Caution: Broken Body Mount Bolt When Installing Frame Mount Rock Sliders / Rails / Sidesteps

[WranglerMan]

My son who lives out of state bought rock rails that can be installed over his factory Rubi rails and asked me how to mount them, I sent him a link to all the horror stories about broken body bolts and he did try to get them out with a 18” breaker bar and they would not budge so I told him to go to 4 Wheel Drive Center and let them have a go at it and they told him that they would try to get they out as several have been broken and his luckily came out after heating them up and the cost was $140 which I thought was cheap for the headaches it would have caused if he broke one off

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[IPvFletch]

This is BS. How can Jeep screw up these bolts so badly? Warranty, or not, I'm talking about basic tooling and assembly here. It makes me really nervous as I am about to embark on this myself. These Jeeps, esp. the base models, are sold to be modified, and they make a ton of money themselves on aftermarket parts via Mopar. They actually should be making it easier to modify safely, than to make it so hard you may damage the vehicle in the process. Why not just strip out the head of the screw. Even Dealers would run into this if they had to replace say Rubi rails or install Mopar equipment... Just plain silly a mfr can let this happen on such a flagship vehicle.

 

[WranglerMan]

@IPvFletch you are 100% correct, the main reason I wanted a Wrangler was over the years I have seen tons of them with all sorts of mods but it seems these new JL’s are a different breed.

 

[IPvFletch]

@IPvFletch you are 100% correct, the main reason I wanted a Wrangler was over the years I have seen tons of them with all sorts of mods but it seems these new JL’s are a different breed.

Well every new model car has issues. When they redid the Grand Cherokees in 2014, my wife got one off the showroom floor, it had just come in, and it was like the Summer of 2013 - brand spankin new model year. It had soooooo many problems. All of the TSBs posted here prove the '18 JL is no different. Maybe the '19s will be better. But still, a bolt as important as this shouldn't be this sloppily installed. What if it failed while driving and caused a wreck. It would be a different song and dance then. Jeep should be listening to these issues and triple checking these things so that they can improve quality and they would stop tarnishing their own brand.

 

[WranglerMan]

I am not a previous Wrangler owner but from those that are that I have talked to they said the new Wrangler is over engineered with to many things to go wrong for the type of vehicle it’s supposed to be but we are crave technology and with that comes problems

 

[tzinsli]

I’m experiencing the same issue now but the dealership hasn’t seen this before so they want to improvise with a min start cost of 750$. Do you mind telling me what steps did your dealership do to fix it within reason

I just went through the process myself.. I installed the passenger side slider just fine. Went to the driver side and the front bolt breaks off! This happened in Wisconsin just before I was about to drive to Maine for my next work assignment. I wish I had known to heat it first but didn’t see these posts until after the damage was done. I did however call the 1 800 Jeep customer support line. Rebecca was very helpful. Told me to go to the dealer to have it looked at, thinking they might cover it under warranty. Of course they said it’s not covered.. My option was for them to investigate further as to how they might be able to fix it. This was to be a one hour labor charge. With no guarantee that they could fix it. If not, they’d refer me to a body shop. I decided not to have this done since I got the feeling that they didn’t think they could fix it. I asked if it was safe to drive. He said yes but if anything happened due to the missing bolt, it wouldn’t be covered under warranty.
Went home and called Rebecca at Jeep again. Rebecca then called the dealship. She then got back to me and said that Jeep would cover the cost of the labor to look further into the repair. I asked if I could have this done in Maine since I was headed that way. Yes, no problem.
I drove it to Maine, about 1,500 miles without any issues. Made an appointment with the dealership. Dropped it off one morning and they shuttled me to where I was working. Around noon they called and said it would take a day to get the new bolt. To repair it, they needed to lift the body off the frame to remove the broken bolt from the top. They said it’s not the first one that they’ve seen. Total cost only came to $160. I called Rebecca back to give her an update. She said that Jeep would cover the cost. She then called the dealership to take care of the paper work. I took my Jeep back in the next day. I asked them to install the slider when they were finished. I didn’t want to touch those bolts anymore. By 11am they were finished. All I ended up having to pay was $30 for the install of the slider. It’s good as new! If I had known it was only going to be $160 I may have not gotten Jeep involved but Rebecca was great!

 

[Wwsowell]

That's my plan, I just purchased a set of DV8 off road rails. From my understanding, is that they require the front body bolts to come out......I'm just going to take them to the dealership and have them do it and if anything goes wrong, it's on them.

 

[JonR]

This is a great heads-up thread on the front body bolts removal. I have new ACE rock sliders in the boxes waiting for my ordered JLUR to arrive. this discussion confirms my understanding of just how effective Loctite is. Years ago the DOD Aerospace company that I work at sent us a Loctite rep to train us on their products. I remember him saying that Loctite sets up with "absence of air, presence of metal". When I installed the SYE (slip yoke eliminator) on my XJ IRO had me use red Loctite on the transfer case output shaft yolk bolt and I fully planned if ever removing that bolt to use heat. Jeep may have went the way of caution on those bolts for liability and recall avoidance. R&D on the sliders may have had early success on getting the bolts out...Just giving the benefit of doubt here. My question is will a propane torch or MAP gas torch heat up that bolt enough to soften the Loctite and is there a rubber bushing around the bolt that would be damaged by the heat?

 

[JonR]

This is a great heads-up thread on the front body bolts removal. I have new ACE rock sliders in the boxes waiting for my ordered JLUR to arrive. this discussion confirms my understanding of just how effective Loctite is. Years ago the DOD Aerospace company that I work at sent us a Loctite rep to train us on their products. I remember him saying that Loctite sets up with "absence of air, presence of metal". When I installed the SYE (slip yoke eliminator) on my XJ IRO had me use red Loctite on the transfer case output shaft yolk bolt and I fully planned if ever removing that bolt to use heat. Jeep may have went the way of caution on those bolts for liability and recall avoidance. R&D on the sliders may have had early success on getting the bolts out...Just giving the benefit of doubt here. My question is will a propane torch or MAP gas torch heat up that bolt enough to soften the Loctite and is there a rubber bushing around the bolt that would be damaged by the heat?

In another post I found more detail about my questions.
ACE Slider Install - Hints from fellow JL/JLU Owner's

 

[vavaroutsos]

This is a great heads-up thread on the front body bolts removal. I have new ACE rock sliders in the boxes waiting for my ordered JLUR to arrive. this discussion confirms my understanding of just how effective Loctite is. Years ago the DOD Aerospace company that I work at sent us a Loctite rep to train us on their products. I remember him saying that Loctite sets up with "absence of air, presence of metal". When I installed the SYE (slip yoke eliminator) on my XJ IRO had me use red Loctite on the transfer case output shaft yolk bolt and I fully planned if ever removing that bolt to use heat. Jeep may have went the way of caution on those bolts for liability and recall avoidance. R&D on the sliders may have had early success on getting the bolts out...Just giving the benefit of doubt here. My question is will a propane torch or MAP gas torch heat up that bolt enough to soften the Loctite and is there a rubber bushing around the bolt that would be damaged by the heat?

You only need about 550 F to soften the red Loctite.

 

[rustyshakelford]

This is a great heads-up thread on the front body bolts removal. I have new ACE rock sliders in the boxes waiting for my ordered JLUR to arrive. this discussion confirms my understanding of just how effective Loctite is. Years ago the DOD Aerospace company that I work at sent us a Loctite rep to train us on their products. I remember him saying that Loctite sets up with "absence of air, presence of metal". When I installed the SYE (slip yoke eliminator) on my XJ IRO had me use red Loctite on the transfer case output shaft yolk bolt and I fully planned if ever removing that bolt to use heat. Jeep may have went the way of caution on those bolts for liability and recall avoidance. R&D on the sliders may have had early success on getting the bolts out...Just giving the benefit of doubt here. My question is will a propane torch or MAP gas torch heat up that bolt enough to soften the Loctite and is there a rubber bushing around the bolt that would be damaged by the heat?

I’d try a heat gun on the bolt heads before a torch of any kind

Brett

 

[Rhinebeck01]

I’d try a heat gun on the bolt heads before a torch of any kind

Brett

I agree, in regard to not using a torch. Use a heat gun, but... best is to find a mechanic / shop that has an Automotive Heat Inductor that they can use of the body bolts.

 

[Jeepmarkjl]

Home DYI solve: could try something like but positioning to a precise bolt on the Jeep may be challenging. However, your neighbors may be entertained - depending on orientation of output.

 

[Jondrew]

Hope people dont take this personally, but this is not rocket science. As someone comtimplating Ace Rock Sliders I’ve read thru this thread and every few pages someone points out the key fact. THere is nothing wrong with the way Jeep assembles the body frame bolts. They use high strength thread locker to keep these bolts from coming loose to keep the body from rattling on the frame, or even worse to seperate.

I’ve seen a couple of videos (including the Ace video) that demonstrate how to do this properly. Heat the bolts, get them started coming out, and then tighten them back up. Keep repeating the process while pulling down hard on the bolt. You want to break down the thread locker to facilitate loosening the bolts. The bolts were not over tightened at the factory. If the spec was 70 foot pounds, then that’s what they were torqued to. But once the thread locker set, it takes far more torque to remove the bolt. And in some cases that torqure will cause the bolt to shear if not removed properly. Even if you follow all these best practices for removing the bolts, you run the risk of snapping one off and its going to be a PIA and/or expensive to fix.

I installed a tow hitch plate on my Honda so I could pull it behind my motorhome and the bolts had red locktite on them. I had to remove the bumper some time later for another repair and it just about killed me doing it. I’m amazed I didnt break a bolt in the process.

I really like the Ace sliders. I personally like the looks better than the LODs. More importantly, my wife like the look of the Aces better. I know I can do this (its just 6 little bolts, right?). But I may take it to my dealer and give them the 2 shop hours to get it done. That way if they snap it off, I’ll tell them to eat it. To me that might be a couple of hundred dollars well spent.

 

[Alanscott1]

Sort of had a unique experience with my JCR slider install on my 2 dr a few weeks ago. Passenger side went on fine, although like others have mentioned the front body bolt was a bit of a pain to remove. Moving over to the driver side, the rear bolt came out easily, go to remove the driver side front only to discover the bolt was sheared. I heard a weird pop about a week earlier from somewhere in that location while driving. I ended up pressing on with the left slider install.

Due to my job, I haven't had a chance to address this with a dealership, but I'm in a somewhat precarious position. Considering the level of quality control checks that should occur at the factory, I can't imagine a dealership is going to believe my findings, especially with the aftermarket sliders installed. What is a bit unsettling to me is I would have been none the wiser to that body bolt being sheared had I not gotten underneath the jeep for the slider install in the first place.

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