Level of Difficulty: Easy
Tools Required: Hand tools and an assistant would be helpful
Installed By: JC Whitney Staff
Install Time: Approximately 1 hour
There are few accessories that look so good while protecting you and your rig; a well chosen rocker bar (aka Rock Rail) can have a big impact on the look of your Jeep while protecting the sides from damage. JC Whitney Centennial sponsor Westin Automotive offers the perfect solution for our JK-we wanted a tough look for our rockers and the 2” tube construction and wrinkle black finish of their model 42-4015 compliments the style we want for our Jeep. When we cracked open the box and took a look we knew we made the right choice.
The stock rock bars due a great job protecting the Jeep, and we know they saved us from a few scrapes and dents but we aren’t sad to see them go. The rails came off easily, just 3 bolts secure them to each side of the chassis and 6 more small bolts per side connect them to the Jeep rocker panels. Here is a shot from the underside. Once the stock bars were off we sprayed WD-40 into the mounting points to flush and dust and debris to prepare the mount points for our new Westin provided hardware. Here’s the view from the underside.
With the stock rails off we used a floor jack to position the Westin Trailblazer bars into position and installed the new hardware into the chassis and rocker panels. Take a look at how beefy the mounting points on the Westin bars are compared to the stamped OE bars:
This was the perfect Saturday morning project! Our install was so easy we had the driver’s side completed in just 30 minutes. We moved over to the passenger side and repeated the same steps. We are very pleased with the look of the Westin Trailblazer bars and love their fit and finish.
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