Man, where did you find an 84? I want to have a few pre 87XJs. Their my favorite honestly. I've never even seen an 84 in person in NJ. I can't wait to build mine. I think if I buy more pre-87 XJ's I'm talking a road trip as far south as I can go.

 

Yes... Got it here in KS. A little old lady bought in in a city here new, and it's been here ever since! Gotta go far south to find relatively rust-free XJ's IT seems. All my parts have '83 on them makes me giggle!!

 

So..... After taking a trusty screwdriver and bashing holes everywhere, this is what I'm left with...



What are my options here... It doesn't look too hopeful. I tried to research what people have done in this situation and have only found pictures of wrangler frame rot. Is there any danger in just ignoring it and making sure it doesn't get worse? I made sure to grind out all the rot. This jeep will never see the woods so if everyday driving won't cause it to totally split I might be okay. My fear is if I take it to a professional shop they'll be like "oh, we can't fix it" or "it will cost more than what it's worth"

 

Yes. First off it will get worse if left alone. This is a guarantee.

This is what I have to deal with:



And I had no visible holes on the outside. This is all from the interior.

It's a very important area for structure, and the rot is in the vincinity of the transmission crossmember mount. In a year or so it will probably fall off. This is how mine looked a couple months prior (had been parked since):



I strongly recommend taking a look inside and examining the situation.

 

One of your options is a set of frame stiffeners which will have to be welded to the subframe. And as Salad suggested, might want to look it over really good to find the full extent of the rust first.

 

Normally I would agree but there's not much to weld to in that area. A bunch of the rosettes would likely just burn right through.

One option is to see if anyone further south can help you get your paws on some rustless frame rails. Bit of Saw-Z-All action will make it quick

 

Yes, which is why I stated at the end to do a thorough inspection first. If it's just that one spot, he can plate/brace it.

 

I finished grinding out what was left of the cargo pan today and I took a screwdriver and pounded all of the rails and nothing else went through. I'm 90% sure it's just that spot.

In other news, I got the turn signals working today. I also realized that I need a new washer tank and coolant overflow tank. The jets fail to spray. I wonder if those jets are removable, I have yet to pull the tank.
I also got the horn to work, lots of sandpaper and contact cleaner were involved.
One thing I've noticed....... When the turn signals are on the side markers in the front don't flash.. Just the lower parking lamps. Is that an 84-86 thing or is my wiring goofed up somewhere?

 

Sounds like my 86. Reading the manual after swapping parts, I found you need the key on for the horn to work.

 

So my 86 has a np207 transfer case, but has selec-trac badging. I was told only command trac had the NP207. My front axle also has u-joints, and apparently 84-86 had CV axle shafts? I do however have the GKN front driveshaft (well I would if it was there, I need one).

 

It will have a c/v on the t-case end of the front driveshaft, but nothing else aside from the standard joint on the diff end. The axles get standard u-joints. Grand Cherokees got the axle c/v's.

 

My 1996 has the 242 TC and is designated Select-Trac.
The 231 is Command-Trac.

 

Glad to see some love for the original XJs.

That crappy old 2.8, I never got mine to die. Had to have put 200k on it myself. The original odometer died not long after i got it in late 90s because of a leak around the windshield got it wet and soon it started ticking miles away with every turn of the dial. It could very well be a 300k 2.8 if it is the original motor.

No idea if that 2.8 was ever rebuilt/ swapped out by the previous owners but it never failed me, so now I'm planning on pulling it out and rebuilding it. I had wanted it to die so I could justify a 3.4. Oh well there aren't any crate motor around now anyhow.

That machine never left me stranded even when axles and drive shafts were failing. It got me home each and every time I took it out.

I'll admit the 2.8 leaves something to be desired in way of power, the 207 transfer case is an odd duck, the ax5 is often a weak link, but mine never failed a lot more than I can say about many other vehicles out there who gave up the ghost doing a lot less.

Cheers!

 

My XJs are all too new, but I've come close to falling in range twice.

The first was when I was only 4. It was time for a new family car and my parents had decided on one of the new 4x4 compact SUVs available in 1984. They shopped all around and my dad did a fair amount of research. He didn't want to deal with CV boots in the Alaskan winter so that narrowed it down the the Toyota 4Runner, Ford Bronco II or the Jeep Cherokee. The Toyota was eliminated because it had just gone into production, and the order backlog was nearly a year long. Dad was weary of the uniframe, so they ended up with the Bronco II. Served the family for 12 good, but not entirely problem-free years, but I think the Cherokee probably would have had similar issues, mostly stemming from the complicated carburetor and pollution controls. Was disappointed that the rear roof didn't come off like the full-size or 4Runner.

The second was 11 years ago. I had owned my '99 XJ for 3 years, the Jeep bug had bitten me and I was itching for a second one. I was working on a wildfire and was going to be coming home with some money. At fire camp, I would read through classifieds of the most recent paper we had in my down time. Found a 2wd 86 MJ 2.8L that ran for about $800. 3 weeks later, I was home, paid, and it was still listed in the previous Sunday's classifieds. Sadly, someone had bought it just the day before the check came in.

 

Here is my new acquisition that can be found in Jeep Builds once Moderator approved. It's a 86 Base model with carbureted 2.8L V6 with Manual AX5 transmission