Hello all. Looking for some advice.

Just purchased an 04 GC laredo. Love it so far. I need to replace the fuel tank brush guard but from what i have been able to see it holds the gas tank. Mine is completely rusted out. I have contacted the dealership and they say I have to buy the entire set up - gas tank and shield together - around $800. Any suggestions / ideas here would be great.


I am considering having a "brush guard" fabricated that would satisfy any offroad guy out there and take care of that thin piece of rusted tin under my otherwise good looking jeep. - I will likely go this route eventually but would love to what others are doing with this problem.

Thanks in advance for any help and I hope to be able to contribute back to this with picks and etc for others. This is likely not a huge problem for people as it is still "relatively new" at this point but I expect that will change soon.

Scott
The guy from PEI!

 

Update


1 week later ( two weeks after I bought the GC with a safety inspection from the dealer the previous week on the vehicle........)

The tank 1/2 fell off the jeep while driving today!! Good thing there was lots of snow as I had to get it off the road drive in the ditch where the snow was and pull into a parking lot.!! The tank was dragging down the road. Needless to say I'll be having a long talk with the dealer that sold it to me.

When I pointed the rusted guard out to him he just told me that there were straps holding it in place and that the guard was just that a brush guard.....


The owner of the busness I pulled into was plowing out his lot. He helped me out by bringing out his fork lift and lifting the tank so I could tie it up in place with some rope to limp to the shop. Good Karma for him - Pay it Forward......I always try to think this way too. Many a time I've stopped on the side of the road to lend a hand......building the good
Karma credits.....

I'll be posting picks sometime tomorrow as I have a friend coming in to build me a guard for the tank.

 

The 2004 Grand Cherokee brush guard holds the fuel tank to the vehicle and the tank straps hold the tank into the brush guard. I am not sure if other wj models did this too but I think not........

I had phoned the local jeep dealer and they didn't know this fact - they advised me that the straps held the tank to the vehicle and the guard was not important except as a heat shield and "brush guard". definitly not the case.

My friend is an excellent welder / fabricator so guess what we are doing tomorrow!!

Scott

 

ok, you posted on the 20th that you would be making a proper skid plate tomorrow, that would be the 21st, it's now the 24th and still no pictures of the new skid plate?

 

Hey there,

Yeah things got side railed sort of....My friend was talking to a guy...... who new a guy who was parting out jeep and for $50 I got an OEM brush guard with a complete tank and everything - sending unit pump etc, We had looked the day before at local wreckers (5 different ones) but no luck.....
So he bought it and showed up with it and figured I would be happy with that....I gave him the money , bought the pizza....and we had it up and going in about an hour. Maybe later we'll build one but for now this was the best option for the time / effort / cost..Since I don't plan on any serious offroad just mild /easy for now OEM seemed the way to go.

Sorry for any dissapointments but $50 won out.

 

Glad to hear you got it sorted out, and for the right price. The stock unit will be fine as long as you don't go bouncing on sharp rocks.