rear mounts for front springs R.I.P.ped!

[flatbackdragon]

went wheeling with son with his fsb sat. for his birthday run. made it 3 miles in the canyon of 21 road (nw of grand junction, co) and heard some popping noises, mind you this old thing creaks and groans all the time but this was bone chilling. stopped and looked underneath, lo and behold, the rear mounts for the front springs ripped right out of the frame! :eek:
we hadn't quite made it to the FUN part of the trail.
http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/Misc-Pictures/brokspring009.jpg

Hung a chain around the eye/hangers and looped the comealong around the trans crossmember and tightened the chains to pull the hangers back to where they were to be, they had moved 4-6 ins. forward. got turned around and limped out of the canyon and trailered her home (she was a virgin trailer rider).
so what to do? i don't weld, neighbor does but no welder. hate to have to take her to a weld shop but what options do i have?!
suggestions? (besides win the lottery and build her up better), cut out bottom of frame/weld in that section, braces for both sides and to the front/rear, have new spring hangers made up?
:(

[Cecil14]

This seems to be a pretty common problem. It probably wouldn't cost all that much to have a welding shop fix it. Pull the rear spring bolt so that the hanger can be played with and have a welding shop put it back in place and put braces on both sides of the hanger. I would check the other side out too.

Anthony

[Stuka]

you broke driver and passenger side? wow... i havent seen both breakk before. I say fab a whole new mount period. I notice your mounts are different then mine. Mine have ears that go up along the side of the frame wiith another rivet on each side, plus they are welded to the frame. I can take picts tomorrow if you want ideas for a replacement.

[ September 22, 2003, 11:36 PM: Message edited by: Stuka ]

[Chevelleguy]

I think this happened to Raider in Ouray. With towing 34miles to Montrose it cost 500$ to get it on the road again, for just one side.

[River Beast]

For some unknown reason.... the frames on the FSJ's seem to be 'brittle' in the this area.... I have had the same thing(not as bad.. I caught it) on the drivers side of my 78 Wag and wie's 80 W/T....

If you remove the hangar from the spring... you can place it where it needs to be and reweld with support brackets... I have not had any more problems with mine after this.

It's tough when you dont have a welder.... sound like you might have to bite the bullet....sorry

[Tad]

Looks like it took a chunk of the frame too.

[River Beast]

it usually does take a chunk with it... both mine did... that why I said the frame seems brittle.... it does not bend or rip.... it more or less 'SNAPS' off like plastic..... very weird.

[Stuka]

Here is a pict of my cherokees setup, it appears to be factory to me. Ithas ears, and is welded on the front and back. Maybe this is an AM General thing, not sure. My cherokee is a very odd ball, *WAY* to many things on it that arent like other FSJ's heh.

http://tribal.org/~brandon/spring-hanger.jpg

[waggy84]

I might be making a trip back to junction sometime in the next month. If I do, I can do it for free for ya, or maybe a six pack. If you can wait that long....

[Tad]

Originally posted by Stuka:
Here is a pict of my cherokees setup, it appears to be factory to me. Ithas ears, and is welded on the front and back...Yes this is what my '70 looks like also, with some extra welding that has been done by someone. mtn goat's '82 WT has them also but the ears are much smaller than ours and the actual metal part of the hanger appears to be thinner.

[Stuka]

I will have to go look at the J10, pretty sureit had ears also...

[flatbackdragon]

mine have ears or ear i should say, on the outside of the frame.

http://fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/Misc-Pictures/brokspring002.jpg

http://fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/Misc-Pictures/brokspring010.jpg

both sides ripped out, right did not come all the way out tho, the hangers are about 1/4 in. thick, the frame looks as if it is 1/8 to 3/16 in. , they mount inside of the body mount hangers.

Stuka-pics would be nice, email if you will.

waggy84-a whole six pack? heck i was thinking maybe a case or two, may even raise the bid to a quarter keg! just let me know if/when you may come and i will get all unhooked and semi-ready to weld up. you got a portable do you?
may yet get it done locally, right now fighting cold or whatever is going around don't even feel like going to work, so not really pressing the issue of fixing right away, may well still be sitting on street in a month, if ya come over. that would be real cool of you, thanks for the offer.
thought about buying welder, but between learning to weld and price for welder probably could get it done cheaper!!lol

[Merc69]

If you own a Wag you need to learnt o weld. Makes life a whole lot easier. Make your own parts, bumpers etc. and make repairs as needed. After I bought PsyOp the first thing I bought was a welder :D

Now I have lots of fun smile.gif

[flatbackdragon]

thought about buying welder, but should really buy a bigger house or at least some place that has a big garage or outbuilding(s), don't like working on dirt/gravel or on the asphalt in street, with all the projects i have
http://www.fullsizejeeps.com/jeeps/files/Misc-Pictures/phil.jpg
48 willys, 65 442 i really need to find a place to work on them that is out of the weather

waggy84-FYI its in the street on asphalt, if weather is crappy wouldn't expect myself or anyone else to work on it if/when you make it over here, again thanks for the offer

[J10Mike]

dragon,
did you say 48 willy's? your willy's has the 48 style of windshield. yet, it also has the grill and headlights of the ww2 mb/gpw. where did you find that?

mike

[flatbackdragon]

well i got it from a friend of one of my sons that had enlisted in 94/95 got it for 1000.00$ he got it from his dad, has the flathead (Lhead?) in her
he had straight water in her and head broke, was off when i got it, rust all over block so no need to just get a head and put on, bought a Fhead(?) at an auction 6 months later and ya know, neither has gotten together? i introduced them and they haven't produced a dang thing! guess i should put that motor in her now that the weather has cooled off, the windshield may or maynot not be original as you can tell by the rusted parts you can see, not like that else where. the TITLE says 48 WIL UT
there is a previous title to it as this title shows he bought it in 89, and if i recall right now some of the bolts holding windshield are not all the same, so who knows?!! thought that it had been in family all along, dont know for sure.
all else looks original, wished it still had plates on dash or in engine compartment. the vin #s stamped on outside of front frame look like a kid put them on, I could have stamped them straighter!

[oldyellowwagoneer]

as a FYI if that happens to anyone else (where both rip loose)just remove the mounts then remove the shackles and bolt the front spring eye directly to the shackle mount. This should get you home even on the highway. You may have to disconnect the front driveshaft if it wont compress. The rear spring eye will slide along the frame and you'll have to watch it on corners but it works. The hardest part is removing the shackle bolts. Dennis

[ September 23, 2003, 02:40 PM: Message edited by: scoutgrl ]

[flatbackdragon]

i was dealing with a time issue-darkness would appear in a few hours and others using the trail, it was a tight road at that point, wanted to get it out of the way-the easiest way was to pull the rear back to where is should be and hold it there and get out. you don't leave a vehicle in the desert/canyons around here to get parts or a recovery whatever- too many kids(?) like to destroy whatever they find to destroy for kicks.
and i had several wash crossings to do, boulders to go over, etc. If i had the time, and thinking back on it now, i think i still would have done it as i did, it held up very well and was simple, worked like a charm and the axle didn't move even thru the washes and over the boulders, and didn't want to cut the tires by letting the 'lift' the front mounts (they are extended) offer by removing them, the springs flexed well, didn't move forward because the comealong wouldn't let them and a little movement to the rear wasn't a problem as the bracket rivets wouldn't go further than the hole ripped out by them.
i could have driven her home but had already made a call to friends to bring a trailer, so trailered her home.
yours scoutgrl is a good idea, hadn't thought of that but was interested in getting out as quickly as possible. In this canyon, when it rains 10-30 miles away, it will fill up this canyon to depths of 20 ft. or more at times.
I will remember your idea for future breaks that ultimatly will occur.
FBD

[Stuka]

ahh one sided ears... Just looked at my J10, thats the way it is...

actually just looked at the chero, it has one sided ears also. but the ears are about twicce the sizze of the J10's and thicker. Plus the mounts are welded. But still a good idea to check for cracks now and then.

[OldGrayGhost]

Originally posted by Stuka:
ahh one sided ears... Just looked at my J10, thats the way it is...

actually just looked at the chero, it has one sided ears also. but the ears are about twicce the sizze of the J10's and thicker. Plus the mounts are welded. But still a good idea to check for cracks now and then.Mine is just like Stuka's.

[Bob Barry]

Mine are mounted right beneath the body-mount bracket (I had them welded around the perimeter so that it's more than a couple rivets and boogers holding it on there), whereas Stuka's are more forward, along where the frame is kicking upward. Interesting...

[flatbackdragon]

yeah mine are in between the body mount brackets too, it will be welded with added straping on both sides and bottom, maybe top too, when I get it done, just to be sure it won't happen again too soon

[2ndtimearround]

Originally posted by Stuka:
My cherokee is a very odd ball, *WAY* to many things on it that arent like other FSJ's heh.
Now you got me wondering, like what? (stock?)

This is one of the things I like about Jeeps...nothing is truely "stock", like the D44 rears in early Canadian YJs...

Lawrence

[ September 24, 2003, 08:10 PM: Message edited by: 2ndtimearround ]

[tomd]

Originally posted by 2ndtimearround:
</font><blockquote>quote:</font><hr />Originally posted by Stuka:
My cherokee is a very odd ball, *WAY* to many things on it that arent like other FSJ's heh.
Now you got me wondering, like what? (stock?)</font>[/QUOTE]I'll let him explain, but his was a forest service vehicle or some barebones type thing, but came with things like a Open Knuckle drum brake D44 front end, with manual brakes.....