Rear Cross-Member

A year or two ago, the stock tire carrier was rusting through the body locations on the back of the Jeep.  To correct this I went looking for a new rear bumper and tire carrier combo.  I found a company on eBay that also sold direct called TKHFAB.  I found some good reviews from other Jeepers and went ahead and got one.  I mounted the bumper and carrier using the supplied frame tie-ins provided with the bumper.  After driving for a few weeks, the spare tire carrier started bouncing a lot on bumps.  There was a lot of play, so I retightened everything and it would be okay for a couple of weeks.  I always use grade 8 bolts and nuts, so the weak link started to fail.  Unfortunately it was the rear cross-member.

I got a recommendation for a local fabrication shop/off road group in the area called OBOffroad (Olive Branch, MS)  Jeff Shackleford is the fabricator and guy trying to build the shop and club.  I encourage folks in the area to check out his site and the message board.  Their group is into off-road vehicles, dirt bikes, atv's and sand rails.  After meeting with Jeff about the problem, it took us a few weeks to coordinate a time to do the work.  On a Saturday starting at 12:30 PM (with his wife waiting at home with friends) he completely fabricated a sturdier a more functional cross-member and was done by 9:30 PM.  The pictures do not do justice to the on the fly design considerations that Jeff had to deal with in building the replacement.