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HEAVY-DUTY HINGE
INSTALLING YOUR
TJ WRANGLER
WIDE-SWING HINGES
JP54-025
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 ecient.
**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:
• 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.
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3. Once the hinge is removed, install the new hinge with the hardware provided, and be sure to use
a small amount of the supplied anti-sieze on the bolts with installing them to prevent galling of the
threads. This will also provide for easier removal if ever needed in the future. Use the supplied
washers between the bolt and the hinge.
• NOTE: The hinge includes a grease zerk, we recommend greasing the hinges on initial installation
and thereafter greasing the hinges whenever the chassis or other body mounts are greased.
• For 2002 and older models, the hinge bolts for the tub side thread into loose backer plates. When
installing the new hinges you’ll need to hold the backer plates in position inside the tub when
installing the new bolts.
• These hinges are “wide swing” hinges, with different geometry than the factory hinges. While the
instructions above recommend installing one hinge at a time, do not attempt to open the tailgate
when one new and one old hinge are installed - they are not compatible and opening a tailgate
with two different hinges may cause damage.
If you like the Heavy-Duty Hinges, you might also like these products:
REAR MOUNT
• Mounts to the rear spare tire carrier
• Can holder installs/uninstalls in minutes so it’s
easy to carry extra fuel only when needed.
• Available in tall or short style
• Allows customers an extra source of fuel for
long trips
• Works with several styles of fuel cans such as
NATO and Jerry Cans
• Compatible with spare tire carriers on
vehicles with 5-bolt wheels from 4.5” through
5.5” bolt circles, including Jeep CJ/YJ/TJ and
many other vehicles
TJ SIDE MOUNT
(DRIVER & PASSENGER SIDE)
• Mounts to frame just in front of passenger or
driver door – simple bolt-on installation, no
drilling.
• The can holder slides into a frame-mounted
receiver; they install or uninstall easily in minutes
so extra fuel is easily carried only when needed.
• Mounts on left or right side of Jeep (or mount one
on each side if two extra fuel cans are needed!)
• Available in tall or short style
• High quality “military” look
• Works with several styles of fuel cans such as
NATO and Jerry Cans
• Allows customers an extra source of fuel for long
trips
• Fits 1997-2006 Wranglers and ‘87-’95 Wranglers
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