The TJ gets rocker guards

Posted: February 23, 2020 | Author: | Filed under: Travel | Tags: , , | Leave a comment

So you buy a new rig and just have to change it up a little bit to make it your own by putting your touch on it. Well, for a first step, I went with rocker guards.

The Jeep is a Rubicon model so it came with basic rocker guards but I wanted something more stout and something with a step that will keep the body a little further from the rocks.

I went with A to Z Fabrications. I liked the square tubing that matches the spare tire carrier and the fact it runs the entire length of the body, not just between the fender flares.

Here’s a first look with the guard running under the flares. Note how tall the guards is in this picture.

The 1/4 plate of the guards goes well under the rig.

I decided I wanted to keep the flares stock so I moved forward with altering the guards to accommodate the flares. It was too tall for me so I cut down the height 1 1/2″.

After lots of blue tape and measuring twice…

Realizing that I had probably weakened the guards, I added support under each end. The guards came with the bar to prevent bending with the tightening of the bolts but I added the cut tubes. The block fills the space between the guard and the under side of the body for a snug fit.

In the front, there was too much room to fill the gap so I welded a thick piece of angle iron to strengthen the leading edge.

In my haste to get these installed, I failed to get a picture of the powder coated guards before I installed them.

While I was at it, I took off the front bumper and welded up the unneeded holes and had someone else weld on a d-ring mount. I still need to reline the winch. I made a bracket for the airline as well. You can barely see the rock light on the outside of the bumper.

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Rubicon Ronin