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Circle S bumper brackets

That's pretty much it. I used the dirtbound offroad braces. They are bit less stout, so didn't require a full rectangular cutout. You'll get the idea here though

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If this is what you bought then you just need to trim the whole pocket out.
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Man what a pain,had to enlarge just about every hole in the frame for the bolts to line up, there was also a exhaust hanger piece in the passenger side frame rail that was welded in that had to be removed for the bracket to sit flat in the frame,still worth it and I’d do it again,very beefy set up
 
Man what a pain,had to enlarge just about every hole in the frame for the bolts to line up, there was also a exhaust hanger piece in the passenger side frame rail that was welded in that had to be removed for the bracket to sit flat in the frame,still worth it and I’d do it again,very beefy set up

What year Jeep did you do this on?
The piece I think you are talking about inside the uni-body is just a nutstrip in my '00 that the exhaust hanger bolts too.
It is just riveted in place.
Also when you cut the holes in the back to slide the pieces in it did not line up with the existing holes in the uni-body?
I ask cause I am thinking about trying to put a '96 and down factory tire carrier on my '00. And even though will just be using stock tire on it thinking it might not be a bad idea to beef up the rear bumper support with those things anyway.
 
It sounds like they "missed" the bolt pattern when they made them. My dirt Bound brackets aligned/bolted up perfectly.
 
It sounds like they "missed" the bolt pattern when they made them. My dirt Bound brackets aligned/bolted up perfectly.

That is what I figure they would do.
The reason I am considering these is there is 5 places for bolts like a factory nutstrip.
And I run rear factory tow hooks.
Not all not factory looking aftermarket nutstrips or HD bumper brackets do.
Now that I compare Circle S brackets to a factory looking nut strip it looks like they don't line up.
Which makes no sense.

https://www.ebay.com/itm/Fits-1986-...cation-Ver-2/163691598618?hash=item261cc7931a

https://www.quadratec.com/products/...MIuabdhqvS7AIVZAiICR2AHQv8EAQYBCABEgKTjfD_BwE
 
Man what a pain,had to enlarge just about every hole in the frame for the bolts to line up, there was also a exhaust hanger piece in the passenger side frame rail that was welded in that had to be removed for the bracket to sit flat in the frame,still worth it and I’d do it again,very beefy set up

Have you reached out to Circle S to inquire with them about this? They might appreciate the feedback.

I've been eyeing the Circle S brackets to reinforce my rear bumper as part of replacing a rusted-out OEM gas tank skid, but having to enlarge the holes concerns me a little. How far off were the brackets from the frame holes, and in what directions?
 
Have you reached out to Circle S to inquire with them about this? They might appreciate the feedback.

I've been eyeing the Circle S brackets to reinforce my rear bumper as part of replacing a rusted-out OEM gas tank skid, but having to enlarge the holes concerns me a little. How far off were the brackets from the frame holes, and in what directions?

If you look at the links I posted and trying to remember from when I put in new factory type nutstrips when installing my gas skid is that the 4 closest to the bumper are in a row. The fifth, farthest away from the bumper is off towards the center of the Jeep.
Those ones in the Circle S pictures don't even look close to that IMO.
 
It actually looks like there is an extra threaded nut in the Circle S brackets. Nut strips generally have 4 captive/welded nuts inside the frame rail, but those have 5.

....the 4th in the Circle S brackets is not included in normal nut strips, and looks like it would be right where the stock exhaust hanger mount goes. It's likely included to provide for a new exhaust hanger (you had to remove your existing ones, so this makes sense) and is offset just like the normal nut strip's 4th nut (in line with the 5th nut of the circle S).

Dumb question to cover all bases....are you sure that you put the brackets on the correct side of the Jeep?

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If you look at the links I posted and trying to remember from when I put in new factory type nutstrips when installing my gas skid is that the 4 closest to the bumper are in a row. The fifth, farthest away from the bumper is off towards the center of the Jeep.
Those ones in the Circle S pictures don't even look close to that IMO.

I did look at the images, and I do see differences. That's one of the reasons I suggested the O/P reach out to Circle S - they do say to contact them with questions.

Gearwhine's thought about the brackets being side-specific is also interesting.
 
Factory nutstrips have 5 nuts in the strip.

Yes, there are 5 on the factory nut strips, but one of them sits outside of the frame rail. Despite 5 and 5...they are not in the same locations.

Lots of options...and they're all different. Hopefully these photos help clear it up.

Stock style nut strip
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Installed - notice it sits outside. Best photo I could find on the web
orfab-rear-bumper-12.jpg


JCR Nut Strip
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Then...you have dirt bound offroad that creates 2 different bumper mounting brackets. This bracket includes the rearward nut that others do not (notice the lone nut on the other side of the mounting plate)...but does not include that offset nut furthest forward.
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Yeah those good shots.
All I could find was the ones at the link I posted and you couldn't tell squat.
That 5th one outside the uni-body is one of the mounting points for my factory rear tow hooks.
Still can't figure out why Circle S made them like they did.
 
Decided to revive this thread, as I bought a set of these and have them about 90% installed on my 92. Thought I'd lay out how it went for me:

Rear crossmember cutouts: Not difficult, I did them with my Dremel. Burned up 12 metal cutting discs and a grinding disc. I did not cut out exactly as shown on the eBay ad, though - I left the "bottom" lip of the crossmember in place, though and just used the grinding wheel to knock down the top layer of metal right at the bottom of the hole so the bracket would sit flat. Figured keeping the lower flange of the crossmember intact would be a good idea.

Inserting the brackets: straightforward, with two exceptions. First, I had to bust out the Sawzall and trim down the bolts holding the leaf spring shackles into the hangar boxes a little. The brackets have cutouts for these to sit in, but if like me you're doing this with the truck sitting on its own suspension, if the bolts extend more than 1/8 inch into the frame rail cavity you're going to hang up on them. Since the nut is outside the frame rail itself, no loss in strength and much easier than dropping the shackles (which I'm not equipped to do anyway), as long as your saw blades have teeth. Note to self: cutting through the second half of a leaf spring bolt with hacksaw blade by hand using a Stanley(TM) MultiSaw handle makes for tired arms.

Second, on the passenger side I have the little piece of 1/8 plate that seems to be the backer of that tailpipe hanger mentioned by Ralph77 and DzlDust. I tried beating it out with a prybar and hammer, but no joy. After reviewing this thread just now, I'm thinking that since I have the brackets out again for the moment (see below), there may be a fair bit of the rivets left from when I removed the rotted OEM hanger years ago still holding things together. I might try drilling those out next weekend when I try to finish the job, see if that frees the darn thing up. If not, back to Plan A, which was using the carbide burr to egg the holes in the rear plate of the brackets to allow the bumper mount brackets to pass through.

Alignment of nuts to frame holes: Surprisingly good - 6 of 10 were properly aligned, the remaining (3 the driver's side and one on the passenger) needed only very minor massaging of the holes with the carbide burr in my Dremel. None of them took more than 10 seconds with the burr to address, and they were pretty much all front-back adjustments - they were all about dead on for left-right positioning for me. Considering I've been wheeling this truck since late 2001, I'd say that's a bloody good fit.

I nearly had the whole job done in a little over an afternoon (about 10:30-18:30 with about 45 min for lunch), but got stymied near the finish line because when I stacked the mounting brackets for my Rusty's Trail bumper onto the new brackets, the OEM bumper bolts couldn't reach the threads any more. Going to have to hit the local mill supply store next weekend and get something about 1/8-1/4 longer and fully-threaded, as I've got nearly 1/4" of metal stacked up now behind the rear crossmember between the two brackets. I might just send Circle-S a quick note and suggest they offer as an option an extended set of bolts for the bumper.

Overall, I'm pleased with the fitment and beef, and the install was pretty straightforward. I'd definitely recommend them.
 
Just a quick update...

Drilling out what I thought were the rivets didn't work for me on the exhaust hanger , either it's rust-fused in there too well or Jeep welded the thing in back in 91 when they built this thing. In any event I do not have the ability to knock the darn thing out of there, so I resorted to my "plan B" and opened up the holes in the vertical plates until the bolts cleared.

This means that on the passenger side the bottom of the bracket is not actually going to be in contact with the frame rail except where that little plate is. Anyone think this might be an issue, or should I consider making up some sort of "shims" out of some plate I bought for reinforcing my parking brake cable brackets to fill that gap up, at least between the hanger plate and the back of the vehicle?

(edit) Just had another thought - maybe instead of shimming, it might be better to notch the underside of the circle-S bracket to clear that plate?
 
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Just a quick update...

Drilling out what I thought were the rivets didn't work for me on the exhaust hanger , either it's rust-fused in there too well or Jeep welded the thing in back in 91 when they built this thing. In any event I do not have the ability to knock the darn thing out of there, so I resorted to my "plan B" and opened up the holes in the vertical plates until the bolts cleared.

This means that on the passenger side the bottom of the bracket is not actually going to be in contact with the frame rail except where that little plate is. Anyone think this might be an issue, or should I consider making up some sort of "shims" out of some plate I bought for reinforcing my parking brake cable brackets to fill that gap up, at least between the hanger plate and the back of the vehicle?

(edit) Just had another thought - maybe instead of shimming, it might be better to notch the underside of the circle-S bracket to clear that plate?

It would be best to remove it.
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