My new shackle mounts

[gambit4000s]

In the process of lifting my MJ, It became apparent that recovery was going to be a very necessary mod. If not only to maintain the frame integrity, As a favor to the poor sucker who's winch I'm hooked to... (Liquid compensation always provided)

I wanted a base for a winch mount that did not stick out a foot, two 3/4 shackle mounts and reinforcement of the steering box/framerail.

I started with a pic of Tyler's laser cut frame bracket (which I would highly recommend buying to start with), Not having the bracket and starting with available material (1/4x 5") I was able to lay everything out using a pencil rubbing of the frame, but the plates are slightly tilted down. The mount points don't really allow enough shoulder on 5" wide material, I would start with 6" or RockSolidFab's plates if I were to do it again.

I then layed out a shackle mount tying to the front two bumper bolts and a third into my plates.

I used the steering box holes on both sides, But my older frame is not drilled/spacered for the RHD box. I did use spacers on the Passenger side, and I will eventually incorporate a box/pitman snout brace, but that can wait until I reinforce for a winch.

I trimmed the factory crossmember/radiator support, to allow the bracket to pass through, but still allow the factory skid to be used. I will cut it all out and replace with 2x6 when I mount a winch, but for now factory will suffice.

I really wish I had straight bumper brackets and a good bumper to start with. The factory tow hook mounts were slightly difficult to deal with.

All in all not too bad for only using my one good eye, a drill, 4.5" grinder and a stack of bolts. It should be more than sufficient for recovery purposes.

a few pics

 

[KPTHEMP]

very cool, low profile and strong, I like it !

 

[MELKORsXJ]

Looks cool! I like the look, clean and factory, but with recovery points...

 

[Ghost]

From what I see right there I would not snatch on that tow point. What does the inner piece look like? In these pictures it looks like you have 2 bolts that go to the unibody. Most of the ones I see have the bracket that bolts to the reinforcing plate in the third bumper bolt too.

 

[gambit4000s]

All 4 sideplates are identical, There are 6 bolts per side tying the sideplates to the frame, all in double shear. The third bumper bracket bolt has a weld nut on the outside rail only, I did not feel like knocking it out and putting an 7th 1/2 bolt.
Here are the holes I am using in red, I assume you are referring to the hole in green(your image BTW) My method would reduce the likelihood of box induced frame failure( like in your picture) It appears that the bumper in this photo is only mounted to the forward two holes, I tried to tie further back

Every mount system I have seen for a Cherokee uses less reinforcement than this, using less bolts, mounting them in single shear, using thinner material. If anything its a little excessive, the failure point is still the factory frame.

It would be better if the frame was plated, which I intend on doing after I pick up plates from HDOR @ the crawl. The only modification I might make would be to enlarge the outer plate, break a 90* and tie into the factory sway bar mounts, but they could only ever be in single shear due to the location, not worth the work for a marginal strength increase, failure point is still the frame in approximately the same location.

 

[gambit4000s]

Just for reference since I didn't take photos of the plates. There are 4 total plates, one on the inside and outside of each rail, 1/4 in thickness, shaped roughly to the green outline. Similar to most of the winch bumper mounts I have seen except mounted in double shear.

 

[Ghost]

Just for reference since I didn't take photos of the plates. There are 4 total plates, one on the inside and outside of each rail, 1/4 in thickness, shaped roughly to the green outline. Similar to most of the winch bumper mounts I have seen except mounted in double shear.

Ok. So you have a plate on the inside frame rail idnetical to the outside one. I was not sure what the inside plate did since you have no image of it. Seems fine strength wise then I guess. I plated my whole DS frame ear. Inside bottom and out.

 

[gambit4000s]

Sorry for the vagueness there. it similar to RockSolid's but much more crude.

 

[Ghost]

Sorry for the vagueness there. it similar to RockSolid's but much more crude.

Why is there a U in the bottom of it?

 

[gambit4000s]

to mount the fender brace, I just offset the brace

 

[Ghost]

to mount the fender brace, I just offset the brace

Ahh, ok I removed mine. :yelclap: You still have one other issue that concerns me. Is this the final version or are there some changes that you have not made yet?

 

[gambit4000s]

It's always a process.What are you thinking?

 

[Ghost]

It's always a process.What are you thinking?

HArdware!

 

[gambit4000s]

The front 3 bolts, and steering box bolts are GR8, the remainder are GR5. They might all be GR5 in the pics as I didn't have the exact right length in GR8 when I put it together, but now its back apart for paint and thread locker. I might try and grab a better bumper today, but I've got to go pick up a set of wheels later.

 

[xjtrailrider]

Only thing I would add is a brace that goes from one side to the other and in front of the front cross-member, it could be bolt in or weld in as long as it will spread the load of a side pull to each side. The brace could even bolt to the cross-member for added strength. If you take a look at how Mark at Detours makes his BackBone that is how he gets the added strength from it to be able to handle a winch.

Good work on the shackles and kudo's to doing them yourself.

 

[Ghost]

Only thing I would add is a brace that goes from one side to the other and in front of the front cross-member, it could be bolt in or weld in as long as it will spread the load of a side pull to each side. The brace could even bolt to the cross-member for added strength. If you take a look at how Mark at Detours makes his BackBone that is how he gets the added strength from it to be able to handle a winch.

Good work on the shackles and kudo's to doing them yourself.

x2!

 

[High2by]

That looks good Adam. The brace to both sides would definatly help with any side pulling.

Nice job!

 

[gambit4000s]

I will be replacing the radiator support/crossmember and adding a 1/4" base plate for a underslung winch. I also plan on incorporating a brace around the box with a sector snout brace. Until I do this, high angle pulls will be avoided(if possible). With the bumper fit tight to the mounts and the factory rad support in place, both pieces should aid in stabilizing the frame ends, but obviously it is not a long term solution.

One of the reasons I chose to use bolted connections instead of welding is to allow me to modify it without reinventing the wheel. Having repaired a cracked frame on my old Suburban, I knew that I wanted to begin addressing the box area before it left my lift. The total lack of recovery points made it even more of an issue.

Thanks for all your input, I am trying to use some features I see in others products while avoiding what I see as problems. The Detours Backbone is a very nice product, but I wanted to keep the mounts higher, various steering reinforcements are not as integrated as I think they could be, most of the winch mounts protrude farther than I think they should, a lot of the available bumpers seem to obstruct rather than protect, etc...

Having made this setup there are a great deal of changes I would make, and some that will be added later. I am not very fond of the spacers used, but without a heavy gauge brake, it was a compromise. The truck does not yet move under its own power, so I needed to layout a plan and get a few basic features before I move on to other areas.

Thanks again for your ideas and comments.

 

[WTF]

nice setup!

The 'armchair fabbers' are tough in here lately... It looks over-kill engineered as it sits; you've got twice the strength of any aftermarket or stock tow hook bracket with your double shear design. I wouldn't be to worried about the average side-pull as it sits now, but sure it would be nice to tie them together eventually. If you were pulling straight to the side the forces would be transferred to the end of your mounting plates on the uniframe rail towards the firewall. you could add front frame stiffeners and weld them to the bracket to distribute that as well.

Assuming your spacers are schedule 40 or better, they'll be good. they will see compression forces mostly with minimal to no shear force. if you bent the inner plate with a brake, then you would still have to gusset the hell out of it as well.

 

[Ghost]

nice setup!

The 'armchair fabbers' are tough in here lately... It looks over-kill engineered as it sits; you've got twice the strength of any aftermarket or stock tow hook bracket with your double shear design. I wouldn't be to worried about the average side-pull as it sits now, but sure it would be nice to tie them together eventually. If you were pulling straight to the side the forces would be transferred to the end of your mounting plates on the uniframe rail towards the firewall. you could add front frame stiffeners and weld them to the bracket to distribute that as well.

Assuming your spacers are schedule 40 or better, they'll be good. they will see compression forces mostly with minimal to no shear force. if you bent the inner plate with a brake, then you would still have to gusset the hell out of it as well.

Did you miss the part where he cut the center section but did not mention if he welded it back? In the pictures I see no welds. I cut my center section but both sides are tied together with the bumper. I don't think as it sits it could take any side loading. They need to be tied together so they will not separate.