I'm gathering the parts to do it right and do it once.

Whiteyj where are you getting a stick of 3x3 3/16 for $80?

I really wish I had known about plating the XJ frame rails years ago it would have saved me all the work I now need to do to repair years of wheeling it.
 
rob92xj said:
Whiteyj where are you getting a stick of 3x3 3/16 for $80?
I really wish I had known about plating the XJ frame rails years ago it would have saved me all the work I now need to do to repair years of wheeling it.
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Just pulled the receipt, I was wrong, it was $55. I buy my metal from Gulfstream in Holly Ridge. It's right off the coast. They're good people and have worked with me on more than one occasion, and it's hard to find prices that beat theirs. Only issue is, if I need 3' of something, I'm buying at least 10', sometimes 20' depending what it is.
 
whitneyj said:
Just pulled the receipt, I was wrong, it was $55. I buy my metal from Gulfstream in Holly Ridge. It's right off the coast. They're good people and have worked with me on more than one occasion, and it's hard to find prices that beat theirs. Only issue is, if I need 3' of something, I'm buying at least 10', sometimes 20' depending what it is.
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Are they open on Saturday and is that something they keep in stock?
 
I don't think they're open on Sat, but I'm not for sure. They're # is(910)329-5100
They're inventory is absolutely huge, so I don't see why they wouldn't always have that in stock. I've never had a wait on anything I've ordered there.
 
very nice! Will you be cutting the floor pan up to get a nut strip on the side and bottom of those? Or will you be plug welding those?
 
Cherokeekid88 said:
Im going to drill an access hole to get to the nuts, to tighten them down.
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make sure you drill a big enough hole to use a washer under the nut. Better yet, make a plate to match the conture of of the inner rail and use it as a "squash" plate, or sandwich plate. It's looking good, though.
 
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