Body braces CJ-3B

[54-27329]

Got a new tub, putting it together.  The old tub had 2 braces that are not on the new tub. One is bolted on the front of the wheel well to the side. The other is a corner brace in the front corners of the inside firewall, that the windshield bracket mounts to.  Are these original or previous owner add-ons?

[Rus Curtis]

The lower one inside the firewall is factory.  That's a brace to reinforce the seam and the pivot bolt mounts for the w/s.

The other one I'm not sure exactly where it is.  Inside the wheel well, under the vehicle towards the front or on the wheel well inside the passenger/cargo area?

[54-27329]

That brace is in the passenger cargo area, behind the driver and passenger seatframes.

[Rus Curtis]

It took me a while to find an image (I see them and then forget where they are!).  As far as the inside tub area is, where the front seats rest back on the wheel wells, I only know of the hat channels that reinforce the attachment between the side panel and the wheel well.  For reference, in this image you can see the small bracket that the seat rests on on the front of the wheel well (the driver's seat has a bolt inserted from underneath into the seat frame at this location on the driver's side).


From the CJ3B Page Seat article, Early Seats section:


I'm wondering if that triangle brace in your tub could've been added by a Previous Owner (PO) or have a purpose I'm not aware of.

[54-27329]

OK, thanks. I assumed it was from a previous owner because the door openings had been severely reworked.