I had new brakes put on my 2016 Jeep JKU toad. While under the Jeep my friend doing the brakes noticed the frame cracks on both sides.
We took it to a Jeep fabricator yesterday to see if it can be welded. He told us no insurance company would allow a company to weld it. He explained that welding softens the metal and a repair might not hold.
Any advice would be appreciated...
Passenger's side:
(https://i.postimg.cc/5t7mLYhS/IMG-2167.avif) (https://postimg.cc/VStMc6LJ)
Driver's side.
(https://i.postimg.cc/fLVfKWZn/IMG-2169.avif) (https://postimg.cc/JDWX7LGP)
I understand what he said but the piece is welded in the first place,if it were mine I would find a welder to beef the whole area up
and keep on trucken,if you are taking what he said about the insurance as gospel then you might as well junk the jeep.
+1 on the "beef it up, weld it and move on down the road..."
That's been cracked for quite a while. Rusty .
Look around for a Jeep guy , weld the crack , add a plate over the crack etc. I would add a gusset around the corner on the hollow bracket to the frame.
move on.
So the frame is built and then heat treated. This is on the bumper, winch?, tow bar mount. This could have been real bad if you had a complete failure and separation during towing or winch use. Shows signs of being overloaded sideways? Possibly if you were backing up a little. Maybe it has been in an accident. Regardless if it was mine I would evaluate why it failed. I probably would remove the cracked stressed mount and install my own and take into consideration the added sideway forces. Triangulating the frame to it. This will effect your crash effectiveness by making it stronger and reduce the cripple zone of the frame. Don't think that it was under designed rather it has exceeded its original design. Notice the hole it has cracked into? That was probably engineered by design.
I made an inquiry with the recovery group I volunteer with. SNORR
No accidents, never reversed....
Your response on why not to weld came from the liability point of view of the welding shop and was covering him and was not a definitive view of how to fix it. Find a different welder, clean up crack, follow the advice of other Foreforum posters.
There are no loads up and down. All the loads are sideways because of the towbar.
Jeff can you post photos of the bumper and tow bar mount?
Good chance that this is common. Poor design there must be a repair for it .
The pass side is almost totally failed .
Great minds think alike BUT, if it did happen all the time there would be repair kits and more internet chatter about it, but I was unable to find either. The stock bumper mounts to tabs that mount to the frame location that is now cracked. I was told by a knowledgeable JEEP person that the better bumpers mount to the frame at more locations. Direct and inline, not down the bracket then back up to the frame rails. That indirect mount is used to absorb energy in a crash. The direct inline mount also transmits all the crash energy into the frame rails. I'm guessing the tow bar is mounted to the current bumper. It's mounting plates are heavier causing the loads to be distributed to were it cracked. A tab welded to the bumper paralleling the frame rail sides with a couple of grade 8 bolts in there would arrest this problem
(https://i.postimg.cc/W3vdnKzn/temp-Imaged-OXi-GK.avif) (https://postimg.cc/KK0cc0nk)
(https://i.postimg.cc/g0Rw3dzj/temp-Imagellu-Kyp.avif) (https://postimages.org/)
I sent Roadmaster a note, they called me, I sent pictures......
Missing a piece of mounting hardware like shown in this picture.
That additional picture says so much. I'm confident RoadMaster will have a resolution.
That will make a huge improvement. 👍👍 I bet they added those because of this issue
So when building anything many factors are reviewed before anything is made. The red line in my photo is the approximate centerline of the main frame rails. The blue line is the centerline of the tow bar. The offset between the two is critical. I always align to the red line to reduce the added stress of a tow bare or winch pull points. By doing this the torsional forces that cracked your mount are greatly reduced. The manufacturer wants to sell a product they can make money off of. Easy to install also reduces costs for them. The additional plate that Doug mentions is an attempt to tie into the red line mounting. Your kit may have been built prior to the addition of that bracket or it wasn't installed? Regardless your mount is now cracked . At this point you just want a resolution. If it was mine I would not weld the crack and plate it. I would cut out the fatigued portion of the mount and replace with a thicker longer spacing mount to basically incorporate the additional missing tab. I would weld the entire repair. The lever affecting your mount starts at the final pivot point of your tow bar to the frame rail. The shorter this is and aligning to the (Red line)frame rails greatly effects the strength and reduces fatigue.
In saying this a tow rated bumper would illuminate a lot of issues and align the tow point stresses???
Ha ha, so helpful: Jeff, the frame horns need to be welded or replaced. I would suggest replacing the baseplate also. Thanks, Tim ext103 Roadmaster
I'm taking the Jeep to a collision/body shop to see if they can weld it.
Roadmaster was not much help for sure. Here's a add for a base plate I think like the one you have.
They have a generic picture showing those extra supports, but it looks like they're selling old stock and that doesn't show extra brackets. Maybe a further conversation how you dodged a bullet with Roadmaster might have a better outcome on a new base plate and repairs.
Roadmaster Tow Bar Baseplate - Fits 2010-2017 Jeep Wrangler (https://affordablervparts.com/products/Roadmaster-Tow-Bar-Baseplate-p682376707)
Tow rated bumper.
XRC Gen2 Front Bumpers - Smittybilt (https://www.smittybilt.com/products/smittybilt-xrc-gen2-front-bumpers/)
Rock Hard 4x4™ Aluminum Patriot Series Grille Width Front Bumper for Jeep... (https://www.rockhard4x4.com/product_p/rh-5041.htm)
Pondered the first picture and the "welders" statement,looks like the only section that held up was the welded part.
We figured it out. I took the Jeep to 6 shops and no one would touch it. I contacted Rubixtruk in Boone, NC and they are fixing it.
They will cut out the cracked brackets and replace them with new, from Jeep.
They will remove the Roadmaster hitch plate and will install these:
Maximus-3 Front Tow Loop Package; Wrangler JK (https://www.rubitrux.com/maximus-3-jeep-wrangler-jk-tow-loops.html)
These will bolt to the new brackets and to the frame directly. I already have Blue Ox tow bars to it's an easy switch.
Thanks all.
Looks to me like a good resolution. Funny thing about fixing the weak link it will now be transmitted to the next new weak link. Good time to look over the hitch for any indications of stress. That's actually a good recommendation for all of us towing regularly.
I got the Jeep back today.
The replacement beam with 'horns' from Jeep is much more robust than the cracked one.
I'm very happy with this solution. The hardware is made by Maximus 3.....recovery hooks and the knuckles for my Blue Ox tow bar.
(https://i.postimg.cc/tT7DdnBX/temp-Imagepqo7-Bs.avif) (https://postimg.cc/vgFWbTRj)
(https://i.postimg.cc/k5TftvF1/temp-Image-XWkgv-I.avif) (https://postimg.cc/LqZzcfWL)
Here is everything they used:
JK TOWING PACKAGE W/ BLUE OX ADAPTERS | MAXIMUS-3 (https://maximus-3.com/home/jk-towing-package-w-blue-ox-adapters)
Ironically, Rubixtrux told me today that they had a customer come in with the same Roadmaster tow plate and same frame weld failure except this customer lost their Jeep. He was towing his Jeep on the Blue Ridge Parkway and the Jeep broke away and rolled into the woods. No open was hurt.... no breakaway brakes either....luckily no one died. The Jeep is repairable. He told them he didn't realize the Jeep was missing for 15 minutes. No back-up camera.
I don't see any safety cables. On every Blue Ox and Demco that I have ever had, both had cables run through the brackets and then through and around another part of frame or crossmember.
The cables are attached to my coach. They hook thought the rear hole on the red bracket when connected and towing
That look so much better than what you had prior
I am talking about cable that are a backup on the jeep bracket if bolts come undone on jeep. Such as cable in attached picture
One set of cables to coach only when towing. Another set around toad chassis installed permanently.
Absolutely. Rigged like this as close to fail safe as possible.