codyyy
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- San Diego, CA
I've now gone up to the junkyard 6 or 7 times... for a gas tank skid and a hitch.
1. Got a hitch, the little mounting point for the electrical wires to mount to is damaged, but since I am using this for a recovery point, I didn't care. It came off an older XJ and has a big plate going up to the body to mount to (unlike the newer ones that don't have that plate).
2. Realized that I needed the driver's side bracket, I went back up there to grab it. Didn't realize I needed a pry bar and drill for those rivets, so went home empty handed.
3. Went up there again, with a backpack full of anything I could possibly need. I must've had enough tools there to build a junkyard Transformers if I wanted. Grabbed the bracket, went home.
4. Realized that my passenger side bracket is rusted out and basically broken. Went up there again to get that bracket.
5. Found out that I should grab a skid plate as well, so I head up there and grabbed one off a ZJ since newer XJ gas tank skids are apparently rare. I noted that the new Mopar hitch on one newer XJ does not have that back plate on it, so pretty much the hitch mounted with the 8 or 10 bolts.
6. Realized that the driver's side bracket I got I stripped out, I tried running a tap through and then realized that the nuts on the bracket were crooked, so the bolts wouldn't go in there square. I kept trying to tap them but I gave up trying to fix such a stupid part. Went back up there and grabbed another driver's bracket.
Now I realize that the factory hitch I have won't mount up because that back plate has to be cut off, it doesn't fit between the back of the skid plate and the body. I still need to drill out the holes in the ZJ skid plate. I was debating on grabbing a ZJ transfer case skid but realized it probably won't fit.
Is this normal? I don't think I can say, "It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand", because this is highly an extreme case for such a simple thing. It took me about a month to put the lift on my Jeep, because every bolt either broke or was seized and I never can have enough tools for this Jeep. Heck, I started working on my dad's Model A and it's like 5000 times easier, and it's an 80 year old vehicle. No bolts break, parts are cheap, no rust to deal with or breaking loose anything.
1. Got a hitch, the little mounting point for the electrical wires to mount to is damaged, but since I am using this for a recovery point, I didn't care. It came off an older XJ and has a big plate going up to the body to mount to (unlike the newer ones that don't have that plate).
2. Realized that I needed the driver's side bracket, I went back up there to grab it. Didn't realize I needed a pry bar and drill for those rivets, so went home empty handed.
3. Went up there again, with a backpack full of anything I could possibly need. I must've had enough tools there to build a junkyard Transformers if I wanted. Grabbed the bracket, went home.
4. Realized that my passenger side bracket is rusted out and basically broken. Went up there again to get that bracket.
5. Found out that I should grab a skid plate as well, so I head up there and grabbed one off a ZJ since newer XJ gas tank skids are apparently rare. I noted that the new Mopar hitch on one newer XJ does not have that back plate on it, so pretty much the hitch mounted with the 8 or 10 bolts.
6. Realized that the driver's side bracket I got I stripped out, I tried running a tap through and then realized that the nuts on the bracket were crooked, so the bolts wouldn't go in there square. I kept trying to tap them but I gave up trying to fix such a stupid part. Went back up there and grabbed another driver's bracket.
Now I realize that the factory hitch I have won't mount up because that back plate has to be cut off, it doesn't fit between the back of the skid plate and the body. I still need to drill out the holes in the ZJ skid plate. I was debating on grabbing a ZJ transfer case skid but realized it probably won't fit.
Is this normal? I don't think I can say, "It's a Jeep thing, you wouldn't understand", because this is highly an extreme case for such a simple thing. It took me about a month to put the lift on my Jeep, because every bolt either broke or was seized and I never can have enough tools for this Jeep. Heck, I started working on my dad's Model A and it's like 5000 times easier, and it's an 80 year old vehicle. No bolts break, parts are cheap, no rust to deal with or breaking loose anything.