So you push your 1st gen offroad - what cracks next?

So myself and others who are pretty hard on our rigs are running into more and more issues with things cracking.

As I have chased these issues down, I figured I would compile a list of what I've seen and fixes for them where applicable.

Things I've cracked, or other things to look at:
Core support
Rear axle housing
Coil bucket
Front Frame Crossmember
Bed and bed mounts and tailgate pivot
Motor mount perches
LCAs
Steering rack mounts


Will try to keep this updated as I find and fix other issues.

 

Core support:

Look for cracks above the headlights, and by the body mounts. All over really.





You can try to weld them up, but it will keep cracking.

Permanent solution: cut off a fab a new core support.

 

Rear axle housing:

Mine cracked and leaked by the spring perches.





Welded it up.



Still leaking...

 

Coil Bucket:

Mine cracked by the outer bolt hole.



Welded it and added a steel plate on top.



Still cracking.



Working on a more permanent solution. Keep an eye on this one or you'll end up with a catastrophic failure like @Digiratus



Edit - Welded new crack 9/28/19 - keeping an eye on it.

 

Front frame crossmember.

Cracked on factory welds. Haven't seen this one, might be just my truck.





Welded up and it's been fine for several years.

 

Bed Mounts:



Haven't done anything yet.

Even worse if you have a body lift like @Reh5108

 

6

 

Motor mount perches:

One of the few things I got to before they cracked. Pretty common failure point for 1st gens.

The frame also is know to push in/break.

@TMFF 's frame



Mine was only bowed in slightly




Replaced with perches from Next Venture motorsports. DMZ makes some too.



Also added some plate around the area to help prevent it pushing in further.

 

Messing up my nice post.

 

4

 

SEVEN

 

Driver's side steering rack mount.

Starting to crack. Stealing @Reh5108 's picture.



Haven't done anything yet.

 

Ugh..

 

yikes! You've been twisting the frame hard.

 

Holy crap. Someone plays A LITTLE too hard. Here I was thinking mine was bad.

 

Like anything you strengthen /repair one section the next weakest link is going to fail sooner or later

The hard landings get you every time.

To much horse power for a stock drive train is also good for interesting things

Then age catches up with everything

 

Slow down!

 

This^^ my buddys jeep is broken in every conceivable way because hes always on the rev limiter when hes wheeling

 

I do like driving fast, but I think most of this is from years and years of abuse. My truck has been a dedicated wheeling rig for several years now, and see's thousands of miles of dirt. It's slowly taking its toll.

 

@m3bassman called it on the LCA shock mounts. Also have a few little cracks forming around the rivets.




Ground, drilled and welded the cracks, and then all around the shock tabs. Will be keeping an eye on this one.