How strong is the cherokee unibody?
#1
How strong is the cherokee unibody?
Hey everyone I've been curious lately as to how strong our unibodys really are? Let me first start by saying that I absolutely love my xj! It has done everything that I have wanted from it and more. But here lately I've been hearing horror stories about broken unibodys. I've heard that once the unibody is broke that the jeep is pretty much junk and there's really no repairing it. Not sure if there's much truth to that or not but I hope not. I'm about to dump about $2,000 into mine and I want to make sure that this vehicle will hold up or am I better of getting a wrangler?
#4
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Year: 1990
Model: Cherokee (XJ)
Engine: 4.0
It's uni-frame, not uni-body.
#5
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Year: 1996
Engine: 4.0L HO
If running heavy axles, wheeling hard, and you want it to last, plate the rails and do a full Jeepspeed style cage
Oh and never take the doors off, it will fold in half
Oh and never take the doors off, it will fold in half
#6
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Model: Cherokee
Rust and wrecks is what really kills them.Things like frame stiffeners and a cage will stiffen it up a lot.If its a daily driver i would do just the frame stiffeners and maybe run just a roll bar not a full cage.
#7
Will it still fold in half if you only take the two front doors off but leave the back two on? And I was going to plate it but I heard someone on this forum say that welding it will decrease it's strength significantly.
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#9
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Year: 93 2 door
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
and yes there is a right way and a wrong way to plate and weld to the uniframe
but if you've got half a brain you should be able to figure it out. basically, dont burn through it, fully welding to it isn't necessary, and dont try to use 1/4" or anything ridiculous. 1/8 or 3/16 is fine
here's a helpful link for "proper" uniframe welding.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/9750902-post14.html
run a track bar brace
#10
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Year: 1998
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
they're joking about the doors
and yes there is a right way and a wrong way to plate and weld to the uniframe
but if you've got half a brain you should be able to figure it out. basically, dont burn through it, fully welding to it isn't necessary, and dont try to use 1/4" or anything ridiculous. 1/8 or 3/16 is fine
here's a helpful link for "proper" uniframe welding.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/9750902-post14.html
run a track bar brace
and yes there is a right way and a wrong way to plate and weld to the uniframe
but if you've got half a brain you should be able to figure it out. basically, dont burn through it, fully welding to it isn't necessary, and dont try to use 1/4" or anything ridiculous. 1/8 or 3/16 is fine
here's a helpful link for "proper" uniframe welding.
http://www.pirate4x4.com/forum/9750902-post14.html
run a track bar brace
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#13
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Year: 93 2 door
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
HDO uses 10ga and is much lighter. I'd say both the HDO mids weigh the same or even less than just one of the Ruffstuffs. but they aren't strong enough to stand constant rock bashing
yes mids are most important. if you're running 35's and wheeling often I'd say fronts are just as important, along with a good track bar brace (ask me how I know that you need a brace )
Last edited by Atmos; 12-03-2013 at 02:12 PM.
#14
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Year: 99
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
Good to know. Yeah I imagine the steering on large tires takes a lot of torque into the front end. I will probably never need those, as I don't plan on ever going over 31s. Even that is going to take time as I need to get a 8.25 on the back of mine.
#15
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Year: 93 2 door
Model: Cherokee
Engine: 4.0
frame plates are a huge pain to fit once you dent your frame
and I'd still recommend an aftermarket track bar brace and double shear track bar if you plan on doing any offroading. your jeep will thank you later