I need a picture from an intermediate Jeep

[Hedgehog]

According to my local Jeep guy my '75 jeep should have a larger body mount puck than usual on the front tub mount under the firewall. At some point the front body mount was rebuilt so I don't know if it is constructed as the original was made. Body mount kits don't have this larger than normal puck, but I absolutely trust my local Jeep expert. If you have an unmolested '72-'75 CJ5 could you take a picture of the mount and include the way it interacts with the Tub.

I have a problem with my front body mount being to low. I did raise the body with one extra puck, but it still doesn't seem right.

 

[jdarg]

I pulled the crapped out stock ones off mine last year. Sorry, no photos as I'm no longer running them.

IIRC there were actually like 3 different sizes and most of them were < 1" tall. I think those firewall ones you mention - the very front ones on the tub - and front grille mount were the other two other sizes out of the lot.

I wouldn't worry about it. Obviously if what you had now were too tall or too short they aren't going to fit unless you force the matter. The aftermarket ones are indeed not "identical" to the stock ones if you are trying to do a restoration, but they work just fine if you are not, although the height/width may be ever so slightly off.

 

[Hedgehog]

The problem I'm having is that the front mount under the radiator seems o be a bit high. how do I know? The fenders hit properly next to the tub at the top, but show a gap at the bottom. If you tighten them to remove the gap they eventually start tearing the bottom of the fender bottom to top.

 

[johnnyreb]

rubber or poly bushing?

 

[Hedgehog]

Tried both. My replacement bushings are black poly. The ones I removed seem to be poly as well. Well I didn't end up removing them, the new bushings were stacked on top to give only a 5/8" body lift. I don't really like the body lift and got to thinking. If there should be a thicker puck on the front mount and no extra pucks in other locations the body would tip up in front possibly eliminating my problem with the front mount being to high. I would like to see a stock body mount, the triangular unit from a stock Jeep. Mine was removed and rebuilt by the PO, I don't know if he built it in a stock configuration or altered it to take a skinny or small bushing. My bushing material should make no difference in what I need.

 

[johnbilt]

I rebuilt my 73 CJ tub about 10 years ago. I made new front tub supports and I don't remember the stock height. I think the stock angle bracket had a spacer welded to add extra height. This tends to split and collapse over time.

I would suggest that you install the other rubber pucks and shim as needed to make the body as level as possible. Then install the front mounts to match as you go along. You should be able to mount the grille to match at this point. Watch the lineup at the hood and fenders. Might come out better than factory!!

 

[Barry2]

What Johnbilt said! I had the same issue with mine that method fixed it.

 

[Hedgehog]

I've sorta already done that. My brain wanders all around how to actually measure to find where level is. With the extra pucks, a stack of two all around, the front mount is very close, probably good enough and your right, the front hood line is better than it usually is on a Jeep. I just hate the extra height on the body. My local Jeep expert says there should be an extra thick puck at the front body mount, but with the arrangement as it is on my Jeeps PO mount there would be a great deal of pressure on the front mount. I suppose I should just spit on the ground and leave it be. One of these days I'll find a stock intermediate Jeep, then I will beg barrow or most likely steal a picture of that mount.

 

[johnbilt]

Getting level and even is a chore. I had torn my cj down to the frame, so I took a fair amount of time trying to get it as straight and even as possible. I set the frame on jackstands front and rear and then shimmed each corner to achieve a level frame first.

Of course, I did this with the frame only to begin with and then bent and welded as necessary to get the frame to sit right. Some hydraulic jacks and chains and lucky charms....In some cases, I chained one section down and jacked another up to get some twist out. Often I would jack the frame way past what I needed to allow for springback. In some cases. I left it jacked under pressure overnight to get more stretch as needed.

Then I set the body on the frame and leveled with that reference. Obviously you have to eliminate the leaf spring variations by putting the stands direct to the frame.

Not sure if you need or want to go to this detail. But you can achieve similar results by leveling and adjusting as you go.

 

[johnbilt]

What extra height do you have? If the body is sitting on the frame relatively level, then the front mounts should line up I guess. Hope you find a solution!

 

[johnbilt]

The stock mount was simply a triangle shaped steel bracket that connected from the firewall to the body reinforcement rail or "hat channel". The hat channel stuck out forward of the body approximately 4 - 6" and the triangle steel bracket supported this channel up to the firewall.

There was a short "hat" or u shaped spacer welded to the bottom of this to give another 3/4" height roughly. The body puck was placed here on the frame and bolted to the mount.

 

[Hedgehog]

None of that is still on my jeep. Parts of it are still there if you know what your looking for. The PO built a triangular bracket of 2"x3/4" tubing running up the angle part of the fire wall a foot or so with about 6" running under the floorboard. It's bolted to the floorboard and a couple places running up the angled part of the firewall/floorboard. It is the nicest part the PO ever made for the Jeep. Unfortunately it is looking more and more like it is just different enough from the factory mount to bring some problems along with it. It really isn't a big deal, I'm just bothered by the not completely knowing how it should be.

 

[johnbilt]

Ok. It is nice to know what the stock part is so you can make a better plan. I will try to get a picture of mine. It's covered in snow outside right now and we are in a period of dark days in AK right now. I may be able to run it into the shop and get a photo.

 

[Hedgehog]

Maybe it being dark is better. I find completely relying on the flash frequently makes for a picture that is evenly light. Modern digital cameras are great for this sort of thing. ...

 

[johnbilt]

Here are some photos of the front tub bracket on my 73CJ.

 

[johnbilt]

And a few more - Hope it helps. I welded a rectangle tube to replace the original metal "hat" section. I think I also folded a piece of 16 gauge steel around the bottom of the original triangle piece for extra strength.

 

[Hedgehog]

Thank you so very much, exactly what I needed. I think you said it but I'm not sure, is the top a steel cup, did you add that? The bracket looks MUCH more robust than I expected. Can you get one more measurement? How tall is the puck itself?

 

[Hedgehog]

Johnbilt - I have to ask, have you got any body lift on your Jeep? Comparing the tape measure in one of your pictures and the apparent height of the mount puck makes the height ~1.5".

To be fair I should post pictures of my own. So here we go. The following picture is the replacement body mount including the dirt and rust. In real life the rust isn't as bad as it looks in the picture. The dropping black stuff is dripping automotive cement coming from the holes left from the PO removing the original mount. At the time I didn't have my wire feed welder so rather than blowing big holes in the thin floor pan metal with my stick welder I used a plate and automotive glue to take care of the problem. If it were today I'd be welding the torn metal rather than glue it. I just might weld it now, I really don't like having it held in place with just bolts. The body pucks I have in place are close in height to your mount.






I think I'll be making a bucket similar to yours and weld it in place. Then remove the extra pucks from the other mounts bringing the body down in the back and raising the front up to where it belongs. Working out the in between pucks height might work itself out.

 

[johnbilt]

The black spacer is a 1" body lift.

 

[johnbilt]

I mounted a bushing on both sides so the mount would have some give in both directions. I was trying to keep the floorpans from cracking around the bolt.

The lift is a tough molded nylon which partially encloses the upper bushing.