Thanks to 79CJ:thumb:, I now have a good YJ frame. My question is now that I have a bare frame, what kind of work/upgrades/preventative maintenance should I do to this frame before I start the swap. Realistically the jeep will spend more time on the road than off, so I don't need anything "extream". Basically I'm hoping for a good family wheeler. The current jeep is a 92 YJ, 4-1/2" lift, 4:56 gears, lockers, 8500# winch.
Thanks for any help and suggestions.
Nathan
clean out the frame. my replacement was full of sand at the rearmost cross member. pay attention to the bump stop mounts. (guess where mine failed). steering gear box mount failed at the first 24 inches(yep that# is right) rotted 80 pct away. shock tower mounts need special attention. take the time and money to replace your bushings NOW.
Also, I am and was, super cheap and broke, spent time with a wire wheel and NAVAL jelly, cleaning off the rust. I primed with spray and brushed on oil based enamel. Two years later I am still happy with the choice. My research said to make an opening at rear of frame on each side to flush out the gross stuff and am happy i followed the advice. I use this gently as a daily driver so upgrades were not important to me. I hope you enjoy your project.
I would suggest addressing the nut inserts at the transfer case skid plate. They fail or spin fairly regualry. I used a plasma and cut the inserts out. Then I cut a piece of 1/4" plate the width of the frame and drilled a matching bolt pattern. I weled heavy hex nuts to the back side of the plate and then welded it to the bottom of the frame. The plasma cut holes from the original inserts allow clearance for the nuts. As the previous post suggests, the rear shock mounts should be addressed too.
Do you still run the sway and trac bars on your YJ? Either way I would ditch those and cut off all of there mounts. Those mounts hold dirt and water and will rust oh the frame. I would also take some time to work on the rear upper shock mounts, they have a pocket that hold water and dirt and also rot out the frame.
Here's what I did to my rear upper shock mounts on my 100 percent that free Cali frame. This way I can blast the inside of the mount and the dirt and water will run out.
Chopped all the trac/sway bar mounts off, also remove the doubler plastes up on the front of the frame on both rails. They were for shipping the frame when new and now all they do is hold rust. You can see them here on the right side of the pic with the oval hole in the middle.
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