Today was “fix the frame crack” day - the first of three that I need to do.  This is the rear passenger side, looking from the wheelwell.

This view from underneath looking up at where the frame meets the rear crossmember.

This is up inside the framerail.

ECJ5.com opinion differed on what exactly to do with this - to just weld the crack or to add additional metal “fishplates” of some sort for more strength.

In the end, I figured this is a 40 year old Jeep and the cracks probably weren’t there for the first 20 years or so, so decided to just weld and keep an eye on it in the future.  If the cracks re-appear I’ll respond with more metal support somehow.

So first I ground out the crack to allow more penetration for the weld:

I wasn’t able to grind the crack from the inside of the frame, so just cleaned up the metal as best I could with a wire brush.

The outer weld:

The inner weld:

I also welded up at the rear of the spring hanger, but not going to show that one…

Painted up to hide the boogers....

One safety note - a $16 face shield might have saved an eye today.  I was using a Dremel tool with a cutoff wheel that split and hit the face shield.  Definitely a safety item worth having!