CJ body mounts torque

I do not think 3/4" bolts will work. They will fill the hole up so there is no adjustment on the mounts and you 'Do' need adjustment space so you can square the body with the frame or things like the clutch linkage won't work and the shifters can hit the tub or the shifter boot binds or the wheels stick out on one side....

The mounts also have a metal tube in their centers with washers that fit the 3/8" bolts so they cannot be compressed too much. They have a washer, then a thick donut on top with a metal tube that fits loose through the frame plate and another thin donut that goes over the bottom of the metal tube with a washer so the frame plate is sandwiched between. This makes for an up and down vibration damper.

Someone on here gave me the torque settings once, Bill maybe. I think it was someplace around 50 ft lb, but don't remember. I can feel it when mine come up tight to the inside tube so the rubber is compressed as far as it compresses. I then go one grunt past which is about 50-60 ft lb for 'me'....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

Generic torque specs:

50 foot pounds > I do not think 3/4" bolts will work. They will fill the hole up so

Mike,

Thanks for the info. I'm not removing the body, only jacking it up far enough to remove the bushings. So far, all of the new 3/4" bolts have slid right in, so I figure my alignment won't signficantly shift. If I have problems with alignment, I'll try switching to a smaller bolt then.

50 ft-lbs sounds about right for hardened bolts of that size. That's about what the transmission bolts are, if I recall. I just don't want them coming loose once I weld plates over the holes I cut (I'm also using lock washers).

-- Michael White "To protect pe> I do not think 3/4" bolts will work. They will fill the hole up so

I wouldn't seal them up.

I have had to 'adjust' my body tub 3 times over the years to get it back square onto the frame. Now mind you I used to do some pretty insane off roading and have had it rubber side up a couple times, but it is sure nice to be able to put it back on square. But then with 3/4" shaft on a bolt, there wouldn't be much movement eh.

Though the tub being out by 3/8" is enough to make the clutch linkage not grab....

Mike

86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail >

One thing to take in to consideration. Part of the reason for torquing fasteners is to prevent them from loosening. The proper torque is based on thread pitch and diameter. A 3/4" bolt will probably need more than 50 ft-lbs of torque to prevent loosening.

Chris

I used loctite on mine and they stayed put.

Mike

RoyJ wrote:

Or, as my brother calls it, "instant rust".

-- "I defer to your plainly more vivid memories of topless women with whips....r" R. H. Draney recalls AFU in the Good Old Days.

Speaking of instant rust... I knew an old timer that swore by a drop of battery acid. That is instant rust!

I actually use the stuff to seal out the rust more than to clamp the nut. Lockwashers clamp nuts well, but I live in the rust belt and use loctite on everything.

I have stainless nuts and bolts on mine also. It is a 'glass body.

Mike

Lee Ayrt>

Mike,

Never had mine upside down myself, but I bought it in '98 and tearing into this work I'm doing has shown me some obvious damage and poorly attempted repairs in the past. My Jeep spends most of it's life on the road with just some moderate off-roading.

I got everything back together and nothing seems out of kilter (body looks straight compared with the wheels, shifts just as crappily as before). I haven't decided for sure that I want to weld it shut, but I need to put something over those holes, and not just for "passenger comfort". Two leave fuel lines exposed to sunlight, which will seriously shorten their lives. And six are in the bed, which is often used to haul dirt and rock (thats me with the half yard of gravel in the back of a Scrambler :).

The clutch linkage won't be a problem here in a few days, in any case - I'm in the process of replacing it with a hydraulic clutch. After the mechanical clutch linkage had its second failure (the most recent in the middle of nowhere in Mexico) on parts that are about two years old, I decided that enough was enough.

-- Michael White "To protect pe> I wouldn't seal them up.