Body Mount Question

[phinleft]

Everyone please excuse my questions if you beleive they are a waste of time. This is my first jeep, and I am trying to learn it right!

The jeep I bought needs the body mounts replaced (some missing). I am reveiwing the haynes manual and locating each connection. This is what I have found. The tub is very rusted and brittle in the area of the driver and passengers feet underneath. The PO did very good custom work to re-metal the entire inside, so that it looks brand new. The new metal is connected by screws in a thousand places to the front, side and rear sturdy parts of the old tub.

My Questions:

1. Are the existing rusted bolts for the body under the metal work he added in? Or are the bolts welded to the old tub? How is it supposed to attach? Can I drill new holes, and just replace the old bolts with new bolts, washers, nuts and rubber bushings? Is there a place to find bolts, bushings, etc for sale? All I can find are just the bushings.

2. Can I do the body one side at a time, without completely removing it? The chasis/frame has been sanded and sealed. No reason to completely remove the body completely?

3. Are there any tricks I need to know about doing this. You guys are an incredible wealth of knowedge.

 

[coldwater]

Never be afraid to ask a question. It's a major part of why we exist as the best CJ site on the interweb. You should be able to locate your body mounts from under the jeep, and they go right through the body to the bushing and through the frame mount. You can use any good quality bolt of the correct length and size. You can buy new bushings from one of our advertizers here on the site, and recieve a discount as well. You can replace them in any order you like, but no, you cannot just drill new holes. You need to use the original mounts.

 

[phinleft]

seeing as the PO put new pans and metal on the inside, should I cut the old bolts, remove them, jack the body up with a jack and blocks, and drill a new hole in the body where metal was added on top to drop a new bolt down through?

 

[IOPort51]

The bolt goes up from the bottom. The bolt head will be visible from the "lying on the ground, looking up" angle.
I believe there is one in front of the radiator in the center, three on each side under the floorboard section, one over the rear axle on each side (the hardest to see) and one on each back corner.
These bolts attach to nuts that are inside the body reinforcements. I would recommend that you try to spray a rust release into these areas for a week or so every night before even trying to remove the bolts.

 

[CJKrawler]

If I am not mistaken, the bolts thread into nuts on the tub itself. One of the guys wil correcct me if I am wrong. You should not be drilling any holes through the floor to mount the body. Also, If you need to replace the bushings as well, you can do them one at a time, so as not to have to lift the whole body off. A good penetrating oil will be your best friend getting the old ones out, and a cutting wheel may be necessary, depending on how bad the rust is in your neck of the woods.

 

[Old Dog]

The bolt goes up from the bottom. The bolt head will be visible from the "lying on the ground, looking up" angle.
I believe there is one in front of the radiator in the center, three on each side under the floorboard section, one over the rear axle on each side (the hardest to see) and one on each back corner.
These bolts attach to nuts that are inside the body reinforcements. I would recommend that you try to spray a rust release into these areas for a week or so every night before even trying to remove the bolts.

IO is right the nuts are tacked in the body, you may have to drill in the body to hold the nuts if they spin on you.

 

[phinleft]

I have gotten into the body removal, and it is more rust, than I ever can imagine. The mount connections on the body are no longer there in 2 spots. In other area's I can see through to the new pans the PO installed. I am looking at steel tubs vs. fiberglass. What are the disadvantages of fiberglass? Can the original glass frame, panels, any good steel parts, etc still attach, or do I need to buy fiberglass there too? Has anyone bought fiberglass, and not been happy with it? Don't want to make any mistakes here.

 

[priceg]

IO is right the nuts are tacked in the body, you may have to drill in the body to hold the nuts if they spin on you.

This might be a breech in protocol, but if I were going to deep six a tub and go back with fresh components, I believe I would break out the sawsall and cut the bolts loose. Just saying.........

 

[Old Dog]

I have gotten into the body removal, and it is more rust, than I ever can imagine. The mount connections on the body are no longer there in 2 spots. In other area's I can see through to the new pans the PO installed. I am looking at steel tubs vs. fiberglass. What are the disadvantages of fiberglass? Can the original glass frame, panels, any good steel parts, etc still attach, or do I need to buy fiberglass there too? Has anyone bought fiberglass, and not been happy with it? Don't want to make any mistakes here.

LOL..sorry just reminded me of mine when I got it. Drove it home and found there was only 2 mounts still atached, one in front and one in back.
I live in the rust belt, so I went with fiberglass. The only draw back I can see is that you have to drill and saw every hole in it. You also need to run ground wires to the lites and such.
Yes things like the windshield frame and dash will fit the new body.
Ther are some really good bodies and there are some cheap bodies. Buy a good one and you will be happy. Buy a cheap one and your be sorry.
I've had mine for 6 years now and love it. I also off road it so it's had a hard life.
There has been a couple here with bad fiberglass bodies. Do a site search for some more info.

 

[IOPort51]

I agree.
I will say I am not a big fan of fiberglass but I don't live in the swamp and I don't live in the rust belt so I would say my opinion on that is just about worthless. However I will say this and the Dog may correct me, a fiberglass body is not quite a plug and play project. There may not be a great number of tubs in Baton Rouge but not too far north you may find the pickings a bit better. I have a feeling that replacing a metal tub with a metal tub is a pretty fair project.
My .02 and thats about what it is worth.

This might be a breech in protocol, but if I were going to deep six a tub and go back with fresh components, I believe I would break out the sawsall and cut the bolts loose. Just saying.........

 

[Old Dog]

I I will say this and the Dog may correct me, a fiberglass body is not quite a plug and play project. There may not be a great number of tubs in Baton Rouge but not too far north you may find the pickings a bit better. I have a feeling that replacing a metal tub with a metal tub is a pretty fair project.
My .02 and thats about what it is worth.

IO is right, there is a LOT more work in putting a glass body on.

 

[kickitandholdit]

i have had both fiberglass and mettle tubs.. i never installed one but have owned both. getting a new tub is a good idea but a time consuming project.

MY OPINION: yea fiberglass will never rust but is brittle i guess you could say.. it can flake up when cutting or drilling. also, it can crack and break ect. fiberglass is often good for resale though. in my opinion i would go with a mettle tub and bed line the bottom and inside so it doesnt rust. mettle tubs have a better quality feel than figerglass. fiberglass tubs often come with no predrilled holes and no tail gate. over all i feel happier with a mettle tub than fiberglass. this may sound wierd but having a jeep with a nice new mettle tub with no rust makes me feel like i have a real nice jeep. having a fiberglass tub made me feel like i was cheating haha

so it really depends on how bad things rust wherever you live like if you live up north where they salt the roads or live on the beach, a fiberglass tub is your best bet. if you dont live in a place like that i would go with a mettle tub.

 

[fire3096]

Yeah, with fiberglass you have to place ground straps to dang near everything. You eliminate rust but, if you plan on going on trails or anywhere that you may encounter rocks limbs etc... you will want to go with metal. fiber will bust and crack, metal will bend and can be beat back and patched pretty easy. As far as windshield frame - GO WITH FIBER, they are a rust nightmare....fenders are a toss up. you make that call. Hope this helps.