Need a measurement.....

Liberty02sport · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:56 pm

Anyone have the measurement for the hole behind the crush caps under the bumper cover ?? Was looking at some tow hook install pics and trying to fab up a template to make my own stud bracket from 3/16 steel plate and want to cut the steel right the first time so it would fit thru the hole in the frame rail. Haven't pulled the cover yet since it's my DD, so once apart it's down till the install is finished.

Mine's an '02 if that makes any difference. Thanks

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:31 pm

only takes about 15 mins to R&R the front fascia just a fyi

not entirely clear what measurement you're needing?

if you're talking about the spacing between the holes in the tow hook, i'm sure one of us can get that measurement for ya

Liberty02sport · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:41 pm

Need the measurement of the hole located behind the crush caps that goes in the front frame rail. I'm getting a set of tow hooks from another member but need to make a stud bracket that will fit inside the frame. Planning on having some grade 5 or grade 8 bolts welded to the plate then stick it inside the frame rail with the threaded end sticking thru the usual holes used for mounting the tow hooks.

The way I figure it the 3/16 steel plate will beef up the mounting point and is heavy enough to remain in place and not go wandering around when putinng the nuts on the bolts. But I don't know what size the hole is that the plate has to fit thru.......

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:47 pm

so basically you need the measurements for the M bolt?

Liberty02sport · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 9:55 pm

Nope.... I need to know what size the hole is that is covered by the black crush cans. I can take a measurement on the hole spacing that the M-bolt goes thru since I can see those 2 holes from underneath the bumper.

I need to know how big to make the piece of steel so it will fit thru the hole that you find once you remove the black caps that have the 10mm bolt holding them on.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:00 pm

ah, i got ya.. I think lol..

pretty sure i made my zert rails for my bumper out of 1"-1.25" wide steel bar - the access hole if I'm reading correctly "this time" is between 2.5-3"ish wide and narrows slightly to the ID of the frame
only difference in what i did and what i think you're doing is that I had nuts welded to mine and you'll be welding a bolt to yours

i hope that (finally) clears up something for you - sorry

Liberty02sport · **Posted:** Wed Jan 19, 2011 10:14 pm

Thought about welding the nuts to the plate then thought that if I were to change my mind later and want to go with the farm shackle and D-ring setup I would probably wind up losing the plate in the frame rail or having to take everything back apart to fish it out. :lol:

So if I'm understanding you correctly the hole that gives access to the inside of the frame rail is 2.5-3 inches wide ??

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

Liberty02sport wrote:

Nope.... I need to know what size the hole is that is covered by the black crush cans. I can take a measurement on the hole spacing that the M-bolt goes thru since I can see those 2 holes from underneath the bumper.

I need to know how big to make the piece of steel so it will fit thru the hole that you find once you remove the black caps that have the 10mm bolt holding them on.

I used 2"x2" angle and as you can see in the pic I had to grind out a very small bit in the lower corners. Other than that it fit very well.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 1:11 am

i had a problem with nuts welded to the steel, it softened them and caused them to strip

next time I re do it I will probably use bolts instead, however protect the exposed threads with a second nut or grease or paint or something

Liberty02sport · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:29 am

BugginKJ wrote:

Liberty02sport wrote:

Nope.... I need to know what size the hole is that is covered by the black crush cans. I can take a measurement on the hole spacing that the M-bolt goes thru since I can see those 2 holes from underneath the bumper.

I need to know how big to make the piece of steel so it will fit thru the hole that you find once you remove the black caps that have the 10mm bolt holding them on.

I used 2"x2" angle and as you can see in the pic I had to grind out a very small bit in the lower corners. Other than that it fit very well.

So about 1.5-1.75 wide plate piece should fit with no problems.....

Liberty02sport · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 3:37 am

JeepinJarhead03 wrote:

i had a problem with nuts welded to the steel, it softened them and caused them to strip

next time I re do it I will probably use bolts instead, however protect the exposed threads with a second nut or grease or paint or something

I was worried about that too. So I thought if I drill the two bolt holes in the plate, put the bolts thru it, then have just the bolt heads spot/tack welded to the plate steel and then slide the whole thing into the frame rail letting the threaded part of the bolt drop thru the stock mounting holes it would reinforce the mounting area and be less likely to dislocate the plate in the future if I want to mount something else. I don't want to pull the bumper cover any more than I have to. :wink:

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

JeepinJarhead03 wrote:

i had a problem with nuts welded to the steel, it softened them and caused them to strip

next time I re do it I will probably use bolts instead, however protect the exposed threads with a second nut or grease or paint or something

I used h.d. grade 8 - 7/8"(edit) class 8 locking drum nuts(not the style with nylon locking ring). I also let the nuts and steel cool naturaly BEFORE puting any torque to them. I have installed and removed the brackets so many times when I was fabbing up the brackets/bumper I couldn't even tell how many times they were in and out, no problems.
edit: so you know there are also 2 nuts welded to that bracket, the second one you can barely see behind the first.

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

Liberty02sport wrote:

BugginKJ wrote:

Liberty02sport wrote:

Nope.... I need to know what size the hole is that is covered by the black crush cans. I can take a measurement on the hole spacing that the M-bolt goes thru since I can see those 2 holes from underneath the bumper.

I need to know how big to make the piece of steel so it will fit thru the hole that you find once you remove the black caps that have the 10mm bolt holding them on.

I used 2"x2" angle and as you can see in the pic I had to grind out a very small bit in the lower corners. Other than that it fit very well.

So about 1.5-1.75 wide plate piece should fit with no problems.....

2"x2" works great(1/4" thick), just shave the opening the very small amount as shown in pic.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 4:44 pm

bug

ya tack them with a buzz box or ? the first set i used were G8 zinc's and I punched them with the flat chisel

i don't remember what i used for the second set, but i still managed to strip one, plus put one in backwards and didn't realize it till i had the other side buttoned up so missed another hole on the other side

3rd time's the charm right ?

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

JeepinJarhead03 wrote:

bug

ya tack them with a buzz box or ? the first set i used were G8 zinc's and I punched them with the flat chisel

i don't remember what i used for the second set, but i still managed to strip one, plus put one in backwards and didn't realize it till i had the other side buttoned up so missed another hole on the other side

3rd time's the charm right ?

MIG, solid welded all the way around.
Go to a tractor/trailer supply house or a really good nut/bolt supplier like Fastenal. Get the crimped at the top or oblong style locking nuts with no nylon.

JeepinJarhead03 · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 8:10 pm

I found the fastenal down the street from me finally. I've got the steel to redo it, i'll grab the rest of the hardware and go ahead and drill the holes and whenever I find someone with a spark stick i'll get them remade, not in a huge rush tbh, but eventually i'd like to not have bolts all willy nilly

Liberty02sport · **Posted:** Thu Jan 20, 2011 10:46 pm

OK, I got some specs I thought I'd run by those who have already done this. Without pulling the bumper cover off I came up with some rough measurements of ........

2 1/8in. center to center on the stock mounting holes.

1 in. from the inboard side of the frame rail to the center of the holes.

So the plate will have to be 1 3/4 in. wide by 3 1/2 in. long and 1/4 in. thick with the holes spaced 2 1/8 in. center to center and 1 in. away from the inboard side of the frame rail.....

That sound about right ???

BugginKJ · **Joined:** Mon Jul 06, 2009 7:35 pm **Posts:** 4576

The 2"x2" angle I used is about 14" long if I remember correctly. I spaced my bolts roughly 3"-4" apart.

Need a measurement.....

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