so i was stuck in the mud and was getting pulled out...had the chain hooked to the reese hitch, and the ******* pulling me out slack chained it with out asking none the less. so bc of this my frame ended up being broken...i am looking to fix it...i am thinking either plateing it and welding it or just plate it and bolt it...please help me...i need this vehicle for an everyday driver...if i cant take it mudding any more o well...please help me and see what you think...its a '96 XJ...PLEASE HELP!!!!

 

its hard to tell without pictures of what we are dealing with here and where the damage is.

 

take GOOD pictures. you might be able to get away with some welding, but if it is too bad it might not be worth it.

 

do you guys think the bolt idea would work, use a couple peice if plate steel and bolt through it cuz i have access to a welder but i myself cant weld and the shop on campus wont touch cuz of liablitly.

 

you could go all out plate it bolt it up and then lay a couple beads on it for the extra strength...but yea throw some pics up if ya can

 

i will post some pics as soon as i can...i would right now but it is raining pretty good...thanks for the help guys...and just a question...if i was to bolt it up and then reinforce it with welds i still probaly wouldnt be able to take it mudding???

 

Pics please, we have no idea of how much damage there is. Get yourself a good recovery strap and get that friends attention with a 2X4 before wheeling with him again.

 

well depends on how bad you mangled the frame...if its not to bad you can prolly stiffen it up again and still be able to hit the trails

 

i would skip the bolting idea mainly because i hate drilling holes and trying to line things up. that and welding is going to be much stronger and permament. i would say depending on the damages if you weld it with plates on both sides you should be able to wheel again. that and you wont have to worry about the bolts backing off or snapping either.

 

 

I pull frames for a living and you are looking to open a huge can of worms trying to do this for yourself. I'm not trying to discourage you, but with the gas tank location, there are safety issues you will run into welding there. Your insurance may not cover you in further accidents if the work isn't perfrormed by an I-CAR qualified welder. Just my two pennies.

 

I agree to the above. But if you don't care about insurance just drop your tank and start plating and welding. It won't be easy or fun, I've done it once on a Cherokee and welding the uni-body was awful!!!

 

I don't think it is so bad. Just needs to be clean and use a good welder.

 

Oh man, this hurts just reading about it... can't imagine how you feel, please get some pics up!

 

this is the exact reason why i only wheel with people i trust. A bad spotter or someone who is careless can cost you alot of money, or worse, your life