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Either rent the good press from Autozone/Advance or buy a quality one. I bought a cheap HF one and it actually started to bend as I was pressing in the new ones, not the old ones! Made a hell of a time getting everything aligned and had to use my breaker bar with a 5' cheater pipe on it. Also, if you're hubs have never been taken off like mine then you are in for a lot of fun, that was one of the hardest parts besides pressing in the new joints.
Jeep money has been slow this spring, so I haven't done much to the XJ since the last post, but I got the itch to do something today and decided to just crawl underneath and see how everything was. What I found was not awesome.
The lower part of the rear quarters behind the endcap was rusted out pretty bad. I pushed out all i could by poking it. Passenger side first:
From the front underneath
From the side
Outside
From the wheel well
Driver's side:
The outside is in better shape
But from the wheel well side there is almost nothing left
The bad rust stops a couple inches back from the wheel well on this side
I've been toying with the idea of doing the cut and fold of the rear quarter. This seems like it would be the right time to do it, if i have enough material left. I've seen pictures of it on here, but can only find write-ups on the fender, not the quarter panel. Anyone know a good write-up? I'd like to do it without having to purchase any new material (I have some 16ga left from doing the floors in the front). I'm pretty sure I have all the tools i would need (grinder, cut off wheels, dremmel tool, pliers, shears, BFH, welder) just not a direction. And I know my endcaps won't ever fit the same again, but I plan on getting a bumper eventually anyway.
Thanks. That's exactly what I was looking for. I think you're right. I probably don't have enough good material left on there to do it right, so welding in new may be the best bet. I'll look at what I have left after I cut all the edges clean and get the bumper off. I'll be happy if I can get it done with just the scrap material I have, but if I have to get a small sheet I can live with it.
I'll probably go ahead and do the fender cutting too while I'm at it!
Finally found some time to work on the rusty rear quarters so I've pulled the Jeep into the backyard and set up shop. I can only work for about 2 hours a day during the week still though . Here's what's happened so far:
First day I spent the entire 2 hours taking off the hitch and bumper to give me more room. I think its time for some anti-seize when those go back on
Second day...started on the passenger side so I could figure out what I was doing without having to deal with the guard for the gas inlet. Here's what I had to work with:
Went ahead and cut out the bad stuff until I had clean solid metal
I ended up cutting along the vertical line closest to me and the corner at the rear. I also drilled out the rivets for the corner mount
I cut out the pinch seam you can see on the right too because it wasn't doing anything anymore. also cut the inside piece vertically along the rear end
The rear quarter cut and fold went so well I decided to move on to the fender. Something I've been wanting to do but have always been a little afraid to cut into it.
I marked my line just above the holes in the fender
I also found as many of the spot welds as I could and marked them with an X so I didn't cut there
I cut about 1"-2" sections on the straights and 1/2"-3/4" sections on the corners staying perpendicular to my line. Didn't get a picture of the cuts (I will on the driver's side) but after massaging with a hammer this is what I ended up with
It makes it look like I added a couple inches of lift too, which is pretty awesome
So, I still have some cleanup to do on it and the whole other side, but moral of the story: If you're thinking about doing this, DO IT! It was super easy and took almost no effort and it looks great plus I have more tire clearance. Of course now that I've said that the driver's side is gonna be the hardest thing I've ever done
After going through everything, I left the piece at the back on. This writeup says to cut it off, but I feel like it might be needed for something if I get an aftermarket bumper. Any thoughts on that?
Finished up the cutting and bending part on the rear quarters and fenders today. Turned out pretty good I think. Still have to go around and seal the quarter panel folds and put a little material in. Also need to do a little grinding and painting to clean it all up, but the bulk of the work is done. Oh. I also need to reshape the guard for the gas inlet and breather hoses so it fits again, but that should be pretty quick. I also went ahead and cut the front fenders so they match the rear. Here's a picture of the cuts I made on the rear fender as promised followed by the final look of all four corners.
I removed the rear bumpstops because they were pretty much gone at this point and I want to replace them with longer ones. One of the bolts on each one sheared off so now I'm stuck with bolts in my frame. My first thought was to drill through and put an easy out in there, but with all the rust that I'm sure is on those threads, I feel like that may be pointless. I have a history of having to drill out the bolts entirely, which usually results in having to re-tap for a larger size bolt. I'd prefer not to do that if possible. Is there an alternative to using the original mounting points? Maybe a bumpstop that attaches to the axle instead of the frame?
04-15-2015, 09:09 PM
so it needs to be done. Hopefully I won't have too many surprises
. Here's what's happened so far:
