neocracka

So, I have a 2002 ford explorer sitting in my garage, top chopped off, motor blown, doors and hood and tailgate all scrapped. I was wondering, could I take the unibody rails from the explorer and cut to length, and attach them to my broke unibody on the jeep? Like if I disconnected all the unibody bolts to hold to the body, removed the shell from the truck, and use my explorer's rails for the underbody. I think I might be mixed up with my words here, sorry if I am, but the rails that you would normally put a jack on to jack the truck up safely, the c channel rails that go from bumper to bumper. My pos 96 jeep's driver side rails snapped in 2 places and is about broke, I'm pretty sure the passenger side is aswell. So could I take the ones from a 2002 ford explorer and do a swap, just cut to length, because they have no rust, they are thicker and stronger, and I could box them in with stiffeners to make them even stronger?

Please let me know if this can be done. Plus, I want to take the rear axle and put it on my jeep, it's the 4.11 888 rear end with a locker. How can this be done? Please list all steps for both questions, thanks guys.

andrewmp6

The explorer has a frame not a unibody so i don't think that will work for you.To swap in the rear end you need to cut off the spring perches and shock mounts and weld on new ones to match the jeeps.And if your jeep is a 4x4 the front axle needs 4.11 gears or you'll have problems when you try to use 4x4.

jay_sco

Technically, anything can be done. But that project will be a huge undertaking and would require massive amounts of effort to be done in any way "correctly". Is this a street vehicle or need to be registered? Don't forget about VIN #'s on the frame too, are there vehicle inspections where you live?

neocracka

The unibody is like sections of c hannel, like 3 or more sections welded together to make one, right? So if I removed the unibody and put in a full frame on the jeep, that would actually be better, long term right? And who cares about the frame's vin number, cops dont look at vin numbers on the frame when they pull you over, as far as it being street legal, yeah it has plates and tags, its insured, ok, so i need a 4.11 for the front end. can i just take out the diff from the front end of the explorer and put that into the front end of the jeep?

jay_sco

Not to be rude, but a question like this makes me think you are incapable of tackling a project of this magnitude.
If you just pull the body off the Explorer then all the running gear should remain intact if I'm not mistaken. The Explorer has IFS, XJ has a straight axle, the diff and gears are not interchangeable with eachother, different styles and manufacturers.

neocracka

So, what about my reply about the solid frame of the explorer? Could it be pulled off and cut to length and bolted onto the cherokee? It would be a solid frame, not a unibody.

Rogue4x4

Methinks you need to learn the differences of what a framed vehicle are as compared to uniframe or unibodies. Because they're all different. And I wouldn't be bolting anything to anything. Something like this needs to be fully welded. Just cut your losses and scrap both vehicles.

jay_sco

Sure, straight plug and play type deal. Hell, the Explorer and Cherokee are nearly identical!

jay_sco

Don't listen to naysayers like this guy^^^. They're just mad because they didn't think of it first. It's brilliant!! You may just be on to the next big thing, a revolution in the world of Cherokees! You will be hailed as a Jeep savant, women will flock to you to bear your offspring, men will respect you and stand in line to give you money, and their wives.

neocracka

Love your attitude on my thread, very reassuring. And for saying I dont know anything of what I'm talking about, your right, thank god I was born with photographic memory. So if I read something, seen pictures on something or was shown how to do it, I'll remember it forever. And how dare you criticize me on my jeep build with your mediocre garage. You put a lift on a jeep your never going to use for off-roading, I call that a POSER. And you got general grabber tires? Who the heck uses those for off-roading?? I broke my unibody on my jeep due to extreme off-roading. Heck I was the only one at Bettenhausen Jeep Show with a mud covered jeep. I spent $980 for 4 mickey thompson deegan 38's, 15x11.50R15LT rims and Lug set and center caps, mounted and balanced and shipped to me. That's a real deal. I have a welder, cutting torch, I was asking if it was possible to goto the solid frame on a jeep with the explorer's frame?? I tell you what, I'm going to hit the garage and kill 10 hrs trying it out, if it works, I'll post pictures and call you a *******, or if I'm wrong, I'll say thanks for the sound advice.

jay_sco

In all honesty, it would be very cool if this works out, I think it's just a lot more involved than you are understanding. Best of luck to you. Truce?

Rogue4x4

I hope you didn't take my comment as a negative. If you have the tools, and both donor vehicles, get after it. Nobody can give you a step by step as these types of projects are usually tackle the problems as they arise. Get out there and go for it. Once you start cutting you'll have a better idea of what you need to deal with.

Atmos

what part of the uniframe is damaged? would be about a million times easier to scrap the exploder and patch and plate the uniframe

Atmos

s**t it would be easier to cut out the uniframe and replace it with 2x4 box steel than it would be to use a chopped up frame

jay_sco

Pretty sure that line was directed at me.