Frame Rear Crossmember "v" Support Question

Hi guys, I finally got the tub off to take a careful look at whatever the PO(s) had done to the frame. Turns out someone thought it would be a good idea to use the bottom of the rear crossmember for O/A cutting torch practice, and then went further and cut out the "V" that reinforces the towing plate:


I easily sourced a replacement rear crossmember, but as for the "V" I am trying to come up with a plan to fix this. I see a comparable part on KW:

Rear Crossmember to Frame Reinforcement

But the fitment is not correct for my 66 CJ5 - or is it close enough that it could be welded in place? Or would I be better off asking a kind soul from this Board with a similar vehicle to supply some dimensions and fabricating an exact fit replacement?

 

The v braces aren't necessary. I cut them out of mine when i installed the rear tank. 70 & up CJ's never had them.

 

I would replace the v shaped frame member as it transfers the pulling load on the hitch drawbar up to the main frame crossmemder over the axle. You can find these on eBay for $50 delivered, and I suspect they are all from the same supplier. They should all be the same from the 1940's to about 1970 when the fuel tank went under the rear floor.
-Donny

 

The later Jeeps have a lot of reinforcement that replaces that V. Plate 11.066-14 bolts in to the body floor.



You need something like this or the V if you want to use a pintle hook, and maybe for a ball on the drawbar too. However, if you don't care about using the drawbar/pintle, many Jeeps have had the V removed and the rear tank installed.

 

Thank you all for the information!

 

Absolutely true. Don't ask me how I know.

Saying it is not necessary is the same as saying you can't use the rear member at all. Which to me, is negating half of what a jeep can do.

 

Surprises me to think that bracket, attached to the floor pan of the body, could contribute at all to the tow bar strength. I always believed it was more of a support for the body rather than structure for the tow bar.

 

All those parts show in Tim's post, or the original V brace are completely attached to the chassis, completely separate of the floor pan/body. The rear crossmember of the frame is actually not very heavy metal, and relies on the assosiated braces to distribute the loads and or weight.
-Donny

 

No they're not, that bracket mentioned above is attached to the body as he said. There is a reinforcing strip added to the body that the bracket indeed does bolt to.

 

If the V-bracket lended any support to the floor (I dont know, I dont have an Early) then maybe that bracket was to make up for the diminished floor support when the V-bracket was removed?

 

My bad! I've worked on 1970-ish CJ5, but never pulled the tub or fuel tank. I'm a bit suprised the factory transferred some of the drawbar support to the body tub. Just learned something new!
-Donny

 

Just as an FYI for anyone else that might be curious - I got the nice folks at Kaiser Willy's to measure their V- support part (Rear Crossmember to Frame Reinforcement) to see how far off it is from the CJ5 frame:


K-W Part:
A = 19"
B = 28.75"

CJ5 (Mine is 1966):
A = 19"
B = 25.25"

Looks like it could possibly be bent....but I'm thinking it might be more fun to go use the CNC plasma machine at the local Makerspace and see how much I remember from high school metal shop and make my own.

 

Its great if you wish to build your own brace but I think that the K-W part and dimension is correct. I think your 25.25" measurement is between the upper and lower flanges of the frame rail. The v brace should run all the way to the inside of the vertical surface of the frame. It gets sandwiched between the frame and the crossmember that is just behind the axle - sharing the two rivets on the outside of the frame.

 

Here’s a pic of where I measured:

If the size is the same for all early CJ frames then I wonder why K-W says the replacement support doesn’t fit later models?

 

Pics, please! I want to do the same on my 62 CJ5.

 

If you cut it out use common sense when towing or pulling with the drawbar/hitch.
These frames need all the support they can get in my opinion.

 

Before I pull the trigger on the K-W part and try to bend it inwards to fit, does anyone know of anywhere else I might find one that actually fits a 1966 Cj5?