body mount/lift kit instal

[IOPort51]

I have purchased a new body mount/1" body lift kit from Day star and tonight I began the replacement.
My first observation is that project follows my third law of the natural universe "Nothing is ever as easy as it first appears" . This is on my 77 CJ5 which is presently about 1 3/4 inches above stock and I am going to drop it to 1". The question you ask is "why IO??" it's just a lousy 3/4 inch!! and right you are so I have to admit I am caving to peer pressure and replacing the mostly square hard rubber blocks that make hockey pucks look good.
The moment of truth is, of course, putting a socket on the bolt head and see if everything is going to come apart in a civilized manner. Experience has taught me to not count on this happening but it's kind of fun to fantasize about such things some times.

There are 11 mounts in all and the easiest to get to are the 6 (three on each side) that are directly under the front floor section. The hardest would be the two (one on each side) over the axle. The two on the back corner can be reached and the front center is pretty accessible.
I sprayed the hardware with PB blaster twice before ever trying to brake the bolts loose. Didn't help very much. The female threaded block, about 1" square is restrained by sheet metal brackets formed onto the body. It is my opinion that they design is a bit week when it needs to hold a nut on a bolt that has been rusting on for longer as 30 years.
Good news the second, third and last row of nuts can be reached. this means that the bolt can be cut with a saws all and the nut removed , retreaded and replaced with not too much problem. however the first third and 4th are boxed into the body quite well as far as I have seen so far and they may require a bit more finesse. I am considering, seriously, drilling 3/16 holes through the bucket floor to have access to the nut to apply some kind of penetrating oil. If one of these breaks loose it will require a hole of at least 1.25 inches if you are going to reuse the nuts. Just saying.

 

[dalefan88]

im starting to the think i might wait to do my body mounts for when i get a new tub. thanks for the info.

 

[Old Dog]

When I pulled my old tub a couple of the nuts broke loose, I had to open up the floor to get a socket on them. I was throwing my body away though so I didn't care.

 

[BrockGrimes]

A little heat and wax will break rusty nuts loose if you can get at it.
I also soak them in motor oil if heat isn't an option.
Old motor oil in a squirt bottle works great.

 

[IOPort51]

I really wanted to use the Acetone and ATF mixture but could not reach the nuts. and the heat will be problematic as well.
but this adventure is not over yet.
I am going to ponder the wax and heat idea, it sounds like a good one. I don't guess it needs to be a torch, a heat gun would work I would think.

A little heat and wax will break rusty nuts loose if you can get at it.
I also soak them in motor oil if heat isn't an option.
Old motor oil in a squirt bottle works great.

 

[IOPort51]

Things are going about as well as expected. yep, it's that bad.
No not really, so far I have 5 of the 11 under control, two that need major attention and four that I have not tried yet.
As an excuse to come out of the heat and drink a cold one I thought I would post a couple of pictures of the project for your entertainment pleasure.

This is the passenger side front body mount after the bolt is sawed through and the pads removed. A perfect example of work hardened sheet metal.


This is the top view, digital cameras can go where no man has gone before, Notice the corners are turned up, Upward impact maybe??

this is the retainer , for lack of a better word, that is supposed to trap the nut. Nut is also a loose term, 1x1 block of 1/4 inch bar stock with hole drilled and tapped is a bit more descriptive.

this is the mounting hole with and with out the section that cracked out. It occurs to me that it is preferable that it cracked out rather than rusted out. Now, the question is "how do I fix this?".
I, for one, can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[CJKrawler]

Man, you are giving me a preview of what I will be dealing with when I put the tub back on. The YJ tub has been in the back yard since last summer. Should be fun.

 

[IOPort51]

Look at all the mount points while you can flip it upside down, it will make any repairs a lot easier.

Things are going about as well as expected. yep, it's that bad.
No not really, so far I have 5 of the 11 under control, two that need major attention and four that I have not tried yet.
As an excuse to come out of the heat and drink a cold one I thought I would post a couple of pictures of the project for your entertainment pleasure.

This is the passenger side front body mount after the bolt is sawed through and the pads removed. A perfect example of work hardened sheet metal.


This is the top view, digital cameras can go where no man has gone before, Notice the corners are turned up, Upward impact maybe??

this is the retainer , for lack of a better word, that is supposed to trap the nut. Nut is also a loose term, 1x1 block of 1/4 inch bar stock with hole drilled and tapped is a bit more descriptive.

this is the mounting hole with and with out the section that cracked out. It occurs to me that it is preferable that it cracked out rather than rusted out. Now, the question is "how do I fix this?".
I, for one, can't wait to see how this turns out.

 

[priceg]

Good Luck, and may the Force be with you

 

[IOPort51]

I think the force has come and gone.

Good Luck, and may the Force be with you

 

[fire3096]

I have recently pulled my tub off and ran into the same problems. Some of the bolts came out with no problems and the others - you guessed it pain in the ***. What I had to do is use a cutoff wheel and make be an entry point to get my MIG welder in and tack the square nuts down to get the impact to get the bolts out. The ones that were the hardest were the two on the back corners. I had to cut the body to get to them and then weld in patch panels. I replaced the rusty bolts with new grade 8 and plenty of antiseze. went back on after painting with little trouble what so ever. I also replaced the body mounts with poly and 2" body lift. cant wait to get it back together and ON THE ROAD. I am looking at hopefully couple of weeks - Everyone please pray that it happens!!!

 

[kickitandholdit]

I have recently pulled my tub off and ran into the same problems. Some of the bolts came out with no problems and the others - you guessed it pain in the ***. What I had to do is use a cutoff wheel and make be an entry point to get my MIG welder in and tack the square nuts down to get the impact to get the bolts out. The ones that were the hardest were the two on the back corners. I had to cut the body to get to them and then weld in patch panels. I replaced the rusty bolts with new grade 8 and plenty of antiseze. went back on after painting with little trouble what so ever. I also replaced the body mounts with poly and 2" body lift. cant wait to get it back together and ON THE ROAD. I am looking at hopefully couple of weeks - Everyone please pray that it happens!!!

id come help ya if you wernt 4 hours away haha ill pray though

 

[IOPort51]

cutting the bolts has not been too much of an problem and I think I prefer regular hex nots to the square blocks. the issue for me is the work hardened sheet metal and the cracked places that used to be the perches for the body mounts that I have encountered.

I have recently pulled my tub off and ran into the same problems. Some of the bolts came out with no problems and the others - you guessed it pain in the ***. What I had to do is use a cutoff wheel and make be an entry point to get my MIG welder in and tack the square nuts down to get the impact to get the bolts out. The ones that were the hardest were the two on the back corners. I had to cut the body to get to them and then weld in patch panels. I replaced the rusty bolts with new grade 8 and plenty of antiseze. went back on after painting with little trouble what so ever. I also replaced the body mounts with poly and 2" body lift. cant wait to get it back together and ON THE ROAD. I am looking at hopefully couple of weeks - Everyone please pray that it happens!!!

 

[IOPort51]

just a short update on the front two mounts. I started on the drivers side as it was the worst and is missing a rather large section that has work hardened, cracked and fallen out never to be seen again.
I started by cleaning and annealing the area by heating the area with a torch until red hot and allowing it to cool as slowly as possible, this allows the metal to be bent back into the proper position with out cracking and making the hole larger.
I then welded the cracks to keep things as ridged as possible. I have not as yet decided to replace the metal that was in the hole and am leaning toward sandwiching the area with 16 ga. stainless steel. I have not decided if it is a good thing to weld the stainless to the body or just let it support the weight and be held by the mount bolt.
Here are a couple of shots of the welds. I think for an over head stick weld on 16 ga. (+-) sheet metal.

this little gizmo was a great help, it allows the use of 1/16" rods at below 50 amp current. I never had any concern about burning through.

 

[fire3096]

That looks great! You will have to put some pics up when your done...