Dzldust
NAXJA Forum User
- Location
- Jacksonville,Florida
Just got a set of these in,I figured it’s just cut till they slide in frame but anybody have an install write 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
It sounds like they "missed" the bolt pattern when they made them. My dirt Bound brackets aligned/bolted up perfectly.
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?
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.
Gearwhine's thought about the brackets being side-specific is also interesting.
Factory nutstrips have 5 nuts in the strip.
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?