Neil's rock removal...

nlife · **Joined:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:43 pm **Posts:** 226

Jeger wrote:

Besides it would be a good opportunity to install that 2" cradle drop from jeepinbyal that has been mentioned. Doing that much work deserves an upgrade right?

I'm looking at this as a means to upgrade

. I planned on doing a lift at some point, just not right now. However, after removing that rock, my plans got pushed up quite a bit!

I took a look for the cradle drop on jeepin's site, but I can't seem to locate it. As of now, I'm looking at the 2.5" Spring Lift kit with Als A-arms. I would like to get something that is going to support a bumper as heavy as the ARB with a winch. That's one of my other plans for down the road. Hopefully the trail doesn't decided to accelarate those! I can't afford all four right now

Cradle, lift, bumper and winch would push me WAAAAY into debt. On a positive note, I would have a pretty kick-@$$ rig!!

N

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 5:38 pm

I think I would head for an alignment shop or someone with a frame machine to first see how much it has pulled the suspension out of wack if any.
IF everything seems to still be OK and it doesnt run down the road like my old coon hound then I would find a really good welder and ask for his advice, and move on from there! If the welder says he can box it in then thats good!
Also have you thought about turning it in to your insurance company yet! Large rock fell off a truck in front of me and bam!! You could still do the above after they give you a check! :wink:

RQuarte · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 6:22 pm

darn i thought i was bad when i smashed one of my LCAs on a rock and left a 3 inch hole in it. This takes the cake. I wish you the best of luck in fixing/replacing it, your going to need it. :oops:

nlife · **Joined:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:43 pm **Posts:** 226

tommudd wrote:

I think I would head for an alignment shop or someone with a frame machine to first see how much it has pulled the suspension out of wack if any.
IF everything seems to still be OK and it doesnt run down the road like my old coon hound then I would find a really good welder and ask for his advice, and move on from there! If the welder says he can box it in then thats good!
Also have you thought about turning it in to your insurance company yet! Large rock fell off a truck in front of me and bam!! You could still do the above after they give you a check! :wink:

I thought about insurance, but I don't have collision. I would also lose my 43% discount. Once you lose it, you earn 5% off per year. I'm going to look into the other suggestions and see what is available. It looks like I'll be pulling the front end apart either way.

And yes, it is pulling to the right pretty hard, although it was doing that BEFORE I hit the rock.

N

Rush345 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:16 pm

If you going to spend the money on a new cradle wouldn't be advantagous to box out the new cradle. Just so you know even with armor plating its stonger then the original stock? That way you pretty well know you , if this even thinks about happening again, you wont have to face this task again? I ask out of ignorance I have turned a wrench once or twice, but ask Tom or any of the other who have turned wrenches for a living.

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:17 pm

The good thing about the Weld and box...is that if it doesn't work, you haven't really done any more damage.

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:28 pm

DarbyWalters wrote:

The good thing about the Weld and box...is that if it doesn't work, you haven't really done any more damage.

Thats what I was thinking he would not be out that much. Take it to a good frame shop and if it is bend they can maybe pull it back where it needs to be and then weld it up and run it like that for a while and see how it does, bet you could do it pretty resonable, thats I would do with it. We have taken some pretty mangled frames and pulled them back in to where they were if in fact it amy be out some

GilaMonster · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:29 pm

Just an idea, but could you hook up the engine from up top to a hoist and support it while you swap it out?

nlife · **Joined:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:43 pm **Posts:** 226

I'll look into a frame shop then. Thanks for all the help so far guys...

N

tjkj2002 · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:34 pm

Now for how bad it looks in the pic I would have to say no place would even bother trying to straighten it and then box it,or they'll charge you alot of $$$$ and do a crappy job so you have to spend the $$$$ to get it done right.

My belief is to fix it right the first time rather then paying a little trying to fix it then end up dishing out the large sum of cash the original repair would have cost on top of the money you spent on the bandaid repair,save time and money and pay for the new cradle(and then get some skids and slow down when offroad).

But as always just stating my opinion,do as you wish and good luck and hope you get it fixed(hopefully the right way).

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 7:41 pm

GilaMonster wrote:

Just an idea, but could you hook up the engine from up top to a hoist and support it while you swap it out?

That is how they swap them out...lift 3" or so and swap...

nlife · **Joined:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:43 pm **Posts:** 226

tjkj2002 wrote:

My belief is to fix it right the first time rather then paying a little trying to fix it then end up dishing out the large sum of cash the original repair would have cost on top of the money you spent on the bandaid repair,save time and money and pay for the new cradle(and then get some skids and slow down when offroad).

AMEN! I've gone the cheapo route a couple of times on other things and I've almost always ended up spending more money to getting it done right the second time than I would have if I had just put down the cash in the first place.

N

tommudd · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 9:02 pm

nlife wrote:

tjkj2002 wrote:

My belief is to fix it right the first time rather then paying a little trying to fix it then end up dishing out the large sum of cash the original repair would have cost on top of the money you spent on the bandaid repair,save time and money and pay for the new cradle(and then get some skids and slow down when offroad).

AMEN! I've gone the cheapo route a couple of times on other things and I've almost always ended up spending more money to getting it done right the second time than I would have if I had just put down the cash in the first place.

N

Well its always better to do it right the first time BUT sometimes you dont have the cash so an alternative route must be taken. It goes back to just like people wanting to do a spacer lift instead of a full spring lift, sometimes ya just gotta do what ya gotta do!

DarbyWalters · **Posted:** Wed Oct 10, 2007 10:51 pm

So this ends up being a circular question because you were going to do it right the first time? :wink:

Jeger · **Posted:** Thu Oct 11, 2007 5:29 am

nlife wrote:

Jeger wrote:

Besides it would be a good opportunity to install that 2" cradle drop from jeepinbyal that has been mentioned. Doing that much work deserves an upgrade right?

I'm looking at this as a means to upgrade

. I planned on doing a lift at some point, just not right now. However, after removing that rock, my plans got pushed up quite a bit!

I took a look for the cradle drop on jeepin's site, but I can't seem to locate it. As of now, I'm looking at the 2.5" Spring Lift kit with Als A-arms. I would like to get something that is going to support a bumper as heavy as the ARB with a winch. That's one of my other plans for down the road. Hopefully the trail doesn't decided to accelarate those! I can't afford all four right now

Cradle, lift, bumper and winch would push me WAAAAY into debt. On a positive note, I would have a pretty kick-@$$ rig!!

N

I havnt seen it yet either, but it has been mentioned...If you are interested I would contact them tell them your situation, and see what they say.

nlife · **Joined:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:43 pm **Posts:** 226

DarbyWalters wrote:

So this ends up being a circular question because you were going to do it right the first time? :wink:

Not really. I needed to know what my options were then evaluate them from there. If boxing the cradle was an accepted practice for repair, I may have gone that route. I didn't know it could be done, but at the same time, it doesn't seem like the best way to fix the problem.

I may also have a line on a used cradle from Co. as well should I not be able to find one here in British Columbia

N

nlife · **Joined:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:43 pm **Posts:** 226

tjkj2002 wrote:

Can't seem to find a price for the cradle on the web but the part # is 52059462AA,I'm guessing about $350-$500 for it and looking at 15-20 hours of labor(my best guess,a dealer and most independant shops will go by the Mitchell labor guide and get every min out of you for labor).You can do a lift at the same time since you will have to rip the whole front suspension off anyway and save some time in labor for a install(the rear is to easy,about 30 min).

I found one in Nanaimo, British Columbia. It's from a roll-over and apparently still looks good. You nailed the price too, $400.

Neil

nlife · **Joined:** Thu Aug 16, 2007 11:43 pm **Posts:** 226

tjkj2002 wrote:

Can't seem to find a price for the cradle on the web but the part # is 52059462AA,I'm guessing about $350-$500 for it and looking at 15-20 hours of labor(my best guess,a dealer and most independant shops will go by the Mitchell labor guide and get every min out of you for labor).You can do a lift at the same time since you will have to rip the whole front suspension off anyway and save some time in labor for a install(the rear is to easy,about 30 min).

Turned out to be 4.5 hours to re+re the cradle. Not too bad, although I know the mech

N

snowsport · **Joined:** Tue Oct 18, 2005 11:52 pm **Posts:** 1211

That actually sounds pretty dang good. That's a lot of work I would think, to replace one of those.

Cowcatcher · **Posted:** Thu Oct 25, 2007 9:57 pm

When I was looking for a V6 air box a year ago Spaulding's in Spokane had about 4 Liberty's pretty well intact. You might contact them for a price and take a drive over this side of the mountains.

Neil's rock removal...

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