Just a heads up

So my exhaust pipe rotted off at the engine side of the rear axle over the summer. My cargo area floorboard is basically rotten. I had a new hole develop back there and of course a great deal of the exhaust comes up through that hole and into the interior.

It is getting cooler here and being the procrastinator that I am, I finally decided to patch the hole to keep the fumes out since I won't be able to ride around with all the windows down soon.

While working on the hole today I noticed something. Patching my hole was not going to keep all of the exhaust fumes out. Why you ask? Well, look at my picture. There is a cavity behind the plastic panel that is behind the wheel well. I investigated this cavity and it was packed like concrete almost with dirt and small gravels. I investigated further and found that behind the bumper there is an open spot that leads into that cavity! I know that water off the road from the tires has to get in there along with the dirt and gravels so how this area hasn't rusted out yet is beyond me.

What's the point of this post?

1. If your exhaust pipe rots off and you are too cheap or too poor like me to replace it right away, please be aware that there is a hole back there for the exhaust fumes to make their way inside.

2. If you wheel your jeep you should be aware of this cavity. You might want to remove the panel and clean out the dirt and/or drain any water. The cavity does have a drain plug.

Thank you for your time, and please don't make fun of my crappy patches. It works for me. 310k + and counting

This public service announcement was brought to you in part by Jeep. atriot:

I will second this.

While I don't have the rust issue, I did find the packed in dirt on the driver's side. A previous owner had knocked out the plug to run trailer wiring. Lacking the plug that cavity proceeded to fill up with several inches of packed dust.

Figure right behind the tires the dust has got to be concentrated. For that reason, when I did my LED tail lights, I made filler plugs for the holes in the body which previously were kept sealed by the O.E. tail lights.

And that right there is why I did the lower rear quarter cut and fold! Even have that similar hole on my drivers side. To do it right. A floor replacement. But like you I'm a procrastinator. So in the mean time I went and got some sheet metal from Menards and some rivets. And even some POR-15 to take care of the rust and keep from spreading till I can do more.

Some patches were already done back there. So your no stranger to this

I have a 99 and a 98. On the 99 at least... 300k on new england roads and I dont see this cavity. Guess we will see next year when the teardown and restore begins