Project '91 XJ gets some side protection
Why do we do it to ourselves? We spend the money to buy the best Jeep
vehicle we can afford, and then take it through the roughest trails we can find.
Normally after our first trail ride we come home with some ideas on how to make
our Jeep better off road. I'm not immune to this, and after a rough trail ride
behind Calico Ghost Town (N34° 56.82', W116° 51.94'), CA, I found out the
hard way how close the rocker panels on a stock XJ are to the ground.
After scraping them on several large rocks I decided that some type
of protection was in order. My first thought was to use diamond plate
to cover the rocker panels, but after calling around I could not locate
anyone making them for our beloved XJ.
My second choice was some type of nerf bars, but I didn't like the loss of
ground clearance or the fact that they stick out so far. Enter Olympic Auto
Accessories, located in the City Of Commerce, California, the makers of the
Rock Side Bumper. A quick search of their web page turned up all the
information I needed on the Rock Side Bumpers. I decided to try the new
"Rubicon Black" finish, a textured black powder coat finish - I was not
disappointed. I placed my order and two weeks later they arrived (the
delay was caused by my ordering the new finish and not the stock
smooth black powder coat finish). A quick inventory of the two large boxes
UPS delivered turned up all the hardware needed to install the bumpers on my
XJ. Immediately, the size and quality of the bumpers impressed me.
All the welds were smooth and clean, the finish was perfect, and the hardware
was of good quality.
Now it came time to install the bumpers on the XJ. Both boxes where clearly
marked for the side they where to be installed, "driver/passenger" (I liked
this better than the "left/right" labeling I have seen on some products). I
enlisted the help of my 12 year old son Daniel for the
installation. I could have done it alone, but the extra set of eyes and
hands helped. I used jack-stands covered with an old towel to protect the
finish, and large C-clamps to hold the bumpers in position. While Daniel
helped hold the bars in place I used a punch to mark the holes in the unibody
for drilling. Installation of the side bars require four holes in the unibody
and six holes on the bottom of the quarter panel.
Make sure you keep the bars in the same position while you mark the holes.
I used a half-ton bottle jack to push them tight into place and secured them
with the C-clamps and jack stands. After drilling the holes, it was an
easy matter of using the self-tapping screws provided to bolt the
bars to the unibody. After the four unibody screws were attached,
six bolts with washers and nuts secured the bar to the lower rocker panel.
I liked this added feature as it pulled them close to the body.
The Side Rock Bumpers are angled flush with the side of the XJ
so they don’t stick out like normal nerf bars. I completed
installing both bars in less than two hours. The end result is
great, not only do they look good, they protect the sides of my XJ.
If you’re looking for solid protection for your rocker panels, I
recommend Olympic 4X4's Rock Side Bumpers.
