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Tips for upper rear shock mounting bolts

I heard that the upper rear shock mounting bolts are really hard to get out without breaking on the 2000 and 2001 XJ’s. Any recommendations on what I lubricants I should be spraying on the bolts before I attempt to remove them? If those things break, it wont be fun.
 
It actually isn't too bad. If they break (which they probably will) take a big screw driver and hammer out the weld nut on the brace. Stick a grade 8 bolt in there with a washer and you should be set. May need to use a string. I put new shocks on my brothers jeep and all four of them broke (2000 from wisconsin). I hammered them out used a peice of string to feed the bolts up through the bracing only took about 45 minutes.
 
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Definitely keep the torque centered like ehall said, off-axis torque will break them all. That means keep one hand on the back of the ratchet and the other applying torque, or if you could get it, a two-sided ratchet would be perfect. Also, try heating them up before you pull them, and don't be bashful about it - if you get them out intact and you're sane, you will be replacing them with brand new hardware anyways. Just try not to burn the whole thing down.
 
you'll be good, you shouldn't need heat with a solid week of spraying it down daily. You don't want to be wielding a flame near the gas tank anyway.
 
I broke both on the driver side and there was still plenty of room to drill them out and retap the holes. I chose not to touch the passenger side since the exhaust is in the way if they did break. Instead, I've been soaking them in PB blaster for the last week or so and I'll try to get them out one of these days...

Although, I do like the welded nut idea too...
 
I say bust 'em out any way.....

It's really easy to feed new nuts and washers up on top. If you need, just tape them to the end of a wrench.

I had to replace all of them on my '98. It's really easy......
 
I heard that the upper rear shock mounting bolts are really hard to get out without breaking on XJ’s. Any recommendations on what I lubricants I should be spraying on the bolts before I attempt to remove them? If those things break, it wont be fun.

Fixed it for you!
 
I say bust 'em out any way.....

It's really easy to feed new nuts and washers up on top. If you need, just tape them to the end of a wrench.

I had to replace all of them on my '98. It's really easy......

I agree, fiddling with them is a waste of time. If they come off easy, then good for you. If not, just snap them all off and knock the tack welded nuts out with a punch and put in new hardware.
 
I sprayed mine for a week with PB. I went to take the first one off, snapped before I even put any real pressure on it. The second one I tried to baby and it snapped, 3rd I tried to tighten slightly before loosing, snapped. The last one I just gave in and let it snap.

I then beat on one of the stuck nutserts for a few hours with a mini sledge and it didn't budge. I ended up cutting the floor to get to them(was easy) and found the stuck nut was Welded not tacked. Each nut had a thick slag of weld covering 1/4 of the nut, then the 6-8 tack welds under them. I see no way that beating it from the bottom would have worked.

All 4 bolts were rusty, I have zero rust anywhere on my jeep but those bolts some how got rusted.
 
yeah, mine were terribly rusted and very solidly welded. I couldn't even drill them out very well because the nuts had been softened by the welding and the bolts hadn't, so the drill bit spent most of its time walking off of the end of the bolt. I ended up with a lopsided hole through the bolt and another nut stacked on behind it after cutting through the floorboards, which were nearly gone anyways, so I didn't really care.

Did the rear shocks on my MJ this morning, expecting the worst, it was the easiest job I've ever done. Both ends were studs, no bar pins or welded in nuts anywhere, the nuts came off with a 3/8" ratchet and one hand and the whole job took me about 20 minutes working at a comfortable, slow pace. I'm a fan. XJ rear shocks can go to hell.
 
Fixed it for you!

Thanks for the fix, but I did specifically mean 2000 and 2001 because Chrysler used cheaper bolts in those model years, hence why they break so easy. A rusty 86 XJ wont break as easy as a rusty 2000 XJ.
 
I sprayed mine for a week with PB. I went to take the first one off, snapped before I even put any real pressure on it. The second one I tried to baby and it snapped, 3rd I tried to tighten slightly before loosing, snapped. The last one I just gave in and let it snap.

I then beat on one of the stuck nutserts for a few hours with a mini sledge and it didn't budge. I ended up cutting the floor to get to them(was easy) and found the stuck nut was Welded not tacked. Each nut had a thick slag of weld covering 1/4 of the nut, then the 6-8 tack welds under them. I see no way that beating it from the bottom would have worked.

All 4 bolts were rusty, I have zero rust anywhere on my jeep but those bolts some how got rusted.

What year of XJ?
 
Thanks for the fix, but I did specifically mean 2000 and 2001 because Chrysler used cheaper bolts in those model years, hence why they break so easy. A rusty 86 XJ wont break as easy as a rusty 2000 XJ.
While I think you are wrong about this, you are partially right about them using different bolts on different years. From 88-96 (I did not feel like opening the 84-87 catalog) the bolts were part number J420 0089, while from 97-01 they are J400 1933. For what it's worth, my rusty 96 shock bolts broke very easily.
 
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