Installing Side steps

I've got wee ones--three--plus a perfect five foot wife.  A tall rig causes accessibility issues that have been building for years. I'd looked at getting some rock sliders from BJ'S Off Road, inverted to tuck not quite so high up into the door rockers.  I would have loved to have had them, but they were cost prohibitive (not that BJ's overpriced them, just that they were more, with shipping, than I could reasonably afford).

There are no bolt-on steps for these idiosyncratic vehicles, despite their long run from 1963 to 1991.  After doing a bit of searching on Amazon, I found a step that I thought might work, so I ordered one (I'd eventually need four, one for each door).

It wasn't a perfect fit, and there were some installation issues that I'll point out below; however, they do the job and look right, so I'm pleased.

They screw into the vertical back of the lower rocker panel (where the open-backed square portion of the bracket is) and then bolt through the rocker seam and up into the bottom of that same square bracket.  In the picture below, you can see the silver heads of the bolts.

The above picture of the step for the driver's side rear door also highlights the primary installation difficulty: the frame rail and front spring perch for the rear leafs.  It's a tight fit to get a drill in there to screw a pilot hole and then get the screw itself in there.  I had to do it at a steep angle and work hard at it for quite some time to get it in there.  It was a real pain.  This was the first one I installed, and if I had to do it again, it'd be the second or the third so that I wouldn't have to learn not only how to install the step but also how to do it in the hardest spot.  It alone took me as long as the other three.  Additionally, note the stamped L-bracket in the upper right corner of the picture that joins the Jeep's flood to the rocker panel.  I used that as a point of reference to get both rear door steps aligned in parallel with one another.

Here's the front passenger side step mounted up.  This shot shows another bracket that connects the Jeep floor to rocker panel.  It also worked nicely as a point of alignment for the two front steps.  These were considerably easier to install, though the frame rail on the left was still a bit of a bugaboo.

They aren't aesthetically perfect, sticking out a little more I had expected, but they work well for the kids and wife, which is great..

Getting the cargo area squared away

I didn't want anything flopping around when the rig is taken off road, so I had to get the spare and the winch more properly secured.  A drill, some bolts, and a few little tricks got the job done.

I bought new on eBay the Mile Marker 2" receiver hitch winch mount (P/N 60-06495) that would let me use the recovery tool front or rear, given that I'd had Jeeps R Us weld a receiver hitch to the front frame cross member under the radiator (parts and labor, $450).

All in all, it weighs one hundred plus pounds, so I'm hoping not to have to lug it around much.  But I'd rather have that weight in the back of the Jeep over the rear axle than hanging off the front, messing with air flow to the radiator, as well as departure angles.  I also didn't have to buy a gigantor bumper and pay to have it shipped, so I'm good with that, too.

To get the winch mount secured in the back of the Jeep, I bought an RV bumper adapter that is designed to hold a spare tire holder that bolts to a 2" receiver mount.  To make it work for my purpose, I tossed aside the extra long grade 5 bolts and bought 2" grade 8 bolts from the local home center.  The adapter tucks up behind the passenger side of the back seat, away from fuel lines and the gas tank.  At an angle, the winch mount slides in under the hi-lift jack to stay secure and out of the way.

While I was working around in the back, I added two eye bolts to hook a tie-down strap to, holding the spare tire to the hi-lift jack.  It gives me some free space underneath to put my winch recovery bag, some tools, and a five gallon bucket of spare parts, hoses, etc.

All neat and tidy.

I imagine at some point I'm going to want to get the spare out of the rear cargo area, so when that happens, I'll either upgrade the rear bumper to a custom one with a swing out tire carrier (which would be a thousand bucks shipped) or keep it in the garage when I'm not wheeling (using the stock spare under floor above the rear axle as an emergency "mini" spare), and just throw it up on the roof for wheeling trips.