To some of our readers, this article will serve to scare them from moving where there is snow or road salt. To some, it'll really help with getting that next rusted-out body bolt apart. And to others, they'll just laugh because it took me almost 40 hours to install a body lift.
I take a lot of flak around here because I'm from the Northeast. When I drill a hole, I paint it. If I cut into the body, I paint the edge of the cut when I'm done. I antiseize bolts I want to come out and don't worry all that much about ones I don't want to come out. Odds are, they are rusted in.
So when I told Cappa that I'm looking to do a body lift on my YJ because my body mounts are shot, he didn't quite get it. To anyone from the Southwest, a body lift is maybe a half-day procedure. When I explained to him my Jeep had about 300,000 miles of Northeast rust belt driving on it, he still didn't get it. Then I told him it was probably a three-day procedure to do the body lift, and the bet was on.
I went with the quickest, cheapest way to replace body mounts: Daystar's 1-inch polyurethane lift kit. It comes with all-new mounts, washers, bolts, and just about anything you'd need. I called up Quadratec and ordered kit #16053.30X for an '87-'95 Wrangler.
I'm getting ahead of myself though. To me, I am used to replacing body mounts because the rubber rots away. Playing with Jeeps in the Northeast for better than the last decade has taught me how much fun body lifts aren't on older Jeeps. Turns out I'm not bright enough to stop doing them, painful as they are. However, I am bright enough to figure out ways that make rusted, body-mount bolt removal easier. Follow along and see my proof that won the bet.
Here's what I was facing. Most of the mounts had no rubber left at all. I tried turning the bolts with a ratchet, but none of them moved. That is, none of the 11. If you are following along at home, don't force them because they will either break or spin the captured nut. Don't use a cheater bar, impact gun, or your foot. If they don't come loose under hand power, keep reading. | 
After determining which bolts wouldn't turn, the next step is to drill access holes to the top of each body-mount bolt that is seized. You could try spraying from the bottom, but that doesn't work. With careful measuring, I was able to figure out where to drill. Use a bit big enough to allow you to see the top of the bolt (more on that later). PB Blaster is the best for rusted bolt removal. Get a case of the stuff and spray it in the holes for at least two weeks beforehand. |
Out of 11 bolts, four came loose, thanks to the PB Blaster routine. The ones that didn't, I had to cut access holes to get to. Holesaws and 412-inch cutting discs are the preferred ways to cut access holes, but cut them in an as-needed basis (use the big holes from above as sight plugs) and move your carpet farther away than I did. Body bolts thread into captured nuts in the body. When the bolt isn't rusted enough to snap in half, most instances of bolts not coming out are due to the captured nut spinning. In this case, the nut was spinning in its cage, so I drilled a few holes in the cage and welded the nut to it. If you don't have a welder, self-tapping screws work too. | 
The bolts that don't spin the captured nut will taunt you until you finally apply enough force from the bottom to break them. At that point, cut your access hole and weld a nut to the top, then remove it. If you don't have a welder, double nutting it sometimes will work as well. If you then break the captured nut loose, well, you know what to do. |
If you can't get the captured nut to stay still at all, then cut the head off of the bolt, cut an access hole on the inside of the body big enough to let the captured nut through, and pound the whole thing up through the inside of the Jeep. | 
Often, the mount welded to the frame will have rusted out around the rubber body mount to the point where the new mount just falls through. Make sure to have some spare steel on hand to make a new plate to cover the hole. Cut the metal to size (bigger than the hole), drill the hole needed for the bolt crush sleeve, and mount (where applicable) then affix permanently. I welded this one on, but drilling and bolting works as well. Use at least a 18-inch steel plate; I've seen thinner stuff bend. |
The rear body mounts (the ones you can see on the rear crossmember) aren't accessible from inside the Jeep. Get these from inside the wheelwell. In this case, the passenger- and driver-side bolts snapped due to being rusted half through. After cutting access holes, I found the captured nut. Note that all of these "nuts" are basically a 14-inch thick 2x2-inch piece of steel with a threaded hole. | 
I then drilled and tapped the "nut" so the new bolt would fit, applied antiseize to the bolt, and reinstalled it. After getting everything back together, I always weld up these two rearmost holes, paint them, and cover whatever area of the cut wasn't welded with RTV. Keeping mud, salt, and snow out of there is important. Most of the time, I'll just pound the flaps inside back down, paint them, and silicone them to keep water out from the top -- that makes it easier to get to next time. |
Aside from the captured nuts, these pieces are the only other parts that need to be reused. I body-lifted three CJs before I saw a whole one of these. This keeps the body mount from collapsing when the bolts are torqued to specifications. They also keep the mount from shifting around. Either buy a set from Jeep before you start or use a large washer and 78-inch OD, 0.125 wall tube to replace them. Ten of the 11 that came out of this YJ looked like the one on the vice. | 
YJs, TJs, and LJs have three pieces of rubber under the grille. Only the center one is a body mount, per se. The two located on either bottom corner of the grille are to keep the grille level with the frame. However, the bolts to hold them on (not all models use bolts) always rust solid. Use a pair of pliers to remove the old mount, and you'll see this. Then get the rusted junk out of there. The captured nut will likely not be reusable, so write it off. You will need to provide a new bolt, with washers and a nylock nut to put the new piece in. |
Only 37 hours later, I was able to tighten up all the new body mounts, seal up all access holes, and rest assured that my body wasn't about to fall off the frame in the next off-camber section of trail I drove through. | |