Unibody rebuild assistance required,..

[JENSSEN]

Hey Guys, looking for some pics build threads for XJ's that have had the front and rear subframes removed and tubed up. My XJ has been racing since 2006 and now its starting to fail all over the place instead of bandaiding and chasing the weaknesses I just want to buck it out and start fresh.

Need some inspiration,.. and ideas on how to do it right.

Thanks in advance!

[Black sheep fabworx]

Several questions I'm sure everyone will need answers to so we can help.

Pix help a lot! What kind of racing? Details on the Jeep. Rec tube, round tube, or both? Do you plan to gut the body and build a tube chassis inside it, or are you just wanting a frame?

You can see my frame come together here.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/showt...=977273&page=3

[ashmanjeepXJ]

linked front and rear?

Links tie to belly.
Shocks tie to cage/chassis.

[Twisty]

I like how freerider did his.

[Xjcrawler736]

Are you looking to keep the XJ body or tube/buggy?

I built mine like this until I chopped it up and went the more buggy route.



Then went to this when I was sick of ripping body panels and hitting my head of the cage.



Front ended up like this.



I still need to add some more plate if I want mine to survive a couple big races a year, but you get the idea.

[JENSSEN]

I can do square or round or both. The truck gets raced in natural courses as well as man made rock gardens and at speed in some sections,..

Here are the only recent pics I have of it, I would like to keep the look of the truck but I know the longer I have it the more buddy it will be as parts fail







Video from the last race where I tore the truck up and did some good damage,..

It's in the video at the start and on the logs later

HIGHRIDERS CHALLENGE 2012 - YouTube

[Black sheep fabworx]

It will be a major undertaking, but it seems to me like you need to start over with the frame. I think the best way would be to tear it down to a bare body, cut the existing frame out, and build your own from scratch. I would use 2x4(or bigger) for the main rails, and tube the rest. At that point you can tie the cage into it at every place possible to keep it from flexing. It will be a lot easier to mount suspension, engine, trans, etc. to a real frame.

One thing you NEED now is spring retainers. It would really suck to be out racing and lose a spring.

[JENSSEN]

I installed spring retainers after I did the suspension cycles. My Wife has informed me that I need to pitch the training diffs and move on to 60's! She wants the old diffs for one of the comanches so She can start racing,.. its going to be a busy year. I am pulling out of other races this year to really build the s#it out of the two trucks


I need to see where the frames were cut and reconnected to the tube work (Square or round) for both the front and rear, I plan on moving the rear rails up if possible

[barillms]

If I were you, I'd just start from scratch and build a buggy.

[JENSSEN]

Originally Posted by barillms

If I were you, I'd just start from scratch and build a buggy.

Thought about it to be honest but this old truck has a legacy,.. I want to keep it going

Originally Posted by ashmanjeepXJ

linked front and rear?

Links tie to belly.
Shocks tie to cage/chassis.

When I do the frame sections, I plan on re-doing the links and mounting points

[Black sheep fabworx]

Originally Posted by JENSSEN

My Wife has informed me that I need to pitch the training diffs and move on to 60's! She wants the old diffs for one of the comanches so She can start racing,..

Does she have a sister? I need a women like that!

[barillms]

If u really want to keep it going, I would build a 2x4" .188 frame & use the unibody as a body to set on top of the new frame. Rather than try to patch together a sheetmetal frame.

Or... Keep the XJ for your wife to wheel, and build something with a frame or something from scratch. It's a huge hassel trying to re-build a unibody and in my opinion not worth it in the long run.

[JENSSEN]

Originally Posted by barillms

If u really want to keep it going, I would build a 2x4" .188 frame & use the unibody as a body to set on top of the new frame. Rather than try to patch together a sheetmetal.

That is what I am thinking,.. Just digging through the threads to see how others have done it so I don't reinvent the wheel,.. Learn from other builds,.. Then to the drivetrain upgrades. Training diffs are the next to go!

[Beat95YJ]

Start with another xj and plate everything. Unibody's are disposable.

[JENSSEN]

Nahhhh it can be rebuilt,... If ashman can keep his in one piece so can I!

[Xjcrawler736]

Originally Posted by JENSSEN

Nahhhh it can be rebuilt,... If ashman can keep his in one piece so can I!

Ashman sold his... For a new "unibody"

I am at 7 years with mine. 2 years of race duty. The faster I want/need to be the more XJ needs to go away. Finish your session and start chopping until you think you have cut away most of you're restrictions. Build for as much clearance as you can. lots and lots of measuring.

[vetteboy79]

Originally Posted by JENSSEN

Thought about it to be honest but this old truck has a legacy,.. I want to keep it going

I once said that.

Here's what I did...never had any unibody problems after this.

[JENSSEN]

Vetteboy, that is what I am thinking except I plan on running the tube inside the panels, I plan on rasing the rear frame section up to allow for some more clearanceand making my own floor.