ROCKER PROTECTION

[CWLONGSHOT]

Guys,

I am going to begin some rocker protection for the MJ. I have a couple pieces of 1.75" tubing for stock. My plan is to cut the two long pieces about 84" in legnth and three "standoffs" to attach it to the "frame" about 12" each.

I will attach the rear mount near the front of the rear leaf bolt and the front mount, just behind the front lower control arm bolt. I have selected these areas because of the thicker steel there to weld to. I would also like to add a center mount as mine is a LWB and a seven foot rocker guard is a bit long! :eek:

 

My question is two fold.

 

1) Whats your opinion, on my plan. OR what would you do different?

 

2) How should I attach the center mount, sleves thru the "frame" and bolts. I cannot really just weld it on there...can I?

 

CW

[jeepmj_tj]

i made my rails out of 2x3 rect tubin. i attached them in four places one right behind the front control arm mount, one right before the rear spring mount and two in the middle. I used varing size angle iron(3" on one side and up to 6" on the other) and (3/16 or 1/4 thick) to make a base platform to weld my runners to. I welded the angle iron to the unibody rails where i wanted each runner. Each of those 4 runners attaches to each slider at different angles. Two actually slop down toward the sliders and two slop up toward the sliders. sort adds a little bit of triangulation so they are supported in both directions.

 

I have had the full weight of the truck with both tires off the ground and they never pushed up any closer to the rocker.

 

one other thing that i would do, is I plan to go ahead and plate the entire bottom of the unibody rail. I find that i hit and drag on it before I hit my sliders. Especially on larger rock ledges or boulders where the MJ break over angle sucks...

 

hope that helps..

[CWLONGSHOT]

THANKS It does help...

 

Any pictures??? That would REALLY help explain what/how you did it!!

 

CW

[DirtyComanche]

You can weld plate (or like jeepmy_tj did with angle) to the unibody then weld the sliders to them. Or you could put plate and sleeves on both sides. I wouldn't. You can also use sheetmetal screws, but umm, let's jsut not go there.

 

 

What I'd do:

 

From where the unibody widens behind the tranny x-memeber you can take 4x4 .250 wall box tube and cut the top off it to make channel that will perfectly sleeve the unibody. Put a bunch of holes in it and rosette weld it to the unibody.

 

Weld angle to the area in front of this, with plate on the inside (make your own funny shaped box). Rosette weld in place. Stich the top.

 

Oh yeah, weld some nuts on the insides of all this stuff to attach skid plates to later.

 

And as far as the rails go, just build em however ya like.

[Pete M]

Mine:

 

 

They go straight through and are welded to plates that are welded to the frame. For your idea, if you use a broad intermediate plate and add some gussets, it should be plenty strong.

[CWLONGSHOT]

Pete,

Just two stand offs? How much deflection do you get? I think I will incorperate the pinch seam into mine. But I am going with three at least because mine is a LWB.

 

I was worried welding to the "FRAME" as its meerly layered sheets of steel in the center sections. the front and rear will be attached at the rear spring hanger and the front at the LCA mount. I am thinking the center one nearer the rear as there will be no pince seam there for added stregnth....

 

 

Any body else with some pics?/ I really would appreciate them...

 

CW

[Pete M]

3 per side. Absolutely no deflection I've seen even after dropping the truck on them. :D I could probably have gotten away with 2 since I used DOM tube and put the bar through the frame, but better safe than sorry. Besides, the middle ones were the easy ones. :D

 

 

I had the same frame strength concerns, but if you use a large plate to spread out the load, you should be fine. Even better if you can use some angle iron that wraps under the bottom of the frame. It is just double layered sheetmetal though, so be careful with the welding. Also, notice I lopped off the corners of the plate to lessen the chance of it being a stress point.

[DirtyComanche]

Welding my unibody bracing in got a little tricky. I was stick welding in some darn odd positions. The trick is to keep the majority of the heat on the thicker steel that you are welding to the unibody. Actually, the real trick is to think about what you're going to do before you do it, and use a MIG welder.

[pingpong]

On my old rails I used 3 standoffs with self tapping 3/8 bolts, with 4 bolts on each pinch seam as well. It held up fine until I started dropping my whole rig on the rails multiple times in a row :nanner: I don't know why the bolts eventually pulled out after that :dunno: