98 wrangler windshield hinge

I am not sure about the TJ hinges, which are different, but by the third time I had swapped or adjusted my YJ windshield hinges to finally get them right I had gotten pretty good at it, and sworn off buying stainless steel accessories for life. I also would recommend sanding and coating with OEM spray touch up paint. Or leave them alone. How long will it take for TJ windshield hinges to rust all the way through?

Earle

I don't know about a TJ but on earlier models it's not that difficult... loosen the dash (all the visible bolts including the interior plate that connects the dash and the windshield frame) and you can slide your hand and a wrench up to the nuts on the lower bolts... The bolts going into the windshield are threaded into metal.

BTW I will be fabricating metal plates with threaded holes when I remount mine, just to avoid having to scrape my hand up in there the next time I need to take them off.

It's not the hinges that have rust in my case; the sheet behind the hinges was almost rusted through. Damn glad I didn't leave them on. Sand blasted and repainted (the whole jeep) and going to silicone the new stainless hinges just for overkill.

I'm curious what was the problem you had with stainless? I'm doing an all stainless hardware replacement (70 bucks worth of bolts, nuts and washers and counting so far, haven't gotten the hinges/catches etc. yet) and starch blasting the new polished stainless to get a matt finish.

Amazingly, Steel Horse hinges don't rust. They were the second accessory I bought for the Jeep, to hold the CJ mirrors so I could drive around with doors off. They weren't formed properly though, and required a lot of bending and trial fitting before I got the doors to close properly. If I had known what I know now, I would have drilled and tapped the stock YJ hinges.

Earle

Ah yeah I've heard lots of bad stuff about steel horse... obviously don't have to worry about them anymore... although the steel horse stainless rocker step inserts that somebody put on my YJ before I bought it; do have rusty bolts. I think they were aluminized or chromed carbon bolts, I'd throw them away if I felt like replacing them, but the alternatives are slim, and they don't look that bad with a matte finish.

When I get the more important things done, and can justify buying new front flairs I'll just delete the flair/running boards and fill the holes...

--snippy

Steel Horse stainless parts don't fit worth a damn. Kentrol are all right.

Earle