- Location
- Bakersfield, CA
I must be the king of cracks. Even though I didn't get any cracks for a very long time, once they started I had a bunch. I think I've had cracks in every imaginable place on my XJ. Well, I've never had the rear floor or the rear frame rails crack apart......
The newest version is a crack in the bottom of the frame just ahead of the upper control arm mount. Since I only have one upper control arm, this isn't surprising. I have noticed that the frame isn't quite strong enough for the single upper arm, at least for how I use it. The frame around the bolt head is distorting, and I plan to plate this area when the motor is out before the stroker goes in......and fix the crack at the bottom of the frame. The outside of the mount is very beefy, but the inside of the mount is the thin frame and it looks like it can't handle the load.
The other crack, and this is major, is in the rear shackle boxes. The fixed nut on the inside of the shackle box (rear springs, upper shackle mount) has ripped apart from the frame and pulled out on both sides. It appears that the only thing holding is the bolt tension through the outer wall of the box, and it is cracking.....not much, especially since I just got back from a Johnson Valley trip where we ran three trails in two days and I hauled ass across the desert having a blast, including going airborne with all fours.
Of course, I guess few rigs have seen the abuse this rig has seen. This Jeep got a 6" lift with gears and lockers 10 years ago, and I ran my first JV trail (Sledgehammer) 9 years ago, and a steady diet of hardcore trails continues. With the recently started habit of racing across the desert to and from the trails, the level of abuse has increased. The ONLY piece of suspension or mounts that hasn't been totally changed is the upper shackle boxes, so I guess it's over due.
This is probably a good thing to some degree. The only place where anything on the suspension still touches original steel (axle housings included) is in these two places.....inside of UCA mount and rear shackle box. With the new remote reservoir Sway-a-Ways going on, the bumpstops getting re-worked, and the 4.6L stroker going in, there's going to be plenty of fast desert running, plus the usual trails. Best to finish beefing things up.
The newest version is a crack in the bottom of the frame just ahead of the upper control arm mount. Since I only have one upper control arm, this isn't surprising. I have noticed that the frame isn't quite strong enough for the single upper arm, at least for how I use it. The frame around the bolt head is distorting, and I plan to plate this area when the motor is out before the stroker goes in......and fix the crack at the bottom of the frame. The outside of the mount is very beefy, but the inside of the mount is the thin frame and it looks like it can't handle the load.
The other crack, and this is major, is in the rear shackle boxes. The fixed nut on the inside of the shackle box (rear springs, upper shackle mount) has ripped apart from the frame and pulled out on both sides. It appears that the only thing holding is the bolt tension through the outer wall of the box, and it is cracking.....not much, especially since I just got back from a Johnson Valley trip where we ran three trails in two days and I hauled ass across the desert having a blast, including going airborne with all fours.
Of course, I guess few rigs have seen the abuse this rig has seen. This Jeep got a 6" lift with gears and lockers 10 years ago, and I ran my first JV trail (Sledgehammer) 9 years ago, and a steady diet of hardcore trails continues. With the recently started habit of racing across the desert to and from the trails, the level of abuse has increased. The ONLY piece of suspension or mounts that hasn't been totally changed is the upper shackle boxes, so I guess it's over due.
This is probably a good thing to some degree. The only place where anything on the suspension still touches original steel (axle housings included) is in these two places.....inside of UCA mount and rear shackle box. With the new remote reservoir Sway-a-Ways going on, the bumpstops getting re-worked, and the 4.6L stroker going in, there's going to be plenty of fast desert running, plus the usual trails. Best to finish beefing things up.