Frame stiffeners are ready to be welded on

 

Freaking Sweet build so far. Makes me realize i need to learn welding and fabrication FAST :-)

 

What did you do, go to lowes and pick up 2 6ft sections of 1/8" angle iron and just drill holes into them?

 

I'm lucky enough to have a HUGE (30+ acres) steel yard 1 mile from my house. They can order any new steel you want but I'd say 70% is what they consider scrap. The top few pieces might have a spot or two of rust but the rest of the bundle is perfect. They sell all of that for 25 to 35 cents per pound.

But anyway- I used a piece of 3x3 left over from the frame and cut the corners out of it. And almost burned up a cheap Ryobi drill, drilling out the 1" holes.

 

Looking forward to how this works. Might steal this cheaper alternative haha.

 

One or two relief cuts and it should fit a standard Cherokee frame pretty nice.

 

I have C.M. Metal a couple miles away, they also have a scrap yard at about the same price. That is the only way to go.

 

Frame stiffeners are tacked on now, I'll fully weld them tomorrow night.


This is about $5 worth of steel and a few hours worth of work.








Had to grind down my weld where the sections meet so the stiffener would sit flat.








Disregard the exhaust. The muffler is getting moved up high behind the rear axle later on.

 

I love it. I probably haven't spent $100 in steel for this whole project.

 

Oh, I might have to follow your lead on those stiffeners. I will have to get over to C.M. soon!

 

They worked out pretty well except my welds look awful. I was thinking I didn't get all the undercoat off of the frame but it turns out I must have nudged the wire speed on the welder. Once I figured that out, the rest turned out decent.

One other change I would make if doing it again is changing where I drilled my holes, some of them line up with existing holes in the frame.

 

I've been wanting to do this for a long time. great job

 

Thanks bud. The stiffeners were my one requirement before I started driving it around. I didn't want the frame to start flexing and cracking.

 

Fish plates are welded on and the rear end is out for the last time. I need to pick up one last tube of seam sealer on Monday to do the back of the cab then I'll undercoat everything and put the axle and shocks back in for good.


The bottom plates had to go on the inside due to the leaf spring mounts and the top had to go on the outside because of the gas tank.

 

Everything under the jeep is welded, seam sealed, undercoated, and put back together. The to do list is getting shorter!!