Baystate Jeepers

Had the YJ slam down hard on a ledge yesterday.
Pushed the tcase skid up enough so that the engine tipped forward enough so that the fan ground against the radiator.
Leak city!
New radiator on order.

Anyways a very seasoned wheeler gave me a great tip that I wanted to pass along.
He showed me his rig's radiator and he added "expanded metal" sheets on the front and back of the radiator for protection.

This stuff..


With it if the fan try's to meet the radiator again the fan will just scrape the expanded metal and protect the fragile radiator core. The outer one protects the radiator from stick and branches poking thru the grill and spearing the radiator.

Finished up the radiator replacement today.

The new un-protected radiator..


One of the pieces of expanded metal cut to fit.


Protective pieces painted with rubberized coating and installed on radiator.
Held in place with zip ties in the four corners and one in the middle.


Installed

Very nice, I have some of the expanded metal sitting under the deck next to the hardtop.

looks like a great way to save from some of the more simple damages that tend to happen. I dont know if it would save it all but I think well worth the small investment price.

I did that at Rausch . Tore up the inside in a semi circle , just the shape of the fan. Solution was to cut the radiator support for cap clearance and moved it forward another inch. So far , so good ! After Canada , My trans/T-case crossmember was bent up also. I replaced it and then built a skid that mounts to the frame independently of that crossmember. FjR68