JrTxJ
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Canton, MA
Cheap & easy way to mount nut/bolt to first frame rail tie in without buyin nutstrip
I installed a new rear bumper on my xj recently and hadn't bolted in the frame tie ins because the previous owner never hooked them up and didn't have the hardware. So, I went to do it and realized the nutstrip was on the passenger side, but not on the driver's. I went to the dealer but they were out of the other side nutstrip and the bolts, suprisingly! So I went to this local store called the Bolt Depot and bought 4 12M 1.75x40 bolts and a few nuts for them.
The bumper only uses 2 frame rail tie in's so I figured, I should be able to get to these, right? When I went to put the nuts/bolts on the driver's side, I realized there was no way I could get a wrench on top to hold the nut still while I tightened the bolt in...I thought about it for a little bit, and decided to experiment. I couldn't find anything in the mess of my car that would fit just right because with my bumper in the way, there was very little room to put anything through that hole. So I decided to do something silly but found it worked out quite well and now the nut/bolts are in!
First I put the nut in and threaded it hand tight with the bolt on the bottum of the car. I then took 5 or 6 nickels (as in 5 cents) and duct taped them together. I used those to wedge flatly between the nut and the edge of the rail so the nut could no longer spin. With those in there, I used my wrench and tighted the bolt as tight as it would go and the nut remained in place. It worked out great and now I don't need to buy the nutstrip from the dealer at $20/piece. Obviously, this won't work for the further in ones if you need to do a lot, but if you only need to do the first ones, it works! Stupid, maybe, functional, yes. you could use something else small and flat, probably rolling dice or anything small like that.
So that's it...maybe no one will care or I will get flamed, but at the same time maybe someone can use my dumb idea that worked and allowed me to more securely mount my bumper. Thanks for reading!
CLIFFS - used 5 or 6 nickels taped together against the side of the nut in the frame rail to keep it from spinning, allowing me to tighten the frame tie in bolt. (without removing the bumper again)
I installed a new rear bumper on my xj recently and hadn't bolted in the frame tie ins because the previous owner never hooked them up and didn't have the hardware. So, I went to do it and realized the nutstrip was on the passenger side, but not on the driver's. I went to the dealer but they were out of the other side nutstrip and the bolts, suprisingly! So I went to this local store called the Bolt Depot and bought 4 12M 1.75x40 bolts and a few nuts for them.
The bumper only uses 2 frame rail tie in's so I figured, I should be able to get to these, right? When I went to put the nuts/bolts on the driver's side, I realized there was no way I could get a wrench on top to hold the nut still while I tightened the bolt in...I thought about it for a little bit, and decided to experiment. I couldn't find anything in the mess of my car that would fit just right because with my bumper in the way, there was very little room to put anything through that hole. So I decided to do something silly but found it worked out quite well and now the nut/bolts are in!
First I put the nut in and threaded it hand tight with the bolt on the bottum of the car. I then took 5 or 6 nickels (as in 5 cents) and duct taped them together. I used those to wedge flatly between the nut and the edge of the rail so the nut could no longer spin. With those in there, I used my wrench and tighted the bolt as tight as it would go and the nut remained in place. It worked out great and now I don't need to buy the nutstrip from the dealer at $20/piece. Obviously, this won't work for the further in ones if you need to do a lot, but if you only need to do the first ones, it works! Stupid, maybe, functional, yes. you could use something else small and flat, probably rolling dice or anything small like that.
So that's it...maybe no one will care or I will get flamed, but at the same time maybe someone can use my dumb idea that worked and allowed me to more securely mount my bumper. Thanks for reading!
CLIFFS - used 5 or 6 nickels taped together against the side of the nut in the frame rail to keep it from spinning, allowing me to tighten the frame tie in bolt. (without removing the bumper again)