One of the most discussed XJ attribute I know of is the unibody chassis. Lots of folks claim that they are light and flexible, greatly increasing the off road prowess of the XJ. Others claim that they are weak and crack/tear with only minor abuse.

Admittedly, this is the one thing I actually worry about on my XJ. The drivetrain is pretty bulletproof, and I have total faith in it. But that unibody, well, I'm not so sure about.

So tell me, how durable are they? I've only heard of a few instances of catastrophic failures on them. Do they only go bad under the WORST conditions, or do they eventually ALL give up the ghost? And finally, are unibody stiffeners a good investment in a daily driver/softcore wheeler? I know I'll probably never damage mine and that I worry too much about silly things like this, but maybe a thread on it can offer some reassurance.

Discuss

Only instances of unibody damage that I have heard of are trom being in pretty severe collisions.

Ive heard of them rusting through, so I guess if you're wanting to reassure yourself in some way painting the bottom would be theoretically helpful. From what I've read (In no way personal experience) you probably don't need stiffeners if you plan on staying on 31's.

I feel like the xj being unibody is a plus. it's super light, and actually pretty strong. Xj's aren't made for towing anyways. I've seen the unibody rails twist or bend only from being rear ended or other types of accidents. As far as offroading goes, it will withstand 99% of everything. defiantly a stronger subframe and maybe stiffiners is good for extreme rock crawling with 35's+ but for the most part, when I was running 33's and beating the crap outa it, the last thing that would have failed on me is the unibody. and you don't have cab mounts to rust/break. (erm.....ford... Cough!)

The way i look at it i rather have the xj the way it is vs a small frame like a tj or jk has under.I think the xj has more ground clearance or looks like it to me.

If you dont beat the snot out of your xj all the time you should be ok if the unibody is not rusted.The issues arise when you you have a rusty or previous wrecked and poorly repaired specimen and put your xj thru some real bad body twisting stuff...the guys that have the most issues are the ones with large tires and really take it up stuff that would twist most anything anyway . I have stiffeners on mine and what a difference...though it will never be a "framed" vehicle it made a big difference...my doors open and close nicer, my upper console doesnt rattle it feels tighter when on road.. Stiffeners are one of the best things I did to my Heep....definetly worth the price of admission in my opinon

Cameron

Do you have any links to the sort of stiffener you've got fitted please?

I have Tand t stiffeners. good stuff...go into my photo album for pics. Here is a link: http://www.tntcustoms.com/uni-bodystiffeners.aspx

Or there is like these http://tandjperformance.com/store/in...&products_id=4

I love the unibody its tougher and holds up longer

OK here is my take. I wheel hard... I have an 8 point cage, and custom x=members which tighten things up. I do plan on plating the firewall forward, but that is mostly to give me decent metal to weld too

I think If you wheel it would do you some good to put some kind of frame stiffners on your rig. Eventually what will happen is you will twist and pop loosen all the lil pinch seams, especailly around the doors and roof. I can show you on my rig what I am talking about.


T&T makes some
Ruff stuff makes some
also if you check on Naxja you will find some more in the vendors section.

The unit-body is a good way to build a light wheeler, it does keep the weight down. The only problem is if you are planning on using the Cherokee for serious wheeling you need to add stiffeners, and the more you add, the more it will end up weighing, and weight equals decreased ability on trails, but for most that use the Cherokee as a DD with some WW it makes a great platform.