rear UCA mounts ripped of frame, what to do now? W/pics.

[5.9 ANDY]

well, like the title says, i ripped off my rear UCA mounts on the frame of my jeep, and im looking for a few different ways to attack the problem.
1. clean up the old brackets and area, then weld them back on with additional bracing....
2. long arms..... i dont for see this happening, as i dont make much money, and im not yet ready to buy claytons... and i dont have a long time to fix this.
i have all the necessary materials to simply reweld the bracks and brace them... so doing it this way will cost me next 2 nothing.

now, also.... im trying to figure out WHY this happend, i can only think of one thing... my new motor, as i have been smashing the old girl around kinda hard on the roads....

and, here are the pics.

[Derek33]

Since the whole is so big you might benefit from sliding some metal inside the unibody and lay a bead around the edges, grind it down to a flush surface and then plate the outside as well.

[BigDaveZJ]

NICE!!! You could probably repair that, but it WILL happen again.

[1fox2go]

maybe patch it up and go easy on it for a while, im sure you could get money selling your old short arms to help fund your long arms. Those are the RE adjustable superflexs?

If you decide to go that route, I can try convince someone into buying 4 of them for his xj

[rstrucks]

I bet that made some cool sounds!

Since the whole is so big you might benefit from sliding some metal inside the unibody and lay a bead around the edges, grind it down to a flush surface and then plate the outside as well.

You could also drill some holes for some plug welds too. Also, if you are going to plate the inside and outside make the patch plates different sizes. That will keep the thicker plates from having a sheer effect on the thin unibody.

Start saving for long arms.

[dangerousdave]

It sucks that it happened.... but by rewelding you are only buying time. You will need to go to a long arm set up or build a tri link.

[5.9 ANDY]

ok, we have a plan of action.... we are going to do a home brew long arm system...

i will patch the area and build it back up...

but i am going to take my RE superflex arms and extend them out with some nice thick DOM tubing, and sleave my frame rails the the 2X3" (at least i think thats what it is) and them mount them nice and far foward.


then later in the future when i get claytons, i can cut the old stuff off.


it shouldnt cost me 2 much, just the price for the DOM. and the channel for the frame, and the brackets...


any tips and advice on this plan of action would be most appreciated, thank you.

[1fox2go]

just buy the crossmember and brackets from claytons then make the arms. Would help save time to get you back up and running

[5.9 ANDY]

just buy the crossmember and brackets from claytons then make the arms. Would help save time to get you back up and running

that sounds like a good idea.... im gona give em a call tomorrow.

[Colorado 5.9]

NICE!!! You could probably repair that, but it WILL happen again.

Not if you have Corey help fix it.

[5.9 ANDY]

Not if you have Corey help fix it.

do i want to know what this is soposta mean?

[Ds4x4]

if it were me... i would just upgrade to LA's. even if you box that back in with some plate on the inside that is gunna be a weak spot. You mash the skinny pedal once on the trail that could be a giant hole

[DJJordache]

been there had that happen and it is why I went with option 2.
Dave was right, I fixed it after the first time it happen (not as bad as yours) and it cracked again in a different spot. check out the other kind of recent thread on repairing the front mount and how they did it...... read Kraqa's unibody welding post also

[FrozenZJ]

that sounds like a good idea.... im gona give em a call tomorrow.

Let us know how much the brackets were. I'm thinking of doing the same thing but only need the frame side brackets. Might be easier then making them myself.

[BigDaveZJ]

Not if you have Corey help fix it.

Notice I said repair, not replace it!

[5.9 ANDY]

Let us know how much the brackets were. I'm thinking of doing the same thing but only need the frame side brackets. Might be easier then making them myself.

to make this quick and EZ, im just gona buy the rear main assembly from Rubicon Express... and extend my current CA's to the correct length.

today i cut out a cardboard template that i use use to make a renforcing plate that will extend from in front of the gas tank, alll the way down to where the LCA mount is on the frame...

im also gona use derek33's idea of puting some plate on the inside of the frame to patch the hole.

[Kraqa]

why buy the brakets?

thats less then a day's work.

[Colorado 5.9]

Notice I said repair, not replace it!

No! We repeared "mine". One side was almost ripped off & the other side was starting to crack & pull out just a tad.

On the worse side we cut the piece of frame rail off the bracket then welded it back into place. Then welded 3/16th over the whole damaged area. Then welded the bracket onto it. On the other side the bracket was cut off the frame rail. The crack welded & then again plated over.

That was back in 04 I think. Never had anymore problems after until the longarm went on in May of 07 whitch you know but some guys don't.

[gonecheenin]

These worked fantastic & even after I junked the red ZJ these brackets were used to stiffen the repair of the ripped off UCA brackets on my girl's 3" RE lifted DD 94 ZJ

Next step on the fabrication list is reinforcing the notoriously weak (In a lifted short arm application) ZJ unibody upper control arm mounts.
As you can see in the pic they are totally unsupported on the outer top of the bracket which is EXACTLY where the stress is transfered once the vehicle is lifted (the control arms drop down to an angle where they quit pulling back & start pulling down)
I plan on doing a plate & ear design that will bolt through the floor to a larger plate tied into the structural areas under the rear seat.




Got the 3/16" upper control arm brackets braces built, drilled, & mocked onto the jeep to use for a template to drill the holes up through the rear floor (Yes I know my welds suck)








I spoke with a friend of mine who used to build roll cages in unibody race cars & he said that a 6"x6" 1/8" plate sandwiching the floor top & bottom meets NHRA standards for mouting the roll cage & saving a life at 100+ MPH.

Soooooo, I figure that a 6"x3" 3/16th plate welded into a T to a pc of 1.5"x1.5" 1/4" angle that will be threaded under that seat bracket & bolted down through the floor on the inner side to the lower brace plates with 4) grade 8 bolts & locknuts (a single G8 bolt & heavy washer will go in the hole on the upper side of that seat bracket with a small plate) and at the other end the angle iron will be tied into the outside lower seat bracket bolt which will brace the whole assembly across the frame rail (I'm figuring with all the leverage advantage from length, that single bolt should be plenty strong).
I'm thinking this setup should provide all the added strength I'll ever need to structurally reinforce the upper control arm brackets on this and any future grand cherokee's short arms 8)


Here's where those holes came up through the rear floor (one hole is hiddin' by the seat bracket) you can also see the lower bolt of the seat back on the far lower right that I'm gonna be utilizing to tie in the upper plate "leg"



Got the vehicle side upper control arm brace bracketry finished, painted, and in place for boltup

[5.9 ANDY]

that is a REALY good idea....i might adopt something imilar to that....

o, i have changed my mind, once again.... im not going to go with the long arm system now, im gona build up the damaged area, and put the stock bracket back on after i add some steel to it.

this will cost me basicly nothing, therby saving me some $$$.

keeping in mind, the only thing this repair has to do is fix so it is drive able, it dose need to be able to take the stresses of wheeling and rock crawling...

i am leaving from home soon, i will be back in about 4 months... in that time i will have earned enough to buy a true long system, and get my rear axle.

[gonecheenin]

that is a REALY good idea....i might adopt something imilar to that....

o, i have changed my mind, once again.... im not going to go with the long arm system now, im gona build up the damaged area, and put the stock bracket back on after i add some steel to it.

this will cost me basicly nothing, therby saving me some $$$.

keeping in mind, the only thing this repair has to do is fix so it is drive able, it dose need to be able to take the stresses of wheeling and rock crawling...

i am leaving from home soon, i will be back in about 4 months... in that time i will have earned enough to buy a true long system, and get my rear axle.

That bracketry setup installed on the UCA mounts (& incidently my built Super Turdy-five) held up great to everything I threw at the ZJ, including the abuse shown on the vid below, without the slightest indication of injury, damage, or weakness.

(Watch 2:40 - 3:12 & 5:22 - 5:42)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oZIcprTqrcw

[Kraqa]

thats a cool idea!

i liek it.

[5.9 ANDY]

well, we made some good progress today... here are a few pics... i gotta go out in a bit and do some clean up, ill take some pics then.


but here are just a few pictures.

[ELLLLLIOTTTTT]

Wow... you destroyed that thing. Looks like the new one won't be going anywhere.

[black_zj]

I'll try to get pics of my repair, 3rd time was a charm!!