1996 Rusted out undercarage
I have a 96 Cherokee sport with a rusty undercarage just about everything down there's got it i was trying to find if there is a way to restore it to close to normal and paint it so this won't be a every month thing any suggestions please help I'm new to the forum so please help me if I some how posted wrong
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 690
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From: Pennsylvania
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
First: 1 Pic says a million words.
Second: Floorpans, cut out the car-cancer and weld new sheet metal in.
Third: If it is the frame that is rusted out, you can either "Plate" it, which I am not thoroughly sure about what that is, or you can say screw it and assume the car is dead in the water.
Fourth: Brakes- you can redo the whole set-up. I did... eck.
What is rusted? Help a lot to know that. If everything in your undercarriage is nothing but rust, I would pitch it...
Second: Floorpans, cut out the car-cancer and weld new sheet metal in.
Third: If it is the frame that is rusted out, you can either "Plate" it, which I am not thoroughly sure about what that is, or you can say screw it and assume the car is dead in the water.
Fourth: Brakes- you can redo the whole set-up. I did... eck.
What is rusted? Help a lot to know that. If everything in your undercarriage is nothing but rust, I would pitch it...
Thank god the frame is in mint condition and I'm not to worried about the breaks going to upgrade to a 8.8 soon and it's mostly the floor pans and above the drive shaft just trying to get a second opinion before paying to replace all the floor pans not the greatest at welding it's not in bad enough condition to Ditch just want to handle the problem before it gets out of hand will upload a picture soon
Cherokee has no frame, it's unibody construction. Easiest way to see how much rust there really is; rubber mallet.
Get under it and start beating the crap of everything, if you can't beat through it, that's OK, if not, well......
Get under it and start beating the crap of everything, if you can't beat through it, that's OK, if not, well......
Senior Member
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 690
Likes: 0
From: Pennsylvania
Year: 1988
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
I know I Kind of assume that everyone knows that the jeeps are unibody, but the thing that looks like a frame underneath is what I was talking about. lol.
*Guess on here you can't take anything for granted... we still have almost, what, a weekly question about body lifts... lol.
My 80 Camaro was unibody, but the frame rail was rusted straight through, so I parted out the car for the good parts. Ruined my day, though... now looking for a Merc Cougar Eliminator.
*Guess on here you can't take anything for granted... we still have almost, what, a weekly question about body lifts... lol.
My 80 Camaro was unibody, but the frame rail was rusted straight through, so I parted out the car for the good parts. Ruined my day, though... now looking for a Merc Cougar Eliminator.
CF Veteran

Joined: Oct 2010
Posts: 2,150
Likes: 12
From: Ontario, Canada
Year: 1989 Laredo
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 L 6 Renix
That's not bad at all. You can fix that. Pull your interior carpets and wiring way way up and have friend on fire watch with hose and extinguisher while welding is happening. Pic shows perhaps a more severe problem, yet was fixable. Your rails look great, I definately recommend rust paints, but not the ashphalt type undercoat sprays. You can repair much easier in the future with just paint applied.
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Senior Member
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 851
Likes: 0
From: Riverside county
Year: 89' soon to be
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 HO 167k miles
Originally Posted by peep
That's not bad at all. You can fix that. Pull your interior carpets and wiring way way up and have friend on fire watch with hose and extinguisher while welding is happening. Pic shows perhaps a more severe problem, yet was fixable. Your rails look great, I definately recommend rust paints, but not the ashphalt type undercoat sprays. You can repair much easier in the future with just paint applied.
Newbie
Joined: Dec 2011
Posts: 18
Likes: 0
From: Long Island, NY
Year: 1996
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
i just noticed some cancer on my 96 cherokee. Only on passenger side though, i definitely have to show you guys some pics. Big hole near firewall, under the front seat, in the rear cargo area too...
CF Veteran
Joined: Aug 2011
Posts: 1,090
Likes: 0
From: Lehigh Valley, Pennsylvania
Year: 1999
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0 stroked to 4.6, Thanks to Teasdale'sMachine!
Here's my new floor. I used it as a way to start teaching my 13 year old welding. Bought him a Lincoln handy mig, and let him go at it. He did every other three inches with flux core (not pretty), then I came back and did the gaps with a Tig. But we could have done it all with the mig.




Yep I know, need a good cleaning and some more bed coating. I was thinking of doing lizard skin. But don't know anyone who's done it before without carpet.




Yep I know, need a good cleaning and some more bed coating. I was thinking of doing lizard skin. But don't know anyone who's done it before without carpet.
I was talking to my friend about my rusted out floor pans and he told me that you had to replace the whole body because of the unibody construction and cutting out the old floor pans to replace them would make the already weak frame even weaker and lots of work so does anyone know about this I have a few wholes in my floor pans but have no welder and very little welding skills this is a definite problem and just wanted to know If this was true and what's the most cost effective solution to this problem


