not sure exactly what that means
something about the frame?
more importantly, is unibody easier to damage off road?
I know all xj's are unibody
and you bounce around a lot on the trail

 

Unibody is exactly as it sounds .. body and "frame" are 1 unit. Remember Google is ur friend. ; )

 

There are three types of fairly common vehicle construction: Unibody, body-on-frame, and sub-frame construction. The first two are much more common than the latter. Unibody means that the body is part of the structural integrity of the car, the body is the frame, basically. It's common among modern passenger cars and light-duty, compact trucks/SUVs. Body-on-frame is as the name implies, the body of the car is bolted to a frame. The frame includes the engine, transmission, and suspension and is responsible for structural integrity of the vehicle. It's usually a pretty stout setup and used with larger (full-sized) trucks and SUVs. Sub-frame is reserved for exotic cars where the passenger compartment is usually of aluminum or composite construction while the engine, transmission, and suspension pickup points are tubular subframe assemblies that are either bolted or glued (or both) to the passenger monocoque.

Traditionally, off-roaders have preferred the body-on-frame approach because of it's strength and rigidity. However, the unibody construction of the Cherokee is considered to be equal to or better than many b-o-f designs. That's why they're so popular with wheelers. Unibody construction also yields a lighter body (usually) compared to b-o-f so the sacrifices in rigidity are offset by the lighter weight.

 

googled it first and got a bunch of crap about macbook pro. lol

 

thanks.

 

LOL. Ok. Was just yankin yer chain a bit. Im a bit of a joker sometimes. Ny bad. ; )

 

Actually, Jeep called it uni-frame originally. Full length frame rails integrated into the body. Most uni-bodies have a center tub with sub-frames bolted on to the front and rear.

 

This made me laugh in real life lol.

 

If properly designed and constructed, a uni-body chassis is stronger and lighter than a body-on-frame design.

Until it gets damaged, that is. Once damaged, if the "frame" area or any large fixed panels are involved (quarter panels, roof, floor pan, etc) are involved, then it is very possible that the original strength will have been compromised and may never be re-established.

That is why you need to carefully investigate any unibody vehicles for accident damage.

Body-on-frame really maintains its strength unless there is frame damage. Which is why it is prefered by many folks for trail rigs. You normally get a lot of dents and creases when wheeling, and unless you get into the frame, the whole rig will maintain its strength and integrity.

 

so you cant frame swap an xj?

 

No.

You would have to build a completely custom tube chassis and then graft the XJ shell onto it.

It can be done, but it won't be easy or cheap. There will be a lot of fab work involved and if you are not able to do all the work yourself, you would be looking at several grand to have it done.

 

Probably cuz it's called a unit body not unibody but y a everyone on here calls it a unibody so it's ok.

Correct me if I'm wrong.

 

Okay, it's uniframe.

 

you ever seen xtreme 4x4 from powerblock on spike tv?
the host of the show called it unibody
Ive heard unibody before the show but thats where I got it from

 

The Cherokee has what is called a "reinforced" unibody. Those reinforcement rails under there confuse some people.