I cut the front of the frame off of my YJ , right in front of the engine mounts. I just didn't have the up travel that I wanted. I'm going to tube the front of the Jeep. I am not sure which way would be strongest. I'm running a 4 linked Dana 60 in the rear and am in the processes of putting in a 3 linked Dana 44 with full hydro in the front. My ultimate goal is to run 37's.

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm241/pj2musgrave/myjeep.jpg

Solution list

#1
Cap the frame with 1/4" cold rolled steel and weld the tube to the cap.
Pro's
Easy
Con's
Might be a bit weak but I've seen a few people do this.
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm241/pj2musgrave/frameRockBiter.jpg
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm241/pj2musgrave/Jeepfront066Small.jpg
Pictures from http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=590307

#2
Plate the tubing with 1/4" cold rolled steel, push it back into the frame a bit, cut a hole in the frame, weld to the plated tube, and weld the tube to the frame where I cut it off.
Pro's
Strong
Con's
Cutting and welding the frame may cause cracking when stress is put on it.
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm241/pj2musgrave/Frame.jpg
Picture from http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=495084

#3
Cap the frame, weld the tube to the cap, plate the tube, and weld fish plates from the frame to the plated tubing.
Pro's
Strong
Con's
I'm using 1.5" DOM .12 wall tubing (I only have one die for my bender) and would have to plate it with some pretty thick stuff at least for the first few inches to make this work.

Any other idea's or of tips would be helpful. I've been swinging back and forth on this for about a month now and it's time I get it done.

This is Phils YJ...I think he is something gay like CITY WORK on here :flipoff2:


http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/southern83/phil4.jpg




You can see where he had the leaf springs mounted in this picture. It was linked just a couple days before this trip.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v327/southern83/phil5.jpg

Thanks for those pics do you happen to know how he attached the tube to the frame? I couldn't really tell much from the pictures.

Thanks for those pics do you happen to know how he attached the tube to the frame? I couldn't really tell much from the pictures.

This is another local rig...


http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showthread.php?t=410870&page=2

Thanks for those pics do you happen to know how he attached the tube to the frame? I couldn't really tell much from the pictures.

I did more like option 2. Tube goes back in the frame with flat welded to the tube and frame. Not as clean of a job as what you posted, but it didnt fly apart when it was hanging from the winch going up the last climb on upper heldo:D I only have about 3.5 feet of frame left on mine.

hey Josh, on my pic above, I cut the frame about 1" forward of the drilled hole in the frame and plated it. Welded up the tube to it and then boxed everything forward when I put the motor mounts on. Then I fish plated the side. I feel really comfortable with the solution I came up with.

I did option 1, but I cut a hole in the plate and welded it good to the tube and had plenty of bevel when I wended the plate to the frame. Havent tested it on the front, but its held up on the back just fine. With my design though with just one tube you pretty much have to tie it back to the cage or farther back on the frame somewhere.
________
Vaporizer Whip (http://vaporizer.org/reviews/)

Thanks for the explanation on what you did rockbiter. I couldn't tell exactly what you did from your build thread.

How far back does the tube go into the square part of the plated frame on your's then?

I'm just wrapping up doing my front now. Don't mind the mess, the shop goes to hell when I'm working.

I cut the frame just in front of the large hole at the appex of the bend. The diagonal kicker sleeves inside the frame, the horizontal is welded to the top. Welded around those holes, welded to the end of the frame, and then fishplated.

The new frame piece is 2" square and 3x2". All the joints on the new frame piece are fish plated top and bottom.

Hope this helps.

http://img502.imageshack.us/img502/4660/fab025pk3.jpg

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/2476/fab028sp5.jpg

http://img517.imageshack.us/img517/9135/fab029he8.jpg

http://img262.imageshack.us/img262/1940/fab034qm5.jpg

http://img88.imageshack.us/img88/29/fab055ng7.jpg

http://img170.imageshack.us/img170/5282/fab044ie1.jpg

here's how i did mine.....
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/35xj/IMG_1476.jpg
http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y122/35xj/IMG_1479.jpg

hope it helps

Oltmann Your hood hoop and winch plate look almost exactly like I had planned mine to look. I am going to have to use round tube instead of square tube though. I like how you put the tube on top of the frame as well as inside the frame.

35XJ do either of those tubes go into the frame or are they just welded to the cap on the frame?

tie it all back into the fenders and fire wall and it will be fine.

I hope my jeep is half as cool as yours when it's done Harlin. Thanks so much for the info guy's. I'll let you know what I do when it gets done. At this point in time I have a lot more time to think about the jeep than I do to work on it.

One thing I would add is to come up with a good plan for your radiator. As you can see in the pic, the stock one hangs down 4-5" too far.

I'm using a 19" tall x 24" wide speedway radiator, but it's going to have to be set back at a pretty extreme angle to clear the steering cylinder at full bump travel.

Thanks oltmann. I have been planning on using an electric fan and tilting the stock radiator back. I hope that it will work well. I've heard that tilting the radiator like that hurts the effectiveness of the pump though. It's still what I've been planning on doing.