Cherokee Unibody Questions

Wolfpack OffRoad

Wolfpack OffRoad

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Joined
Mar 21, 2005
Location
Trinity
Hey, while we have the tube bender out I was thinking about making some rockrails for the cherokee to save me some $$. I know the design and was gonna tie it in the same as everyone else, with plates and self tapping bolts to the unibody in 3 places and to the spring hanger. I then began to think about another route. Cutting one side off of square tubing and using that to create a "sheath" over the unibody or a subframe. ( I would cut out notches for crossmember, etc.) From this I could attach my rockrails on the outside and attach my crossmember for the antiwrap bar on the inside. I think this would also act as a frame strengthener for the unibody. do ya'll think this is a worthy idea to try or trash it. And if it will work what is the best way to attach the sheath to the body- weld it or use selftapping bolts( I really don't want to go this route). Let me have any ideas or anything you guys have tried. Thanks, Josh
 
sounds interesting...keep us posted on your progress. I have been wondering how to setup something similar for my XJ.
 
the unibody is not that weak like everybody makes it out to be. yeah it might move and twist slightly but so does everything else on everybody else's rig. unibodies might crack but so do real frames as seen on some toys and other jeeps. i have had no problem from my unibody with leafs up front fullwidths 39.5 Iroks and no top or doors and no back hatch. i have rock rails that are welded to the "frame" in 3 spots as well as a cage with just a basic main hoop. if you are just looking to do something to your XJ that would be cool but if you are doing becuase you feel that you have to in order to wheel it or be hard on it because people say it is going to break in half and crash in burn then thats your call. anyways just my 2 cents but i think you have a good plan if you want to tackle the project.
 
Strengthening the frame was not the main reason for starting something like this, more, an added benefit. I wanted something versatile that I could anchor to that would keep me from drilling enough holes in the unibody to turn it into swiss cheese. I wanted to mount rock rails to it and a crossmember for a traction bar, maybe more things in the future. I understand the unibody will stand up to some abuse. I just wanted to make sure it was ok to weld to the unibody in small sections to attach the metal. ;) thanks for the input. -Josh
 
Have you considered boxing in the rocker panels instead of bulding conventional sliders? You will gain aprox 3" of ground clearance. I did mine about six months ago and looking back I think it's been one of my best mods. They have taken a beating and still look and work great. Here's a link showing what we did to my rig http://www.4x4trailhunters.com/article.php?id=17
 
Jer said:
Have you considered boxing in the rocker panels instead of bulding conventional sliders? You will gain aprox 3" of ground clearance. I did mine about six months ago and looking back I think it's been one of my best mods. They have taken a beating and still look and work great. Here's a link showing what we did to my rig http://www.4x4trailhunters.com/article.php?id=17
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thats pretty interesting. and not a bad idea. if i had an xj i was seriously consider doin some thing like that. but i kinda like the idea of hackin the body :flipoff2:
 
That is something different. I would want more latteral protection to keep my side off of things like was said in the article. I will give this whole idea a thought and do some figuring as to which way I want to go, I am in no hurry to get it done. It may be awhile but i will post pics of what I have decided to do. Thanks, Josh
 
I have just finished boxing my frame to attach some rock rails to. The reason I did this is because I already have a couple of dents in my frame from rocks and I wanted something to keep it from getting worse. And I am going to attach a roll cage and my radius arms to it from a d44 when I do an axle swap. (It will give me a good platform to mount off of.)
 
jeepxj said:
I have just finished boxing my frame to attach some rock rails to. The reason I did this is because I already have a couple of dents in my frame from rocks and I wanted something to keep it from getting worse. And I am going to attach a roll cage and my radius arms to it from a d44 when I do an axle swap. (It will give me a good platform to mount off of.)
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Do you have any pics? What size steel did you use? How did you attach it?
 
I built my own rock rails and bolted them directly to the outer pinch seam and used a front and rear support. I ran them for over a year with no problems.

Low profile, sticks out enough to protect doors from trees.
xj_rock_rail.jpg


Front attacment to unibody. 8 sheet metal screws! (safety in numbers)
xj_rock_rail_front_support.jpg


Rear brace to spring hanger. I also used 6 bolts to secure the pinch seam to the slider. The bolt threads directly into the rail.
xj_rock_rail_rear_support.jpg


Just this morning I finished installing a Rubicon Express long arm kit on my XJ and had to some fabrication to attach their side braces to my sliders. Thats what the large plate is attached to the slider.
xj_rock_rail_RE_brace.jpg


Here's the rock rail installed and firmly botlted to the RE crossmember.
xj_RE_long_arms.jpg


Gary
 
Looks good Gary. How do you like the RE long arms? I guess you will tell me after mon. right? :) I want to go with them when I upgrade. I am thinking of making some temp. rock rails (2x4 or 2x6) until I go with long arms. When I do that I will make some double tube ones and anchor them off of the unibody sheathing. I figure this will be sometime next summer. This way I can do the long arms, sheathing, nice rockrails and traction bar all in one pop.

I am thinking of attaching mine similar to yours for now. Attaching them to plates and use self-tapping bolts to attach that to the unibody. I am thinking of mounting them flush with the bottom of the body though(notching the pinch seam) so they will sit flush and not have anywhere to go. (an idea I am borrowing from Andy)

I hope to go to D.H. Griffin early Mon. morning and start some fab. :D
 
I don't have any pictures of it yet. But I used 3x3 angle iron on the outside edge and bottom, and I used a 2" flat plate of steel on the inside. I cut v-nothces in the 3x3 to follow the frame line and lie flat on the frame then welded them up. I used 5 -1/2" bolts to smash the plates together.
 
jeepxj said:
I don't have any pictures of it yet. But I used 3x3 angle iron on the outside edge and bottom, and I used a 2" flat plate of steel on the inside. I cut v-nothces in the 3x3 to follow the frame line and lie flat on the frame then welded them up. I used 5 -1/2" bolts to smash the plates together.
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Did you sleeve the bolts running through the "frame"? If not, did it create any problems?
 
I replaced the whole rocker panel on a buddy's XJ. We used 2x4x0.25" box tubing... 3/16" would have been plenty, but I had the 1/4" lying around from another project. Cut out the existing rocker, and welded in the box tubing. Capped off the ends, and painted the snot out of it. The 2x4 is almost perfect dimensionally, and gives you just a little bit of a ledge. You could dress them up nicely by adding a step rail with some square or round tubing.

Thought I had a few pics lying around, but I can't find them at the moment.
 
I did not sleve the bolts in the frame. I have not had any problems yet with it. I jacked up the bottom plate to the frame before I drilled the bolt holes in the frame. And after I finish making my rock rails I am going to weld the 3x3 plate to the frame.
 
JeepinHank said:
I replaced the whole rocker panel on a buddy's XJ. We used 2x4x0.25" box tubing... 3/16" would have been plenty, but I had the 1/4" lying around from another project. Cut out the existing rocker, and welded in the box tubing. Capped off the ends, and painted the snot out of it. The 2x4 is almost perfect dimensionally, and gives you just a little bit of a ledge. You could dress them up nicely by adding a step rail with some square or round tubing.

Thought I had a few pics lying around, but I can't find them at the moment.
Click to expand...


I keep looking at the article and i am liking it more. That way I can add to it later instead of redoing the sliders when I make the sheathing. Does anyone have an up close pic of their welds to the door seam?
 
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