before you do anything you're going to have to cut out all the rust and clean up the metal that hasn't rusted all the way through. if it were me i would plate and reinforce the part that you cut out, and then do the stiffener install. i've replaced a section of the "frame" on my MJ due to rust, its not fun and its very time consuming to do it right. sure, you could slap the stiffeners on and call it good but over time it'll still rust through because you never dealt with the existing rust.

 

Haha. I am on the phone, but I clicked the link to bring me to the web version and the little smiley is holding a I'm with stupid sign.. So, ya know..

Maybe it was because I didn't have my 2 cups of wake up coffee. Not mad, your correct in assessment of my post..

And x2 on what CheapCherokee said.

 

thats a lottta rust..
and one things for sure.
if theres soo much rust of your frame rail that you have to cut 50% of it off.
its gonna become hard to mount the frame stiffners.. because you wont be able to weld in all the spot they want..

in my opinion.
id save up like 500-1000 bucks and go buy a jeep thats not perfect but not rusted to hell
and then id work on slowly putting the 2 jeeps together to make the best of what i had and then id part out the old jeep and make all my money back.

but thats just from experience in CA where jeeps are abundant and cheap.
may be different where you live.

 

oh and HDoffroadengineering

i think those stiffeners are better imo.
because you get so many holes for weld spots.

 

it's my daily driver, so the most amount of time i could have to work is a few days, week tops. yeah around here i can't find another decent xj for less than 2500. i think i'll go with what cheapcherokee said. clean it up best i can, cut out the rusted areas, plate it, then put the stiffeners on. the rest of the rail is actually pretty nice, barely even surface rust. just that one spot. i don't know what the old owners did to that one spot, but it's the exception to the rest of the rail. thanks guys! oh and yes, i'm going to go with either the ruffstuff one or the h.d. one since there's more weld spots. thanks again!

 

Finding another 2Dr 5spd in New England proved to be too difficult and expensive, so I cut out all my rust, and plated my "frame" before installing t&t stiffeners. Cheapcherokee hit the nail on the head, take your time, and be thorough. If that sounds like too much work, save for another jeep. I can always strip all my parts off and put them on another one in the future, as can you.

 

2500

damnn i should road trip next time i sell a jeep lol.
my last one i let go for 750$. it drove and everythin. just not safely lol

good luck on fixing it all up.
and post pics when you start..
i wouldnt mind seeing all the work

 

it may look fine on the outside, but it could be rusting away on the inside. i ended up cutting out way more than i bargained for when i did mine. just remember to clean it up real good. its tough to get a wire wheel in there so before i sealed it up i sprayed some rust converter primer in there. if you want some ideas you can check out what i did here: http://naxja.org/forum/showthread.php?t=1064643&page=3

 

Man i am so glad i have a rust free california low milage xj. I see all you guys with rust and cant believe how bad they get. I put stiffners on mine (pics in my photo album) and they are worth it. No more squeeks and rattles. That said op rust is pretty bad and dont how good you could get the welds to work.
Cameron