Rear shock bolts

[Unspokenfor]

Started spraying liquid wrench on every bolt that might need to be taken off in preparation for a lift install next week, and noticed my rear upper shock bolts are reversed.

It's a 2003, bone stock, only one owner, and what looks like stock shocks. Explains why it still rides soft I guess, since they must have been changed out. Here's to hoping they come out easy!

 

[TJ4Jim]

No big deal if they break as the factory weld nut is long gone and it's easy to fish a nut on top.

Good ole NJ jeep, my NJ frame below:

 

[Westtown Willy]

have you done a close examination of your frame inside & out? You've got a decent amount of rust going on that we can see in the two photos which suggests the interior of your frame may be even more extensively compromised. Before going on offense with mods consider some defense to find out if you need to sure up the structure you're building on.

 

[TheBoogieman]

have you done a close examination of your frame inside & out? You've got a decent amount of rust going on that we can see in the two photos which suggests the interior of your frame may be even more extensively compromised. Before going on offense with mods consider some defense to find out if you need to sure up the structure you're building on.

You said what I was thinking.

 

[TheBoogieman]

No big deal if they break as the factory weld nut is long gone and it's easy to fish a nut on top.

Good ole NJ jeep, my NJ frame below:
View attachment 250406

Flex glue would fix that good as new.

 

[Unspokenfor]

have you done a close examination of your frame inside & out? You've got a decent amount of rust going on that we can see in the two photos which suggests the interior of your frame may be even more extensively compromised. Before going on offense with mods consider some defense to find out if you need to sure up the structure you're building on.

It's a NJ Jeep, so if there wasn't some brown on it I would be more shocked. I've checked the inside and there is a little flaking at skid mount points but it is still very solid and thick. Trying to price shop if its worth cleaning it all out, or just save me future trouble and just capping it, otherwise most of the frame still has it's original paint, inside and out. This one spot at shock mounts looks to be the worst.

I have a feeling the east coast will be out of TJ's in the next few years, as I saw a lot of them while shopping for one, and they were all worse than this one.

 

[Westtown Willy]

It's a NJ Jeep, so if there wasn't some brown on it I would be more shocked. I've checked the inside and there is a little flaking at skid mount points but it is still very solid and thick. Trying to price shop if its worth cleaning it all out, or just save me future trouble and just capping it, otherwise most of the frame still has it's original paint, inside and out. This one spot at shock mounts looks to be the worst.

I have a feeling the east coast will be out of TJ's in the next few years, as I saw a lot of them while shopping for one, and they were all worse than this one.

I’d be shocked too, I’m in the same area & I see what’s available every day online & sitting in parking lots. Since it’s solid & thick I’d clean it out & treat it, make a frame pummler & smooth it down then either paint inside with Eastwood or something like fluid film, wax, or other oil based product rather than cutting up an otherwise good solid frame, with regular maintenance it’ll last as long as you take care of it.

I think you’re right though, we will be out of available TJs sooner than later, the only ones left here at some point will be the ones that are hidden in garages from January through March.

By the way not all NJ Jeeps are rusty, mine spent its first 12 years/119,000 miles in Jersey before I got my hands on it. Kind of random pictures of different areas but you get the idea:

 

[P man]

what keeps the bolt of the head from spinning? there isn't a ton of room up there but hopefully you can get a wrench in there? Excuse me I'm headed out for a tetanus shot now

 

[Unspokenfor]

I’d be shocked too, I’m in the same area & I see what’s available every day online & sitting in parking lots. Since it’s solid & thick I’d clean it out & treat it, make a frame pummler & smooth it down then either paint inside with Eastwood or something like fluid film, wax, or other oil based product rather than cutting up an otherwise good solid frame, with regular maintenance it’ll last as long as you take care of it.

I think you’re right though, we will be out of available TJs sooner than later, the only ones left here at some point will be the ones that are hidden in garages from January through March.

By the way not all NJ Jeeps are rusty, mine spent its first 12 years/119,000 miles in Jersey before I got my hands on it. Kind of random pictures of different areas but you get the idea:

View attachment 250517View attachment 250518View attachment 250519View attachment 250520View attachment 250521View attachment 250522

Wow that's clean, must of been a pretty penny for something like that around here.

 

[SSTJ]

By the way not all NJ Jeeps are rusty, mine spent its first 12 years/119,000 miles in Jersey before I got my hands on it. Kind of random pictures of different areas but you get the idea:

Oh my gosh you make me SICK. If only the inside of my frame looked like that ...

 

[SSTJ]

Started spraying liquid wrench on every bolt that might need to be taken off in preparation for a lift install next week, and noticed my rear upper shock bolts are reversed.

It's a 2003, bone stock, only one owner, and what looks like stock shocks. Explains why it still rides soft I guess, since they must have been changed out. Here's to hoping they come out easy!

My guess is that the PO snapped the bolts when removing. It's common. At least, that'd be my only explanation for why someone would have bothered removing the welded nut from the upper side of the mount. But yep, since they're not as old as they could be, hopefully that means they'll come off alright.

But if the top of the bolt is now where the welded nut used to be, that means the top of the bolts are inaccessible. So does that mean the OP cut holes in the bottom of the tub to access them? Or do you have enough of a body lift to access the top of the bolts from the side? Just wondering how it was done, and what you'll do if the bolt starts spinning and you need to grab hold of its head.

 

[Unspokenfor]

My guess is that the PO snapped the bolts when removing. It's common. At least, that'd be my only explanation for why someone would have bothered removing the welded nut from the upper side of the mount. But yep, since they're not as old as they could be, hopefully that means they'll come off alright.

But if the top of the bolt is now where the welded nut used to be, that means the top of the bolts are inaccessible. So does that mean the OP cut holes in the bottom of the tub to access them? Or do you have enough of a body lift to access the top of the bolts from the side? Just wondering how it was done, and what you'll do if the bolt starts spinning and you need to grab hold of its head.

PO was not mechanically inclined, so all service was done by good shops, and well maintained. I'm going to check later to see if there's any access holes, but I'm gonna guess they either dropped the gas tank, or lifted the body from the frame. Good news is, it's getting a body lift next week first, so i should have room to stick a wrench in there.

 

[SSTJ]

What body lift are you going for? I'm still considering one myself.

 

[Westtown Willy]

Wow that's clean, must of been a pretty penny for something like that around here.

it was 5 years ago so the TJ feeding frenzy hadn't started yet, at the time by all indications I probably over-paid for it at $9,500... I knew about the rust issue with TJs at the time but not nearly as much as I do now, so really it was as much luck as anything else, I bought it because it had 33s & looked cool, little did I know about a whole bunch of other undesireable factors like the Dana 35 rear, 3.07s & lack of extra bump stops (learned about why they're necessary the hard way when I almost ripped my passenger fender off , still mangled to this day).

Oh my gosh you make me SICK. If only the inside of my frame looked like that ...

haha, I really have no explanation for its condition, I ran a Carfax & it was titled all 12 years in Jersey & had daily driver miles on it @10,000/year so it really doesn't add up, my thoughts have always been that the first owner garage kept it & somehow knew not to run it in salt. I bought it from the 2nd owner who didn't have it long at all & didn't really know its history.

But with the amount of cash I've sunk into it since in building then unbuilding it I could've probably swapped in 3 frames by now, so the moral of the story is no one gets out of here alive, or cheap

 

[bromel]

it was 5 years ago so the TJ feeding frenzy hadn't started yet, at the time by all indications I probably over-paid for it at $9,500... I knew about the rust issue with TJs at the time but not nearly as much as I do now, so really it was as much luck as anything else, I bought it because it had 33s & looked cool, little did I know about a whole bunch of other undesireable factors like the Dana 35 rear, 3.07s & lack of extra bump stops (learned about why they're necessary the hard way when I almost ripped my passenger fender off , still mangled to this day).


haha, I really have no explanation for its condition, I ran a Carfax & it was titled all 12 years in Jersey & had daily driver miles on it @10,000/year so it really doesn't add up, my thoughts have always been that the first owner garage kept it & somehow knew not to run it in salt. I bought it from the 2nd owner who didn't have it long at all & didn't really know its history.

But with the amount of cash I've sunk into it since in building then unbuilding it I could've probably swapped in 3 frames by now, so the moral of the story is no one gets out of here alive, or cheap

Out of curiosity, did the PO drill drain holes? That seems to be the biggest factor in whether or not a frame in the East Coast is rusted out.

 

[Westtown Willy]

Out of curiosity, did the PO drill drain holes? That seems to be the biggest factor in whether or not a frame in the East Coast is rusted out.

No, I ended up drilling them in probably a year after buying it. I did a lot of preventative stuff to maintain the good condition the PO's left it in, besides the holes I did POR15 on the outside, Eastwood on the inside, Fluid Film on top of the Eastwood on the inside , suffice it to say I have nightmares about rust so I went a bit overboard. The holes are a huge factor, really a big oversight by the designers. But I think the biggest has to be the salt. Think of all those great & spotless frames out west, they didn't come with holes either but didn't rust. They're necessary here not only for obvious reasons but to also let you flush the rails out with fresh water if you let salt get in there which I assume is what has eaten the majority of frames in this area. Imaging rolling down a typical salt covered highway in this neck of the woods with a bunch of salt & brine getting inside the frame, it's never leaving... the water eventually dries but that salt just sits there waiting to get reactivated next time more water gets in, hell it's still wreaking havoc in the middle of a summer rainstorm when the water gets back in , just an awful conglomeration of circumstances really.

 

[Unspokenfor]

What body lift are you going for? I'm still considering one myself.

I'm going with the Zone 4.25 Kit, ends up being $400 shipped without shocks, add some Ranchos for another $200, a JKS front adjustable for $200, and you end up with a sweet lift for $800 out the door.

 

[Unspokenfor]

Found the access holes, looks like there's one of these on either side, and an access hole only in the top tub on the driver's side. Explains all the rust in the area.

 

[TheBoogieman]

I’d be shocked too, I’m in the same area & I see what’s available every day online & sitting in parking lots. Since it’s solid & thick I’d clean it out & treat it, make a frame pummler & smooth it down then either paint inside with Eastwood or something like fluid film, wax, or other oil based product rather than cutting up an otherwise good solid frame, with regular maintenance it’ll last as long as you take care of it.

I think you’re right though, we will be out of available TJs sooner than later, the only ones left here at some point will be the ones that are hidden in garages from January through March.

By the way not all NJ Jeeps are rusty, mine spent its first 12 years/119,000 miles in Jersey before I got my hands on it. Kind of random pictures of different areas but you get the idea:

View attachment 250517View attachment 250518View attachment 250519View attachment 250520View attachment 250521View attachment 250522

Someone garaged that Jeep during the winter months.

 

[TheBoogieman]

I'm going with the Zone 4.25 Kit, ends up being $400 shipped without shocks, add some Ranchos for another $200, a JKS front adjustable for $200, and you end up with a sweet lift for $800 out the door.

Copycat.