Placing nuts inside the frame rails

While installing a factory transfer case skid pad on my XJ which did not have one stock I needed some method to bolt the outer end to the frame rail. I did not want to use a large machine screw for obvious reasons and needed to put a nut over the stock hole to bolt to. Here is how I managed to do it quickly and easily.

I JB welded a nut to a 2 inch long strip of 3/16 thick 1 inch wide steel strap (no I didnt have welder available) after drilling a hole in the strap for bolt to pass through. Before the JB weld set up I stuck a 4 foot long piece of wire into the glue so I could drag it through the frame rail. I fished a coat hanger through the frame rail through the transport hook slot in front of the rear springs and pulled one end out of a hole in the bottom of the frame rail. I then tied the wire to the coat hanger and pulled the wire and nut plate through the slot and forward until it was located over the hole. Using a screw driver I precisely locted the nut and then carefully started the bolt into it. The 2 inch nut plate is to long to spin in the frame and the jb weld is just strong enought (generous fillet) to hold the nut tight until friction from tightening can take over.

John

I hope the jb weld holds if you ever want to take the skid off. I guess you can always cut the bolt head off.

Old post brought back to life...

Just read this and will do the same thing, but I'll weld the nuts to the steel strips. I will probably also put a threaded hole in the strip and run a machine screw through the frame into the strip to positively locate the nut strip. Think there is room to place both nuts on the same strip?