Drilling holes in pinch seam.. Rust??

[JeepJeepster]

Im going to be putting some rocker rails on soon, and I was wondering what I should do to coat the holes after I drill them in the pinch seam. I dont want to spray them with just black spray paint since you may be able to see them. That part of the jeep is painted the same color as the rest of the jeep also. I was thinking about getting some touch up paint at the dealer, but I was wondering if there was anything that would hold up better. Ill just be putting these things on when I go offroad so Ill be taking the bolts in and out kinda often..

66lbs is alot of dead weight. :-s

Thanks guys. O

 

[Jeger]

Thats a tough one...taking those bolts in and out is going to scrape off just about anything you could put on there I would imagine. There may be some type of epoxy that would be harder?

The best solution that I could think of would be to drill the holes out oversize and then weld some sort of sleeve in there so that it would take the abuse of the bolts instead of your sheetmetal. Repaint the welded area, and maybe use a stainless sleeve so it wont rust?

 

[tgh117]

If it was me, I would just leave them on. Coat them with something first, like maybe some undercoating, or something a little tougher then just paint. When you tighten up the bolts, its going to leave imprints on the entire spot welded seam, and over time it will eventually wear the paint away on the whole thing I would think. Seems like it will be a bit of a pain to just take them off and put them on whenever your going to wheel, but thats just my opinion. If you really want to take them off and on, I would bet that touch up paint is going to be your best option, since you will see it on the car. You could put some primer under the touch up paint first, as that will help the paint bond a little, but its going to come off eventually through the slipping bolts, shifting rock rails, etc.

Good luck though.

 

[JeepJeepster]

If it was me, I would just leave them on. Coat them with something first, like maybe some undercoating, or something a little tougher then just paint. When you tighten up the bolts, its going to leave imprints on the entire spot welded seam, and over time it will eventually wear the paint away on the whole thing I would think. Seems like it will be a bit of a pain to just take them off and put them on whenever your going to wheel, but thats just my opinion. If you really want to take them off and on, I would bet that touch up paint is going to be your best option, since you will see it on the car. You could put some primer under the touch up paint first, as that will help the paint bond a little, but its going to come off eventually through the slipping bolts, shifting rock rails, etc.

Good luck though.

Yea, I see where your coming from with just leaving them on. I only need them around 2-3 times per year. I go offroading more than that, but I hardly get into stuff where I need the rails. The next time the midwest guys go(feb 17th) i will need them for sure. After that trip, im taking all the skids and rocker rails off, and putting the stock tires back on since I will be traveling from home to school alot. Need to save some gas and the ****** downshifts way to much on the hills around here. Looking to gain some power back.

I could easily take 250lbs of extra stuff off my Jeep.

Skids- ?lbs(50lbs??)
Rocker rails-66lbs
Sub+amp-70lbs
Extra weight of Cragars+Geolanders-100lbs

 

[JeepJeepster]

Anyway, I guess Ill check and see if the local dealer has any touch up paint. Im sure they will want an arm and a leg for that stuff though. :-s

 

[Eddo]

If it was me, I would just leave them on. Coat them with something first, like maybe some undercoating, or something a little tougher then just paint. When you tighten up the bolts, its going to leave imprints on the entire spot welded seam, and over time it will eventually wear the paint away on the whole thing I would think. Seems like it will be a bit of a pain to just take them off and put them on whenever your going to wheel, but thats just my opinion. If you really want to take them off and on, I would bet that touch up paint is going to be your best option, since you will see it on the car. You could put some primer under the touch up paint first, as that will help the paint bond a little, but its going to come off eventually through the slipping bolts, shifting rock rails, etc.

Good luck though.

Yea, I see where your coming from with just leaving them on. I only need them around 2-3 times per year. I go offroading more than that, but I hardly get into stuff where I need the rails. The next time the midwest guys go(feb 17th) i will need them for sure. After that trip, im taking all the skids and rocker rails off, and putting the stock tires back on since I will be traveling from home to school alot. Need to save some gas and the ****** downshifts way to much on the hills around here. Looking to gain some power back.

I could easily take 250lbs of extra stuff off my Jeep.

Skids- ?lbs(50lbs??)
Rocker rails-66lbs
Sub+amp-70lbs
Extra weight of Cragars+Geolanders-100lbs

The money you save on gas from 250lbs lighter on a 4k+ Jeep is probably barely a dollar a year. You could probably save more money on gas by driving with a lighter foot and slowing down by about 1mph on the highway.

I do swap out MT/Rs for fourwheeling because they wear out fast and are expensive, plus a little noisy on long highway trips. However, doing the skids is plates is kind of excessive if you ask me.


Anyways...

I have parts of my pinch weld cut out. Custom rock-rails (modified boulder bars). I used a professional grade primer, then hit the pinch weld with some undercoating. Works great.

If you are going to take them on an off then just mask and coat the entire pinch weld with black undercoating or bedliner material. Stock there is a black plastic cover over the pinch weld anyways so it won't look much different.

 

[JeepJeepster]

The money you save on gas from 250lbs lighter on a 4k+ Jeep is probably barely a dollar a year. You could probably save more money on gas by driving with a lighter foot and slowing down by about 1mph on the highway.

I do swap out MT/Rs for fourwheeling because they wear out fast and are expensive, plus a little noisy on long highway trips. However, doing the skids is plates is kind of excessive if you ask me.


Anyways...

I have parts of my pinch weld cut out. Custom rock-rails (modified boulder bars). I used a professional grade primer, then hit the pinch weld with some undercoating. Works great.

If you are going to take them on an off then just mask and coat the entire pinch weld with black undercoating or bedliner material. Stock there is a black plastic cover over the pinch weld anyways so it won't look much different.

Thanks a bunch Eddo. I hadent thought about coating it in undercoating. Ill give that a look. O

 

[tgh117]

Just pointing out that I suggested that as well. poke.gif

Coat them with something first, like maybe some undercoating, or something a little tougher then just paint. .

Good luck though, wouldn't want to see anybody's jeep rusting. Mine is already starting on the back gate, which I can't believe for an 05!

 

[JeepJeepster]

Just pointing out that I suggested that as well. poke.gif

Coat them with something first, like maybe some undercoating, or something a little tougher then just paint. .

Good luck though, wouldn't want to see anybody's jeep rusting. Mine is already starting on the back gate, which I can't believe for an 05!

Lol, sorry. For some reason I thought you were talking about the rails.

Thanks for the advice. O