I am interested in opinions on XJ bump stop necessity. An XJ that does not thrash around in the muck and only operates on paved roads, and has good springs and fresh shocks, would not seem to ever use its bump stops, with the exception an occasional monument to the pot hole. What do you think?

 

It is those occasional 15 mph speed bumps, oversized potholes etc that make you need them. If you ever get metal to metal contact from bumps, you will understand the need for them

 

Are you saying that the scenarios you present will cause metal to metal contact? If so, I need to renew mine...........

 

It's your jeep and your dollars but I can't think of a downside to fitting bumpstops.

 

Yep. Nobody can guarantee that he will never encounter an unexpectedly deep pothole or other hazard that will cause the axle to hit the frame or bump-stop.

It's not like they are hugely expensive, either.

 

On a RHD at least, abscence of bump stop will cause the metal part of the oil cooler lines to be crushed at full compression

the only "drawback" is you must remove the spring to fit them

 

If the ones on his are good he can add pucks to the coil pads. In the back use longer hardware and put a puck in between the bump stop and frame rail.

 

In removing my deteriorated bump stops today, 3 of the 4 attaching bolts broke off. Don't have a straight shot to drill out old bolts. Any advice on handling this problem?
For a similar problem with the upper shock bolts, I came down thru the floor under the carpet and broke off weldnuts to replace with bolts. Is this another situation for that kind of a fix. Thanks guys. I've gotten so much great advice from this forum.

 

I replaced mine when I did my rear sway bar links.
I busted one of the bolts. I took a punch and knocked it out into the uni-body.
I own a rivnut tool so I just put in an new rivnut.
It was tight but was able to get in there enough to do it.
The shiny one on the left is the new rivnut.

 

Be careful not to break the bolts. There's a hole in the bottom of the frame on both sides aft of the bump stop mount locations that allows you to place the tube that comes with a can of lubricant, like WD-40, into it and spray forward. Be generous. The fluid will reach and penetrate the threads of the bolts. Allow some time for it to penetrate. Then, with a breaker bar (not a ratchet), short extension and socket carefully work the bolts in both directions in very small increments and the lubricant will seep downward into the threads. Before long you'll get longer and longer turns on each bolt and they will come out. Never throw muscle into it. Just keep working them. They will require some force to initially turn but when they do just start to loosen, tighten them back up and then loosen them again in a series of directional changes. Keep this pattern going as long as they resist. It took me 1 hour to change the bump stops on my 96. I replaced the bolts and installed them with Never-Seez.

 

Good info but a little late for me. Wish I would have known about the holes in the frame before I tried removing the bolts. I guess seized bolts are a way of life with 20+ yr old vehicles, especially in the undercarriage. Going back to the original post here, are bump stops really necessary? Don't expect to be doing much, if any, off-roading. Mostly a commuter for my daughter in college. So, if I don't replace the stops, how big of a deal is it? BTW, I drove past a car lot yesterday and saw a Cherokee like my vintage with a price on it of $5995! I didn't think these babies were in that big of a demand.

 

That's a Craigslist car with a stealer dealer price slapped on it. They probably gave someone $500 on a trade in.