Sawzall meets jeep

[johnnyvol]

Well I had to take the sawzall to my 8 last night It seems rust/ rot had gotten so bad that the screws holding my fender flares on had countersunk into the metal and I couldn't get them out any other way. BRRRRRRRZZZZZIIIIIIPPPPPPPPP and out they came. Here are some pics of what I found. I reckon I'll just cut out all I can but it looks like I might get into the wheel well to get it all. Anybody got a better idea? If I have to remove the wheel well and cut out and weld in a repair them re-install the well that sound like a lot of work. I thought about doing the crusher corner/ flare thing like in this thread. but I'm still thinking about it. Appreciate any great ideas.

John

 

[John N]

If you want a real adventure, try pulling your rollbar out . It'll make you wish you had 10 more flares to remove instead .

 

[bigwalton]

I feel for you, I have the same thing, only worse. The rust on mine was well above the wheelwell/tub joint and the spray in insulation in the postal is the only thing that keeps out the muck/water. I put crusher corners over mine with the intention to pull them off eventually to try something to fix the area.

 

[Truck]

Fitting TJ flares on there will cut most if not all of that out and open up your wheel well for more tire stuff.

Truck

 

[n9viw]

Yeah, if you have rot like that under the flares, you're GUARANTEED to have rot starting under the rollbar feet.
After days of soaking them with penetrating fluid, using a torch to heat them, and breaking three or four Torx drivers, I wound up cutting the heads off the bolts holding my old rollbar in. On my "new" tub, I'm going to do it the easy way: tack weld some 9/16" nuts to the top of each bolt, and use an impact driver to get them out, with or without their shanks.