Budget tailgate fix ordered. Mor/Ryde hinges and MBRP re-inforcment.
#23
JK Enthusiast
Wow, that hinge looks like a great option. Sure would like to see it with a 35 mounted up though (and will it accommodate the rotopax with a 35?).
#24
JK Super Freak
#25
JK Super Freak
#27
How difficult is it to install? I looked at my rear hinges and they look like they are painted over from the factory. Do I have to somehow cut around the paint to break it apart before I remove the factory hinges? Will I need to somehow touch up paint so there is no exposed metal under the factory hinge or am I overthinking this? Thanks for any advice.
#28
JK Super Freak
How difficult is it to install? I looked at my rear hinges and they look like they are painted over from the factory. Do I have to somehow cut around the paint to break it apart before I remove the factory hinges? Will I need to somehow touch up paint so there is no exposed metal under the factory hinge or am I overthinking this? Thanks for any advice.
But... because everything is painted after assembly, the metal between the hinge and the tub and the hinge and the tailgate only has the e-coat primer on it. Sometimes this is fine, when I removed the factory hinges on my 2013 JKU (the red one in this thread) to install these, the e-coat was in great shape, so I just installed the new hinges.
A friend of mine has a 2014 JKU, and we installed a prototype set of these hinges on his in October, so at most his Jeep would have been 12-18 months old since its manufacture date. Here's what he found when he removed his factory hinges:
He removed the worst of the corrosion and primed/repainted the bad spots. So you may be glad you did remove your factory hinges if your Jeep is like his, it's a good chance to catch corrosion before it gets too bad. It varies a lot though, like I said there wasn't any corrosion on my 2013.
Speaking of corrosion, here's what happens to the factory hinges... the weakest part of the factory hinge is the hinge bearing. Here's a photo of a factory hinge that's only a few years old. You can see the rust where the hinge pin passes through the hinge base - this hinge is already loose, and rattled when driving over bumps in the road because of the looseness. Part of the problem is that the factory hinge pin bearing is a steel-on-steel surface that isn't lubricated; that plus the rust starts the wear process and since the bearing surface is only the 3/16"-thick hinge base, once it starts to wear is goes pretty quickly.
Last edited by Ryan0260; 05-19-2015 at 08:21 PM.
#29
JK Super Freak
A tip from experience: The MBRP brackets do not prevent tailgate sheetmetal separation with 35s..... Some get away with it for a while, mine quickly tore apart.
#30
JK Super Freak
Also under discussion are the side-mount jerry can and Rotopax carriers I recently designed for my JKU, so there's a lot going on...
These fuel carriers bolt right on, there's no drilling.
Last edited by jscherb; 05-18-2015 at 05:08 AM.