So while my truck was in the shop, I had them remove the rear shocks. I heard it can be an absolute pain. I told them I was going to use a bar pin eliminator at the top, so on each side, they left me a starting point. As shown in the photos, they left on each side, one of the original weldnuts and bolts, along with a bolt through the back with a nut to fasten it on the front side.

How do I hold the bolt still so I can tighten the nut? Are the things I circled in the pictures really the access holes? One side might be doable if I struggle, but the other side seems REALLY far from the bolt holes. I gave it a quick try and I couldn't get my hand to the back of the bolt.

Please ignore the rust. I'm self conscious about it. I have body issues, lol.

 

Most folks seem to drill out the holes then use some wire to feed a bolt through the top. You should be able to get a wrench to the top of that plate -- your hand, probably not possible unless you have some sort of tiny hand/arm condition.

 

https://www.roughcountry.com/jeep-xj...hoCSNMQAvD_BwE

This will save you alot of time

 

Edit.

Didnt see you only had 2 weldnuts knocked out. You would have to knock out the weldnuts to use this. I'm sure you can get a screwdriver and wedge it between the bolt and panel

And dont go crazy tightening the other factory bolts down bc they might just spin

 

Yes, those are the acess holes. Grab a long wrench and try to catch the bolt head up top to hold it steady as you tighten the nut. Or knock the rest of the nuts out and use that flagnut kit from Rough Country.

 

I used the Rough County kit. Made my life much easier. I drilled out the broken stud, and most of the nut and then beat the crap out of the nut with a BFG and punch. It doesn't take too much to break the weld, at least for me it didn't.

 

The Rough Country kit is pretty awesome. Just buy it