Purchased in 1987 and I've been the only owner. My jeep has been very reliable before the frame rusted though it has needed very little work. The typical things such as brakes, shock, tires, mufflers, tail pipe, and then a clutch have been the typical maintenance items needed. I'd expect to have these things replaced from time to time, but never the frame! I found out that it's a typical thing that the Jeep frames rust away! I'm now working on a frame that was from a rolled Wrangler. Since the rolled Wrangler was new the insurance company totaled out the Jeep and off to the scrap yard it went. Here you can see the new frame ready to go back to the Bodyshop. During my cleaning of the new frame I should mention, I degreased the frame, then rinsed it off. When I flipped the frame over to work on the bottom side, it seemed about a gallon of water poured out. Some place these frame retain a lot of water, so if you live in a northern state where there is salt used on the roads, your going to trap it inside the frame. Once the frame has the proper brackets welded on for the 1987 model I'll bring it back here to study where the water is retained so I can drill the holes needed to it to drain out. Jeeps have been around for such a long time it's hard to believe that the frames were designed so badly on the newer models.

Disassembly