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Cj6 with bad frame

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My '86 had a bent frame, which was repaired by a local body and fender shop. At the time I don't think it was terribly expensive either. They did it with the body on it also, which straightened it out too. I am sure there are some guys that can make it a DIY operation.
 
The obvious answer, and the easiest, would be to get the work done by a body shop. I can't really tell much from your pictures, but if you want to try to do the work yourself, you can be pretty effective using a hydraulic ram set such as sold by Harbor Freight. You can push or pull using the opposite frame rail. To do this you must reinforce the opposite rail by securely clamping heavy angle or tube to the rail sufficiently long enough to protect the rail from bending. Obviously, this is a whole lot easier to do with the body off of the frame. Keep in mind, when you move one part of the frame, it affects other parts of the frame. A tram gauge is used to verify frame squareness. Post some better pictures and others are sure to have additional ideas.
You should consider the cost of the hydraulic ram kit vs the cost of having a body shop do the work. The last time I had a body shop straighten a frame for me before purchasing my own frame puller, the cost was about what the ram kit cost. Not worth it if you will never use the ram kit again.
 
Greeno,

:)
First thing you should do is try to understand where is it really bent and if so how much? I assume you must be thinking that it is bent based on tire wear or how it drives down the road?...........But I don't know that! Some frames may look bent but in the past someone could have made and adjustment in the spring hangers or elsewhere and perhaps fixed it...........you could do this:

Find a piece of flat , level concrete to park on and if the Jeep is not high enough jack it up and level it..........drop a plum line off of each corner at given known points on the chassis both front and rear.........mark them on the concrete. Draw an X across the points and measure them...........do the same fore and aft along the wheelbase and measure , you should now based on your measurements on the ground get a clearer picture of what is going on with your frame and how straight it is tracking..........

And you cannot use a hydraulic ram and push or pull against the opposite frame rail effectively without that frame rail first being grounded to a known external immovable point.
The correct way to straighten frame rails is to have the chassis clamped near the bend or fixed to a known external immovable source like a frame straightening fixture which most are drive or push on and then once clamped down push or pull from that external source to the bent member........

:D:D:D:D
 
tarry99 said:
Greeno,

:)
First thing you should do is try to understand where is it really bent and if so how much? I assume you must be thinking that it is bent based on tire wear or how it drives down the road?...........But I don't know that! Some frames may look bent but in the past someone could have made and adjustment in the spring hangers or elsewhere and perhaps fixed it...........you could do this:

Find a piece of flat , level concrete to park on and if the Jeep is not high enough jack it up and level it..........drop a plum line off of each corner at given known points on the chassis both front and rear.........mark them on the concrete. Draw an X across the points and measure them...........do the same fore and aft along the wheelbase and measure , you should now based on your measurements on the ground get a clearer picture of what is going on with your frame and how straight it is tracking..........

And you cannot use a hydraulic ram and push or pull against the opposite frame rail effectively without that frame rail first being grounded to a known external immovable point.
The correct way to straighten frame rails is to have the chassis clamped near the bend or fixed to a known external immovable source like a frame straightening fixture which most are drive or push on and then once clamped down push or pull from that external source to the bent member........

:D:D:D:D
Click to expand...


OOPS! my bad! Tarry is right. I omitted a few crucial steps. I know the ram kit works, because I have used it numerous times when I could not make the pull with my frame puller. Let me start over.

First thing is to attach a long piece of heavy angle or square/rectangular tube to the opposite frame rail and clamp it securely using many strong clamps. By doing this, you are distributing the load over a greater area of substantially stronger structure than just pulling or pushing against the un-reinforced frame rail.

If the damaged frame rail is bent to the outside and needs to be pulled in toward the center of the jeep, what needs to be done is that a heavy piece of square or rectangular tube steel is placed between the 2 frame rails at a point just behind where you need to make your bend (lots of ways to keep this piece in place using clamps, etc.). The fit must be tight between the frame rails, or the correcting bend will be in the wrong place. A heavy chain should be placed on the other side of the cross brace to prevent the frame from spreading behind where the pull is being made. Then a pull back ram can be used to bring the bent rail back into spec.

If you need to push the bent rail away from the center of the Jeep, a heavy chain is wrapped around the 2 rails just behind the point where the bend needs to be corrected and drawn up tight. The same cross brace is then placed on the other side of the chain to prevent the frame from bending in toward the center. Now you can push between the reinforced rail and the point where the correction needs to be without fear of bending the good rail.

Obviously, I am assuming that the engine, Transmission , or anything else that might be in the way has been removed thus providing a clear line to use the rams and chains.

I have made these kinds of pulls/pushes numerous times and using my tram gauge to check my results am always within factory specs without damage to the opposite rail.

If you are not planning on removing the body or entire driveline to do this, I repeat my suggestion to just take it to a body shop and have a professional do the job.

Nice catch Tarry! :notworthy: I need to proof read my posts a little closer!:rolleyes:
 
Thanks guys I've talked to a couple of panel shops here on the sunny coast Australia and they will not touch it :( way to bent
If you look at the photos of right hand rail you can see where it starts right under battery tray first tub mount area I'd say it's bent over a 10" or more it's bad View attachment 19686


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Wow! I did not see that in your first pictures :eek:. I too would not even attempt to straighten something that bad. I would either look for a damaged frame with that section good and section the frame, or more preferably find a different frame. Good luck!
 
mriplaybass said:
Wow! I did not see that in your first pictures :eek:. I too would not even attempt to straighten something that bad. I would either look for a damaged frame with that section good and section the frame, or more preferably find a different frame. Good luck!
Click to expand...

I've had no luck finding a new frame mate been looking for the last 3 years super hard to find CJ6 down here I do have a Willys frame but will try and fix this first as would like to keep it Amc
 
Wow! I can really see that the frame was inadequately reinforced. Unfortunately seeing this still doesn't get you any closer to a straight frame. There are ways of repairing damage even as severe as what you have, but without seeing the entire frame rail it is impossible to say what would be necessary. I have repaired similar damage, but I had to go down to the bare frame, and basically completely rebuild and box the frame.
 
Greeno said:
Thanks guys I've talked to a couple of panel shops here on the sunny coast Australia and they will not touch it :( way to bent
If you look at the photos of right hand rail you can see where it starts right under battery tray first tub mount area I'd say it's bent over a 10" or more it's bad View attachment 19686


Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk
Click to expand...

:)

How did this happen?

I would assume , based on the picture , that both rails L & R look about the same? what does the opposite side look like?.........that motor has to be offset now which means your drive line is also offset at a compound angle............

Anything can be fixed.............Pull the motor , tranny and body. Keep in mind the frame rails within reason do not have to be straight or pretty..........Only the tracking of the front and rear axles and the datum points of each along with the suspension is all that needs to be straight , true and correct from front to back. There may also be some other mounts that may require some additional adjustment.......

Lot's of folks down there Race lots of off road cars and they bend them up all the time.........got to be somebody down there with a chassis jig that could fix a bare frame.

:D:D:D:D
 
Possibly a stupid question, but I've never claimed to be especially intelligent.

Could you splice two CJ5 frames together? The CJ6 looks like nothing more than a stretched CJ5 .

I'm also wondering, if the frame is bent, but not "KINKED", why can't it be brought back to spec. Once in spec. box the heck out of it to strengthen the weak points.

What does the body and body mounts look like? It seems like they would be compromised some.
 
Last edited:
Hedgehog said:
Could you splice two CJ5 frames together? The CJ6 looks like nothing more than a stretched CJ5 .
Click to expand...

All you need is 1 CJ5 frame, then add 20" of new steel in the midsection. It's been done before, Tarry has a nice build where he is making a CJ5 into a CJ6 and I'm currently doing the same.
 
Posi said:
All you need is 1 CJ5 frame, then add 20" of new steel in the midsection. It's been done before, Tarry has a nice build where he is making a CJ5 into a CJ6 and I'm currently doing the same.
Click to expand...


I'm from sunny coast Australia and we didn't get to many amc CJ5 and 6's down here mate I've had this old girl for about 3 years trying to find a 5 or 6 frame with no luck :(


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I can't believe that that's not fixable (at a autobody shop that has a frame rack). That's basically a straight frame. They should be able to put it back straight and plate the frame for strength. You did a majority of the work with it being a rolling chassis.
 
At first glance that looks bad. But on a closer examination it's not bad at all. No real rust issues which are the killers of the old frames. That frame can be straightened, welded up and if necessary patched for additional strength. If all else failed you could probably do the work yourself.
 
tarry99 said:
:)



Keep in mind the frame rails within reason do not have to be straight or pretty..........Only the tracking of the front and rear axles and the datum points of each along with the suspension is all that needs to be straight , true and correct from front to back. There may also be some other mounts that may require some additional adjustment.......
Click to expand...

Greeno said:
From this to how it is now View attachment 19733View attachment 19734
Frame was moved over about 2" in the front on both rails


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Click to expand...
:)
You need to now concentrate on getting both axles in there true and straight so they both track correctly front to back and side to side...........The frame does not have to be absolutely straight..........just the tracking of the axles and of course where the motor and Transmission mount in relationship to the front and rear axles.

Plumb bob the corners and wheel mounting locations to a marked point on the ground............measure across those points both front / rear and draw an X from side to side front / rear.............that is what's important.


Then make suspension mounting locations to frame adjustments with your jack and bending apparatus......to move wheel mount locations and axles so they track straight.

:D:D:D:D
 
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