Okay, so I know that the rear portions of the frame weren't great even when I got the truck 2 years ago, but it wasn't terrible. I have since been spending much time in humid climate though. It's gotten much worse, especially on the rear passenger side, just behind the rear axle, this is the spot that is known for rusting on these things... So I know I can get the rear 1/4 frame from England for about $500, but I am looking for a cheaper and less massive option. Has anybody dealt with this issue so far? Can these problem areas be repaired without lifting the body off the chassis, perhaps only with a fuel tank drop? The close proximity of the fuel tank makes welding highly problematic to say the least... There has to be a solution. The rest of the frame is not nearly as bad, almost pretty good you could say, it's just that curved part in the rear.
Any info much appreciated. Thanks all.

 

Photos of the rust? So we can see where exactly you're talking about.

 

I need to charge my camera to make the photos (phone not great for that) but here is pretty much what has rotted and, apparently, they sell it:
Discovery 2 RH Rear Chassis Leg Repair Panel - DA8902O (maltings4x4store.co.uk)
Also, British eBay has tons of this stuff:
Rear Chassis Leg Repair kit for Land Rover Discovery 2 TD5 Panel Rail Weld 3mm | eBay
I wonder if anybody has similar offerings already in the U.S., or perhaps templates... I am sure I am not the first person to have this problem here, am I?
But I will try to make some close-up pictures tomorrow. Just to see how bad it is. I think it's bad.

 

I did the rear quarter earlier this year w the help of Aaron. Its honest really easy, I took about a day, but that was going slow, cleaning, prepping and painting everything that was going back on. Plus measuring many, many times. I have a thread on here about it. You could do it in half a day if you did not do the extra stuff. The hardest thing is dropping the tank. Which you would have to do for any welding. I am pretty strong and left several gallons in the tank, no problem lifting it, but when the fuel sloshed around it made it tougher to hold in place. Much easier to have a fully empty tank. Or a helper, I did it all myself in the garage, no lift. A lift would be a huge help. You could almost do it with out even jacking the car up.

There are kits that are side panels, cheaper, but still the welding issue and I cannot imagine they are worth the effort after watching Aaron weld mine. The welding was most of an hour, for the two perimeter welds. The panels are much larger and would take hours I bet. Assuming you could even get to a clean surface to weld.

It would be it an easy project if you can weld your self.

Order new bolts for the tow hitch, they are probably rotten beyond re-use and are an unusual size, atleast around me. Or, if you dont care, no reason to reinstall. also bolts for the gas tank straps. People have mentioned the straps themselves could be rusted through, but mine was in good shape.

I would use a sawzall instead of a cut off wheel to remove the old frame. The wheel was slow and less straight. Ultimately the sawzall cleaned up the cut and made a nice straight edge.

 

Wow, my frame is not actually quite as bad as what I'm seeing on the picture above... But I do get the general point... Thanks for the response. The truck came with no tow hitch, I sourced one at a junk yard and installed it myself 2 years ago, so those bolts are probably still good. I did paint the whole thing with Rustolium prior to installation.

 

My 04 HSE got hit in the rear while parked so no longer have a perfect body. But insurance gave me 2700 to work with even though it was estimated 4700 in damage. So will forgo factory bumper and go steel and utilize some of the funds to do the frame repair. I too was looking for weld on plates but the kits I seen weren't cost effective. Liking the suggestion of the Sawzall straight cut method. Anyone do this with. Battery operated one or is the plug in still best option? Anyway while I am waiting to get into the shop I'll be cleaning up the intake with new hoses and new pcv using Oreillys pcv308.
and I'll probably ask about back end wiggle since link delete when going over bumps. I never ran without links before in the rear. I'm on a 2inch lift TF HD springs and shocks. Maybe they are getting worn after 12 yrs since I did the delete/upgrade. The attachment can be helpful for other thread users looking for a cheap pcv.

 

DAY-UM that is bad. How does it hold up? Mine has zero, and I mean, zero rust. Only because it was a Cali car most of it's life. No oil no waxol. I spray the under body 3-4 x week. Don't know if that helps. But this is bad, This is what I'm afraid of. Any kind of rust.

 

I use a 4" angle grinder as it is easier to get a straight cut, in my experience the sawzall walks. If you are fine cutting it with extra material and then squaring it up with an angle grinder it should be fine.