Important information about JCR tail light housings

I'm not sure if this is the correct forum for this, but figured it was about a vendor and most people look here before purchasing from a vendor. I have contacted JCR about this issue, but am not sure if they will do anything about it (if anything can really be done).

About three months ago rats started getting in to my XJ and eating my nearly new Corbeau seats. At first I thought they were entering the cab through a hole in my firewall. I filled this hole and every other random hole (two small drain holes in the front floor boards) with steel wool. I parked the XJ offsite, filled it with rat traps and poison and left it parked for a few days. I never caught anything and figured the rats had left.

The rats still continued to be able to enter the Jeep and chew on my seats after returning the Jeep to my house.

I spent a couple days trying to reason out how they were entering. The floorboards were all sealed, the firewall was sealed. The radio antenna hole was sealed. Everything looked buttoned up.

Then the other day my son noticed a roughly 2" x 2" opening in the bottom of each JCR tail light housing. This hole leads straight in to the lower rear quarter panel, which leads in to the cab (with just a little flexing of the plastic interior panel).

I stuffed some steel wool in each of these holes and haven't had any new chew marks on the seats in a week.

tl;dr If you buy JCR tail light boxes or their upper quarter panel armor, seal the holes on the underside of the tail light boxes, or rats can snack on your interior.

I couldn't find an edit button, but here's a photo of what I'm talking about.



The "hole" is created by the L shape of the box. I don't think JCR could do anything to avoid this, so purchasers might just have to be aware that this could be an issue.

Quite honestly, do you really think this is the only way for rats to get into your interior? I know of at at least 2 more ways, both close to the tail lights for vermin to climb into the cabin.

I don't know for sure that this is where they were entering the XJ. I do know that since I have sealed them, no rats have gotten inside.

If you're talking about the 2" holes in the underside of the rear lower quarter panel. I have those sealed and have since I bought the XJ.

I swear there needs to be a edit button.

I should also note that I don't think this would be an issue if you are running a stock bumper. I was just looking at some photos of these boxes mounted with a stock bumper and it looks like the bumper would block the holes in the bottom of JCR's boxes.

I don't have a stock bumper, and it sits down from the boxes by about an inch.



Also, I'm not blaming JCR for anything. I love their products and have been happy with all the stuff I have (gas tank skid, sliders, tail light boxes, tcase skid). I just wanted others to learn from what I've reasoned out. These mice destroyed about $1000 worth of seats.

This is a custom made stock rear seat with Corbeau material:



They ate holes larger than this in both the front seats.

There is an edit button. You only get so long to edit before you get locked down. It helps when people try scamming sale items and then cant get away with it.

Sorry about the seats. Awesome seats. Since you have the ORF ones pictured. Do you think those could also be as much as a problem as JCR's?

Keep a live cat in your Jeep. Problem solved...

Gonna grab one right Meow!

jakeWI said:

There is an edit button. You only get so long to edit before you get locked down. It helps when people try scamming sale items and then cant get away with it.

Sorry about the seats. Awesome seats. Since you have the ORF ones pictured. Do you think those could also be as much as a problem as JCR's?

Click to expand...

The boxes are JCR. The upper quarter panel armor is ORF.

JCR doesn't sell just the boxes anymore, but they do sell the panel with the box integrated. If this design has the hole, I'm just letting people know there might be an issue with them.

Ya, the destroyed seats suck, but I guess junk happens.

Darky said:

Keep a live cat in your Jeep. Problem solved...

Click to expand...

I do have a cat, but didn't want him sleeping in the Jeep for one reason. My Brittney killed a rat in the yard a couple months after we moved here and that joker was as big as a subway sandwich (bigger than my cat). I don't think my cat could take these rats (mutant Italian rats).

In all seriousness, I will look at mine when I install my light boxes. Don't really have rodent issues, but I live down about a mile or so of dirt road...

Darky said:

In all seriousness, I will look at mine when I install my light boxes. Don't really have rodent issues, but I live down about a mile or so of dirt road...

Click to expand...

scorpions nest.


:gee:

Damn you Mike...you had to go with scorpions. I'd only been stung by anything (besides ants) once in my life and it was a hornet when I was 7. That changed when I bought this house. In 3 yrs I've been stung by two scorpions: one that hitched a ride in the crotch of jeans and one that hid under the door and stung my foot as I walked by.

Rats chewed through the firewall grommet that the main wire loom on the passenger side on my wife's jeep. Then they chewed through the wiring harness. Then they made a nest in the a/C fan. Then they chewed through the drivers seat belt.

I caught one, more damage occurred. I then covered the floorboards and seats with traps. I caught another 5 rats, and even caught one rat in 4 traps. Then I shot them with the AR-15. My neighbor wasn't happy.

I love scorpions, I've been stung by those bastards 8 times. every time one of those SOBs stings me I catch it and fiberglass him alive. my dad started the tradition before I was born, he had about 20 of them. pour mixed resin over them and let them walk tail held high till they harden up. makes for a nice conversation piece on the shelf

I thought about it, but they both met unfortunate demises at the hands of a Marine Corps issue size 12 jungle boot or being stabbed to death by the pliers on a Gerber multitool...

Mice are way harder to keep out than rats... simply due to size. A mouse can fit through a pretty damn small hole, maybe half an inch in diameter iirc?

They wrecked my friend Mark's interior and wiring harness on his jeep and made a big smelly nest over his headliner, and I don't think he had any aftermarket tail light housings. The gap you spotted is definitely a good way for them to get in though.

I would also keep an eye on the spot where the HVAC blower pulls air from (iirc, under the windshield wiper cowl - is there any way into there?

And if you are having these problems, I STRONGLY suggest checking your air filter. If it isn't chewed up yet, it will be soon, and engines don't run too nicely on mouse nests. I have pulled multiple pounds of peanuts, in shell, out of a customer's air filter housing before, only to have them say "I wondered where those all went!" because they had noticed them missing weeks before. Put large metal screening/mesh over the intake on the airbox or snorkel and it should be pretty hard for them to get in.