It’s surprising that Jeep designers didn’t incorporate this to start with. It’s a potentially hazardous design flaw. That tailgate is pretty heavy – especially with a big tire on it, yet if you park anywhere there is a bit of a slope, the door can come swinging closed on you. Anyway, some clever folks on the jk-forum have put together a simple mod to the door, by adding a gas shock to it. They had part numbers and everything, but some of the companies don’t ship to Canada (free trade failure, or ‘merican attitude?). Here’s a link to one of the variations that got posted.
I found a company in Saskatoon, called LSTechnologies (LST) that sells the parts needed. They were very helpful in matching up a few of the parts I was after:
* B8-210-505-190N Gas Spring
* T1GPB-145 Angle Bracket 10mm Ball
* T1BKT-04 Angle Bracket
Some additional parts/materials that I’ll be using include:
* mounting bolts
* metal bar to help strengthen the mounting point on the tailgate
* rivet nuts? Still trying to determine exactly how I’ll attach the mounting brackets to the vehicle
Looking forward to receiving the parts from LST in the next few days… I’ll try and add some photos of the install.
UPDATE — Oct 27, 2008 I’m shocked!…(sorry, no pun intended). The new shock and mounting brackets arrived today! I just ordered them Friday afternoon. Kudo’s to LST and Canada Post for amazingly fast delivery. Everything was packed exceptionally well. Just need to pick up some stainless steel bolts, and some metal to reinforce the tailgate.
Category Archives: Jeep
Bumpers again!
Have thought about building a bumper – even bought a little welding machine. However, a couple months back, Genright came out with a new bumper for the JK – made from aluminum (they also have a steel version).
Looks great I think – wish they could have fit some cutouts for fog lamps though!
New Ride!
Brought home our new Jeep this evening!
Some threads of interest… mods to do or have done
JK-Forum
- Winter Soft Top storage –
- DONE! Grill mod – a metal mesh screen to fill the slots in the front grill, yet still allow ample airflow through to the radiator. Â A couple approaches are discussed in the thread – I like the single sheet of perforated stainless steel the best – as it requires no drilling or gluing.
- DONE! Marker light mod – the light on the front bumpers is merely a running light from the factory – unless you have a European JK. Â This is a simple mod – and it’s surprising that the vehicle didn’t come from the factory with it working as a running/signal light already!
- DONE! Fuel Door Installation – the instructions from Mopar are apparently shiat! Â So this photo thread should be a big help…
- hard-top hoist – this is a pretty slick plan – and a complete materials list – uses a hand crank winch
- DONE! tailgate shock mod – a great mod to keep the tailgate from swinging closed all the time
- removing the front factory bumper
- Installing a winch – and keeping the front factory bumper
Jeep Forum
- hard-top hoist – another nice plan – some aspects of the JK Forum approach above are executed a bit more cleanly (and without requiring any welding), but this one uses a powered winch instead of a hand crank.
Northern Alberta Radio Club
- I thought this was a neat idea! A Tape Measure dipole antenna – be sure to check out the diy one someone made over at eHam
Signal light mod
This seems to be a pretty logical mod, one that should have been done at the factory. In North America, the side markers are basically running lights. In Europe, they are required to function as signal lights – so JK’s sold there don’t need this mod.
After doing a google search for “marker light mod”, it turns out that this isn’t limited to just Jeep products at least ;^) This article on the Daniel Stern Lighting site is a good read!
JK-Forum: Marker light mod thread