Something seems to be twisted....

[Lawrence]

I am looking for a good shop with a frame machine, but before I spend the dough, I thought I'd run it by you guys.

I took measurements at various points, and it seems I am always coming out with a 1/2 difference or so. So, it looks like something is twisted and I am not sure if it is the frame, the body, or both.

Measuring from the floor to some points on the frame, the driver's front is 1/2" higher than the passenger, BUT the driver's rear is slightly less than 1/2" lower than the passenger.

When measuring to the body, the same holds true for the front, but the rear is almost dead on. Now, looking at the Jeep from the front, the windshield and cowls area are slightly lower on the passenger side, but the hood and the grill seem to be drooping more. When putting my Craftsman angle finder on it, the cowl and the hood are 0.5* off from each other. When putting it on the floor between the tires and the bottom of the front crossmember, it is a 1* difference.

So, here's where I'm at

[Matt Pascoe]

I realise you are serious, so I deleted all my sarcastic comments...

Do you have a body lift? If so, what kind (aluminum pucks on factory mounts etc)?

Have you measured the height of the body mounts? Have some been over tightened and crushed?

Do you know if the Jeep was ever in a serious accident?

What problem does this cause? If it's just cosmetic, possibly add some shims to body mounts or springs to level things out.

[Lawrence]

Originally Posted by Matt Pascoe

I realise you are serious, so I deleted all my sarcastic comments...

Well crap, I didn't even get to read them.

Originally Posted by Matt Pascoe

Do you have a body lift? If so, what kind (aluminum pucks on factory mounts etc)?

No, no body lift.

Originally Posted by Matt Pascoe

Have you measured the height of the body mounts? Have some been over tightened and crushed?

No, I didn't, I just looked at them and they appeared to be fine. I measured at the front and rear by the springs, keeping the same reference point from side to side at the frame.

Originally Posted by Matt Pascoe

Do you know if the Jeep was ever in a serious accident?

It wasn't, no signs of paint, no over spray, all the VIN stickers are on the body panel. The thing is that I never noticed it that much before the last mods, maybe because it wasn't so noticeable being so tall. The PO told me that the first shocks he put on were too long, and it ripped out the rear lower factory mounts, so I am thinking he may have jumped the Jeep. When I called him to sign the warranty transfer, we talked about this as I thought the cage I put in was binding. He said it was like this when he bought it, as he measured it before putting the lift on.

Originally Posted by Matt Pascoe

What problem does this cause? If it's just cosmetic, possibly add some shims to body mounts or springs to level things out.

Rubbing on passenger side when flexing, good clearance on the driver side, and funky looking. Besides this not much. The thing is that when I jack up the front passenger side to make it somewhat level, the rear driver side gets out of whack.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Lawrence

The thing is that when I jack up the front passenger side to make it somewhat level, the rear driver side gets out of whack.

I think we had that coversation. I told you what I'd do. Chain the high corner in the front down and jack up the other side.

Believe it or not, that is exactly what a frame shop will do. They'll bolt it down on their frame machine, put an air over hydraulic ram or dozer on it and tweak on it until it's level or looks good.

[Lawrence]

Originally Posted by mrblaine

I think we had that coversation. I told you what I'd do. Chain the high corner in the front down and jack up the other side.

Believe it or not, that is exactly what a frame shop will do. They'll bolt it down on their frame machine, put an air over hydraulic ram or dozer on it and tweak on it until it's level or looks good.

I am just trying to see if there is anything I am overlooking. We did have this conversation and if I need to, I'll take it to a frame shop to see if it is twisted and to have it corrected. I don't have any anchor points to do what you described, and even if I did, I have no way of knowing how much to crank it down to square it back up.

[mrblaine]

Originally Posted by Lawrence

I am just trying to see if there is anything I am overlooking. We did have this conversation and if I need to, I'll take it to a frame shop to see if it is twisted and to have it corrected.

I've looked at it. You've looked at it and we've looked at it together. I don't think we missed much. Whatever we attributed to my driveway no longer holds true.

I don't have any anchor points to do what you described, and even if I did, I have no way of knowing how much to crank it down to square it back up.

I don't have one either, but I could have a good a shot at making one.

I think your frame machine idea is best though. Let them do it. At least we won't have to be digging no holes and pouring concrete to set an anchor that way.

As far as knowing how much. They don't know either. They'll just start tweaking on it until it moves. After it moves, then they'll tweak some more until it's moved enough.

If you want to do some serious measuring, I have a book with all of the frame dimensions in it.

[Jeff Weston]

Lawrence,

If you need a frame shop, R&K Frame in Van Nuys has done great work for me over the years and has been reasonably priced.