AZJeff Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 My MJ developed the infamous popping sound near the steering box that I have traced to two issues: 1. The upper/front steering box mounting bolt is pulling through the outside wall of the “frame” rail. Adding a washer did not spread the load enough to prevent further damage. 2. Upon disassembly/inspection, a previous owner welded up (nicely) a crack across the top flange of the frame close to this same mounting hole, and the crack is slowly reappearing. My plan is to weld in a tubular spacer into the mounting hole, and the weld a plate on the outside of the tube to spread the clamping load of the bolt. I am also replacing the cast AL box spacer with a steel one. For the top flange of the frame, I will stop drill the crack, and reweld. Then I will weld on a bolster plate that extends Several inches fore/aft of the crack area. Any other suggestions to avoid further issues? I am no rick crawling with this thing, and I only run 32” tires. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MiNi Beast Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 sounds good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ghetdjc320 Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75sv1 Posted October 9, 2020 Share Posted October 9, 2020 Stinky Fab and M&T make inside frame doublers with the bosses. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
OldSch88L Posted October 10, 2020 Share Posted October 10, 2020 Good idea about drilling holes to stop the cracks. Also, something I've been thought in my auto body classes is that when welding something thicker like a frame, you should bevel your edges. Or in your case, try taking a thin cutting disk and bevel the crack. You then fill the bevel when welding, it might take 2 or 3 passes depending on the size of your bevel. You'll get better heat penetration and your repair will be spread over a slightly bigger surface. If the P.O. only welded on top of the crack, it's possible that it wasn't hot enough to melt the metal completly through and weld properly, leaving his repair only near the surface, and if he also ground it to make it flat, well, there's not much left to strenghten the crack after that. The unibody cars we practiced on at school commonly had 16-gauge "frame rails" IIRC, and teachers said we needed plenty of heat, and our little Lincoln 180 barely could keep up, so that technique also helped mitigate that. Oh, and a typical bevel should be 45 degrees each side of the crack. Hope this helps! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
AZJeff Posted October 12, 2020 Author Share Posted October 12, 2020 I have been sidetracked helping my son redo the cam phasers and timing chains in his F150 with a 5.4L engine, but I got time to take some pics people were asking for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
omega_rugal Posted October 12, 2020 Share Posted October 12, 2020 that part is under heavy stress whenever you turn , anything that prevents the rails from moving away from each other helps... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
75sv1 Posted October 13, 2020 Share Posted October 13, 2020 http://www.t-mfab.com/store-3/cherokee-xj-comanchee-mj-parts/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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