INSTALLING YOUR
TJ WRANGLER
WIDE-SWING HINGES
The hinges can be installed one at a time, without removing the tailgate. Removing one old hinge
and installing a new hinge in its place while the other old hinge is still in place will preserve tailgate
alignment and can make the installation more efficient.
**Please read through the instructions completely before beginning installation of your Jeep Hinges.
1. Remove the spare tire. This will give you more room to work, and removing the weight on the
tailgate will make it easier to get everything working properly.
2. Remove the hinge bolts from one hinge.
a. If your Jeep has the newer hinges with plastic covers, remove the covers and use a 15mm socket
wrench to remove the bolts.
b. If your Jeep has the older cast aluminum hinges, the original hinge bolts can often be difficult to
remove, so we don’t recommend just putting the Torx driver in the bolt head and applying a lot of
pressure to try to remove the bolt - often the Torx teeth will strip, leaving no choice but to drill out
the bolt. Here are a few tips that often help in removing stubborn Torx screws:
HEAVY-DUTY HINGE
JP54-025
•
Using a propane torch, heat the head of the screw for a few minutes.
•
Once the screw has been heated, and while it’s still hot, insert the Torx driver in the screw
head and apply pressure in a clockwise direction (tightening). It may be counter-intuitive, but
the goal is to break the bond between the screw and what it’s threaded into, and if all of the
initial pressure is in the counterclockwise direction (loosening), you may strip the Torx teeth
inside the screw while trying to break the bond. If you first apply some clockwise pressure
and are able to break the bond, you can then loosen the screw more easily.
•
If, after heating and trying some clockwise pressure, the bond doesn’t break, apply heat
again for a longer period of time and repeat the procedure.
•
If the bolt still won’t loosen, repeat the heating procedure and try again with an impact driver,
again initially in the clockwise direction. You can either use a hammer-type impact driver or
an electric impact driver, whichever is available.
