Bent LCA Bracket, Fix or Replace?

XJfreakHO

XJfreakHO

NAXJA Forum User
Location
Greensboro NC
Alright so I bent the hell out of my stock LCA bracket at URE, been so busy hadn't had a chance to wash the mud/dirt off the jeep until now ( 3 weeks later)
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Being that I am fairly tight on cash for the moment, I have come to 3 possible conclusions.

1) Swap the housing, Free, but lots of time down.

2) Order some HD LCA brackets, pay $40-60, get em welded on, be done.

3) Find the dimensions of the HD LCA brackets and have my Father make them with a CNC at work.

Any advice? Know the dimensions?

Also, yes I know it is still dirty as hell, the pressure washer was being a POS, for some reason acting like there is a kink or something in the short hose attached to the gun, didn't have time to fool with it so used a normal hose with a nozzle.
 
I'd say go with the HD brackets just to save you money in the long run cause if it happened that easy without you noticing it will happen again so u might as well do it right
 
OUCH! that is why you should always plate them in the front, not only does it act like a skid and help it slide over stuff, it also gives it lateral strength. I would replace those dude, there's not really a good way to fix the bent one.
 
You musta hit something awful hard to do that. :shocked: I would cut that bracket off and put on a new one then put some mini skids on it. If you can save money by dad making the bracket, then that's the way to go.;)
 
Yeah, well, that was this XJ's first wheeling trip since Ive owned it, I beat the hell out of it, goal being to find the weakest links for replacement. Went to URE and picked some of the harder lines, people there were giving me shit, saying how I wouldn't make it, but I made it on them all except Kodak (refused to wait in the 20-30 vehicle line to attempt something I would have to bypass anyway)
I believe the damage happened while playing on the top of daniel in the rock area, my spotters had ran off to help my younger brother who was coming up daniel w/ open diffs and 33's, ofcourse during this time others came along and I decided I was in the way, so I knew how to avoid the dif, but from drivers eye view hard to be sure about the other important components lol.

I should rephrase the thread, I don't intend to fix it, the metal would be far too weak and would be prone to get crushed again on something substantially weaker.

Anyone know the dimensions of the pieces? I am thinking I will run 3/8 steel if I have my pops make them, that is what the HD ones are, what is involved in plating them? just running more 3/8 to cover the bottom of it while leaving room for the obvious...

@ Team Willys, any advice you have would be very useful, I have very little fabrication knowledge so I will be explaining everything to a buddy of mine who will be welding the pieces together, and I have to explain very specifically to my pops what to make.
 
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XJfreakHO said:
...
Anyone know the dimensions of the pieces? I am thinking I will run 3/8 steel if I have my pops make them, that is what the HD ones are, what is involved in plating them? just running more 3/8 to cover the bottom of it while leaving room for the obvious...

@ Team Willys, any advice you have would be very useful, I have very little fabrication knowledge so I will be explaining everything to a buddy of mine who will be welding the pieces together, and I have to explain very specifically to my pops what to make.
Click to expand...


Get some cardboard / posterboard and go out in the driveway to trace & cut. use tape to Make a mockup of what you want to make. Take apart, Mail cardboard templates to Dad and have him make 2.
 
im in havelock 28532 and i have a dana 30 here for free that has the skids welded on already. all ya gotta do is come get it :D
 
Lol too far... I have a HP 30 housing, well, I gave it to a kid off another board, but he didn't end up using it, so he said he would bring it back, but it may take a while because as I said, hes a kid and has high school to concern himself with.

If I end up doing the XJ meet I will have to get cserou to bring it up, he is stationed in Cherry Point also so that would be convienent.
 
she is stationed here and shes about useless when it comes to caring about, or helping other people, even when they are helping her.
sounds harsh but its the truth.

good luck with the axle though. im trying to ditch the damn thing to make space. i have a mega heavy duty diff cover in a thread in the for sale sec tooooo;) lol
 
its a high but we should take this to the for sale section as to not thread jack lol

look for the ecco rims for sale thread
 
Timmy2XJS said:
she is stationed here and shes about useless when it comes to caring about, or helping other people, even when they are helping her.
sounds harsh but its the truth.

good luck with the axle though. im trying to ditch the damn thing to make space. i have a mega heavy duty diff cover in a thread in the for sale sec tooooo;) lol
Click to expand...

Ah ok, well she has seemed interested in the meet up idea. I won't judge her til I meet her. Lets not get into a personal issue though. Feel free to jack the thread if it benefits a member. I will probably not get around to looking at the jeep again until monday, helping a buddy pull his YJ engine, and also his donor engine, at the same time supposed to help my brother/dad pull the mustang engine. May be a full week before I have the time.
 
XJfreakHO said:
What exactly am I expected to trace? my LCA bracket is destroyed. Mainly why I asked if anyone had the dimensions of it.
Click to expand...

Trace the one that isn't destroyed?! :dunno: trace/reverse engineer what was there and build it out of something beefier than what was there. boxing/ skidplating will help the new one last longer too...

Based on the responses to this thread, it seems to be that the 'if you have to ask...' statement(s) may be aplicable here...

Whatever you did, you hit something HARD to bend it that much! To do that at Uwharrie, it's safe to assume you were going very fast with very little concern for much of anything. This is apparently a toy and thus, not something you're expecting to be able to ride down the highway at 80 with your hands folded and the cruise set.

Thus in this case, an eighth or quarter of an inch margin of error anywhere won't be apparent. just build a new mount similar to stock with heavier gauge material, chop off the old one and make sure it's welded on by someone competent who knows wtf they are doing.

The only way to learn fab skills is to jump in with both feet. Post pics along the way and we'll keep you from messing anything up to bad...:viking:
 
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WTF said:
Trace the one that isn't destroyed?! :dunno: trace/reverse engineer what was there and build it out of something beefier than what was there. boxing/ skidplating will help the new one last longer too...

Based on the responses to this thread, it seems to be that the 'if you have to ask...' statement(s) may be aplicable here...

Whatever you did, you hit something HARD to bend it that much! To do that at Uwharrie, it's safe to assume you were going very fast with very little concern for much of anything. This is apparently a toy and thus, not something you're expecting to be able to ride down the highway at 80 with your hands folded and the cruise set.

Thus in this case, an eighth or quarter of an inch margin of error anywhere won't be apparent. just build a new mount similar to stock with heavier gauge material, chop off the old one and make sure it's welded on by someone competent who knows wtf they are doing.

The only way to learn fab skills is to jump in with both feet. Post pics along the way and we'll keep you from messing anything up to bad...:viking:
Click to expand...

Wasn't going fast at all, might have been pushing the jeep a little beyond its limit on obstacles, its possible when I went up daniel, I took the hardest line I could pick, I had to kick it at one point near the top for a bit of wheel spin and then it dropped down a bit, didn't hear it hit anything, but its possible thats when it happened, but that is all. I am wanting to jump in with both feet as you say, but I am not sure what I want to do first, this seems easy enough for the first effort. This jeep is currently a toy but I intend to get it titled and what not in the coming months. Just have to go over it with a fine tooth comb and make sure I havent missed anything.

Brainfarted, had been up a little over a day and wasn't thinking, kept thinking I know I dont have the other d30 housing yet, but forgot about the other LCA bracket on this one lol.
 
3/8 is a little much... 1/4" would be just fine. Take the other lower arm off (on the good side) and trace the side profile on to a sheet of poster board. Then give that to your dad. Also have him cut out some rectangular pates to box in the front of the mounts, and once its all welded together, you should be golden! The only dimension I have is the axle tube diameter, which is 2.75".
 
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