[Gnl.Weirdness]

So the thing is fused to the frame rails with rust.

Already broke one bolt...

Should I just break the rest of them and then bang it off with a hammer? It's just 6 bolts right? 3 on either side? Or is it more then that?

[Skwerly]

Yea, six total, but they do NOT like to come out, as you found. Mine all eventually worked their way out, but I had to use a breaker bar and a LOT of grunt.

You may want to consider cutting and then retapping. I vowed never to mess with those things again lol.

[toates89]

if only the installer used anti seize we wouldnt have these problems

[Gnl.Weirdness]

I don't intend on putting the hitch back on, but will be getting a new rear bumper at some point. Are those used as mounting points on most after market bumpers?

[AZ Jeff]

Originally Posted by Enlighter

I don't intend on putting the hitch back on, but will be getting a new rear bumper at some point. Are those used as mounting points on most after market bumpers?

They are used as mounting points for gas tank skidplates

[sbens12889]

i removed one at the junk yard.

it took a breaker bar, and two of us like 45 minutes to get it off. didnt break one bolt.

shoot em with some pb blaster.

[dagr8tim]

The hitches are held in by nutstrips. If you break/cut the heads off of all of the bolts, you can remove the rear bumper and remove/replace the nutstrips if you want to go as rear skid plate. New nutstrips are like $30 a set.

The skid plate came off of my 98 but nearly blew my shoulder using an 18 inch half inch drive ratchet and a 2 foot breaker bar and liberal amounts of PB Blast. The hitch came off of my 97 like butter with the 18 inch ratchet and spraying the bolts down for about a week before with Seafoam spray.

[Gnl.Weirdness]

yeh I have sprayed these suckers for like 2 weeks and still broke the first one I tried. I need a longer breaker bar, or some steel tubing that I can put my current one in for more leverage. Might just end up cutting em all heh as I don't plan on a gas tank skid just yet. Lift kit and front and rear bumper are next.

[GreenLanternXJ]

The PO of my trail rig had a good method of hitch removal. He was towing a boat up a hill and the jack on the trailer got caught. He gunned it and ripped the hitch right off. Gotta love the torque of the 4.0.

[Dbiked]

Originally Posted by GreenLanternXJ

The PO of my trail rig had a good method of hitch removal. He was towing a boat up a hill and the jack on the trailer got caught. He gunned it and ripped the hitch right off. Gotta love the torque of the 4.0.

Wow. . . just wow. . . everytime i read something like this i gain a lot more room in my heart for me heep haha

[Gnl.Weirdness]

yeh the nut heads are all rusted so badly that I can't get any of the sockets to fit over the bolts.

Any suggestions for cutting them? Just hit em with a cutting disk I assume? Then what, bang with a hammer on the hitch and pull the nut strips from inside the frame rails?

[FairlanePhil]

Originally Posted by Enlighter

yeh the nut heads are all rusted so badly that I can't get any of the sockets to fit over the bolts.

Any suggestions for cutting them? Just hit em with a cutting disk I assume? Then what, bang with a hammer on the hitch and pull the nut strips from inside the frame rails?

I pulled the nutstrip out of mine
It was bear. you have to pull it out until it hits the bumper and sawzall off what you can see. Then slide it out 2" at a time and keep bending it down as it comes out. The very end is L shaped and is a horror to get out. I used a cutoff wheel to cut it as short as possible and then twisted it around until it fit out the hole.

Had I been open to more rattles I would have pushed it back in the frame and forgot about it

Also the two exhaust hanger.tank heat shield 18mm bolts go into the nutstrips. After removal I fished some bolts thru with thin wire and welded them pointing down then reinstalled the hangers with nuts

[Gnl.Weirdness]

yeh the exhaust hanger is kinda f'd anyway, need a new one I think. Can't find the part though on rock auto. As for the heat shield will have to deal with that when it comes to it.

Good to know the nut strip accounted for more things though, gonna be more of a job then I thought.

[Gnl.Weirdness]

Originally Posted by FairlanePhil

I pulled the nutstrip out of mine
It was bear. you have to pull it out until it hits the bumper and sawzall off what you can see. Then slide it out 2" at a time and keep bending it down as it comes out. The very end is L shaped and is a horror to get out. I used a cutoff wheel to cut it as short as possible and then twisted it around until it fit out the hole.

Had I been open to more rattles I would have pushed it back in the frame and forgot about it

Also the two exhaust hanger.tank heat shield 18mm bolts go into the nutstrips. After removal I fished some bolts thru with thin wire and welded them pointing down then reinstalled the hangers with nuts

Yeh the original exhaust hanger is F'd with rust right now. I am gonna blast it and see where is stands, but right now it's looking pretty ****ty. Any good ideas for replacing/fixing it?

[dagr8tim]

Originally Posted by Enlighter

Yeh the original exhaust hanger is F'd with rust right now. I am gonna blast it and see where is stands, but right now it's looking pretty ****ty. Any good ideas for replacing/fixing it?

The exhaust hanger on my 97 & 98 are different. The 97's tail pipe has a barb on it that attaches to a rubber disk (most likely factory because the muffler has the Chrysler star stamped into it). My 98 had this round plate, with a loop of rubber (looked like conveyor belt material) that had a curved piece of metal with a lip on the bottom. You put the curved piece of metal between the tail pipe and a muffler clamp.

Shouldn't be hard to find an aftermarket replacement. I'll shoot you some pics of the hanger from the 98 if you want.

EDIT:
This looks to be exactly what my 98 had:
http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/web...S_472731658___
Part Number: 36377 (incase the link doesn't work)

There are also many other's under $5 that can be made to work with some trimming.