2004 Jeep TJ

Well you would think installing a bumper would be straight forward but Nooooooooo You know a few bolts a couple of hours bam done, Not
where should I start

Well I did get it hung on the Jeep but you know how the road to hell is paved with good intentions well mine is paved in Gold
So first the Bolts that actually hold the wheel to the carrier well they are bolts not studs so a trip to the local napa for some Lug Nut Studs what you know they only had 2 and I need three so I take those 2 home and with a little slight modification and some help from the 20 ton press I got them pressed into the carrier plate, still have to do one more tomorrow when Napa gets their delivery and go to Napa to get it

Mounting Hardware well that was a total Charlie Foxtrot 2 more trips to 2 different stores to find it all

Welded Nuts on inside of frame rails on the underneath side needed cleaned up another trip to the parts store for a metric tap

The 3rd brake light wires are not long enough now so it looks like I will be doing electrical, and while I am at it I will go ahead and install a nice 7/4 pin trailer light receptacle in the bumper and add some 4 inch lights in the recessed light mount holes so I probably have full day of wiring no to mention the however long it takes to get a delivery from whoever I order lights from and speaking of Trailer Lights what genius builds a bumper puts a receiver hitch on it and no hooks for chains and then says oh by the way its not rated for towing are you the PHQing stupid why even bother with receiver what you thinking people are going to do with it put a recovery shackle in it so you can get pulled out of hole if its not strong to pull a trailer it sure as hell is not going to be strong enuff for a recovery point and besides you welded 2 d-rings for shackles to the bumper anyway. Damn Forrest

I need to drill some holes for the inner crossmember bolts because same dumbass that thought it would be a good idea to put the above described receiver hitch in did not want to make the bumper mounting brackets 2 inches longer to pickup the holes that were already in the cross member

I have to drop the gas tank to add the frame reinforcement bracket behind the POS cross member because some dumbass engineer at dodge thought it would be a good Idea to make a cross member out of sheet metal and I have to also buy said a 100.00 reinforcement bracket

the Frame to bumper Tie in Brackets I got from Barnes are not even close to lining up with the holes in the frame and they are also not even close to making the 9o degree +/- angle from the said POS sheetmetal cross member to the frame.

I need a drink
 
Last edited:
Sounds like every other Jeep project. Murphy’s law of the Jeep World. 🙂

By the way, the reason bumper manufacturers don’t rate their bumpers for towing is strictly for liability reasons. That way if something happens while towing with one of their units, they basically have the “I told you so“ defense. Most offroad bumpers are certainly stronger than the stock towing hardware.
 
Ok been busy with OSTD (other shit to do) survived the Texas blizzard from hell and did make a little headway with the jeep got the inner shift boot fixed, have most of the interior out getting ready for a spray liner inside. I am currently working on removing the roll bar. Have I mentioned that Torx drive bolts are vastly superior shitty idea, the Engineer that came up with the idea of a torx head bolt needs to kicked in the nuts repeatedly and then turned around and have his ass kicked until its between his shoulder blades
 
My inner Shift boot fix
IMG_3998.JPG
IMG_4011.JPG
IMG_4013.JPG
IMG_4012.JPG
IMG_4014.JPG
 
Ok been awhile but made some progress Prepping the interior for spray in liner found a small amount of cancer under and behind the roll bar behind driver door here are some pics
IMG_4040.JPG
IMG_4046.JPG


IMG_4039.JPG


IMG_4042.JPG


IMG_4044.JPG


Cannot tell 100% but it looks like some may have been in there before for repairs. Never mind thats not a weld
 
Last edited:
Ok got one of the cancers ready for chemo
IMG_4047.JPG

Got all the cancer out and ground back to clean metal

I am going to hit the other spots before I weld this up

IMG_4048.JPG


Plug ready for weld
 
OK its
IMG_4256.JPG
IMG_4257.JPG
been awhile but I have some new photos. Have the interior just about completely removed for the interior spray liner job. I don't know what dumbass engineer thought it would be a good idea to stack the nuts on that one stud behind the valve cover on the heater core stud but he needs to bee kicked in the nuts. I actually git the entire interior dash and roll bar pulled without damaging anything. Heater core was the worst followed by the sport bar/ roll bar. Still have the pedal assembly, gas tank and the trans tunnel covers to remove
 
  • Like
Reactions: RINC and Nickgsjeep
Not much to report removed the foot pedals, all the bolts for the trans tunnel cover and started on the t-case shifter and the damn bolts are spinning. I will hit them with a whiz wheel tomorrow.
 
Ok got the Gas Tank out not to bad of a job got a bunch of parts bagged up and labeled and finished removing some small items door strikers and wiring loom holders ect.

Need to pull the E-brake cable and the Leak detection pump and filter behind the Passenger rear wheel it is located in the fender well
 
Been busy ready to pull the tub fenders hood and grill and get sand blasted, some minor rust issues to address, but I am going to sand blast it make sure there are no other issues to resolve with rust. Prime it with DTM Primer and prep for Raptor Liner Black underneath and inside and Sahara Tan on the outside
IMG_4303.JPG

Sahara Tan for outside and black Bumpers, Nerf Bars and Fender Flares
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wildman, Irun and RINC
Been a while, works kept me really busy but I have the Tub, Grill, Hood and fenders off of the Jeep headed in for Sand blasting, some minor rust repair and primer on May 23. Then strip everything off the frame and send it out for sandblasting. Got a few items I would like to address on the frame mainly being the Rear Outboard Shocks Mounts, move the rear upper coil spring mount, and maybe do a Savvy Midarm. Think the final Spray will be Sahara Tan with all the trim (Bumpers, Top Seats Dash ect) in black. Seriously considered a Cummins 4BT-NV4500-NP205 Swap, but that will have to wait until after I finish the shop.
 
  • Like
Reactions: Wildman
I am going t pull the Trans of of the 4 BT and convert the frame so I can run the engine in the frame, Check the compression, Oil Pressure Temp ect and determine if it needs a tear down and rebuild. Got the build sheet off of Cummins Quick Serve it was built in 2009 4BTAA P-7100 pump, probably replace the Turbo with a Holset Super HX30-W
 
Top Bottom
Back