- Location
- Antioch, CA
Sweet, I always wanted a neck tattoo. Now I can go work at a tire store and have some street cred. :anon:
Ruff stuff frame stiffeners
- Thread starter xjbubba
- Start date
robswampthing
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Charleston SC
im putting mine on now, its taken a decent bit of..... Convincing, with c clamps and a floor jack. Also i could never quite get them to sit perfectly flush on all surfaces, only perfectly flush on one side, small gap on the corner/touching in some area's, and full contact up front/along the base.
Im hoping they will still perform their purpose and not cause to many issues when in install my Y-link.
heres some progress photo's
So ive been working on this for a few minuites here and their, as time is availible. But heres a few in progress pictures/updates.
I purchased Ruff stuffs frame stiffeners For a few reasons. 3/16 over ten guage by some companies, Extends past the forward Leaf spring box along frame, and extends upward onto the front of the frame over and past where my LCA mounts used to be.
Ive seen both the tnt,Hd offroad, and now the ruff stuff in person and i have to give first place to ruff stuff, the precision of the design really Really shows. im going to do a seperate write up once they are welded on. For the extra cash i absolutly think they are worth it if your going long arm.
I think the easiest way to cut the LCA mounts off the frame side of the vehicle is to first take a wire wheel on your drill to the brackets to get ride of any dirt and dust and expose where all the plug welds are
They are only on the outside of the mounts and in the middle directly in line with the base of the frame, No plug welds to drill out on the inside portion.
I took a saws all down across The "ears" first that hang down.
This gave me a little more room to get at it with a drill/angle grinder to cut the stitch welds along the top.
After that drill those plug welds out and start prying
Its hard to tell when the plug weld was clear and your probably going to drill into the frame a little like i did, But the ruff stuff frame stiffeners go well past it, so i didnt mind.
heres a few more pictures of the test fit of the frame stiffeners
heres a shot of the portion that continues back onto the frame, i dont really see it adding so much reinforcment but its better than nothing.
like i said ill start a whole new thread on the ruff stuffs since i had exhausted my searching abilities before looking for a detailed write up of their product specifically and found nothing.
again i didnt do any of the welding, but i did try it on a piece of scrap, here is my first weld.
Im hoping they will still perform their purpose and not cause to many issues when in install my Y-link.
heres some progress photo's
So ive been working on this for a few minuites here and their, as time is availible. But heres a few in progress pictures/updates.
I purchased Ruff stuffs frame stiffeners For a few reasons. 3/16 over ten guage by some companies, Extends past the forward Leaf spring box along frame, and extends upward onto the front of the frame over and past where my LCA mounts used to be.
Ive seen both the tnt,Hd offroad, and now the ruff stuff in person and i have to give first place to ruff stuff, the precision of the design really Really shows. im going to do a seperate write up once they are welded on. For the extra cash i absolutly think they are worth it if your going long arm.
I think the easiest way to cut the LCA mounts off the frame side of the vehicle is to first take a wire wheel on your drill to the brackets to get ride of any dirt and dust and expose where all the plug welds are
They are only on the outside of the mounts and in the middle directly in line with the base of the frame, No plug welds to drill out on the inside portion.
I took a saws all down across The "ears" first that hang down.
This gave me a little more room to get at it with a drill/angle grinder to cut the stitch welds along the top.
After that drill those plug welds out and start prying
Its hard to tell when the plug weld was clear and your probably going to drill into the frame a little like i did, But the ruff stuff frame stiffeners go well past it, so i didnt mind.
heres a few more pictures of the test fit of the frame stiffeners
heres a shot of the portion that continues back onto the frame, i dont really see it adding so much reinforcment but its better than nothing.
like i said ill start a whole new thread on the ruff stuffs since i had exhausted my searching abilities before looking for a detailed write up of their product specifically and found nothing.
again i didnt do any of the welding, but i did try it on a piece of scrap, here is my first weld.
90xj_zach
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- waterloo, IL
Ruff stuff is what I went with.
robswampthing
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Charleston SC
Did you use weld thru primer? i couldnt find any locally, so i just stripped em down and welded them on, i plan to re paint them, i dont think i want to undercoat them though. i like the clean lines of the metal.
90xj_zach
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- waterloo, IL
First I scraped off the thick undercoating, but left the factory paint/primer on the uni-body.
Once smooth, I bent the stiffeners to fit the best I could, then clamped them on.
I used a scribe to mark where the rosette holes were.
Removed the stiffeners, and flap disked to bare metal ONLY where the markings were.
I'm sure it wasn't the quickest method.
Once smooth, I bent the stiffeners to fit the best I could, then clamped them on.
I used a scribe to mark where the rosette holes were.
Removed the stiffeners, and flap disked to bare metal ONLY where the markings were.
I'm sure it wasn't the quickest method.
robswampthing
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Charleston SC
well shizzz... i stripped it all to bare metal. so be it... ill seal it up and leave some spots to drain, luckily i live in SC so it shouldnt be too bad.
