By the Power of Grayskull... I finally got the rear bumper off and the dang aftermarket Reese trailer hitch!!! It was a royal PITA, but after much wrenching & cursing it's done. The stinking bolts were fine thread and about 3" long, so it took a zillion cranks with a 1/2" drive ratchet (w/ a 2' length of pipe for enough leverage to break the rust) to remove all 4 on the right side. I resorted to chopping the 4 bolts off the left side with a sawzall and hammering the remains out with a chisel.

Now I can clean up the exposed areas and coat them with the Duplicolor truck bed liner I used for the wheel wells & underbody. It works & looks great and should provide plenty of protection from mud, road salt, rocks, etc. But here's my problem: when I got off the right plastic bumper side molding, I discovered (to my horror) a patch of rust 3" long X almost 2" tall, down along the bottom edge of the quarter panel, and it's rusted right through.

The new RockHard rear bumper will cover this area so my question is, should I just clean the area & paint over it, or surgically chop out the cancer with the sawzall back to clean, rust-free metal and then sand & paint and not worry about how it looks since it will be hidden from sight once the new rear bumper is installed???

What say you, Warriors of the Cherokee tribe

 

I say to look up XJ Strykers build.
The best thing is to cut it out and stitch weld in a new piece in the place of the rusted section. That will be a permanent fix for that spot. There are probably more spots hidden from view so a complte examination of the body is in order.

 

If your lower quarters are rusted out, good bet there is "other" rust that you cannot see.

A thourough inspection of the underside is in order.
Get a comfy piece of cardboard/plywood or your favorite creeper and spend some quality time with your XJ...flat on your back with screwdriver in hand.

Remember that saying: If it looks like a duck. Quacks like a duck. Etc..Etc.
Rust is the same way. If it looks like there is rust there- give it a good poking with the screwdriver to 100% verify that it IS rust. And make sure you are wearing some sort of eye protection.

Some areas to pay attention to:
Along the unibody rails on inside of rear wheelwells.
Around the front mounting for leaf springs.
Around rear shackle mount.
Driver's floor.
Rocker panels.
Above exhaust.
Lower quarter panels.

BUT since you have already discovered the qtr panel rust, and are planning a rear bumper "upgrade" you could do like FamilyXJ did and cut & fold your lower quarters.

https://www.cherokeeforum.com/f2/rear-quarter-cut-fold-4310/

Good idea to surgically remove rust when doing any repair or patch. Why?
They do call rust "CANCER" for a reason.

 

Thanks for the feedback, fellas.

I have rolled all around the underside whilst painting that bedliner goop on the wheel wells (none, thankfully) and the underbody from the inside out (again, none), including the key areas you described, Howler.

I guess that's why I was so surprised to find a through hole in the rear quarter panel. I suppose I should be thankful that the spot sits well below that first transitional crease. (And thanks, H-GT, for the "fold & weld" link. Very informative.)

I guess I should be glad I still have my buddy's sawzall in the garage. Time to scrub & prep for surgery...

 

I decided to see why my seat was turning into a rocking chair and I discrovered this late last night. WHEEEE!

 

Have fun with that lol. Fixable but it is a lot of work.

 

Wow, diskman. That looks like the floorboards in my old '84 F-250, except yours look a little nicer. Good luck!!

 

Holy flintstone-mobile, batman

 

Did this one ever get repaired?! Just curious if there is a follow-up success pic.

 

Sorry for not getting back here in such a long time. It has been a very bad past few months so far. Not the least of which was the death of a couple of close family members during the holidays.

As if that weren't bad enough, my digital camera died on me so I was unable document the remainder of my build. (I intend to get a replacement soon. Perhaps after my tax $$$'s come back.)

I got the rust taken care of, completely undercoated the entire underside of the Cherokee and finished installing my goodies (front & rear bumpers, winch, alum. radiator, etc.)... all except for my stereo - only because I haven't bought one yet. I think I'll get one of those USB/thumb drive capable jobs.

When my camera is replaced, I'll post how everything turned out. Rest assured, it looks great and I absolutely LOVE my Jeep. Really shatty weather (snow, ice, etc.) so far this Winter and the Cherokee hasn't missed a beat. I'm luvin' it for sure. Surprised at the number of compliments I get all the time from all kinds of people. They never should've stopped making this model, that's for sure.