1972 Frame Question

New owner of a 1972 CJ5 Renegade. I am just starting a body on resto and have been exploring the frame and undercarriage.

I’ve discovered that the frame crossmember near the rear upper shock mounts is not physically attached to the frame rails, that it was actually crooked from left to right. I tapped it with a hammer and got it running normal to both frame rails, but now I am wondering what the heck, is it supposed to be attached and how?

none of the frame images or schematics I’ve been able to find even show this cross member, the closest image I’ve been able to find is this:

Here is a picture of my frame and the cross member in question:

MY question: how is this supposed to be attached? Riveted like the rest of the cross members? Welded? Or not at all like it has been for the last 48 years? How is it supposed to be located in the frame rails - to the upper flange and up against the hat channel on the tub like in my picture or to the angled down lower flange?

 

Hi - Welcome from Boston.

Looking at my Jeep (granted a '75, but the frame design is the same) it appears that this member is plug welded to the frame from the outside of the frame rails. There should be two beads of weld running vertically on the frame rail behind the shock mount. The factory weld quality was splattery and blobby, and generally poor. Possible your welds were so bad that they broke free over the years, or that weld might have been missed on the assembly line.

That cross member shows in the parts book, Jeep PN 999962. This is a 1971-ish part number, so it likely was unchanged from the beginning of the rear mounted gas tank through 1975. Looks like it should be up against the top frame rail. Suggest you look at the sides of the frame rails with the tires off for weld beads. If there, I would grind down the beads and look if there were holes originally that allowed a plug weld to the cross member. If so, that would be a good way to secure the cross member.

 

Thank you so much! I did find those vertical welds on the outside of the frame rails. They were such terrible looking booger welds that I did not think they could be factory. Good to know, I can easily fix.