• Welcome to the new NAXJA Forum! If your password does not work, please use "Forgot your password?" link on the log-in page. Please feel free to reach out to [email protected] if we can provide any assistance.

Broke all rear upper shock mount bolts

Markos said:
Please just cut the floor already! .
Click to expand...

LOL, why not? I haven't heard one legitamite reason yet. And i am talking about hammering it out from above, or just taking a dremel to it, not an air hammer from below.

Markos said:
Alternatively, you can fit a crescent wrench around the nut by placing the wrench through an existing hole in the shock mount. This is the same hole that one would normally use to install new hardware if they didn't cut holes in the floor. Before buying an air hammer or cutting the floor, put a wrench on the welded nut and smack it with a BFH. You'll probably break the welds.
Click to expand...

i may give that a shot, thats waht i was thinking of trying. I need a bigger BFH.

coldoath said:
Instead of spending more money for a tool I'll use once I just got out the cut off wheel and went to town, 45 min later I had all 4 welded bolts off. Went to lowe's to get some grade 8 hardware and was fixed for less than $5.

Btw you could of already had the floor cut and all those bolts replaced by now.
Click to expand...

haha. you and me think alike. i wish i could be working on it, but i'm at work instead
 
coldoath said:
Instead of spending more money for a tool I'll use once I just got out the cut off wheel and went to town
Click to expand...

Keep telling yourself that you'll only use an air hammer once. Especially when it comes time to remove some splined studs, or worse, a broken splined stud.


There is nothing wrong with the floor cutting option. There is no argument that it is effective. Personally, I'd rather keep my sheet metal intact if there is a well-known and easy alternative to cutting. I'd also like to limit the amount of sparks that I send flying through my carpeted interior. From a time-spent standpoint, I would say that it's much faster to hit a bolt with an air hammer for a 2 seconds per side than it is to remove the plastic paneling/trim and carpet in the cargo area, followed by 15-30 minutes of measuring and cutting.
 
By the time you'd have the carpet pulled up to even cut the holes out, you could have all 4 bolts punched from below and still have all your sheet metal. You would save yourself the stupid time removing/replacing plastic panels and carpet, not to mention the whole process of replacing sheet metal.

You can use an air hammer on anything its very handy and cheap. Idk why anyone who works on a jeep wouldn't want one.
 
Markos said:
From a time-spent standpoint, I would say that it's much faster to hit a bolt with an air hammer for a 2 seconds per side than it is to remove the plastic paneling/trim and carpet in the cargo area, followed by 15-30 minutes of measuring and cutting.
Click to expand...

bdahlg said:
By the time you'd have the carpet pulled up to even cut the holes out, you could have all 4 bolts punched from below and still have all your sheet metal. You would save yourself the stupid time removing/replacing plastic panels and carpet, not to mention the whole process of replacing sheet metal.
Click to expand...

just playing devils advocate here, all in good fun, but i already have the carpet pulled up because i am trying to track down a leak, theres a picture of it on first post :laugh:

also, how would it be faster to go out to the store, buy the tool, and set up the compressor, when the grinding wheel is right there :laugh:

we're really splitting hairs here :roflmao:
 
Last edited:
robhurlburt said:
i have a compressor, but the only tool i have for it is a finish nailer. i used it to put down quarter round and haven't touched it since (5yrs, chepo harbor freight)

why are people telling me NOT to cut the floor? What harm can it do?
Click to expand...

You've seen my junk, does it look like I care about cutting sheetmetal?

I was just saying that an air hammer is a very useful thing to have. I keep finding new and inventive uses for mine that were not intended. I used it to get my rusted bar pins out yesterday. I drove all of my seized up control arm/leaf spring bolts out a few days before. You ever try to cut those? I have, it sucked, hardened bolts are murder on sawzall blades.

The nice thing is that you don't need a big nuts air compressor to drive an air hammer, it uses not a lot of air compared to a grinder or even an air ratchet.
 
What a riot this is ..
Either Way Buying new hardware is a must so the trip to the store is inconsequential..
but if you have a drill and some bits i still say its fastest/easiest to just strip out old nut and run new hardware through it screw the old nut leave it there. The access point is allready there ..
Maybe with your carpet already out (lol) cutting it may be faster .. either way it couldve easily been done either way cheaply by now and breaking them isnt really a big deal Took maybe 20 mins max to do all 4 and i doubt theyre going to break again anyway but even if they did easy swap..

You asked for a huge detrimental reason why not to cut ? There isn't one.. There is also no good reason to cut it out either when theres already acess holes for this purpous..i just dont see any reason to cut the car if i dont have to. (mebbe for fun if it was a beater)

Against:If the carpet and trim was in going through the floor would be a huge waste of time/effort though..Some people like keeping themselves busy w extra work not me.

For: Maybe i got lucky or am just better at working the nut into position in the limited space (plenty of tricks for this)..So if you arent good at that type of thing and the carpet was already out cutting could be easier..


That being said thats just my opinion and naturally you could cut your car to pieces and it wouldnt affect me. really what matters though is getting back out on the trail.
 
I'll also vouch for the air chisel/hammer.

I personally opted not to cut my floors since my car is a DD, and by far the nicest car I've ever owned... As such, I'm trying to preserve as much of it as I can for as long as I can.

If your XJ is a trail rig, or if you embrace the "power of ugly" with it (like every other car I've owned), just cut the floor. It's all a matter of what you're comfortable with.
 
well tonight i am going to my buddies to help him do his, and his heep is much nicer than mine (its his DD), so we are going to try to NOT cut the floor. Hopefully we can get it done with all the tips in this thread

thanks guys.
 
98stocker said:
Done this on 3 jeeps now. Use a 5/8 inch holesaw to cut out the nutserts from the bottom. Then use 1/2 inch bolts with washers taped to a wrench from the access holes. Super easy.
Click to expand...

great idea here!

wait a sec, you guys put the bolts through the access hole? I had planned on putting the nuts through.
 
Glad to Hear you got em done.. Let us know what you think after trying the other way on your buddies .. I hope you get the nut/bolt threaded nice and easy like i did.. i asked a few guys from a local club and they said they had a hard time in that small space. i did fine.
 
robhurlburt said:
great idea here!

wait a sec, you guys put the bolts through the access hole? I had planned on putting the nuts through.
Click to expand...

I Put the nut through thhe access hole.. only way possible for me since i left in old nutsert.... i taped the nut onto an open ended wrench
 
Just bought the XJ a month ago - previous owner had welded tabs for the rear shocks. Well, after I lost a shock on the highway when the welds gave way I knew I had to get this taken care of. I've had the broken bolt issue on two other XJ's in the past,so had no issues with cutting the floor. I punched the welded nuts up from below with an air hammer, used my grinder to clean up the old welds, installed BPEs on the new shocks, tightened the nuts on top through the witness holes, then sealed it all back up tight.


Here are the welds on the passenger side. You can see the broken piece of the bolt sticking out of the OEM mount that prompted the previous owner to weld in the tabs. Very common on XJ's - and pretty common on TJ's too. The air hammer tapped them up/out pretty easily since they are just tack welded nuts on the top.
main.php


Close up of the welds once I tugged, yes tugged the brackets off the body. I bent one off with my hands...the other needed a back/forth twist with pliers.
main.php


I reinstalled the new shocks with an old set of JKS bar pin eliminators that I had laying around the garage.
main.php


Even before I lost the shock on the highway I was hearing pretty steady popping coming from the back. The old mounts were welded in just a hair too far apart so that even with two washers squished in there wasn't enough preload on the bushings to keep them centered. This ought to do the trick.
main.php


New shock put back up in place - these BPEs rock. I have them on both of our TJs too!
main.php


Quick shot of the driver side access door after I tightened down the shock. The cutting wheel on my angle grinder slides through the body like a hot knife through warm butter.
main.php


I've seen people post pictures online where they created a witness holes by cutting out the whole section, but I think it's easier to close it all back up with you can just bend the door back down. I didn't get shots of it all sealed shut but you get the idea.
main.php
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

A
Steering wheel shenanigans
Replies
0
Views
528
Agreen
A
O
Rear Reservoir Shock Subframe DIY
Replies
6
Views
1K
Greenz
Greenz
J
New Renix Idle/Misfire Issues Video
Replies
4
Views
682
90XJ_Seth
9
A
broken rear upper shock bolts
Replies
9
Views
969
jeepingben
J
2
Broke upper rear shock mount *BUT THERES A CATCH*
Replies
11
Views
2K
jeepingben
J
Back
Top