Transfer case skid plate questions

Jeepster97TJ

Jeepster97TJ

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Joined
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45
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Anderson, SC
Today I pulled the skid plate to replace a rear seal and service t-case. I currently have the skid off and out of caution I placed a jack under the t-case. I will be getting the new seal Wednesday but most likely I won't be able to replace it until Thursday. I am a new Jeep owner and at first I thought the skid was only there for belly protection. Then I notice there is no brace or cross member there to hold it all up. While the plate is off thought I would clean it up and repaint it.

1) Am I right not to move it until the skid is back on?

It had a 2.5" spring lift on it but I recently removed it and went to stock Rubi coils. The t-case skid looks after market and it had 1" spacers between the skid and the frame. It does have an aftermarket rear driveshaft too (three joint).

2) Do I need to put the spacers back in there? It is going to mess up t-case linkage? or mess up the driveshaft angles?

When I pulled the springs I made the necessary adjustments to the axles to get them centered and the steering wheel lined up. Sorry for all the info but I am new to all this and I am learning. There is so much info out there but sometimes it is conflicting and I just want to do things right.

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Jeepster97TJ said:
Today I pulled the skid plate to replace a rear seal and service t-case. I currently have the skid off and out of caution I placed a jack under the t-case. I will be getting the new seal Wednesday but most likely I won't be able to replace it until Thursday. I am a new Jeep owner and at first I thought the skid was only there for belly protection. Then I notice there is no brace or cross member there to hold it all up. While the plate is off thought I would clean it up and repaint it.

1) Am I right not to move it until the skid is back on?

It had a 2.5" spring lift on it but I recently removed it and went to stock Rubi coils. The t-case skid looks after market and it had 1" spacers between the skid and the frame. It does have an aftermarket rear driveshaft too (three joint).

2) Do I need to put the spacers back in there? It is going to mess up t-case linkage? or mess up the driveshaft angles?

When I pulled the springs I made the necessary adjustments to the axles to get them centered and the steering wheel lined up. Sorry for all the info but I am new to all this and I am learning. There is so much info out there but sometimes it is conflicting and I just want to do things right.

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The TCase skid plate functions as the crossmember that attaches to the transmission mount with the 4 nuts.

1) usually support at the transmission bellhousing, then remove TCase skid.

2) if you have an SYE and DC shaft (sounds like you do) AND adjustable rear control arms, THEN you can remove the 1” spacers and adjust the front and rear pinions and driveshafts so the angle of the rear is pinion 1* shallower than the shaft and the front is more forgiving, so I usually go for 5.5* or more caster with 33’s and set the shaft lower than the pinion by a few degrees to get there.

You may need to adjust the TCase shifter mechanism.
 
if your information is accurate, no, you can’t drive it without that skid. Did you not notice that your trans and TC ride on that skid, literally? If it’s n it there that all falls to the ground, or close.
 
That is an aftermarket skid plate that looks like without the spacers it may "lift" the rear of the engine/tranny/transfercase. The spacers were either to help avoid vibrations from the suspension lift or from the rear of the engine/tranny/transfercase being possibly "lifted" or maybe to avoid vibrations both. I don't know if you have a body lift but if not the spacers may be to keep the transfer case/tranny from pushing into the tub floor. Now that the suspension lift has been removed I'd leave those spacers out and keep an eye on not only what may hit the floor while tightening the skid plate bolts but also how the fan and radiator are lining up again while tightening those bolts .
 
JEEPCJTJ said:
That is an aftermarket skid plate that looks like without the spacers it may "lift" the rear of the engine/tranny/transfercase. The spacers were either to help avoid vibrations from the suspension lift or from the rear of the engine/tranny/transfercase being possibly "lifted" or maybe to avoid vibrations both. I don't know if you have a body lift but if not the spacers may be to keep the transfer case/tranny from pushing into the tub floor. Now that the suspension lift has been removed I'd leave those spacers out and keep an eye on not only what may hit the floor but also how the fan and radiator are lining up while tightening skid plate the bolts.
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I have a 1.25" body lift I left in place. I don't have a lot of history on this Jeep or why they did what they did.

Update: after doing some looking around it may be a UFC high clearance skid. I am guessing the spacer in the skid are to keep the trans & t-case from hitting but is has a body lift so I am not exactly sure how much everything has been tucked up.
 
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Jeepster97TJ said:
I have a 1.25" body lift I left in place. I don't have a lot of history on this Jeep or why they did what they did.
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I'm not familiar with this skid, but if it lifts the TC, and you don't have a MML as well, that's not good is my understanding. It would shift the oil in the engine in a way it shouldn't. Just food for thought on this, and no knowing what the person did.
 
cpwolf said:
I'm not familiar with this skid, but if it lifts the TC, and you don't have a MML as well, that's not good is my understanding. It would shift the oil in the engine in a way it shouldn't. Just food for thought on this, and no knowing what the person did.
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Sorry what is a MML?
 
Jeepster97TJ said:
Sorry what is a MML?
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Motor Mount Lift. So the Engine is at a set level, and then the TC/Trans skid is at a set level. The fluids sit based on that.

It is all connected in a line, and if you lift the rear, then the oil in the engine will sit forward more than designed. I've seen people post that can be an issue, I'm not 100% sure. So, they may have used the "drop" to offset the lift, so the driveline team would be at the correct correlation.
 
I appreciate your guys for the advice and input. I am just glad I asked before I did anything really stupid. I did learn a little more about my Jeep though. Now I know why my skid is the way it is and what a double cardon drive shaft is. Learning more every time I work on it.
 
cpwolf said:
Motor Mount Lift. So the Engine is at a set level, and then the TC/Trans skid is at a set level. The fluids sit based on that.

It is all connected in a line, and if you lift the rear, then the oil in the engine will sit forward more than designed. I've seen people post that can be an issue, I'm not 100% sure. So, they may have used the "drop" to offset the lift, so the driveline team would be at the correct correlation.
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The MML is not for leveling the engine.
It raises the engine to help tilt the transfer case (output) down.
Same thing as adding drop spacers to the trans.skid.
This improves the driveline angle to help reduce vibes if present.
 
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LONGJP2 said:
The MML is not for leveling the engine.
It raises the engine to help tilt the transfer case (output) down.
Same thing as adding drop spacers to the trans.skid.
This improves the driveline angle to help reduce vibes if present.
Click to expand...

Did you read the entire thread?

In this Instance, he has a specific skid. The skid lifted the rear of the driveline, the Transfer case.

It literally has the driveline pointing higher if you do not lift the motor

To be specific. The MML is not to angle the TC down, it’s to lift the motor. And there are more than 1 reason to do this. A lot of folks do it for the reason you mentioned, but when you have a skid lifting the rear, you’re putting in a MML for a different reason
 
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