Drilling in "frame" rails...

whoozey1953 · Apr 20, 2004

OK, I'm getting ready to mount my rock rails on my '01 XJ, and I am going to drill through the frame rails and use sandwich plates.

Are there any wires or cables in the rails which would cause me extreme grief if I drilled into them?

:rattle:

dennisuello · Apr 20, 2004

whoozey1953 said:
OK, I'm getting ready to mount my rock rails on my '01 XJ, and I am going to drill through the frame rails and use sandwich plates.

Are there any wires or cables in the rails which would cause me extreme grief if I drilled into them?

:rattle:

nothing inside of them, just watch for fuel and brake line on the driver side frame rail

andyr354 · Apr 20, 2004

If you are gonna do that you need to weld in sleeves around the bolts. You will just crush the rails when you tighten them down.

Andy

JeepFreak21 · Apr 20, 2004

whoozey1953 said:
OK, I'm getting ready to mount my rock rails on my '01 XJ, and I am going to drill through the frame rails and use sandwich plates.

Are there any wires or cables in the rails which would cause me extreme grief if I drilled into them?

:rattle:

You're going to put plates on each side of the rail? If that's the case, you should put some sleeves in there to avoid crushing the frame rail when tightening the bolts.
Billy

JeepFreak21 · Apr 20, 2004

andyr354 said:
If you are gonna do that you need to weld in sleeves around the bolts. You will just crush the rails when you tighten them down.

Andy

You beat me to it... damn work distracted me!

Billy

whoozey1953 · Apr 20, 2004

andyr354 said:
If you are gonna do that you need to weld in sleeves around the bolts. You will just crush the rails when you tighten them down.

Andy

I was going to use a plate on the end of the tubing that holds on the main slider, then a matching plate on the other side, use grade 8 bolts and nylock nuts and tighten them snug, but not to the point of crushing the rail in between. The rails are also attached at the pinch seam.

Anybody see this as a problem?

:idea:

Lucas · Apr 20, 2004

You're gonna at least dimple if not crush the frame rail. either weld them on a single side or run some fat self tapping bolts through. You could also use nutserts or try to weld in some nuts for the slider mount to bolt onto.

JeepFreak21 · Apr 20, 2004

Lucas said:
You're gonna at least dimple if not crush the frame rail. either weld them on a single side or run some fat self tapping bolts through. You could also use nutserts or try to weld in some nuts for the slider mount to bolt onto.

I agree. And putting in some sleeves wouldn't be that hard.
Billy

Eagle · Apr 20, 2004

whoozey1953 said:
I was going to use a plate on the end of the tubing that holds on the main slider, then a matching plate on the other side, use grade 8 bolts and nylock nuts and tighten them snug, but not to the point of crushing the rail in between. The rails are also attached at the pinch seam.

Anybody see this as a problem?

:idea:

Yes.

If you tighten the bolts enough to hold things in place, you'll crush the frame rails. If you don't tighten the bolts enough to crush the frame rails, they won't be tight enough to hold everything in place and the purpose of using a second plate on the inside will be lost.

Drilling in "frame" rails...

whoozey1953

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dennisuello

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andyr354

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JeepFreak21

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JeepFreak21

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whoozey1953

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Lucas

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JeepFreak21

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Eagle

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