MrCasual

Gentlemen,

Rear leaf-spring rust. She's a 94 stick shift with upcountry package and about 80k on the inline 6...and she has saved my neck many times.
Was just on the cusp of doing big restoration with new motor mounts, undercoating, paint etc....but upon doing a thorough inspection I found two previously undiscovered areas of rust! Both of these are behind the rear wheel-wells. The white substance is a rust converter I was spraying on some nearby sections as part of preparations for winter.


The circled area used to be rusted metal, but it all fell away when wire-wheeled. Now it is exposed the chamber for the rear-light wiring harness.


This is the passenger side. Not as bad as the drivers, but still fairly perforated.

So give it to me straight: Do you think it is a lost cause or can she be saved? I can see how this may affect the integrity of the leaf springs, but at the same time there is much of the body still in fine shape supporting those areas too. The above pictures are the only serious rust issues. The rest of the vehicle has an undercoating (albeit old) that is only just starting to go...and it reveals fine metal underneath. Compared to this there is only surface rust elsewhere.

With so few miles and the vehicle being in such good shape otherwise I'd hate to let her go. Can she be saved? Is she safe to keep? I am open to any perspective. Further photos can be furnished upon request.
Thank you for your help!

Jim Malcolm

I've fixed those areas on both of my XJs; no problemo...

Veeb0rg

That doesn't look all that bad. Should be pretty easily fixed.

OldTires

Yeah, mine look worse than that. But the shackles and the frame rails are still in good shape so they still perform well. I don't think the shackles get much support from the above floor connections which is thin metal. The real support is from the rail. If that is good you should be fine. Lift up the carpet in the cargo area and see how had it is.

robsjeep

Do a complete examine of entire jeep before restoring. look for more hidden rust. You need to see the big picture before putting time and money into it. Eyes wide open!

If that is all that is bad, then fix it right. if the whole thing is rusted junk, get another better one.

How about pulling up the carpets, maybe the trunk floor is rusty from inside? find out before doing more rust repair.

14cherokeeboi

x2 what they ^^^ said

It looks to be rotting floor boards more than rotting leaf spring perches. On top of that, the rust honestly looks like it's in it's beginning-ish stages anyways so if you have a welder or a friend with one you could reasonably patch it and repaint it in an afternoon or two.

And of course, if the perches do end up being rusted and compromised. There are plenty of options to replace them and even upgrade them. A quick google search for xj leaf spring mounts will net you a ton of results

14cherokeeboi

x2 what they ^^^ said

It looks to be rotting floor boards more than rotting leaf spring perches. On top of that, the rust honestly looks like it's in it's beginning-ish stages anyways so if you have a welder or a friend with one you could reasonably patch it and repaint it in an afternoon or two.

And of course, if the perches do end up being rusted and compromised. There are plenty of options to replace them and even upgrade them. A quick google search for xj leaf spring mounts will net you a ton of results