Broke my first bolt yesterday! I guess now I need to buy a red name?

So far, in three years, I've replaced a water pump, rear brake shoes, front brake pads, the front rotors, and the right rear door glass (that's a funny story, actually). But, yesterday I broke my first bolt...now I'm a REAL Jeeper! :repair: Well, maybe I haven't earned that smiley, yet.

It was only the 10mm hex bolt that holds the bottom edge of the stock bumper endcap to the bumper. Actually, I broke both of them. I was removing the taillight housing to check on a bulb and thought I had to remove the bumper cap to get to the wide torx bolt at the bottom. The joke came when I finally removed that torx bolt and found out the bottom tab of the taillight housing is SLOTTED and sits on a shoulder just behind the bolt head.

Oh Well. Next time RTFM!! Do you think I need those $7 grade-8's from the dealer or can I scavange through my supply of leftover bubble pack machine bolts?:laugh3: See ya' next time, on "This Old Jeep."

XJ Dreamin'

For the endcap, you just need something to hold it there. Dunno what that would be offhand, but I don't see why you can't get it at the hardware store rather than the dealership, and save a few bucks...

5-90

XJ Dreamin' said:

But, yesterday I broke my first bolt...now I'm a REAL Jeeper! :repair:

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thats all it takes?

wheres the cheerleader smiley ?

really..this was too easy.

Well hell, I guess I'm really cool cuz I broke both exhaust clamp bolts and a couple fender flare bolts...sweet! I am truly hardcore

red91inWA said:

thats all it takes?

wheres the cheerleader smiley ?

really..this was too easy.

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You didn't finish the sentence:

xj dreamin' said:

:repair: Well, maybe I haven't earned that smiley, yet.

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The last thread I had read before this was the whole bit about the motor mount bolts breaking. And, of course, we're always reading about the upper rear shock mount bolts, etc. When that little 10mm hex head twisted off it just struck me funny. The last part of the quote says I'm only jokin'. I know I've got a lot to do yet.

XJ Dreamin'

5-90 said:

For the endcap, you just need something to hold it there. Dunno what that would be offhand, but I don't see why you can't get it at the hardware store rather than the dealership, and save a few bucks...

5-90

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The real issue is, now that I know the reverse light bulbs are good, that combined with the fact that I can start the Jeep in any gear tells me that I need to do the old NSS cleaning drill. The really funny part is, I found out you don't need the white reverse lights to pass inspection in Southeast Texas.

XJ Dreamin"

BlackSport96 said:

Well hell, I guess I'm really cool cuz I broke both exhaust clamp bolts and a couple fender flare bolts...sweet! I am truly hardcore

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Oh, I've broken a bunch of stuff on old MOPAR junk - from a '62 Dodge 330 slant six to an '86 Ram Charger police special with an HP 360 Rochester QuadraJet and 12 bolt LSD rear end. I just thought it was funny as H*LL that my first on a Jeep was a dinky little 10mm hex head machine bolt. I'll be tackling the exhaust soon, along with all of the shocks, the rear springs, and a cold air (possibly hood induction) intake. I'm gonna buy a red name when I get started: I expect I'll be posting alot more often, then.

XJ Dreamin'

We's just razzin ya buddy...

BlackSport96 said:

We's just razzin ya buddy...

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it only took 3 weeks to recover from it.

yeah, I kinda lost track of time...

Now what's this stop the suckage in 05? I'm rather interested in that...

BlackSport96 said:

We's just razzin ya buddy...

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I know :kissyou: I should have put a smiley after that first sentence about how much MOPAR stuff I've broken. Didn't mean to brag. Between bustin' stuff getting them apart and the bolts left over after putting them back together, we were always amazed they would hold together at all!

Funny follow-up... I haven't put the endcap back on because I don't want it to flap and rattle in the wind and I'm too lazy to find replacement bolts. A few days ago the wife about had a cow when she finally noticed that I'd "ripped off" the end of my bumper:rattle: .

If it takes long enough for me to get around to putting it back on, maybe I'll have bought a welder and built a real bumper, instead.

Thanks,
XJ Dreamin'
stock 2WD '93 XJ, 4.0L HO, AW4, D35c (open), LT 235/75R15 AT's

BlackSport96 said:

Well hell, I guess I'm really cool cuz I broke both exhaust clamp bolts and a couple fender flare bolts...sweet! I am truly hardcore

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Those [*@#] fender flare bolts with 10mm nuts prefer to twist off rather than just unscrew. If anyone is interested, I have a quick fix for the little buggers. (I have 'fixed' 7 of the rascals so far!)

NUTZ! that didn't work out well... the response was uspposed to be to:
"Well hell, I guess I'm really cool cuz I broke both exhaust clamp bolts and a couple fender flare bolts...sweet! I am truly hardcore".

WELL HELL... forget it! I'm suffering from 'Cranialrectitus' today...