floor panel repair

[Joopin]

dana 44 ring and pinion

Well today I put my foot through my floor on the drivers side. It seems since I put my soa on I have been throwing my foot up pretty hard and the floor was questionable when I bought it. It was the only rust on the floor when i hurculined it so I am all for repairing it and soon. I have all the tools and welders i need, but I was just wondering if anyone has any pointers for doing this. I have some steel at the shop but its 3/16" thick... there has got to be something better. Does anyone sell the floor pans for these things? I havn't checked Quadratec yet but I will soon.

Another thing that concerns me is that the hole is relatively close to the frame rail. Will this get in the way of cutting/welding? It seems like it might. Well thanks for any ideas.

 

[L33TJ33P]

Quadratec has many different ones. Just do a search on "Floor Pan"

 

[Snitty]

you can buy floorpans anywhere.. or cut one from a junker.... but on BBJ, we cut the floor out and welded our own in... 5709 times stronger than the original floor

 

[Joopin]

37x12.50x15 goodyear MTR for sale

Snitty, what guage steel did you use? I was thinking of making one with braces across the bottom.

 

[Tug-n-pull]

A nice tread plate type floor would look very nice. Yes sir indeedie it would. Maybe in a nice brushed Aluinum. tug :wink:

 

[Joopin]

hmm brushed aluminum eh? tell me how to weld aluminum to steel and I will consider it. The funny part is we actually have brushed aluminum in the shop!

 

[Junkpile]

2001 Cherokee Sport Shaking after bumps

I just got through replacing both front pans in mine. Used 1/16 mild steel. Much more solid feeling.

After about 12 hours of labor, I now have a Jeep with no holes in the body sides and solid floor boards. Now I get to do the wheel tubs and fix all the holes where the spare tire carrier got ripped off. I HATE bodywork!!

 

[Snitty]

it was 1/8 inch that we used

 

[jps4jeep]

If you use a plasma cutter or a small cut-off wheel, should be no problem being near the frame. as well, keep an eye on your body mounts, the factory rubber ones will suck that heat up and contort a little if you not care full.

stitch weld the pannel in flush! I use to replace floor boards in tri-5 chevy's back in high school and I found it best to cut the hole just a hair smaller than you need, and trim it afterwards to flush in the patch. Again stitch weld, if you tri to thow a continous bead the length of the patch, the metal will warp in all different ways! Use a hammer to bang the patch in nice and neat! After you get it in, go back and weld'er up. I would recomend welding in 2 inch lengths, alternating from side to side. once all done, spray it with some primer and a light coat of paint. Then I would also recomend some seam compound (silicon chalking works great too) put a liberal amount over the welds to ensure a nice tight seal and reduce the chance of further corrosion. spray paint again, and re-herculine, and your done!

 

[Joopin]

Yeah I'll probably use the cutting wheel here... I've never heard of it called "stitch welding" but thats the way I was taught too... spot weld the thing in and then finish it off.I was thinking of hurculining the bottom of it before I put it in there... dunno how its gonna react to the welding though. I'll test a piece. Thanks for the help guys.

 

[jps4jeep]

thx for the replies

I would not spot weld it in there, that will leave a small amount of steel over hanging at the edges, unless you plan on sticking a mess load of seam sealer in there.

 

[jps4jeep]

good price on a waggy?

Ya know, I just read that again, do you mean tack weld? a stitch weld is when you weld every other two inches or so, just not a continuous bead, or thats what our shop called it. spot weld is when two pieces of metal are overlapped and are fused together from a electric current being applied to both sides.

regardless, you know what your doing!

 

[redrooster]

I would order the replacement pans from Quadratec or 4WD Hardware. You will see how to mount them when they come in. I would cut the floor out smaller than the replacement so there is some overlap to weld to. You could drill holes in the replacement pan then weld through the holes to the tub. A 110 MIG is good for that.
Better yet, weld in some wire mesh for the floor that way you can look under your Jeep when you get hung up. Then you can just throw a rubber floor mat over it.

 

[Tug-n-pull]

hmm brushed aluminum eh? tell me how to weld aluminum to steel and I will consider it. The funny part is we actually have brushed aluminum in the shop!

Just weld in a bracket system the either bolt or pop rivit in the aluinum pans to the new brackets. Would make a lot of sence to me! Put a little caulk around the seams and wa la you have a great floor.

 

[Snitty]

the wire mesh is not a bad idea... though... winters would be rough

 

[Joopin]

I ordered the pan from quadratec... and thats not a bad idea redrooster... to plug-weld it that is. As for the aluminum, I was thinking... I could have used .080 aluminum from the shop here... we have breaks to bend it up and everything, the best part, It wouldn't rust!!! Oh well, maybe next time.

 

[firemanharry]

Pop rivet Lexan to the floor. 8)