Myth: Cherokee's eventually break in half.

[BrokenXJ]

OK, I was fixing my spring pack, aluminum wedge crumbled and fell out, and I noticed a crack near the rear spring mount above the catalytic converter. Oh No :exclaim: the Earl disease :grinyes:

Now we all know a certain person from CT, has been spreading the rumor that Cherokee's break in half and you need to replace them every two years  :mad02: So I guess the Broken is proof that this myth can be busted.

Now before I go any farther with my analysis, let me tell you that I have a degree in structural engineering. Not that I've practiced it the last 20 years... but cars are structures too.

So I take out the backseat, remove all of the rubber floor mats, vacuum out about 1/2" of dirt, tear up the rubber aluminum faced flashing installed last spring, and now I see the problem. The spring mount has crushed through the floor and is only attached on the frame side. It turns out, that back seat kick plate is structural with the spring mount centered on it. The spring mount itself is pretty beefy, and I think it can be attached to the kick plate, frame, fender wall, with steel strapping. I'll keep you up dated.

As for the myth? Cherokee's definitely get fatigued over time, and body starts to get a little liquid :biggrin: But they definitely don't break in half, I've been trying 

 

[jmazz]

*sighs with a relief....... good to hear that, but im still worried. it seems like they just get eaten by rust unless you are one of the few who have a rust free xj..... i still wish they put a little more metal into the frame, its easy to burn through for an inexerienced welder like myself.......... old jeeps never die they just get rebuillt.

 

[ctgranite]

If your welding rod sticks - you're to cold, and if burns throught you're to hot. hahahaha  :lol:

 

[Art]

*sighs with a relief....... good to hear that, but im still worried. it seems like they just get eaten by rust unless you are one of the few who have a rust free xj..... i still wish they put a little more metal into the frame, its easy to burn through for an inexerienced welder like myself.......... old jeeps never die they just get rebuillt.

myth= rust free cherokee ;-) ...... the way they are put together breeds rust, and they DO get liquid after a while... it seems the best anyone can get is to slow down the process for a while........

 

[kevinc]

I have some mean looking cracks at the rear where my bumper is mounted....oh well.....that's what welders are for!  Time to start sleeving the unirails and plating everything.  Good times! :rotflmao:  Although, it gets old listening to the chassis flex and the weatherstripping sqeak.  ZJs are cool.  Also, those with ZJs, watch your rear upper control arm brackets on the chassis side....they tend to "fall" off.

Kevin C.

 

[xjmark]

My upper unibody started to tweak out from the 33" tire mounted on the roof. :neutral:
I've been working on pretty much eliminating the unibody as the main structure on my rig. Adding reinforcements, replacing rockers with box tube, and soon to tie it all into a full cage. There are only a couple of minor rust spots on it that will have no structural effect when the tubework is finished.
Here's a pic of last year's reinforcements including a section of Detour's system. It kept the rig in shape even when pounding the rig without doors on.


[attachments are removed after 60 Days]

 

[Art]

I agree with the "sheet metal " part of Detours comment, even a moderate wheeler can twist the doodee out of an xj,
that being said, most of it is 16 ga. steel, but having chopped up a couple of 'em for scrap, its how its layered up and formed that makes it so sturdy. It also is how they are so vulnerable to rust, moisture gets into every seam , even when they are coated,  and they rust quietly from within......until they fall apart ....lol

 

[kevinc]

"Rust"?  what is that?  it hasn't rained out here for 150 days. :sad:  Detour, what are the stiffys you speak of?  the plate steel welded to the unirails and uniframe in XJMark's pic?  interesting idea...... :grinyes:  hopefully they won't interfere with my 25"s.

Kevin C.

 

[sidriptide]

i don't know..  i damn near broke my old grey 87 XJ in half.  i ran the piss out of it for 2 years and i knew the rear cargo area was pretty weak. hell, when i bought it the floor was "crunchy" if you poked it with your finger!!  i vowed NEVER to lift the carpet for fear of what i knew lurked there.  and i knew the body was turning to "liquid" because the rear of the body was slowly getting wider than the hatch.  a little over a year ago i was coming down off a trail and i felt the rear driver's side tire rubbing the body a few times. this NEVER happened before so i knew something was up. it was sagging an inch to that side and the rear of the body was a full 1.5" WIDER than the hatch was.  i opened the back door and there was the forward spring hanger!!  punched up thru the floor, still holding tio the rail but not supported by the floor anymore. and the entire body side-panel from the hatch to the rear seatback was LOOSE!!  i had seperated the fllor from the side wall from the hatch all the way past the wheel tub down th the floor under the rear seat!!

thats as close is i'd say you can get to "breaking in half" and not actually doing it.  it was stil drivable but it was retired that day.

http://www.fototime.com/inv/7E7935C697EF92A

this is the new rust-free california-born XJ.

 

[BrokenXJ]

Now that's rust:exclaim: :exclaim: :exclaim: I recoginize the open frame rail, but mine are completely packed full of mud for stiffness  :grinyes:

 

[Art]

The picture Mike put up looks alot liie the freebie someone was trying to give me last week, a running 87, but.... it smelled moldy so I lifted the carpet by the front pass seat....I could have removed the tranny hump by giving it a good tug.....the rest wasnt worth the trouble.....

 

[BrokenXJ]

Come on, Earls can't be that bad! :disagree: Take pictures, let me see.

 

[massxj]

earls isnt that bad  but its it will be  soon

 

[xjmark]

There's nothing left to weld to.
I've done quite a bit of rust repair and restoration for people on muscle cars in the past.
I wouldn't know where to start with this one. :why: