Tools Required:
-
Drill
& 1/4" drill bit.
-
Hammer
& center punch.
-
Large
clamps to hold corners in place while drilling.
-
Scribe.
-
Silicone
sealer.
-
5/16"
wrench or socket.
-
4mm
Allen head wrench.
Extra
Tools:
-
Reciprocating
saw (Sawzall).
-
Die
grinder.
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A finished tail light
A finished
Lite'n-Boltz
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One of the
first things I decided to do when I picked up the '99 TJ was to
install body armor and skid plates. From past experiences with
my '97 TJ, one thing I had in mind to add was a set of rear corner
guards. Along with the corner guards I wanted to flush-mount the
tail lights so they wouldn't be an easy target. I also wanted
to relocate the license plate since I tore it off more than once.
I
contacted Dan Duffy of Off
Your Rocker Panels and told him what I had in mind.
The corners come pre-cut for the tailgate hinges, fuel filler,
and tail lights. I had Dan make mine without any cutouts for the
tail lights. Dan offered to make the cutouts for my new tail lights,
but I had not decided on the exact lights I was going to use.
About two weeks after I placed my order, the corners arrived.
They are constructed of 10 gauge steel and have a powder-coated
finish. The standard corner guards are diamond plate, but you
can special order them in a smooth finish.
Off Your Rocker Panels manufactures
corner guards and rocker panel guards for Jeeps from 1955 to present.
These panels are beefy!
I
played around with various ideas for tail lights. I decided to
use two "Model 60" LED tail lights from Truck-Lite
Manufacturing on each side. It would have probably been a
tad easier to use the standard 4" round LED tail light, but
I wanted my TJ to look a bit different. I found the lights
at a local truck parts company, Houston Truck Parts.
They are a distributor for Truck-Lite and had good prices for
the LED lights.
The
license plate and reverse lights will reside on the tire carrier
of my Steel Horse bumper. To be legal, the license plate must
be lighted. I found some neat bolts called Lite'n-Boltz that I
purchased from Doug Chartier of CBRack.com.
The Lite'n-Boltz are 5/16 x 3/4 stainless steel bolts center-drilled
so that a small light and wiring can be embedded in the top.
You
will notice in the pictures that the TJ is shown in various stages
with either the hard top or soft top installed. During the actual
install, you will want the top off and out of the way. The weather
decided to make the install a challenge. Due to the weather,
the actual install time was over the course of 3 weekends. If
all you're going to do is put on the corner guards and keep the
stock lights, you should be able to do the install in one weekend.
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