awd swap driveshaft brackets

[cj8990]

just pulled the heat shield to expose my exhaust hanger that i am supposed to cut out to weld in the awd driveshaft bracket... my fwd one has bolt holes but no bolts.. couldnt i just drop bolts in my fwd exhaust hanger for my driveshaft and then only have to weld the rear hanger on?.... also do i really need the gas tank shield? the bolts broke off in the tank straps

thanks in advance

 

[crash89]

You could do that however, then you wont have your AWD exhaust hangers.. Granted you could then just weld some in. But really its all up to you. Im pretty sure you will need the tank shield. Just take some vice grips and remove the broken bolts. You might need to put some heat to them first or some wd40..

Really though, it wasnt that hard at all to drill out the old ones and weld the AWD brackets in place. The front one goes in the EXACT spot of the FWD one. The spot welds almost line up exactly. After the forward bracket was welded in, what I did was bolt the forward part of the driveshaft up and had the rear bracket bolted in place as well, then raised up the rear into place and put a couple tack welds in the rear bracket. Then unbolted the rear end of the drive shaft and finished up the welds..

 

[jdxnc]

You could open the floor inside and probably drop bolts in, but you'd have to cut through a support beam inside, it sits right under the brackets where the front bolts for the seats mount. Easier to just swap the brackets, its easy with a spot weld cutter and a mig.

I didn't put on the gas tank shield and it seems most don't with no issues that I've ever heard of.

 

[cj8990]

thanks.. i will be using my fwd bracket.. the drivers side has enough room for me to maneuver a bolt in with a magnetic extension and then i can just cut out the passengers side bend it down, drop the bolt in, bend back, and reweld it to the car.. i think this will be easiest for me cause i dont like cutting and im not that great a welder... and i wont be using the shield then cause the bolts dont have anything to vice grip to... thanks again for the help