December 12, 2008
Not me, the G-Wag. As it turns out; Jeep in all their boundless wisdom decided the best thing for the Gas tank was to put a skid plate under it. While I would normally praise this as a slice of factory brilliance, they didn't go about it in the most longevity conducive manner. Since the tank follows alongside the frame, the skidplate ran the length of the tank, also following the frame. This would have been fine if Jeep had left open "ports" to allow debris to fall out, or if they had closed off the front of the skid pan so that dirt wouldn't get in. Unfortunately Jeep; the essential authors of modern-day four wheel drive-forgot almost everything about skid plates when they made this one. It allows dirt and debris to be flung up onto the inside of the skidplate, where they trap moisture and salt (a lovely combo) against the frame. Wagoneer's from the mid 80's to 91 had severely rust-prone frames, and mine did not escape.
I found a rather poor patch job completed in the same method as the old floor patches. a smattering of rivets were procured, along with some galvanized duct-work metal, and the weekend warrior broke out the tin snips and rivet gun. the patch job was then iced with a slurry of undercoating tar to hide it from any suspicious mechanics. I broke out the cutoff wheel and went to work, slicing out the badness where necessary.
I ended up with a long chunk of the bottom of the rail being cut out, and found a small crack beginning to creep up the side of the frame a 1/4". I made sure to weld that up nicely, and set about forming some 3/8 angle iron to fit my frame.
I had to make a few cuts so i could bend the metal to fit the frame shape, and then patched the cuts back up with the scrap metal and some welding.
Some test fitting and then clamping allowed me to line the whole thing up and weld it in place. Although the rusted portion was near the back, I ran the angle iron the entire span of the frame, thus making it a double purpose patch and skid-rail for off-road use. I was more or less pleased with the patch, and it should allow the vehicle to pass certification. It's amazing how many problems I didn't know about when i bought it (I may have waited and bought a better one had I known, but that's neither here nor there at this point).
