Body Removal off Frame

[Rubycon50]

I ordered a new frame for my rubicon this past weekend and now I have to start researching how to remove the body from the frame. Has anybody done this before? Are there documented steps on how to do it? I could just default to common sense but if there are steps listed out there it would be good to do a little research beforehand.
Thanks for any help.

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[Carlton]

I ordered a new frame for my rubicon this past weekend and now I have to start researching how to remove the body from the frame. Has anybody done this before? Are there documented steps on how to do it? I could just default to common sense but if there are steps listed out there it would be good to do a little research beforehand.
Thanks for any help.

Unless you are a mechanic or have professional level skills I wouldn't try this on your own as you will have to remove the the entire powertrain and such.

 

[Old Jedi]

I ordered a new frame for my rubicon this past weekend and now I have to start researching how to remove the body from the frame. Has anybody done this before? Are there documented steps on how to do it? I could just default to common sense but if there are steps listed out there it would be good to do a little research beforehand.
Thanks for any help.

If you don't mind me asking, why on earth are you replacing the frame? Whatever damage, wouldn't either insurance or warranty repair/replace it? That seems like a extraordinary task. I envy your skill and daring.

 

[KnG818]

I ordered a new frame for my rubicon this past weekend and now I have to start researching how to remove the body from the frame. Has anybody done this before? Are there documented steps on how to do it? I could just default to common sense but if there are steps listed out there it would be good to do a little research beforehand.
Thanks for any help.

Best post yet!!

 

[Rubycon50]

Our Rubicon was purchased from auction as a salvage title as it had already been in a collision. My son and I have made it our project to repair it. The frame ends were bent fairly badly and after a bit of research it makes more sense for a few solid reasons to replace the entire frame. It’s not a task I originally planned on but it is now. Technically we are up to it. The biggest downside is just the amount of time and effort. On the upside we will learn a lot and we won’t be crabbing down the trail . Hope that explains things a little bit.

 

[fat_head]

I'm about 99.999% sure there's no DIY documentation on this. You're going to have to figure it out on your own which shouldn't be THAT hard if you have a wrenching background. Sounds kinda fun if I'm being honest (if you have a lift that is).

 

[ExitLeft]

Our Rubicon was purchased from auction as a salvage title as it had already been in a collision. My son and I have made it our project to repair it. The frame ends were bent fairly badly and after a bit of research it makes more sense for a few solid reasons to replace the entire frame. It’s not a task I originally planned on but it is now. Technically we are up to it. The biggest downside is just the amount of time and effort. On the upside we will learn a lot and we won’t be crabbing down the trail . Hope that explains things a little bit.

I hope you're going to document it in a (re)build thread. That'd be great to see as it progresses. I'd love to take on a project like that, but, alas, life just gets in the way.

 

[jlewissystem]

I will find it amazing if someone replies: “oh, how to remove the body from the frame on a JL, yup, here you go!” Good luck with the (re)build!

 

[Arrowhead]

That's pretty awesome you are going to tackle that. I've considered doing something similar - old truck body swap on to a Rubicon chassis. I don't think you'll find much information available though, I know I didn't. You might want to just pony up and get a the full blown shop manual. That might have a step by step for replacing the frame or at least steps for individual component removal. My guess is the hardest part will be the removing the body mount bolts that snap because of the factory red loctite. Good luck and keep us posted!

 

[TrailTorque]

I did a DIY on the installation of the Mopar Tailgate Table.

So, when you get to that point, rest assured, I documented it for you.

Hoping you and your boy will be driving the cheapest Rubicon in the world soon enough!

 

[Arrowhead]

Just looked through the pictures in your garage. Wow, she took a good hit! Looks like you already got some aftermarket goodies though so that's cool. And at least now you can take the opportunity to replace all the junk factory steering gear with a something beefy. Might want to ditch it all together and go with a PSC setup.

 

[Blu bi Kong]

The v8 swap shops I've been in have jigs on shop lifts and lift it straight up. Put new engine in chasis and drop it straight back down. It actually doesn't look that difficult with that as the optimum tool. A BUNCH of disconnecting yes but seems to be the path.

 

[roaniecowpony]

Looks like a great project for father-son. I think you should be ok if you have good mechanical skills and go methodically. Aside from the body mounts that are obvious, the electrical, heater (water), connections would be most of it. They assemble them with the driveline and engines, fuel system, exhaust system, installed in the frame. No reason you can't remove the body that way.

There's some videos of the factory assembly process that will give you some basic idea of how they're assembled. Worth the watch if I were doing it.

One thing that struck me was that your core support looks pretty much demolished. That happened on a salvage car I bought many years ago. It took some doing to replace ahd straighten without a fixture to hold everything in place. You might have to mount the body on the frame to use it as the fixture for aligning and assembling the core support. That may necessitate removing the engine to work on the front quarter panel and core support installation. Before you remove the body, you might consider taking it to a frame shop and having it squared and leveled as a unit. That might help you later when installing the body on the new frame, if it's skewed and twisted from the accident.

The picture of the front end of the body during build shows some boxed structure inside the fenders, extending to the front, that your pictures show as badly mangled on the right side. Those boxed structures that run forward from the firewall and wrap inward at the front, are the core support attach points. I don't know if that is available separately or if that's part of the fender.

 

[four low]

A body shop that specializes in late model salvage work would be ideal to visit. They have frame machines that can straighten to the fraction of an inch, I so I would take detailed photos and visit them first. Nothing to lose, a lot to learn.

 

[lookitsadam]

If you look up Lite Brite on YouTube they did a good job of documenting the process of their engine swap, which involved lifting the body off the frame.

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