My new ride
 

Hey yall, went ahead and sealed the deal on a 98 xj. My first cherokee and hopefully a keeper. Theres some rust in the tub, ill try to post pics. Its def a basic jeep, but should fit my needs. Goin to tow it behind the rv and do some light wheeling to start with. Need to keep it reliable on the highway. My first areas to address are the rust and setting it up to tow. Does anyone know about flat towing behind an rv? Specifically if any towbars will work in d ring mounts on aftermarket bumpers? A bumper is about the same cost as the baseplate in a lot of cases, and i want to run a winch eventually. Second is the rust. Under the drivers feet is pretty bad, but i think i can handle that one. My big concern is in front of passenger rear tire. The channel on the floor..looks similar to a trame rail is rusted thru right where it turns up. Is there a patch for this? Any ideas on repairing/strengthening? Thanks for any help!
https://cimg4.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.che...271e0941b6.jpg


Right across from muffler next to spring hanger. Sorry for lousy lighting

I'd get that rust looked at before even thinking of anything else. That's the structural area, and already at the forward leaf mount. If what's visible is that bad, what's not easily visible is worse. No "patch", that needs to be cut out and replaced.

Thanks for the reply. The deal is still pending payment, im gettin it for 800 bucks. Should i back out now, or is it repairable?

Anything is repairable, what it costs is the factor. I don't have much personal experience with rust that bad so I'd get some input from others first. Hard to put a price from one single pic and no other info. I'd say either have someone (or yourself) give it a very good inspection, maybe even have a shop give an estimate.

Yea i understand that. And there a few other spots, but nothing that bad in a structural area. I can do under the driverside myself..thats flat. And i dont mind getting under it and getting dirty..lol. my plan is to dig out what i can, treat the surrounding areas, then have a friend of a friend weld in some steel where needed. If nothing else..its a cheap start. Not building a beauty queen, just concerned about structural integrity (spoken like eric cartman). My question was really if there was somewhere that sold reinforcements or beefier panels that i could put in after the rust has been taken out. Similar to rocker armor, but for the underside

Heres what im thinking. Couldnt i put in something like this once the cancer is out?

http://www.ruffstuffspecialties.com/catalog/XJRAIL.html

Maybe this is a very noobie mistake, thats why im asking the pros!

And maybe i should get more specific on the jeeps possible future. I want a 3 or 4.5 inch lift and about 32s. Not planning on more than that. I can still walk on this deal, we shook hands at $800, but nothing has been exchanged yet. Seems to run fine and shifted into 4x4 with no issues. I would think thats worth 800 right there.