BeachJK

These Demons should be abolished from the earth.

I had XRC armor at four corners. I got them all to work like they should. But god forbid I ever had to take them off. I'm not sure they would go back on.

gnarly_mike

Very nice input

Rebar-7

So just a word of caution, before installing your nut-serts double check they are the correct size and thread pitch. Was out in garage doing some practice ,ordered some extra 5/16-18 nut-serts from amazon but infact they turned Out to be 5/16-20. Package was labeled correct but wrong size nut-serts inside.

dahreno

After removing the threads from the nut, I cut a cross hatch pattern in the bottom of it with a cut off wheel in my Dremel tool . Worked perfect. I used wood that was twice as thick as stock to make the door panels so I couldn't use the stock hardware to mount them. I just went at it and thought it was easy. Of course, I didn't read all the hype about how hard it is before hand, and glad I didn't !

Alp1n3

right?!!! And the tool smittybilt sends you is asinine..

kmrtnsn

I have found that running a bolt in and out of the nutsert threads a few times BEFORE install, combined with the use of just a little bit of anti-seize on the bolt used with the properly installed nutsert after and there are no problems with removal and and re-installation down the road.

gnarly_mike

Update on this. Used the harbor freight tool. Worked like a charm. The first one I bought broke on my test compression of my one extra nursert LOL. I exchanged it and the other one didn't have any problems.

I made every single one of those nurserts my b*tch. Easy as hell.

It is IMPERATIVE that you drill your holes to the correct sizes before putting the nursert in. If your hole is a millimeter too big you're screwed. If your holes don't line up with the armor you're gonna have to widen the armor hole.

I recommend doing the outermost holes first, ON THE TOP ROW ONLY, while ensuring your armor is super tight against the body using clamps or another persons hands or both to hold it up straight. Once you get those done, you can bolt the armor down in order to center your hole punch marks to ensure perfectly centered and lined up drill holes. You still need to have the armor pressed up flat against the body at all times after those first two. After the outermost holes, reclaim the armor up tight and do the holes ON THE TOP ROW by the b-pillar.

DO THE TOP ROW FIRST. All of them.

You'll be taking it off and putting it back on much more than the instructions tell you to. This ensures perfectly lined up holes and armor. Take no chances on something like this because you only have one shot to not make an epic mistake.

After you do the b-pillar holes, move back to the outside edges working in from the outermost holes. At this point you should have enough done that you can bolt it up, clamp it down, and do 2 holes at a time on each side, 4 holes in total with each removal and reinstalls took of the armor.

Center punch your holes with the armor on. Obviously. If you don't get it perfectly center, just work the drill with some finesse and center your holes that way. Just make damn sure you don't widen them too much while you're trying to correct an in centered hole punch. Trying to pinch more than 2 center punches will cause your drill bit to wander and your initial hole to be in centered. When you step up a size, put more pressure on whichever side you need to in order to end up with a centered hole. I drilled most of my pilot holes with the armor on. I believe that's how it says to do it. Then take it off and get to the final size.

Then once the top row is done, you can do the bottom row. Since the body and the armor angles along the rocker, you do the top first then press the angled section against the body when you center punch your holes. This ensures you have the smallest possible gap between the body and armor after you're finished.


MAKE SURE THAT YOU HOLD THE DRILL BIT PERFECTLY ADJACENT TO THE BODY. IF IT IS AT ANY ANGLE YOU WILL MOST LIKELY SLIP AND END UP WITH A MANGLED HOLE THATS TOO BIG, OR YOU'LL MAKE A NICE SCRATCH DOEN YOUR BODY. OR BOTH.



After having done this, it is super duper easy. I found myself questioning the mechanical skill and common sense of everyone who has ever complained about nurserts. There is no reason for concern if you are handy with tools and have a steady hand and at least mild strength.

If you feel you don't have hear things, ask someone for help who does. You don't want to flub drilling holes all in your body.

gnarly_mike

This is the $20 tool I used. Worked like a charm. Smooth, equal force throughout the motions and you shouldn't break it. Unless it's defective like my first one was apparently.

gnarly_mike

I found that the body of the jeep is so thin that the nurserts are almost too big to compress tight enough to the metal. They are right there on the line so to say. So it is extremely important that your holes are not too big. If you have to, start off too small and file them out to make the nursert fit in tight.

I also saw someone asking if they should use a step bit or regular.

No comparison, use a step bit. If not you increase the risk of having mangled holes. I put a piece of blue scotch tape above the stepped size that I wanted to use, so I didn't accidentally go a size too big. It's very easy to do that with a step bit if you get going at a good pace once you start and don't pay full attention. I did it once but luckily it was good enough to get a nutsert in tight still.

Chuck-The-Ripper

Cool story.