Over the Labor Day, 1997 weekend I
installed Off Your Rocker Panels rear corner panels on my Jeep YJ. It took about 6 hours
per side. Since I was in no particular hurry, I did the passenger's side on Saturday and
the driver's side on Sunday. Overall it was a fairly simple job and nice way to get to
know the Jeep better.
Remove fender flare.
Remove soft top from channel above installation site.
Move wiring harness inside upper edge of side panel out of harms way.
Remove tail light.
Now is a good time to note position of gas lines et all.
Remove license plate holder.
Remove any dealer stickers or plaques.
Remove tailgate locking mechanism bracket bolt.
Remove gasoline filler access housing.
Remove any decals. The "Wrangler" decals were pretty easy to peel off.
Wash the area thoroughly. I also used a degreaser that took off the residual decal glue called "Finish Line Citrus Degreaser." It smells good and works great!
Clamp the new corner panel into place.
Identify the positions for the new bolts you're going to install. I used a yellow drawing pencil that showed up very well on the black anodized panel. Keep in mind when locating the positions a couple of things: Can you access the position from the inside of the fender housing? Do you have enough room to put a nut on the bolt where you are close to a partition wall? If aesthetics are important, how will this look and will it match the bolt positions of the other corner panel?
Drill 1/4 inch holes for the 14 bolts supplied. Work from the center at the curve outward toward the tailgate and wheel well. Insert and snug each bolt as you drill each hole.
Locate the positions of any additional holes that you cannot drill from the outside. Here again I used my yellow drawing pencil. For example, holes will be required for the tail light, two fender flare mounting holes, gas cap filler housing and the tailgate locking mechanism bracket bolt. (On the passenger side I had to locate all but the last two items.) As a side note, I didn't plan to re-install my license plate holder over the gasoline filler opening so I didn't drill holes for this.
Remove the corner panel.
Drill the additional holes.
Clean and de-burr all the holes in the fender and corner panel.
Put a dab of touch-up paint on all newly drilled holes in the fender and corner panel.
Apply a bead of silicone around the perimeter of the corner panel. I also dabbed a bit of silicone in each of the holes that are going to be used to mount the corner panel.
Re-install the corner panel.
Re-install the tail light, gas cap housing (I had to get longer screws due to the additional thickness of the corner panel), fender flare and tail gate lock mechanism bracket bolt and license plate holder.
Put the wiring harness back in the retaining clips along inside upper edge of the side panel.
Check to make sure your tail light is working properly, slide the soft top back into the channel and go out for a test drive!
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