cutting the bottom of my rear quarters....how to?

[83 chif]

the metal right behind my rear wheel wells on my WT is rotting out pretty bad, and i managed to snag the rear end on some rocks this past weekend because of my sagging springs, so I plan on hacking off the bottom part of the rear quarter like I see so many of you guys do. i have a few questions though....there is a body mount that mounts to a portion of what i wanted to hack off, right in the rear corner, what did you guys do there? that is kind of important, right? also, did you cut the sheet metal under the tailgate behind the bumper too? does anyone have any photo's? thanks!

[Tad]

http://members.cox.net/tadsal/web%20page/wagpictures/fencutrear.JPG

I based mine on mods Dr.Bob did on his rig, WT's may work out a bit different.

I'd leave that rear body mount unless you intend to chop & bob the rear.
Pretty straight forward cutting and welding, just keep in mind you have the fuel stuff back on the drivers side.

It does not look like that anymore, needed more tire room.
http://members.cox.net/pmountsoa/testrun1/03riverbed.JPG

[Bob Barry]

I detail some of that work on my Cherokee page:

http://www.drbob.tqhosting.com/cherokee/1978_chero_body.html

Pretty simple, really.

[83 chif]

well it does seem simple, I am really just concerned with the body mounts. They seem to have a brace that attaches to part of the metal that I want to cut off, but that doesn't seem like a good idea. I figured you might have relocated them, but you just cut them, huh? I probably looked at it wrong, it was kind of dark and there was a lot of mud on the undercarriage. I'll have to take another look tomorrow. I just wanted to make sure you guys didn't run into any trouble besides the obvious. I like the extending the floor idea, that way the mud might have a tougher time finding its way into the back of my truck. thanks for the help guys!

[Bob Barry]

It doesn't need to touch the body-mount right above the rear crossmember. the only issues are relocating the holes for the fuel-tank filler and fuel-tank vent line to pass through, and fabricating a well to box out the bottom of the tail-lamps (on my Cherokee at least; don't know what a Wagoneer's taillights would need).

[AzFrank]

Ok, It is kind of tricky to do.The front ones are cake, its the back ones that take MORE time. The inner wall (cargo area) and about...1/3 of the flair are attatched. I can draw some diagrams and send it to ya. You will need for toolage. 120 v. wire feed welder(gas or fluxcore) grinder,,hammers(ballpein), visegrips. Let me know, mine turned out pretty good .