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NEW!!! 1 TON AXELS, Front Dana 60 and rear Corp. 14 bolt Axles NEW!!! Front SOA, Outboard, Reversed Shackle Suspension NEW!!! 1/4 Elliptical Rear Suspension '72 350cu.in. Chevy
Dana 20 T-case
'77 CJ5 Fiberglass Body
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Starting From a Bare Frame

Reinforced Frame w/Outboard Shackle Reverse

The frame that came with the '77 had stress cracks at the steering box, above the rear spring hangers and at 3 of the shock mounts. The rust had eaten through the frame on the inside at the trans/t-case skidplate and the rear shackle hanger was literaly hanging from the spring, the frame was nonexistent in this spot. I was luckly enough to find a '76 frame with no rust and it also had the powersteering box so now I have a spare. I used 1/4" steel plate to reinforce the front of the frame from the frist body mount to 2" past the front of the frame. I wanted the front axel moved forward for tire clearence because of the shackle reverse. With this setup the tire moves up and back making contact with the wheelwell when it's under compression, with the axel moved forward this was less of a problem. I made cardboard templates frist then cut the plates about 1/4 larger. On the top I used a 2" wide x 1/4" bar stock that run the same distance. Other areas to get the extra steel treatment are the rear spring hangers, the mounting area of the 1/4 ellipical springs, rollcage outriggers, mounting plate for winch, front and rear(3"x1" solid steel) crossmembers, new extended shock mounts (rear shock are so long they needed to come up through the rear floor), Before any welding, the frame and steel plates where chemically treated and sprayed inside and out with "Weldthrough" zinc paint. When this paint is heated by the welding there is a chemical reaction coating the welded area with zinc. After welding, three coats of black "POR15" where applied by brush on outside and sprayed inside, then after a two week cure time, one coat of black epoxy. This is painting over kill but rust is a real problem when you live in an area surrounded by saltwater.

The shackle hangers where built through the framerails with 1" ID steel tubing and reinforcing was added to the inside of the frame in this location. Next time I do this the ends of the reinforcing plates will be cut in an S shape so the weld will not create a weak area in a straight line across the frame. Staggering the end of the plates from one side to the other would also work better. Theres aways room for improvement.

The front shackle hangers where made by adding a 2"x4",1/4"wall rectangular tubing as a front crossmember, welded to all sides of the frame rails and to the winch plate. A short piece of tubing was butt welded to the frame behind the longer tube on each side. The spring hanger bracket was welded to the bottom of tubing. The Alcan SOA Springs are 5"longer then stock so the location of the hangers needed to be set with this in mind. I choose to move the axel forward 2" for tire clearence in the fenderwell while under compression. After bracing the front of the brackets and caping the ends of the tubes, it looks alot cleaner.

The rear shackle hanger bracket has welded to the frame and frist body mount to line up with the sleeved hole in the frame. The grade 8, upper shackle bolt is 7" long to go through the frame and bracket. Bracing was added to the top and another plate welded over the bracing (no photo)

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Front Suspension
Rear Suspension
'78 Scout Dana 44 Frontend
'72 350cu.in. Chevy
Dana 20 T-case
'77 CJ5 Fiberglass Body
So does it work?
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