Woods Tailgate Strut Installation
 

Guys and gals, I don't know if our European JKs are different to the US ones but WHAT A PITA!! This is a great bit of kit and good quality stuff and when you've done it you'll be glad you did but honestly, what a ruddy rigmarole!! :eek2:

The bracket that attaches to the tailgate goes on in minutes. 20 mins and your done, no problem and solid as a rock. I was concerned that my ORTT tailgate table might hinder things but none of it.

The bracket that attaches to the body of your JK, however, is a total swine... If you've ever seen the episode of Fawlty Towers where John Cleese whips the heck out of his car with a branch for not starting..that was nearly me tonight...:yup:

After revealing the "secret compartment" by pushing up the foam piece a la instructions you soon realise that unless you're an orangutan you're simply not going to be able to reach up to the bolts you've just inserted through your drilled holes..

http://www.realscience.org.uk/upload...tan-797979.jpg

OK, no sweat, lets just drop the tail light and go in that way. Tail light dropped, you stick your hand in and realise there's a metal plate that separates the lighting assembly from the body of the JK you just drilled in. Soooo, much like delivering a lamb that's coming out the wrong way you fish around in a 2 1/2 inch space to try to feel for the bolts. Yay, found them!! :ya: Oh crap, I can touch them because my wrists are double-jointed but how the hell am I gonna get a nut on the end? Two hours later all three nuts are on but still loose. I basically had to become Houdini to get the 3 nuts tightened!! :what?:

3 1/2 hours later the install is complete and I crawl to my garage, dragging two hundred tools that I used during the whole Friday evening. When I get inside and triumphantly announce that I'm finished my wife has already fallen asleep on the sofa..

Was it worth it? Darn right it was! Brett sells some good kit and this is no exception!! Point of this post? Just want to gloat at all you Europeans who are about to do this mod and don't realise what a disastrous bloody night you have ahead of you!! :synister: :synister:

Enjoy!

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/z..._jk/strut2.jpg

http://i834.photobucket.com/albums/z..._jk/strut1.jpg

Nuts to that
 

For those hair-pulling,word-inventing,tough to reach nooks; Stick the nuts to your finger tip with "dum-dum" (sticky sealer for seams ,voids etc) to get it on the bolt ;Use "nuts with tails"-these are nuts with a "tail" for blind installations,you can bend the tail and get the nut to the bolt.These are used a lot for holes that are otherwise inaccessible,for installing hitches and the like,come in many sizes.Put a piece of tape over the box end of your wrench & insert the nut to get the reach you need up in those nether regions...If it's really "no access",where you can only drill the hole,then inserts that thread in,& then take your fastener;Riv-nuts are similar,installed with a rivet tool.Nice to hear all this After the blood has been shed...:beer::beer::beer:

Oh, I had the nuts stuck to 3 different wrenches, my fingers and thumbs and to an S spanner. :crazyeyes: If I hadn't I'd probably still be out there now. :brows: