well look at it like this you have a line on a frame,you had most of it unbolted already,and experiance in it. it may not be as much work as you thought,afterall you just installes a BL last memorial day. i dont thingk the bolts would rust that bad that quick.I say go for it get the frame and do it again. 5 k is alot to work with concedering you may be able to use alot of the old stuff. i figure around 2000 should take care of most of the front end,if you are still using a dana 30 in the front you should be able to find a used one easy,and for cheap. you can always tear the old one apart and salvage what you can. i figured the tire and rim along with complete steeringsystem which you may or may not need. so you may have more money left after you fix it. im very accustomed to working with very little,so i always figure to the worst possible scenario and go from there. i suggest you make a list of everything you need and price them out and add them up. just so you know i did not figure in for possible fender,and such just the rim and tire(300 each since i don't know what size tire or what rim you are running),steering sytem 200 bucks for the tie rods,tubes and so on,around 200 for the radiator,another 200 for the bumper and then threw in another 800 for good measures. but with that amount it is very doable.
good luck and i hope it goes well for you <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

The body damage isn't to bad, just the fender and i could just beat it back out. I don't think there's any internal damage to the front axel. It's got a Super 30 kit with an ARB locker and 4:56 gears. I'll just stick all that into another Dana 30 housing. Gotta replace on rim (black 15x8 Rock Crawler)and i was planning on putting tires (33 12.50x15)on it pretty soon anyways. Doing most of the work myself and doing some scrounging around for parts i figure around $3500 should fix it up.

And thanks for the encouragement.

Good luck! $1500 extra dollars sounds good to me! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Jeep frames, the 91 to speak of in this case, are quite durable. Mine has had two totaling collisoins, the first when she was only about 18 months old when I fell asleep doing 45 and ran through a full sized pickup that was idling at a red light, and the second when I was rear-ended by a drunk driver that was going in excess of 60 mph when I was idling at a red light and in both cases, insurance paid to repair, and the frame was quite fixable in both cases, even though quite tweaked. the rear is special compared to most other years as the rear cross-member is welded on the frame rather than bolted on and if it gets whacked, ya gotta either cut and mend or cut and replace. Yours shouldn't be that far out of whack. Now, with that in mind, if you do decide to replace it, remember you did the suspension lift, and the body lift, so, you basically had most of it unbolted at some point and if you remember how you did those tasks, you should be able to swap everything out. The front end is going to be tricky, but doable. The suspension is as easy as it was when you did the RE deal. Be sure to swap out all your brake components. They will most likely fail later as a result of the sudden smack and you won't realize it till later. Take lots of pictures along the process and don't be afraid to call on the other dude's insurance company in telling them that the money they gave you wasn't enough to restore it to pre accident condition. Remember also, since you did/will get a check from them, they can post the incident on your vehicles history report. You can tell them you want the title to remain clean and they should be nice about it, otherwise, it will show up as a salvage title and you can never sell it or expect to put in a claim in on it if you get in another wreck unless you spend money on getting your state where it is titled to inspect it and declair it clean/not a salvage. added expences. a 91 YJ is a fun jeep to work on. hope this goes well. Below was a sad moment in my life, but both the old girl and I recovered to Jeep another day....

I received the insurance check Wednesday. I've decided to buy another jeep. I 'm going to swap parts from my '91 to whatever YJ i buy. I'll be parking the '91 in the coroner (out of sight) of the back yard and tarping it down.

I was tossing around buying a TJ but i have a ton of usable parts on the YJ, so that seemed kind of a waste. I could use the front ARB air locker but not the Super 30 kit. Same with the new top (i installed the top on a Monday and wrecked the jeep on Wednesday) interior parts, Xenon flares, etc.

And i'll already have my next project jeep...

I like the way you think. A few years back I had Jeep Wranglers all over the yard... The wife spoke up and they are all gone now.
Big Jim <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/pfft.gif" alt="" />

Actually it was my wife's idea to buy another jeep. After almost 40 years of marriage, she's figured out my projects usally take three times aslong to finish and cost four times as much as originally planned. She knows, no matter how much i say "I'll have it done by March" it ain't gonna happen.

For the last few years a few of us have been making a trip to the desert in mid March. This year it looks like it will be Panamint Springs. She's determined not to miss the trip.