Hey y'all,

I've been struggling with the decision to keep or sell my XJ. I bought it two years ago, blissfully unaware to how much rust it had (previous owners did a good job hiding it with undercoating).

Since then, I have been dumping money into it. It has received a new axle out of a 99', frame repair, floor pan replacement, and a bunch of lift components, among lots of other things.

I posted it for sale and want to be honest with buyers about rust and what its been through. I've been looking for rust-free replacements, but there aren't many clean ones left. I'm pretty sure I could get in the $4k range for it as it sits. 127k original miles, 4.0 aw4. Its somewhat a unique jeep.

What would you do? Worth keeping, or just try to start over? I love it and have planned to keep it a long time, but as a broke student it just sucks up all my damn money. Photos for reference



Wish it was still this clean








I know I know - it has an SYE in now.

The shop that did the pans only welded one of them to the rail..

From a few days ago

 

The only clean ones aro0und here are about $10.000 or more . I say you know what you have and you have fixed a lot of it just keep going and pretty soon you will be done . I wish I could do that type of work .

 

Keep it. You will have a tough time finding a clean one. And most people will want to kick you down below 4 grand for it. As long as it runs well, just keep sinking money into it.

JEEP, Just Empty Every Pocket

 

Were those pans welded to the frame? Bc from the pics does not look like they were from the top. Most people plug weld them from the top.



And what is that by your rear spring mount? Looks like frame is shot and someone put box steel

 

Oh and this, what's in that frame rail?

 

Thats box tubing that was welded in to replace a section of frame. The 2nd photo is connecting to the first frame one you mentioned. Any yo are right - they only welded in one of the floor pans. The rest were just welded in to the sides of the body instead of frame as well.

@BlackXJay

 

I dunno maybe someone else can weigh in, but I wouldnt be okay with that frame, especially since it holds your leaf mount. Looks like its welded poorly to rusted metal. And if you paid to have your pans welded in, bring it back and have them finish the job. No reason they shouldnt have welded it to the frame.

 

@BlackXJay

I've kind of come around on keeping it. Would the plan below firm it up enough to be an acceptable DD? I got a good luck at the inside of the frame rail when replacing pans and its surprisingly solid. Applied a heavy amount of rust neutralizer in there as well. Went and examined it a little closer and there are a few gaps because the pans don't line up perfectly on the rail. Leaf spring mount that has seen repair is actually solid - tubing is welded to the top of that and to inner crossmemeber.

Plan - 2x6 rockers with frame tie ins, along with center IRO center frame stiffeners. I like they have the lip connecting to the floor, further tie-ing the frame in. Stiffeners would also reinforce the frame repair that has already been done. The 2x6 rockers would then go in and tie in directly to the stiffeners.

Potential issues - If I strip the interior again to weld the lip of the stiffeners in from the top, would it make sense to plug weld the lip of the frame rail as well? I have a buddy that could do the welding, but I'd need a shop to fab up the 2x6 tie ins. Not looking forward to removing all that sound deadener from the floor, lol.

Edit: Does the hooligan 2x6 kit add anything else to the rockers except a clean look and place to place the 2x6? I'd like a clean look but not sure if they offer any other advantages. Link - https://www.hooliganoffroad.com/coll...eplacement-kit

Maybe this is overkill? Huh, this got long. Maybe I should just start a new post.

 

2 Doors are rare. You could always bring it to somewhere and have them do everything. Sinking 4k into fixing everything and getting it where you want versus sinking 4k into something you have no idea about is something to consider. It's getting harder and harder to find one that has no rust. Even mine that spent most of it's life in California the roof, rear quarter and around the windows needs fixing.