There becomes a point in every 4-wheeler’s life when the bolt on stuff just doesn’t cut it anymore.  My buddy Chris, just reached that point. Recieving Gen-Right’s 4-link brackets and a quick 30-second phone call regarding how it all goes together, Chris’ ’98 Jeep Wrangler TJ was pulling into the garage. Soon after, the torch showed up, and our plans for the rear of this TJ started to unfold. We torched off what Jeep had spent Billions in engineering on, replacing it with something that will perform significantly on the rocks. I wonder what the engineers at Jeep think about that?After getting the Jeep on jack stands, the axle was unbolted and set aside. then the gas tank was taken out to make room for the axle to be moved back 7″. Obviously a gas tank will be needed, and a final decision hasn’t been made on where exactly it’s going to go but it won’t be behind the axle under the jeep.  Worst case scenario, it will end up with a fuel cell.

In order to install the coil-overs more vertical we decided we were going to cut off the rear end of the frame where it’s curved, then rebuild it higher and more straight. this frame modification will allow the coil-over shock mount to be much cleaner and giving the coil-over shock more room to move. Along with cutting off the rear end of the frame, off comes the rear bumper. Being that the gas tank will be gone from under the Jeep, there is now room to remove some sheet metal and build a new rear bumper about 5″ higher than from the factory. Moving the Rear bumper up and stretching the wheel base will dramatically increase the departure angle of the jeep. With these plans in place, let the fun begin.

Chris had cut his rear fenders a few days prior, which made easy access for getting in there with the torch to start cutting. Before long, the rear bumper was on the ground. We then stepped further forward on the frame and cut off the curve that was originally above the where the axle was placed. There were a few body mounts and other thin sheets of metal that needed to be cleared out along with all the current axle brackets. This was all done with a combination of the torch and grinder. Once all the brackets were cut off, it was time to move on to the body work.

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We left about 1/4″ of the sheet metal under the rear gate and cut an even strip all the way across. This new space will be where the new 2″ x 4″ steel rear bumper will reside along with tow points for D-ring shackles etc. The frame and rear axle were cleaned up, and were ready to start going back together, but with new parts far different than what was cut out.  After a quick test fit of the frame side brackets, the time was checked and read far after midnight, so we called it a night. Not bad for a late afternoons work.